Page 149 of The Life of Anna, Tenth Anniversary Edition, Act 2

“Katrina.” Hugo sighed as they talked after rehearsal. “I don’t want to get in the way of you and Alex. I think you need to give him a chance... give yourself a chance to get to know him again.”

Anna stared at Hugo. He’d just told her he didn’t think they should go out to dinner, and now he was telling her she should give Alex a chance?

All afternoon, she’d been looking forward to having dinner with Hugo. After all, she was free to do as she liked now. Truly free. And, when she didn’t remember Alex was there—or look at him—she really wanted to spend time with Hugo. The problem was that Alex seemed to always be somewhere she could see him, and it tortured her heart.

She saw the other female dancers come up with excuses to go over to him and flirt, but he never flirted back. He was polite and friendly, but nothing beyond that.

At the moment, Alex was standing at the edge of the stage, talking with Aaron and Vincent. Seth, Tony, and Greg were all surrounded by female dancers and appeared to be enjoying it very much. She could imagine they hadn’t gotten out much since they’d arrived.

“Katrina?” Hugo touched her shoulder. “Are you upset?”

Anna turned her gaze back onto Hugo’s kind, handsome face. “Hugo, I-I want to go out with you.”

“And I, you, Kittycat.” He stepped closer. “But you need to figure things out with Alex first. If you decide you don’t want to be with him, I will welcome you back with open arms. But you need to give yourself a chance to find out.” He inhaled deeply. “He loves you, Katrina. It’s written all over his face when he watches you dance. And he is your husband, like it or not. He should have the first chance with you.”

Anna grimaced at the reminder that Alex was still her husband, though she wasn’t exactly sure why. She slowly nodded. Hugo was right. If nothing else, it wasn’t fair to Hugo to be uncertain of how she felt about Alex.

Hugo kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He straightened and walked away.

Anna stared at the pointe shoe in her hand. Loneliness seized her heart and she sighed. She just wanted to go home and lay on her bed and cry. She packed up her things, slung her bag over her shoulder and walked off the stage.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and she turned to see Alex jogging in her direction. “An—er, Katrina.” He gave a sheepish smile. “I don’t know if I should call you Anna or Katrina.”

Anna shrugged. “Whichever you’d like to call me.”

“You’ve always been mein Schatzi ,” he said in a low voice.

Tears sprang to her eyes. “Alex...” She shook her head. Why were her emotions so raw?

“Please, just give me a chance,” he whispered, stepping closer. “I know I wounded you terribly by hiding from you.” He cradled her cheek. “But I couldn’t bear to tell you I had to leave. I didn’t want to put you through that again. I knew it would be so hard on you if I did.” He stepped even closer and she tipped her head up to gaze into his eyes, brimming with tears. “I was going to tell you as soon as I came back from this next job. Vati is fairly certain that... I will be able to retire once the others find out what happened.”

Anna looked away. She couldn’t stand to look into eyes, they were so filled with emotion. “I’m afraid, Alex. I’ve been hurt so badly...”

“I know, Schatzi ,” he murmured. His face was inches from hers. His arm slipped around her waist and he pulled her close. “I will do everything in my power to make sure you’re not hurt again.”

Fear bubbled up inside at his touch and she pushed him away. “No... no! Alex. I can’t.” She clutched her chest and ran away from him as fast as she could.

Alex stared through his tears as his beloved ran away from him. He sucked a deep breath, chest burning as he sucked air into his tight lungs.

He’d pushed her. Pushed her too fast. He hadn’t meant to, but he had done it anyway. The fear he’d sensed in her as she ran away broke his heart. Once again, she was afraid of him.

“She’s not afraid of you, Alex.”

Alex looked up to see Sebastian walking toward him. “What are you doing here?”

“Wanted to see how you two interacted today.”

“Hardly at all,” Alex muttered, running his hand through his hair. “I tried to kiss her and pushed her too fast. I felt her fear.”

“Fear of being hurt, Alex, not of you. Her heart is battered. The very fact that she’s not a cold-hearted bitch is attributable only to her heritage.”

“Why are the other ones like her so cold then?”

“They’re not cold, they’re just above emotions.” Sebastian stopped in front of him. “She was born of love between her parents. She was raised, at least for the first few years, in a home of love. Even Jack and Devin loved on her when she was younger. That is why she’s able to feel things other women like her could only dream of. That’s what makes her so powerful. That’s what makes her so vulnerable.”

Rage oozed through Alex’s veins like molten lava. A slow-burning hatred and abhorrence of the abomination that was Devin Andersen. No pain—no punishment—would ever make up for what that man had done to Anna. But he would pay. Alex would personally oversee it. Death was too kind for someone like him.

Sebastian put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Alex, calm down. You will have your opportunity to deal with Devin.”

Alex clenched his fists. “And I will savor every moment.”