Chapter 137

Devin dropped his phone down on his desk and stared out the window in shock. Connor Diaz, the Elder from Philadelphia, had called him, extremely distraught. Someone had shot and killed his son earlier in the day. In the head. It appeared to be an assassination, but who would call out a hit on an Elder-Son?

There was no reason to call hits on Sons. They wielded no power, had no authority. They simply were next in line. And Chris was harmless. Yes, he was a jerk sometimes, but no more than Tyler or any of the other Sons.

Why the hell would someone kill Chris?

Devin dropped into his executive chair and rubbed his face. The Summer Gathering had not gone as well as it should have. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but he was definitely losing his powers. Anna had been gone five months now and he was feeling it. The president—idiot that he was—was not listening as well as he should.

He would kill whoever had helped Anna escape with his bare hands. They’d managed to smuggle her out of the country, though he’d spoken to the French Elders and there was no sign of her in Paris. How could she vanish into thin air?

She had been in New York. Fucking Aaron. He’s who should have been killed, not Chris. Devin’s fingers itched to call an Assassin, but Brotherhood Assassins weren’t supposed to be used for “common” people. And killing someone who belonged to Wilhelm probably wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do right now.

The assassination made no sense. No sense at all.

Monday evening, Anna received a phone call from Tom. “I need you to stay in your apartment starting on Wednesday.”

“What? No, I-I can’t.” Anna had been looking forward to going out and seeing Mr. J, even though she hadn’t heard from Simon yet.

“Anna, Devin is going to be here on Wednesday. You need to stay where I can protect you.”

“Why is he coming here again?” Anna trembled at the thought of Devin being anywhere near her again. He’d just been here last month. Had he found her?

“There is a funeral on Friday in Philadelphia. He’s stopping here on the way. Chris Diaz, Connor’s son, was killed this morning.”

“Connor? The Philadelphia Elder?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?” Anna had no fond feelings for Chris. He was a cruel man, like his father.

“He was killed by a Brotherhood Assassin.”

“Omigosh!” Who would want Chris dead? “Is it... like Alex’s funeral?”

“Yes. Wilhelm said he and Kurt would stop by and see you.”

Anna’s jaw clenched, her anger at the Germans outweighing her fear of Devin finding her. She didn’t want to see them. She sighed. “Will you call Vincent about rehearsals?”

“Of course.”

The next morning, when she arrived at the studio, she gave Hugo an apologetic look. “Did Vincent tell you?” she asked.

Hugo frowned. “Yeah.” He sighed. “I suppose it’s better than you being found, but it sure does make it difficult to get stuff done.”

“I’m so sorry, Hugo. Could we... maybe practice in my apartment?”

He got a mischievous look in his eyes. “Just practice?”

Anna bit her lip. “Hugo . . .”

Hugo smiled. “I’m kidding. When do you have to be holed up?”

“Starting tomorrow.”

“Okay. How about Thursday and Friday?”

Anna nodded. “Sounds good.”

Wednesday and Thursday dragged on and on. Simon called her on Wednesday and told her Mr. J was unavailable this weekend, but assured her that he had plans for her for the following weekend. Part of her was relieved. At least she didn’t have to decline his invitation this time, but she couldn’t help but wonder if Mr. J was losing interest in her.

Hugo came over on Thursday afternoon. They moved the furniture to the side of the room and ran through the parts of his new ballet they could manage in the small space.

“Too bad we can’t go onto the terrace.” Anna wiped her face. “There’s more room out there.” Tom had put the same restrictions on her as before.

“We’ll just do what we can,” Hugo said, sipping his water. He walked over to the stereo. “Ready to try again?”

Anna nodded. She moved into position and they began again. She loved that he asked for suggestions when something wasn’t working quite right and even used some of them. They worked together to make the dance as beautiful as it could be.

“Do you like this pose?” Hugo held her wrists as she extended them behind her back. “Or this one?” He turned her around and put his hands on her waist, holding her close.

Anna’s heart pounded as she stared into his eyes, rapidly darkening with passion. He brought his hand to her cheek and leaned his head toward her. “Hugo...” she whispered, lifting her face to his. She shouldn’t kiss him. She shouldn’t...

His lips brushed against hers for a moment before they captured hers with his own. Anna ran her hands up his damp t-shirt and over his shoulders. His tongue probed her mouth and she moaned softly. His attention was so very welcome and she didn’t know if she could resist him tonight. She didn’t know if she wanted to.

Aaron walked out into the lobby of the ballet studio and stopped short. “Wilhelm? Kurt?”

The distinguished Germans turned and smiled kindly at him. “Hello, Aaron,” Wilhelm said. “How are you doing?”

“Good...” He shook their hands, wondering why they were there.

“We thought we would catch you after rehearsal and walk over to your apartment with you. Anna...” He sighed. “Anna is ignoring our calls again.”

Aaron bit back a smart remark. He knew exactly why she was doing that. Kurt was being an ass and Wilhelm didn’t seem to care. But Aaron knew better than to rebuke his Elder. “Alright.” They walked outside and headed to his apartment. “Why aren’t you in Philly?”

“We do not have to be there until tomorrow and thought we would stop by and visit,” Wilhelm said. “I have not seen Anna since she got here.”

Aaron only grunted in reply. If you can’t say something nice...

“How is she doing?” Kurt asked.

“Okay. I think she gets lonely when she has to stay in the apartment all day. But Hugo went over this afternoon, so at least she has some company.”

“Hugo?” Kurt asked. “I thought they broke up.”

Aaron frowned. He knew how hard that had been on Anna. “Yeah, but they still dance together. Hugo’s having her dance in his new ballet and they’re practicing at the apartment so they don’t get behind.”

“Oh.”

They arrived at the apartment a few minutes later. Aaron unlocked the door and was surprised to not hear music playing.

Wilhelm looked around the room. “Where is she?” Wilhelm asked.

Aaron shrugged. “Probably in her room. Must have finished early. I’ll go get her.” And warn her about the visitors. Aaron invited Wilhelm and Kurt to sit down and went to get Anna.

He lifted his hand to knock on her door and heard something... unexpected. A moan. A moan from a man... and then Anna moaned, too. Who was she with? And how did he keep the Germans from finding out?

He winced as he knocked loudly. He hated interrupting something like that, but he didn’t have a choice. Anna didn’t answer and he knocked again.

“What do you want?” Anna called, her voice impatient and annoyed.

“Anna . . . I—Shit. Can I open the door?”

“No!” she yelled and then giggled.

Aaron took a deep breath and opened the door, and then gasped. Hugo was in bed with Anna, naked and on top of her. Anna’s pale legs and arms wrapped around his dark body tightly. He jumped inside and slammed the door shut behind him. Anna glared at him over Hugo’s shoulder. “Aaron!”

Hugo jumped and reached for the blanket. “What the hell are you doing, Aaron?”

“Wilhelm and Kurt are here,” Aaron said, closing his eyes.

Anna gasped at Aaron’s words. She had thoroughly been enjoying Hugo’s attentions when Aaron had barged in.

“Oh, no!” She glanced at Hugo, not knowing what to do.

Hugo grimaced. “The Germans, right?”

Anna nodded and looked over at Aaron. “Why? Why are they here?”

“Because you’ve been ignoring their calls.”

Anna rubbed her face. “Oh, this is not what I need right now.” What would they say when they found out that she’d been in bed with Hugo? She sat up, clasping her blanket to her chest and stared at her knees. Then she sucked in a deep breath and lifted her chin. They had no right to be upset. She was being discreet. If they had a problem with her being with Hugo, then... Well, that was their problem. She looked at Aaron. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Aaron gave her a sad look and then nodded and left.

She shook her head and sighed. Ending up in bed with him had not been planned. At all. But, oh, was he an amazing lover!

“You okay?” He ran his fingers down her neck.

Anna grimaced. “Yeah. Irritated.”

Hugo leaned down and sucked on her neck. “We can finish later.”

She slid her hand around the back of his head. “I want to finish now.”

Hugo kissed down to her breast and licked her nipple. “Mmm.” He sucked the taut peak, making Anna moan again. “Do you think it wise to leave them waiting?”

“I want you back inside me,” she whispered, reaching down for his very impressive cock that was slick from being inside her just moments ago. “I didn’t invite them over.” She pulled him until he moved back on top of her. “They can wait.”

Hugo grinned and kissed her as he pressed himself back inside her. “God, I’ve wanted you for so long, Kittycat...”

Anna wrapped her arms around him, loving the feel of him inside her. “Me too.”