The Life of Anna, Part 3: Embraced (17 page)

“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.

“What has she been looking forward to?” Anna
asked.

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?”

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?”