Chapter 164

Anna did not have the amused expression Alex had thought she would when he finished his story. He would have thought her to be giggling at his silly jealousy, not staring at her hands in her lap.

Seth had walked in halfway through the story, adding in his two cents, and Alex glanced at him. Seth shrugged, apparently as confused as he was.

Alex reached for Anna’s hand. “ Schatzi ?”

“You slept with Irina?”

“I—?” Shit . He hadn’t realized he’d mentioned her name. Until now. “It happened when I came to you. I had to take in the Immortal essence, but I couldn’t take it straight and?—?”

Anna swallowed and shook her head, tears filling her eyes. “I’m very familiar with the process, Alex.”

“I didn’t ask for Sebastian to bring her,” he said softly.

“You fucked her so you could come and manipulate me into breaking up with my boyfriend.”

Alex realized how bad it sounded. “It wasn’t like that. I—I didn’t know what was going on when I’d finished?—?”

She held up her hand. “I know how it happens. You don’t need to tell me.” Her jaw trembled and she sucked in a deep breath. “I need some air.” She glared at him. “Don’t send Seth to follow me. It’s the middle of the day.”

Anna walked out of the room, her light footsteps disappearing down the staircase.

Alex looked at Seth. “Is it wrong that I don’t understand why that upset her so much? She would have to know I’ve slept with the other Elder-Mistresses before.”

Seth frowned. “I dunno. How she put it sounded really bad.” He sighed. “I understand why you did it, but... yeah, I don’t know why she’s so mad either.”

Alex ran his hands through his hair. “I can’t do anything right with her.”

“Did you tell her about Yelena?”

Alex shook his head. “She won’t take that well either.”

“Who’s Yelena?” Anna’s soft voice came from the stairway.

Alex shot a glare at Seth, and then turned to look at Anna, frowning. “I thought you were getting air.”

“I realized I was being oversensitive and came back to apologize.” She stepped toward him. “Who’s Yelena?” she repeated.

Alex sighed. “Peter’s cousin. Vlad’s middle daughter.”

She froze, her expression one of suspicion. “What should I know about her?”

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.

“Katrina, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

How could she explain without confusing him? “The day you and I broke up... I... had a dream about Alex. He pleaded with me to not give up on him returning, which is why I called Wilhelm and found out the truth of my future. Or, at least, kind of the truth.”

Hugo’s brow raised. “Okay . . .”

Anna chewed her lip for a moment. “It... it wasn’t a dream. He... really came to talk to me, though I didn’t know it was real at the time.”

Hugo had looked confused before, and even more so now. But still supportive. As always.

“In order to . . . do that, he had to . . . do something. That something involved him having sex with . . . someone I don’t really . . . get along with.”

“He used sex to visit you?”

Anna sighed. “It’s hard to explain without going into a lot of details, but in a roundabout way, yes. He did it to manipulate me into breaking up with you.” She took a sip of water and stared at the table in front of her.

“Ah.” Hugo rubbed his head. “That seems... not nice.”

Anna smiled at his diplomacy. “Then I found out that he got someone pregnant when he was in Russia, and he threw in my face that his dad got me pregnant.”

“His . . . dad?”

Anna inhaled sharply. She realized how that sounded. To someone outside The Brotherhood, that sounded really bad. Her shoulders slumped and she closed her eyes. “In the world that I live in, he has a right to do that...”

“You’ve slept with your husband’s... dad and brother?”

Her face burned. She shouldn’t have gone to Hugo. She should have gone to Aaron instead. He understood the strangeness that was The Brotherhood. “I haven’t slept with Kurt in a really long time.”

“You were engaged.”

“He wouldn’t sleep with me.”

“Oh.”

The room was quiet and Anna felt awkward. Trying to explain the things that went on in The Brotherhood without sounding demented was nearly impossible. She stood. “I’m sorry, Hugo. I shouldn’t have come to you about this...”

He grabbed her hand. “Why did you come to me?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.

Anna turned to look at him, her heart aching. Their relationship had been doomed from the beginning. “We never had a chance...” she whispered, heart full of grief. “I’m so sorry, Hugo. If I’d known?—?”

“I don’t regret a moment of time I spent with you, Kittycat.”

Tears burned her eyes at his use of his pet name for her. “If Alex hadn’t come—?” They gazed into each other’s eyes. Damn Alex! Damn him for coming back. Why couldn’t he have stayed in Germany? Why did he have to come back and ruin things? She’d made a new life for herself. She’d been happy. And he had come back and ruined it all.

Anna slowly sat back down. “I miss you,” she whispered. Oh, she was treading in dangerous waters, but she didn’t care.

Hugo reached out and caressed her cheek. “I miss you, too.”

She leaned forward, brushing her lips against his. He jumped at her touch, but didn’t back away. “I didn’t want to break up with you.” She ran her hand over his shoulder and around his neck. “I didn’t want to leave you.”

Suddenly, Hugo’s arms wrapped around her and held her tightly against him. He cupped the back of her head and crushed his lips against hers. She opened her mouth, letting him thrust his tongue in and out, slowly, sensually. She moaned softly and clung tighter to his shoulders.

He pulled her onto his lap, her legs straddling his, and she pressed her hips against him. His cock strained in his sweatpants, and he groaned when she pressed against him.

His hands slid under her t-shirt as he kissed her, and she shivered as he caressed her back. She slid her hands down his torso and brushed his cock, making him jump.

“Katrina . . .”

She sat up and pulled her shirt off. His eyes widened as he gazed at her breasts. She took his hand and placed it on her right breast, and he inhaled slowly. He squeezed gently and she closed her eyes and sighed. “Yes...” Desire coursed through her body.

Hugo leaned forward, pulling her bra down, and took her nipple into his mouth. Anna moaned softly and held his head to her. His tongue swirled around and around her nipple. She pulled at his shirt.

Thoughts of Alex came unbidden to her mind, but she pushed them aside. She didn’t care that he wouldn’t like what she was doing. He could kiss her a?—

A shooting pain shot through her head and she grabbed hold of it and screamed.

“Katrina! Katrina, what’s wrong?”