Chapter 155

Alex felt very different walking into the theater later that morning, as opposed to the day before. Today he held Anna’s hand: her right hand with her wedding ring back in its proper place. She also returned his wedding ring that was mailed to Devin after he supposedly died.

Vitaly had yanked it off his finger, telling him he would send it to Anna, so she’d know he was dead. The tears in her eyes when she’d slid it back onto his finger showed him how difficult that had been for her. Its heavy weight was comforting, and he would never, ever take it off again.

Anna trembled as they walked through the backstage area, and he squeezed her hand gently. She was nervous about what her friends would think about her and Alex being together. Especially since she hadn’t told anyone that her “engagement” to Kurt had been called off.

They walked into the wings and Anna froze, staring out onto the stage at her friends from the shadows.

He gently squeezed her hand again. “Ready?”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “At least, I think so.”

He kissed her soundly and then made his way out to the seats in front of the stage with Seth while she found her place on the stage. The bright smile on her face made his heart melt, knowing he had some part in it. She certainly was the reason for the smile on his own face.

Greg and Tony had the day off. He didn’t need to walk around with three armed men. If there was trouble, they were only a few blocks away. Few people knew he was alive, no one would come looking for him.

Vincent spotted him as he scooted down the third row and walked over to greet him. “You look happy this morning.”

Alex couldn’t keep the grin from spreading across his face, and he shrugged sheepishly. “I am.”

Vincent’s brow raised high. “Would it be impertinent to ask why?”

Alex chuckled and nodded in Anna’s direction. “Look at her hands.”

“Katrina?” Vincent gave him a strange look and then squinted.

It would have been nearly impossible to not notice the sparkles on her left hand. She wore several karats of high-quality diamonds on that left ring finger.

“That’s not her engagement ring, is it?”

“It is. It’s her real engagement ring. And wedding ring.”

Vincent squinted again. “She’s wearing the other ring she wore when she arrived...” He glanced at Alex. “She got married?”

“She’s been married. She is my wife and has been for over four years.”

Vincent stared at him. “Wait, I thought... you were supposed to be dead.”

“I was. She was told I was dead, as was everyone else. Aaron, too.” Alex smiled as he glanced at his friend stretching on stage. “You’ve met Devin Andersen?”

Vincent’s face turned dark. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“He had me taken so that he could have Anna to himself. The reason she came here was so that we could be reunited and I could... take care of Devin.” It was nowhere close to the whole story, but Vincent didn’t need to know everything.

Vincent studied Anna for a long minute. “She seems... lighter than I’ve ever seen her.” He smiled affectionately at her. “She’s practically glowing.”

“Anna in love is the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.”

“I can’t disagree with that.” He turned his smile to Alex. “You can keep her safe?”

Alex nodded solemnly. “When Devin came here a few weeks ago, I kept him from finding her.”

“Good.”

They chatted for a few more minutes, and then Vincent went onstage to speak to his assistant. Alex settled into the seat next to Seth. He gazed at Anna as she moved into position and began the warm-ups. God, he loved that woman! “How am I going to leave her to go out on another job, Seth?”

Aaron could tell, just by looking at her, that Anna and Alex had gotten back together. She radiated happiness, which made her even more unbelievably beautiful. He would see the straight guys watching her from time to time, she was so fucking sexy, but today, they almost couldn’t take their eyes off her.

‘Course, the sparkling left hand also made it painfully obvious that she and Alex were together again.

Hugo walked up to him with a resigned look on his face. “If I were a selfish man, I would be angry,” he said in a quiet voice, looking at her with longing in his eyes.

Aaron’s heart went out to him. He knew exactly how Hugo felt. “It’s not easy getting over her.”

“Did you get over her?”

He shook his head. “I still love her.” He gave Hugo a lopsided grin. “I gave up trying to find someone like her.”

“Are you saying I should give up and try playing for the other team?”

Aaron laughed. “Have you ever had any inclination toward that?”

Hugo shook his head and grinned. “Never been attracted to men.”

“There are some nice girls out there. There’s not another Katrina, but... there couldn’t be.”

Hugo stiffened and Aaron followed his gaze to where Jasmine had just walked out on stage. The few people that had been out with them shot her dirty looks, but she didn’t seem to notice. She had a small smile on her face and she looked... happy?

Aaron instantly searched out Alex and stormed over to him. “Did you fucking sleep with Jasmine?”

Alex’s eyes widened. “Why the hell would you ask me a question like that? Of course not.”

Aaron motioned up to the stage where Jasmine was sitting quietly and changing shoes. “Why is she... happy?”

“Did you know her father was an alcoholic?” Alex asked calmly.

“What? I . . . No.”

“He was very neglectful and emotionally abusive.”

Aaron gave Alex a look. “What the hell does that have to do with anything? And how do you know?”

“Sebastian and I were going to erase her memories of Devin to eliminate the threat for Anna, but when we started, we saw the hurt that caused her to act the way she does.” Alex smiled. “Sebastian healed her.”

Aaron stared at Alex for a long moment and then turned to look at Jasmine, who was talking to Anna with a kind expression on her face. She was definitely different today. “He can do that?”

“Immortals can do all sorts of things.”

Anna hugged Jasmine and gave her a friendly smile and Jasmine looked... sincerely happy. He’d never seen the woman look that way.

“Give her a chance, Aaron. If you do, the others will. She acted out from her past hurts.”

Aaron scrunched his face and crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine.”