The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (31 page)

She walked away from him quickly, breaking
into a run when she heard him following her. It was the middle of
the night. Where were the bars that stayed open all night? Wasn’t
anyone out this late?

Arms wrapped around her waist and she
shrieked, kicking and screaming, then suddenly she was on the
ground and the sound of flesh hitting flesh was behind her. She
turned and saw the man who had been following her up against the
wall and another man with long dark hair and a beard punching him
in the face.

Anna didn’t stop to find out what would
happen. She ran down the sidewalk as fast as she could and waved
down a taxi at the corner. She gave the driver her address and
slumped into the seat, wrapping her arms around herself and trying
to stop trembling.

By the time she unlocked her apartment door,
Anna was an emotional mess. Anger, fear, hurt, confusion, all
filled her, leaving her emotionally raw. She closed the door behind
her, and fell to the ground and sobbed.

“Anna?” Aaron walked out of his room,
bare-chested and running his hand through his hair. “What are you
doing home? I thought you were going to see Mr. J.”

She stared at Aaron. What would he say about
the news that Alex wasn’t dead?

Concern immediately filled his eyes. “Anna,
what’s wrong? Did he hurt you?”

She laughed bitterly. “You could say that,”
she said, anger rising inside her again. She stood and lifted her
chin, wiping the tears away. “I found out who Mr. J. is.”

Aaron’s brow raised and she heard quick
footsteps behind Aaron. Cameron appeared beside Aaron. “You saw
him?” he asked excitedly.

Anna looked back at Aaron, her jaw trembling.
“It’s Alex.”

Aaron stared at Anna’s tear streaked face.
“Mr. J. is Alex?” He shook his head. He couldn’t have heard her
correctly. Alex was dead. “What do you mean?”

“Who’s Alex?” Cameron asked.

“Alex, Aaron,” Anna said with a strained
voice. “Alex is alive and hiding behind the persona of Mr. J.”

Aaron shook his head.
“No...he’s...dead....”

Her face screwed up, but he wasn’t sure if it
was in anger or grief. “He’s been in the city since July,” she
spat. “And he’s been pretending to be someone else.”

Aaron didn’t know what to say. Alex was
alive? How was that possible? A million thoughts crammed into his
head. He, too, didn’t know if he should be angry, happy or what.
How did you deal with finding out someone you thought was dead for
four and a half years was alive?

He felt a gentle hand on his and he looked
down to see Cameron holding his hand. “Aaron? What’s going on?” he
asked in a gentle voice, his blue eyes full of concern.

“Alex,” Aaron choked out over the lump in his
throat. “Anna’s husband. The one we thought was dead. He’s
apparently not.”

Cameron’s eyes widened. “Omigosh!” He slapped
his hand over his mouth.

Aaron had told Cameron about his physical
relationship with Alex before Anna came into the picture, and that
they had been best friends. Cameron at least kind of understood why
Aaron was upset.

Anna’s phone rang in her pocket and she
looked at it. Her eyes narrowed and she hit the ignore button and
put it down on the ground. “Wilhelm,” she said, looking up at him.
“He probably knew too. He had to have known.”

Suddenly, Aaron felt the anger that he saw in
Anna’s face. He had trusted Wilhelm. Why hadn’t Wilhelm told him?
Why all the secrecy? “I need some air,” he growled and went into
his room to get dressed. He slipped his flip-flops on and stormed
out of the apartment.

Back at his condo, Alex ran his hands through
his hair as he slumped down on the white couch in his dark living
room. Oh, what a mess. This is not how it was supposed to go. Not
at all. Anna was supposed to be happy to see him, not hit him in
the face.

Anna had been so angry that she had hit him!
He’d never seen her like that...never imagined she could be that
way. He would strangle Devin for what he’d done to her...once she
was freed from him.

But once she was freed from Devin, she would
be freed from Alex as well. Would she stay with him? He hadn’t
doubted before, but did now. Vati had told him she’d changed, but
Alex hadn’t realized how true it was.

He heard the door to the condo open and close
and looked up to see Seth walk into the room.

“Did she get home okay?” Alex asked in
English. He’d insisted on speaking English since he arrived in New
York. He was rusty and he wanted to be sure that Anna could
understand him when they were reunited.

“I think so,” Seth answered and held up his
hands, palms out, at the dirty look Alex gave him. “Some guy
attacked her on the sidewalk and I took care of him. She ran away
and got into a taxi.”

How would he find out if she made it home? It
wasn’t as if he could just call Aaron and ask. Aaron would freak
out.

“So what happened?” Seth asked, turning on
the light.

Alex sighed. He’d just told Seth to follow
Anna and make sure she made it home. He didn’t have a chance to
tell him what happened. “I blew it.” He leaned his head on the back
of the couch and looked up at the high ceiling. “I
was...passionate, I suppose, and I was letting her touch me. It
felt so good to have her touching me.” He looked at his friend, who
gave him a sympathetic look. “I was being stupid, but I couldn’t
stop her. Couldn’t bring myself to pull her hands off me. But then
I spoke and she froze. I don’t think she knew it was me, but she
knew something was off. She tried to leave, but....” He shook his
head. “I couldn’t let her leave like that.” He closed his eyes.
“She knows it’s me.”

“Oh, fuck, Alex.” Seth sat down hard on the
couch across from him.

“She hit me. She was so angry, she hit me and
then she left. That’s why I told you to follow her.” He looked back
at Seth. “Did the guy hurt her?”

Seth shook his head. “He grabbed her and I
got hold of him before he could do anything.” His brow raised.
“Anna hit you?”

Alex nodded and rubbed his cheek where she’d
hit him. “She’s strong.”

Seth chuckled. “She’d have to be to survive
everything she’s gone through.”

“She hates me,” Alex said, scratching at his
beard. “She yelled at me.”

“Alex, think about it. She’s in shock. She
doesn’t hate you. She couldn’t. She just...needs some time—”

“You didn’t see the look in her eyes, Seth.”
Alex felt the tears burning his eyes. “She accused me of lying to
her.” He grimaced. “She’s not wrong.”

“You have your reasons for doing so, Alex.
They’re good reasons. She never would have let you out of her sight
to do what you need to do before you can face Devin.”

“Now I wonder if she’ll let me
into
her sight.”

“She will. I’m sure of it. She just needs
some time to process it.”

Alex’s phone rang. “Hello, Vati.”

“She’s not answering her phone,” Wilhelm said
and then sighed. “She’s so stubborn now.”

“So I’ve seen.”

“I can’t get there until Monday. Marcus’
funeral isn’t until later today. But I don’t know if it will do any
good. She’s angry at me, too.”

“She wouldn’t have been angry at you if you
two had been more careful with her,” Alex snapped. “Kurt’s been
treating her like shit, too. How is she supposed to trust either of
you?”

“I know, Alex,” Wilhelm snapped back. “I was
going to try and make amends on Tuesday.”

“It’s a little late for that.”

Wilhelm sighed. “Perhaps she would respond
better to your mother.”

The Penthouse phone buzzed and Seth went to
answer it. Who would be coming here in the middle of the night?
Maybe Anna changed her mind! Everyone knew where he lived.

“Someone’s here, Vati,” he said, standing and
looking at Seth, whose face wasn’t very encouraging. He looked
expectantly at Seth who turned and grimaced.

“It’s Aaron,” Seth said.

“Aaron?” Alex exclaimed. “Vati, Aaron’s here.
Maybe he’ll be able to talk some sense into Anna.”

“Call me in the morning and let me know.”

Alex tossed the phone on the wooden coffee
table in front of him and looked at Seth. “Is he coming up?”

Seth nodded. “Ken said he didn’t look very
happy and was hesitant to let him up, but I said it was all
right.”

Alex nodded and sighed. Another friend angry
that he was alive. No, that wasn’t fair. It was unlikely that Aaron
was upset that Alex was alive. He was probably upset for the same
reason Anna was. Oh, what a mess. But at least he could assume that
Anna got home all right.

“When’s your dad coming in?” Seth asked.

“Monday. Funeral’s tomorrow, er today.”

“It’s too bad they can’t let on that they
know what’s going to happen already. What a waste of time, having
to hang around Chicago until the real funeral.”

“Devin can’t know I’ve escaped yet. I wish I
could go punch him in the face.” He shook his head. “Poor Anna.
It’s not going to be as easy as I thought it would be, getting back
into her life.” The thought of not having Anna in his life made his
heart feel like it had been stabbed with a dull knife.

A knock a few minutes later announced Aaron’s
arrival. Alex’s stomach churned as he waited to face his best
friend after so many years.

Aaron’s fists clenched as he waited for the
door to open. He had no idea what he would say to Alex. Right now,
he just kinda wanted to hit him like Anna had. How could Alex have
not told them that he was here? That he was alive? Why had he hid
himself?

The door opened and Aaron stared at the broad
man with long dark hair and a beard. “Seth?”

Seth smiled nervously. “Hey, Aaron.”

“You’re alive too?” What the hell had
happened?

“And Greg and Tony. And Erich.” His face
darkened. “We didn’t all make it.”

Aaron’s anger abated at Seth’s words. He
didn’t know the other guys as well, but he knew them. “Jason,
Michael and Jesse?” Sebastian was Immortal. Was he allowed to come
back?

Seth nodded, grief in his eyes. “C’mon in.”
He stepped aside and Aaron walked inside.

The entry foyer was round, with dark wood
floors and white paneled walls and ceiling. He followed Seth around
a corner and into a large living room with a very high ceiling and
two long couches. At the end of one couch stood Alex.

Aaron stared at his dead friend for a long
moment. He was older, with messy, long blond hair that brushed his
shoulders and neatly trimmed beard, but it was him. There was no
doubt about it. He was just as tall as he had been when he’d left,
though not quite as broad. The cobalt-blue eyes that watched him
nervously were the same.

A myriad of emotions flitted through Aaron’s
mind. He wanted to hug Alex and punch him at the same time. Having
been in a relationship with a guy for several months, he couldn’t
help but see him through the eyes of a man who liked men. Damn, he
was still fucking hot.

“Hello, Aaron,” Alex said in a quiet voice.
His accent was very strong, and different from before.

“Alex.” Aaron blinked, still having a hard
time believing Alex was standing in front of him. “I don’t know
whether to punch you or hug you,” he admitted.

“Please don’t hit me. Anna already did.”

Aaron nodded. “I know. She told me.”

Alex grimaced. “I’m sorry.” His eyes filled
with pain and his shoulders slumped. He shook his head sadly. “This
was not how it was supposed to go.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Aaron asked in a
hoarse voice. “Why didn’t you come see us as soon as you got
here?”

“Because....” Alex ran his hands through his
hair. “Because I have to do some things before I can confront
Devin, and I didn’t want you and Anna to think I was leaving you
again.”

“What do you have to do?”

Alex hesitated and then inhaled slowly. “You
know what I do...what I did for the Brotherhood.”

Aaron nodded.

“I assume you’ve heard about Connor and
Marcus?”

He nodded again and then inhaled sharply.
“That was you?”

Alex nodded. “Once Devin’s supporters are
gone, I can confront him, in front of the world Elders, and he will
face judgment. I was going to come to you and Anna in just a few
weeks. After I took out Oscar.”

It amazed Aaron how casually Alex could talk
about killing a man, but then he remembered what these men did to
Anna and clenched his jaw. “Can I help?”

Alex laughed. “If there was something you
could do....” He stopped, growing serious, and his brow twitched.
“Help me with Anna,” he pleaded.

“She’s changed.”

“I know,” Alex whispered. “I’ve missed so
much....” He took a step forward and stopped. “Please forgive me,
Aaron. I had my reasons for staying hidden. I have to leave in a
few weeks and take out Oscar. Anna won’t like that...if she
forgives me.”

Aaron sighed. “She will. I’m sure of it. She
still cries herself to sleep sometimes.” He pressed his lips
together. “What the hell is wrong with your brother?” If she wasn’t
so angry at Kurt and Wilhelm, she probably would have taken Alex’s
appearance better. Although Wilhelm’s command to stay out of Hugo’s
bed made more sense now.

“He doesn’t want to give her up,” Alex said
simply. “I showed up and suddenly the woman he was in love with
belonged to his brother again.”

“He’s been an ass.”

“I know. He knows. He regrets it. He hates
that he’s taken his anger out on her.” Alex chuckled. “Believe me,
we’ve had words. And fists.”

“You two fought?”

Seth laughed from behind him. “Kurt’s picked
up some impressive moves. He beat Alex the first couple of
fights.”

“I wouldn’t say beat...,” Alex said with a
frown.

Seth walked into Aaron’s sight and leaned
against the wall. “I would.” His eyes glinted with amusement.