Chapter 49

Anna slowly dressed for dinner. Moving fast hurt too much. She gingerly styled her hair in an up-do and put on the dress Devin had brought for her to wear: a long white chiffon dress with a crisscross back and a very low V-neckline that showed off the inner swell of her breasts. When she walked, her right thigh was exposed. Bruises from the afternoon showed on her arms and lower back. She bit her lip and tiptoed out to the living room where Devin sat with his tablet on his lap.

He looked up as she walked in. “Why are you frowning?”

“I—There are bruises that show with this dress.” She pointed to her arms and turned so he could see her back.

Devin stood suddenly and Anna backed away in fear, nearly tripping on the length of the dress. It was meant to be worn with very high heels.

He grabbed her arm and spun her around to examine her back. His hands slid over the bruises and Anna flinched. His hand continued up her back and pushed her loose curls aside and grabbed her neck. “Maybe you need to wear your hair down.” He yanked on her hair, making her yelp. “A simple fix, don’t you think?” His other hand trailed up her side and inside the neckline to twist her nipple. “If anyone asks, you’ll tell them you like it rough.” He bit the back of her neck. “Don’t you?”

“Y-yes, Devin.”

He pushed her forward by her head. “Go fix your hair. We need to go in a few minutes.”

Anna hurried to the bathroom to pull her hair down and brush it until it shined.

“Anna!”

She grabbed her shoes and ran out to the living room.

Tyler stood next to his father and grinned. He walked to her and pulled her close, pushing his fingers into the bruises he had given her earlier. “Fucking sexy,” he murmured against her neck before biting it and making Anna cry out in pain.

“Let’s go. You can fuck her up again later. Just make sure she can walk tomorrow.”

Devin took Anna’s hand and they walked down the hallway to the elevators.

They made their way down to the ballroom. As she walked in, she spotted many familiar faces, though the only ones she knew by name were the Americans. Every culture in the world was represented in this room. There were tensions between some groups and friendliness among others. A handful of women in white were dispersed among the more than one hundred and fifty men, mostly wearing dark suits, though some wore clothing more suited to their culture. The other women—the slaves—would come later. Only the Elder-Mistresses were allowed in the room during dinner.

As Devin led her to their table, she saw Wilhelm and Kurt across the room. Kurt smiled at her and nodded, as trying to assure her of something, though of what, Anna couldn’t even begin to imagine.

The other American Elders and their sons joined them at the table. Tommy smiled at her warmly and tried to sit with her, but Tyler slid into the chair next to her, with Devin on her other side. Tyler looked smug and Tommy grimaced and took the seat next to his father, who had seated himself next to Devin.

Dinner was uneventful for Anna. Thankfully, no one tried anything and she could sit quietly and study the room a little. Peter sat next to his uncle at a nearby table. Their eyes met and he gave her a warm smile.

After dinner, Vlad stood and spoke to the men in English, thanking them for coming and announcing the itinerary for the next few days. “Is there any business that needs to be attended to?” he asked when he had finished.

Wilhelm stood and waited for Vlad to acknowledge him. A tiny smile appeared on Vlad’s face before nodding to Wilhelm and sitting down.

“My Brothers,” Wilhelm began in heavily accented English. “You all know that my son, Alex, was killed while performing his duties to The Brotherhood. He left behind a sweet, beautiful wife.” Wilhelm met Anna’s eyes and smiled.

Devin stiffened next to her.

“You also know that she is an Elder-Mistress. What you may not know is that she is also a slave. A slave with two Masters.” He paused and there were murmurs around the room.

Devin growled. “What the fuck is he doing?”

“Devin Andersen is one Master. Alex was her second Master, and when he died, I took his place. I have not been allowed to see or speak to my daughter-in-law in almost a year-and-a-half, because Devin decided I should not have that right. I ask you, my Brothers, to pressure Devin into lifting the ban prohibiting my family to have contact with Anna, and restore my rights as her Master.”

Devin jumped to his feet and threw his napkin on the table. He stabbed a finger at Wilhelm. “You were trying to steal her away from me!”

Wilhelm tilted his head and kept his voice even. “How can I steal what is rightfully mine? I had my reasons for wanting to take her to Germany.” He didn’t go into details, which seemed to surprise Devin.

A tall man with very dark skin stood. “Why is an Elder-Mistress a slave?” His voice was very deep and resonant. A beautiful dark-skinned woman sat next to him with gold threads running through her braided hair. The man put his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “That is not right.”

Wilhelm didn’t comment, and Devin fumed but kept quiet.

A heated discussion ensued about Elder-Mistresses being slaves. The consensus went against what Devin had done, and his rage grew more and more palpable as the minutes wore on. Anna held her breath, dreading the end of the dinner and what would take place in his room after. Would Kaveh be able to come and heal her?

After about ten minutes, Wilhelm raised his hand and the room quieted. “Brothers, I did not bring up the subject to debate the issue of Anna’s slavery. It is done and there is nothing to be done to change it. My sole concern is that I cannot have any contact with her. As you can imagine, I am quite fond of my daughter-in-law, and I simply wish to spend time with her.”

Devin narrowed his eyes at Wilhelm and leaned over to Tom. “Why isn’t he taking advantage of the discussion to contest what I did?”

“He seems to just want to see Anna.” Tom shrugged. “Is that so unreasonable? How would you like to not be able to be with her?”

Devin turned his narrowed gaze on Tom and studied him for a long time. Finally, Devin pressed his lips together and sighed. “You’re right. He only wants to spend time with her. I suppose that’s not unreasonable.” Though he didn’t seem happy, Devin stood and held up his hands. The room quieted again.

“Perhaps I was a bit... hasty in forbidding contact with Anna.” Devin gritted his teeth. “I lift my ban on your contact with her.”

Anna’s heart leaped and she stared up at Devin, terrified to hope his words meant what she thought they might mean.

“And visitations?” Wilhelm arched a brow.

Devin’s jaw clenched and he gave a single, sharp nod.

Wilhelm beamed. “I thank you for your willingness to change your mind, Devin.”

Devin sat down and looked directly into Anna’s eyes. “You may go to him. If you embarrass me or misbehave in any way, I will punish you when we return home.”

Anna bounced in her chair, unable to contain the joy surging through her entire body. “Yes, Devin.”

“I forbid you from marrying Kurt or from making me look bad in front of the Elders. You may not tell anyone what goes on at my Gatherings or in my private meetings. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Devin.” Her feet twitched and she clasped her hands in her lap, desperately wanting to run across the room.

“Go.”

Anna hesitated, not trusting she’d heard his words, but he nodded stiffly. Anna jumped up, her chair falling over backwards, and she ran as quickly as she could across the room and into Wilhelm’s open arms. She could feel Devin’s disapproving stare, but she couldn’t stop herself. Wilhelm held her tightly and kissed her head, stroking her hair and whispering in German to her. Tears fell down her cheeks and were absorbed into his suit jacket and she buried her face into the soft wool, inhaling his comforting, familiar scent and closing her eyes.

Vlad stood to speak again and Wilhelm sat down, pulling Anna into his lap. She leaned her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. She looked up to see Kurt looking at her with longing and reached out her hand to him. He smiled, and Wilhelm gently pushed her into Kurt’s lap.

“Anna,” Kurt whispered, stroking her cheek. She rested her head on Kurt’s chest and reached behind her for Wilhelm’s hand. Anna closed her eyes and sighed. Their presence was everything she’d remembered, and so much more.

When the dinner was over, the wait staff cleared the dinnerware and pushed the tables to the sides of the room. The massive side doors opened and slave girls streamed in wearing short blue dresses.

Anna stood and bit her lip, dropping her gaze to the floor. “How may?—?”

Wilhelm shook his head and lifted her chin. “ Nein , Liebling . You are not to be used tonight. Kurt and I are going to take you to our room and have a nice, quiet evening. We have a lot of catching up to do.” He gave Anna a heart-melting smile and nodded to Kurt.

Kurt took her hand and they followed Wilhelm to where Devin sat with Tom and Oscar.

Wilhelm put his hand on Anna’s arm. “I want to thank you for changing your mind, Devin. I did not want to start any trouble. I just wanted to be with Anna. I hope you can understand that.”

Devin narrowed his eyes and lifted his chin. “She will return to me.”

Wilhelm nodded. “As much as I detest the thought, I agree. She cannot stay with me for long periods of time. This I know.” Wilhelm paused. “I was wondering if you would be willing to let her return to Germany with me. I believe she has some time off dancing? I will return her before the end of the month. You have my word.”

Devin’s chin jutted to the side. “I was looking forward to having her to myself for a few weeks.”

“You have had her for a year-and-a-half without any interference from me.”

“She was with Peter.”

“That is not my problem. I have been forbidden from any sort of contact with her. You owe me.” Wilhelm’s eyes flashed and Anna could sense his anger. Anna had only seen him angry once before—at Gretchen—and knew that he and Alex had similar tempers; she knew enough to be afraid.

Devin’s jaw clenched. “Give me a date that you’ll return her.”

“I will let you know before you leave.”

They glared at each other for a long minute before Devin nodded. “Fine. But if you try anything?—?”

“I am not you, Devin. I keep my word.” Wilhelm turned and strode away before Devin could say anything else.

Anna stared wide-eyed as Devin’s face turned red with rage. He turned his furious gaze on to Anna before Kurt tugged at her hand and led her away.