“You are strong,” she insisted.
“Not in the way I needed to be.” He sighed. “Anna…I know I hurt you by leaving,” he said in a hushed voice. “But when I stayed…Devin made me hurt you that night. He drugged me and made me hurt you. I couldn’t let him do that to us again.” His eyes grew brighter. “But I can fight for you now, Schatzi. I haven’t learned everything I need to know, but I’ve learned a lot.” He spoke urgently. “I can keep Devin from hurting you.”
“How? He’s so powerful. Much more so than he was before.”
“What do you mean, Anna?” Wilhelm asked.
She looked up at Wilhelm. “They did something at the August Gathering. They call him the Chairman now.”
Wilhelm’s face paled. “Are you sure?”
Anna nodded.
Wilhelm looked around. “I think we need to get going.”
“Did I say something wrong?” Anna asked nervously.
Wilhelm smiled kindly. “Nein, Anna. Not at all. It is not a good idea to speak of these kinds of things out in public. We will talk about it later.” He turned to Ilsa and put his arm around her. Anna winced at the affectionate look he gave his wife.
“I won’t leave you again, Anna,” Alex said in a low voice.
She looked back at him and he looked at her with such intensity she wanted to look away, but she couldn’t drag her eyes away from his.
She swallowed nervously and then concentrated so she could read him. He meant it. And he meant it differently than just as a Master. He meant it…as a lover? But…he’d been so cold to her when he’d visited. And he’d not contacted her when bad things happened. How could the emotions that she was sensing from him be so strong?
“Why were you so cold to me?” she asked softly.
His eyes darkened. “I had to, Anna. I had to let Devin think I didn’t care about you. As I had to when we first met. My leaving made Devin think I was done with you and he let me alone.” His brows twitched. “I don’t have to do that anymore, Schatzi. I won’t ever do it again.”
She could sense his sincerity, and his determination was overwhelming. He would protect her at any cost. He loved her.
The spark that had been kindled the first night they had spent together burst into flame again in her heart. Sitting here next to him for the first time in months was like coming home. She was connected to him unlike anyone else. Even Devin. Especially Devin. And Devin couldn’t take him away. Alex wasn’t vulnerable to Devin like other men were. He was the one person Devin couldn’t hurt.
Anna nodded slowly. “Yes, Alex,” she said softly. She reached up and cradled his cheek with her hand.
His eyes widened slightly and they filled with such emotion it filled her heart with joy. He slid his hand behind her head and leaned down to brush his lips against hers.
“Mein Anna,” he murmured before crushing his lips against hers in a passionate kiss. He held her tightly and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
She had come home. Kissing Alex was more than just their lips meeting. Her soul reached out for his when they touched. The hurts and fears of the past few months melted away as he held her close, sheltering her from the world. He could protect her and he would protect her. Of this she was certain.
*****
A little while later, Anna snuggled against Alex in the limo as it weaved its way north through the streets of Frankfurt. Seth, Tony and Greg were relaxing towards the front of the limo and Anna and Alex sat near the back seat where his parents were. Alex pointed out various buildings, but it was hard to see them in the dark. There was a light sprinkling of snow across the city that sparkled in the lights.
“Are you warm enough, Schatzi?”
“Next to you, yes.” She snuggled closer.
“Mutti, can we keep the house cool while she’s here?” Alex asked with a laugh.
“It will probably be cool enough from her point of view, Alex,” Ilsa answered, shaking her head in amusement.
“How far away is your house?”
Alex chuckled. “About twenty more minutes from here.”
The number of lights became fewer as they drove on and eventually there were hardly any lights at all. The moonlight made the snow sparkle like diamonds. She saw the shadows of mountains up ahead and the limo drove upwards on a winding road through a dense forest. They drove by a lake and up above it in the distance she saw sparkling lights.
“That is the Gutshaus.” Alex said, pointing to the lights.
From this distance it looked large, but Anna had no way of knowing how enormous it was until they were on the long driveway that led up to it.
“Oh!” she exclaimed in awe. It was huge. She felt foolish for calling it a house. It was a castle.
It was four stories high and unbelievably wide, with peaked roofs and multiple chimneys that glinted in the moonlight. Lights shone from dozens of windows. A porte-cochère protected the huge arched entryway that was easily three times as tall as a normal home’s entryway. When the limo pulled up to the front, the massive wooden doors opened and a thin, gray-haired man stood at attention as they exited the vehicle.
Anna shivered in the cold as she walked quickly to the door holding Alex’s hand.
“Lukas, this is Anna Perkins, our guest from America,” Wilhelm said by way of an introduction. “Anna, this is Lukas. He makes sure the haus is running like it should.”
Lukas’ bright, ice blue eyes sparkled warmly as he smiled at her. “Guten Abend, Fraulein.”
“Hello, Lukas,” she said shyly.
They walked into an enormous entrance hall with a series of marble arches around three sides. In the middle of the room an immense wooden table sat on top of a large woven rug. Massive polished beams atop the arches supported the timbers of the ceiling. To the left a stone staircase with polished wood and wrought iron banisters curved up to the second floor. As they moved further inside, Anna saw a room at a right angle to the hall, beyond the stair. Despite the wall tapestries and antique-looking furniture, the atmosphere was similar to the sitting room at Alex’s home in San Francisco, only four (six, eight, ten?) times the size. Straight ahead one of the arches housed an impressive glass and wood-beam door that closed off whatever lay beyond it. To the right, several arches opened up into some sort of open room.
“Wow,” Anna said softly, trying to take everything in. She had never seen anything so amazing. Alex stood next to her, holding her hand and smiling down on her.
She heard a squeal and footsteps coming from the stairway, and then an excited female voice speaking very fast in German. Alex laughed as a tall blonde, a little older than Anna, bounded down the stairs and ran right to him.
“Anna, this is my little sister, Greta. Greta, this is Anna.”
“Oh, Anna. I am so excited to meet you!” Greta said in a sweet voice with a heavy accent. She hugged Anna hard and then pulled back to look at her. “Alex has been like a madman these last few weeks. I am so glad you are finally here.”
Greta had a bright smile and laughing blue eyes the same color as Alex's. She was quite a few inches taller than Anna and her hair was long and straight and fashionably tousled. She was beautiful.
“Where are Liesl and Kurt and Gretchen?” Wilhelm asked.
Greta rolled her eyes. “Upstairs. Gretchen did not want to come downstairs.”
Alex rolled his eyes as well, which made Greta laugh.
“Komm, gehen wir,” Greta said with a mischievous glint in her eyes that reminded Anna of Kurt. “Let us go make Gretchen miserable.”
“Greta, that is not nice,” Ilsa said from across the room.
Alex laughed. “In a few minutes, Greta. I want to show Anna something first.”
Greta stuck out her lip and pouted prettily.
“Just a few minutes, Greta. I promise. I haven’t seen Anna in months.”
“Oh, all right. I have been looking forward to this for days.” She cheerfully bounded away and disappeared up the stairs with Wilhelm and Ilsa.
Alex sighed. “She loves tormenting Gretchen. Mostly because it’s easy to do.”
Anna didn’t understand.
“Gretchen….” He sighed. “Gretchen has had a thing for me in the past. When I came home she was delighted, but when I spoke of you she got very jealous.”
“Isn’t she Kurt’s wife?”
“Ja, which is even worse, because Kurt spoke highly of you too. If she’s rude to you, I apologize in advance. She can be…difficult. But I don’t want you to feel unwelcome, Anna.” He turned to her and looked at her with a firm expression. “You have just as much a right to be here as she does. Don’t let her intimidate you.”
Anna nodded slowly. “I’ll try,” she said with a timid smile.
“Komm mit mir. I want to show you the garden.”
“Garden?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Alex smiled and pulled Anna through the archways that led to the open room. Once inside, she felt transported to the outdoors. The room was warm and filled with all types of plants. Colorful flowers filled the room with delicious scents. There was even a small rose garden that bloomed in the corner. All in the midst of the German winter.
“Oh, Alex, it’s beautiful.”
Alex pointed up. “The ceiling is glass, but it’s covered in snow right now.”
Anna could imagine how beautiful the garden would look with daylight streaming through the glass panes.
Alex led her to a wooden bench in a small alcove, and they sat down next to each other. “Anna, I know when we were in California, you asked me some questions that I couldn’t answer. I will answer your questions now, and anything else you ask me. I won’t hold anything back.”
Anna tilted her head, curious. “Why?”
“Because I want you to trust me. I know when I didn’t answer you, I hurt you.” He took her hand. “I don’t want to hide anything from you anymore.”
She knew he was talking about when he went out of town. Did she want to know what he did? Was it something bad?
“You asked me what I was doing and where I was going when I went on my business trip. To understand what I did, I need to tell you a little about myself and my history.” Alex took a deep breath. “I’ve always had a fascination with the military. I suppose all boys go through that, but I was obsessed. I read everything I could about the subject. I became an expert in all things military. When I was thirteen, I told Vati that I wanted to go into the army. He...said no, very loudly.” Alex chuckled and Anna smiled. “Then he told me that I had more important things to do than be in the army, which I thought strange because he’d always spoken very highly of the military. He took me to the Manor for the first time later that day and told me about being an Elder and the importance of it. At thirteen, I didn’t fully understand it, but I do now.”
Alex stared off into some distant memory. “But I didn’t give up on my dream. I kept learning about the military, practiced shooting, and anything else I could do to prove that I could be a good soldier. My friend Jean Luc is the son of the French Ambassador, and one of his bodyguards was retired from the French army. I spent every moment I could with him, learning everything I could.
“Just before I graduated from secondary school, I took Gaidon, my mentor, with me and spoke to Vati again, telling him I wanted to be a soldier. Gaidon backed me, telling Vati that I was very talented and that I should be given a chance.” Alex smiled. “To make a long story short, I had the opportunity to prove to my father that I had talent and I did so. An Elder-Son is not normally allowed to participate in the mundane aspects of managing the world, but Vati convinced the Brotherhood that not allowing me to use my talent would be a waste. They agreed and I trained with the American military to become a sniper.”
He turned and looked at Anna with a nervous look on his face. “I am an expert sniper, Anna. Seth, Tony, Greg. They’re all my men. There are others, which you’ll meet later, though you’ve already met Sebastian. When the Brotherhood needs someone...taken care of, they call me. Or one of the other teams. But mine is the best.” He didn’t look arrogant when he said that. “We do other things too: sabotage, recon, surveillance. Sometimes we even go in and rescue hostages. We work with various governments on occasion as well.”
Anna stared at him. “So, when you went out of town, you were...killing someone?”
Alex nodded solemnly. “Ja.”
Anna didn’t know what to say. She had a hard time reconciling the Alex she knew with a cold-blooded killer.
Unexpectedly, a faint memory played back in her head. The night of the bonding ritual. Devin and Alex were arguing. Alex admitted to killing an Elder and he had threatened Devin. Something about the conversation made Anna feel safe with Alex. He had stood up to Devin, and Anna didn’t even know what Devin was capable of back then. But Alex did. And he saved her.
“That’s what the black means on my ring.”
“What?” Anna had barely heard him speak.
“The black stones on my ring. You asked about that when I gave you your bracelet. The black means that I’m a Brotherhood assassin.”
Anna nodded. “Do you do it often?”
“Sometimes. And sometimes we won't be called out for months.” He frowned. “I never told Mina that part about me.”
“Who’s Mina?”
Alex cocked his head and then gave her a soft smile. “My first wife. She died a few years before I moved to San Francisco.”
“Oh.” She remembered Kurt telling her that Alex had been married and had a child.
“I kept a lot of things from her. I was not a good husband.” He looked at her. “I’ve matured. At least I hope I have. I think I would do a much better job now.”
“A better job of being a husband?”
Alex nodded.
Anna looked down at her hands as dread filled her heart. “Are you thinking about getting married again?” she asked slowly. Is that why he came back here? To find a proper wife? But then why did he bring Anna to Germany if he was going to get married? She hoped he didn’t want her to meet his fiancé. The thought made her nauseous again.
“Ja, Anna. I am.”
“Oh.” She bent her head lower so he wouldn’t see her tears. She didn’t want to cry, but couldn’t stop herself. Why did her heart feel like it had a knife digging into it? There was no good reason for her to be upset about Alex marrying. He was an Elder-Son. He needed to be married; it was required. Just like Tommy would get married soon. And she, as an Elder-Mistress, would attend to their sexual needs as she always had.
She should be content with her life.
Tears dripped down her nose and fell onto her skirt. She tried to hide the spots on the fabric, but Alex took her hand.
“Why are you crying, Schatzi?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I’ve been an emotional mess lately. I’m sorry.”
“Your emotions are understandable, Anna. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Do you...I mean,” Anna stumbled through her tears. “Have you found the girl you want to marry?”
“Ja. I have.”
The knife twisted in her heart and she flinched at the pain. If she hadn’t been so miserable, she would be angry at herself. Why did the thought of Alex marrying hurt so bad? So they had two beautiful nights together. So what? She’d had beautiful nights with Kurt, too. They certainly didn’t want to marry her. Besides, Devin would never allow Anna to marry. That much was certain.
But Alex was a wonderful man. He deserved to be happy. She hoped the woman was worthy of him. “Is she nice?”
“Ja. The sweetest girl I ever met. And the prettiest. I just don’t know if she would want to marry me.”
Anna laughed remorsefully and looked up at him. “Why would any woman not want to marry you?”
“She’s very, very special. And I hurt her very badly in the past. I don't know if she would forgive me.”
“Oh.”
Why couldn’t she be the one Alex loved? Why did she have to be an Elder-Mistress? The severity of her life hit hard suddenly and she burst out into tears.
“I’m sorry, Alex.”
She stood and ran to the other side of the garden and into the entryway. She looked around and saw a padded bench through the opposite archway. She ran to it and sobbed, hugging her arms around her body.
Life was vicious.
She wished that Alex had just left her alone; that he’d never saved her from Devin’s plans. Then she wouldn’t be have been plagued by the excruciating agony of hope. Aaron. Nate. Tommy. Ben. She never would have known them. Never known the misery of heartbreak. She would have lived out her life blissfully unaware of happiness and love in her room at the Manor.
Quick footsteps echoed through the entry way and Alex approached her.
“Anna, why are you crying? Did I hurt you?”
“I’m sorry, Alex. I must still be tired. That’s why I’m crying.” She tried to smile as she glanced up at him through tear-filled eyes. “I’m glad you found someone who you want to marry. I hope you’ll be very happy with her.” She paused. “Do you love her?” she asked in a whisper, and then wondered why she asked. She didn’t want to know!
Alex sat next to her and brushed her hair away from her face. “With all of my heart,” he said softly.
“She’s very lucky,” Anna said in a broken voice.
“Nein. I am the lucky one.”
“Then why are you here with me, Alex?” she asked in desperation. His presence was maddening. “Why aren’t you with her?”
Alex’s eyes widened for a moment and then he laughed gently. “Anna.” He cupped her chin and made her look at him. “I already am with her.”
Anna tried to look around, but he held her chin.
“It’s you, Schatzi. You are the woman I want to marry. You are the woman I love.”
Anna stared at him dumbfounded. “Me? You want to marry me? Why?”
The Life of Anna, Part 3: Embraced Page 13