Chapter 145

Anna was lying on the couch in the living room staring blankly at the TV when Aaron came home, around lunchtime. She sat up, half-expecting Alex to be behind him, and wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed that he’d walked in alone.

“You okay?” Aaron sat on the couch next to her.

Anna shrugged. She wasn’t sure how she was feeling, aside from some resentment for Alex spending time with Aaron instead of her.

“I have his number, if you want to call him. Or you can go see him. He said you could come by anytime.”

Anna snorted. “I’m supposed to chase after him? He’s the one who disappeared for years.”

“Anna, he’s trying to respect your feelings. If he thought you would accept him, he would have chased you home, but he doesn’t want you to resent him. If he forces himself on you, your relationship won’t work.”

She laughed bitterly. “What relationship? We barely knew each other when we got married, and it only lasted for three months.” She paused. “Not even three months.”

“That wasn’t your fault or his. And you know you two are supposed to be together. You’re soulmates. Literally.”

“What if I don’t want to be with him?” She lifts her chin. “What if I’d rather be with Hugo?”

Aaron’s eyes widened. “Hugo? I mean, yeah, he’s a good guy. A really good guy, but—?” He grimaced. “Anna, Devin would kill him without a thought. Alex is the only one who can protect you. Tom’s protections are growing weak. He’s not sure he’ll be able to keep Devin from sensing you if he comes again.”

“So I’m stuck with Alex?”

“You don’t mean that?—?”

“I don’t?” Her anger flared for a moment before she closed her eyes and hung her head. “I’m not my own person. Freedom is an illusion.” She shook her head. “I wish I’d known all this when I arrived. Then I could have been prepared.”

“The only ones who knew Alex was alive when you got here were Vlad and Peter. Wilhelm didn’t know until Alex showed up at their house one morning.” Aaron shook his head. “That’s when Kurt came and you two got engaged. They were trying to keep you from getting involved with anyone until Alex could show himself.”

“Peter really did know Alex was alive?” She’d suspected as much last night, but knowing for sure made her heart twist in her chest even more. She’d trusted Peter. Loved him. And he’d never told her the truth. “Why didn’t he tell me?” she whispered.

Aaron shook his head. “I don’t think he could.”

Anna frowned.

“What good would it have done? Devin would have found out you knew and probably killed Peter for telling you. Without Peter...” He shrugged. “Peter’s the reason you got away from Devin.”

Anna drew her brows together. “What? How?”

“After Vlad met you that Thanksgiving weekend, Peter convinced him that what Devin had told them about you and Alex was the complete opposite of the truth. They began working to undo what Vitaly had done. Anna.” Aaron looked at her with serious eyes. “They killed Vitaly so Alex could get free.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Vitaly had captured Alex and his men because Devin asked him to.”

All the oxygen in the room vaporized at Aaron’s words and Anna grabbed her chest, unable to breathe. Devin? Devin had arranged for Alex’s “death”? How could he?—

No. Why did it surprise her? She knew Devin. Devin would do anything to get what he wanted. He despised Alex. Alex had been the only one who could keep Devin from achieving his goals. Of course Devin had to get rid of him. And he couldn’t kill Alex, because killing Alex would have killed her, and Devin needed her.

She fell forward off the couch and curled over her bent legs, forehead pressed to the floor.

Anna winced at her foolishness. She had loved Devin. She’d believed Devin. She’d fallen for his deceptions. Over and over again. Because she was desperate to be loved. She’d believed that he’d loved her because she wanted to. What a fool she was. And how much evil had happened because of her foolishness?

If only she’d believed Alex in her dreams when he’d told her he was alive. No wonder he was furious at her.

“Why—?” She cleared her throat and sat up, head hung low. “Why didn’t he escape sooner? He’s... he can do anything.”

“Three men died trying to find a way out of that castle. Jesse, Michael, and Jason all died the first year they were captured. Vitaly had the others beaten within an inch of their lives. A couple of times. It took Vlad arranging a surgery after Vitaly’s death for Erich to be able to walk properly again. Seth still has a limp.”

“Seth? Seth’s here?” She turned around to look up at Aaron and hugged her legs to her chest. Those poor men. “What about Tony and Greg?”

“They’re all here with Alex. Seth followed you home last night—well, partially home. He’s the one who stopped the guy who grabbed you.”

Seth had protected her? Alex had sent him to make sure she got home okay? Even after she yelled and hit Alex, he still made sure she made it home okay? Why? Tears burned her eyes and she squeezed them shut. “H-how did they escape?”

“After Vitaly died and you’d escaped from Devin, Vlad had to go to a Gathering and he took most of his guards with him. He told Alex how to escape. He couldn’t just let him go, though. Devin would have found out. I think he had spies in Vlad’s house.”

Anna stared at her hands. Devin would have done something terrible to Vlad if he’d found out he’d been part of Alex’s escape.

“Peter tried really hard to get you away from Devin. He was gonna to take you to visit Vitaly last September, to try and convince his grandfather that Devin was wrong, but Vitaly died before that could happen. Vlad had been slowly poisoning Vitaly so no one would suspect his death was intentional. Especially Devin.”

“Did you know all this?”

“No. Alex told me last night. I only knew we needed to get you to New York and that everything else would be taken care of. Tommy, Travis, and Justin helped with the planning. And Ian, of course.”

Anna winced at the sound of Ian’s name. He’d died because of her.

“We didn’t know how you’d be able to be away from Devin without getting sick, but Peter assured us he’d take care of it. I guess Alex knew he’d have to come and establish his ‘home’ here, sooner or later, so that you’d be okay. It just happened faster than they’d expected.”

Anna thought back to the Thanksgiving she’d spent with Peter’s family. “That must have been why Nina got so upset at Thanksgiving. She must have known about Alex.”

“Nina?”

“Vlad’s wife. She got really upset when she found out that I’d been married to a German named Alex... and then Vlad wouldn’t let her be around me the rest of the time I was there.” It made sense now. “But why did Alex hide from me when he got here? Why didn’t he just tell me, instead of pretending to be Mr. J?”

Aaron sighed. “You know those Elders who’ve been killed recently?”

“Marcus and Connor? Yeah.”

“That was Alex.”

Anna gasped. In theory, she knew what Alex had done for The Brotherhood. But knowing someone that he’d killed... It became painfully real. “Why?”

“Partially for revenge because of what they did to you, but mostly to kick Devin’s legs out from under him.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Alex is taking out Devin’s supporters, one by one. It will screw with Devin’s head and make him more vulnerable. Then Alex can confront Devin.”

“He’s not going to kill Tom, is he? Or Brandon?”

Aaron chuckled. “No. They’re no longer loyal to Devin. They helped with the planning.”

“What does that have to do with him hiding from me?”

“Anna, if Alex came to you, and then told you he had to go out on a job, would you have let him go? Would you have forgiven him for leaving you again?”

Anna stared at the floor as the fear and pain she’d felt before he’d left—and the painful years of being separated from him—swirled around her heart. “No,” she said softly. She would have been furious at him for even thinking of leaving her.

“He wanted to get everything finished so he wouldn’t have to leave you again. As it is, he has to go out next month.”

Terror rose in her heart as she thought about Alex going out on a job. “No!” she whispered, eyes wide with fright. “No, he can’t!”

Aaron put his hand on hers. “See why he stayed hidden?”

“He can’t, Aaron. He can’t. I can’t go through that again.” She jumped up and ran to her room, burying her face in her pillow. No. If she stayed away from him, if she protected her heart against him, then it wouldn’t hurt. She wouldn’t care if he came back from this job.