she had ever imagined. She was still dressed head to toe in black, and men’s clothing to boot. Anya’s attire suited a funeral more than a wedding.
“You won’t regret this,” Arthur said breaking the silence. “I won’t treat you the way your father or Dierk does. If you don’t want to stay married, we can have it dissolved when we return home to the States.”
That was a small comfort…
“You don’t want to stay married?” she asked. Anya had gotten the feeling he cared for her, or Anastasia. She couldn’t be certain which considering she had no idea what their previous relationship had been like.
“I didn’t say that,” he said carefully. “I don’t want you to feel obliged to honor our vows. We didn’t say them under normal circumstances.”
He tapped the steering wheel. The sky had grown dark and they were almost to the German border. They would soon discover what their fate would be when they returned. Would Dierk or Edward make her life miserable? Would she be able to escape the embassy altogether?
“We shouldn’t stay here,” she said quietly. “We will want to help, and it will become too difficult to hide our activities. I wish I could stop it all, but it is impossible. What is meant to be will be.”
“You want to return home now?” he asked, surprise evident in her tone. “I thought you’d want to stay longer.”
She shook her head. Anya would like nothing more than to return home…to her real home, but that wasn’t possible. For whatever reason, fate had decided she needed to travel to the past. Was she supposed to learn some sort of life lesson? She couldn’t be certain. “There’s nothing to keep me here.” That much was the truth anyway.
“Then we will go,” he told her. “I will do whatever it is you want.”
That sounded like a man in love. “Why are you helping me?” She had to understand his motives. Maybe if she did she could wrap her head around the entire situation.
The muscles in his cheek twitched. Had she hit a nerve? Did he not want to admit how he felt? She could relate to that. It was difficult for her to open up to anyone. Finally, he took a deep breath and started speaking. “There’s something about you I cannot resist, never have been able to. You have an innocence about you that is refreshing in this harsh world. I want to protect you. Is that so wrong?”
Not an admission of love, but it might as well have been. She wasn’t sure how it made her feel. Did he have feelings for her or Ana? She’d never truly know and that bothered her more than she wanted to admit. Did she want his love? Anya wasn’t certain; however, she did care about him and he seemed to care for her. That would have to be enough. “I suppose so.”
“What the hell is that?” He frowned. Anya turned her attention to the road and the blaring lights that greeted them outside the windshield.
“That wasn’t there before…” It had been nothing but darkness until a moment ago. “They didn’t want us to know they were there before.” She barely managed to say the words. Anya had a very bad feeling…
“We should turn around and go back,” he said. Arthur must have realized what they were about to face too.
Anya glanced behind her and nearly screamed. “We can’t. There’s no place to go.” There were lights behind them too. They were cornered. “We’re married now. They don’t know what we did.”
How could they? Did the Allendorfs betray them to save themselves? Anything was possible… Anya feared they might be doomed, but prayed she was wrong.
Arthur stopped the car and clenched the steering wheel. “Stay here,” he ordered. “If something happens…” He paused and took a deep breath. “Slide over to the driver seat and try to go around them. Do whatever you can to escape. Go back to where we took Oskar and Johanna. They’ll help you.”
“No…” she called to him, but he didn’t stop. He slid out of the car and held his hands up as he walked toward the group on the road. Anya’s heart beat heavily inside her chest and she forgot how to breathe. Why was he walking toward them as if he didn’t have any reason to be afraid. This was not going to end well. Somehow she managed to push air into her lungs but it burned with each breath. Her hands shook and