Page 332 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

Alex cursed to himself again. “She came to visit me when I was imprisoned. She... posed as a Dirne, but I knew who she was. She... became pregnant.”

Anna’s face paled.

“She lost the baby.” He rushed on, hoping somehow she wouldn’t latch onto it. “She got married last year. I only used her to get even with Vlad. I didn’t have any feelings for her at any time.” Anna nodded, face unchanged, and Alex started feeling defensive. “You were pregnant while I was gone, too, you know.”

Her brows twitched and her eyes filled with tears. “You think I wanted Devin to do that to me?”

“I meant with Vati’s child.”

Her mouth opened in shock and she grabbed her stomach as if he’d punched her. “I didn’t ask him to get me pregnant.”

“But you went along with it.” Why, oh why, was he picking a fight with her?

“I didn’t know what was going on.” Her eyes widened. “I didn’t know what was going on!” Her voice rose higher until it squeaked on the last word. “I didn’t know!” Anna fled the room. He could hear her sobbing in the stairwell as she ran back down to the lower floors.

Guilt stabbed his heart and he jumped to his feet, torn between his anger and shame. Should he chase after her or give her space? He glanced at Seth.

“It’s gonna take a while for you guys to get used to each other again.” Seth gave him a sympathetic smile. “You want me to follow her?”

Alex shook his head and sat back down, burying his face in his hands. “It’s daytime. I will respect her wishes.”

Anna ran to the bedroom to dress, and then hurried out of the condo and wandered around the park for a good hour before sitting down under a tree and staring at the ground.

Alex’s words had opened a wound that apparently hadn’t healed: her insecurity about not being a proper Elder-Mistress. Vitaly’s Funeral Gathering had made that very clear. She hadn’t known how to act at the Gathering, and she hadn’t known what Wilhelm had done after he’d disciplined her. Alex sleeping with Irina shouldn’t bother her, but the mention of her name had brought up so many horrible memories of that day.

But Alex had slept with Irina so he could convince her to break up with Hugo. That made her mad.

She pulled her phone out and called Hugo. She didn’t know if he’d still be in rehearsals, but figured she’d try, anyway. He picked up after the third ring.

“Katrina? Is everything okay?”

She tried to talk, but burst into tears instead.

“Katrina? Are you okay? Is Alex okay?”

Her voice squeaked. “Are you home?”

“Heading there now. Why?”

“Can I come over?”

He hesitated. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

Anna sniffed. “Please? I... I can’t go home. I just need to talk to someone.”

Hugo sighed. “Alright. Where are you?”

“In the park.”

“Do you want me to come find you?”

“No.” She sniffed. “No, I’m okay. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Anna sat on Hugo’s comfortable black leather couch, remembering the last time she’d been there. The day they’d broken up.

Hugo handed her a glass of water and sat down next to her. “What’s going on?” he asked in a gentle voice.

Anna held the cool glass in both hands and studied it. “Alex and I spent the morning talking,” she said in a soft voice, a smile tugging at her lips. It had been a good morning, before... “He told me about what went on while he... was gone... and... stuff.” Her jaw began to tremble. “He told me that he’d slept with—‍” She hesitated. How much did Hugo know about her life? About what she was? “He—‍” She stopped again and leaned forward, her elbows on her knees.

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