Genevieve gave her a haircut, putting part of her hair up in a bun and leaving red curls on the sides. She ran a curling iron through Anna's hair, and she was amazed at the effect, as she had never thought she could look so beautiful. She looked at Genevieve gratefully.
"I appreciate your help, but I don't know if I should go dressed like this. I told my friends it would be a casual party."
"A casual party in the ballroom of the most expensive hotel in Edinburgh? Anna, they'll dress as well as they can. You can be sure of that."
"If you say so... I know I can trust your word... But while we still have a few minutes, could you explain to me why you only came to see me today? And why only at Henry's insistence?"
"Anna... Of course you know that although I missed Ian terribly, there's no other child in the world as insufferable and uncompromising as him, I need to keep my distance because my mind and my eyes aren't a safe place, but it wasn't just for Ian that I came. I need to resolve some important issues here."
"Can you... Adam can see me now?"
Genevieve turned away and went to the window.
"No. I've sorted out what I need to and now I'm going to take part in Ian's growth. He needs me here. I've watched him grow up through the photos and I thought I could do everything necessary from a distance. But I can't go back to Nevada. Not yet."
"What you've just said raises two more questions; how did you know I was here, and who sent you the photos of my son?"
"Your father, who else could it be?"
"I didn't know you were still in touch."
"Your father is an ogre, but I like him. Jenna is a... decent person and she can't abandon him, and that forces me to look after him."
"Is Jenna Henry's lover?"
"I don't know if I'm right to tell you, but... They're not lovers, Anna, they're married."
Anna was stunned.
"I could never have imagined..."
"Of course not." Genevieve said with a smile. "That's their secret. Very few people know about it."
"But I remember Jenna going out with other men..."
"She only went out with her father, and they weren't getting careless. They had just discovered themselves and allowed themselves to love. I... I had to interfere. I asked Adam to play hypnosis on Jenna's mind and a while later, her menstrual cycle started to delay. It was a tragedy for her father, who dreamed of being a father again. Jenna still feels that pain. She still believes that she can't have children and doesn't suspect that it's all the work of hypnosis. Adam can control the metabolism of anyone's body. Even humans, Anna. He doesn't like doing it, but he did it with Jenna, because he needed your father to distance himself so that he could subjugate you. He wouldn't do that with Henry watching you so closely. And it worked. Maxwell invited you to move in with him. He stopped talking about having more children when Ian was born. He loves his son very much. And he's going to leave all his inheritance to Ian. But his relationship with Jenna is doomed."
"So my father was in the United States when I was delivered into Adam's hands and he didn't come and save me?"
"Actually, he saved you when he left you in Adam's care. He was on the run and hiding. If he came near you, your enemies would find you and brutally kill you. Dester is the villain in this story, Anna. And when you meet him, you'll know you're in danger. Adam is Alpha. He's the only one who can sense emotion from other werewolves and would never allow any of them to come near you with the intention of hurting you."
Anna had a dark look on her face. It was the first time they had spoken of Adam as someone who protected her since Genevieve had arrived.
"And I believe that making me his personal whore was payment for his protection? So it's not even Sarah's fault for killing my mother and leaving me vulnerable. I grew up in a society that gives parents the job of protecting their children."
"Henry was irresponsible and nothing justifies him selling his own daughter, but you must agree with me that Adam was still a better option than going to the green house. The damage had already been done. You were handed over to the bloodiest family of mobsters and werewolves. Their plans for you consisted of things too perverse for a human. They would torture you, rape you collectively and then find a way to kill you even more brutally. What could Henry do? A deal that Adam didn't have to make, because you were already the family's property and there's only one way out of all this, and that's death, accepting that Adam would keep you only for himself wasn't even Henry's right anymore, but some sense of duty on Adam's part made him believe that he needed his father's approval to make you his alone."
"So Henry came to me?" Anna asked, not wanting to think about whether Adam had been fair or not. She still harbored a lot of resentment towards him.
Genevieve took a deep breath and thought for a few minutes. Anna no longer expected her to answer when she heard her voice.
"Your father searched for Adam, to find out where and how you were... The Alpha didn't spare your father the truth about your fate, Anna. Henry became desperate, belatedly, because there was no way to save you. Your escape was something unexpected and unusual. There was no such possibility, there was nothing that could snatch you from the clutches of the Werewolves... So Adam promised that he would take good care of you, and he had already paid for you. He paid Allister three times more than your father's debt and gave him an important part of his inheritance. Haven't you ever wondered why Allister didn't touch you? He didn't love you as a daughter, Anna. He tried to convince himself of this, but Adam told me many times that when he entered Allister's mind, he saw him lusting after your body and masturbating, while imagining the things he would do to you. Of course, this confused Adam. Allister thought so strongly about you that sometimes it was as if he was actually having sex with you and Adam was still inexperienced and didn't know the difference between memory and imagination. And he didn't know it yet, but he already lusted after you in such a way that nothing his father could say to him would change his mind about the fate he wanted for you. He didn't accept that your father would pay you back. Your father told you his story and nothing moved him. Adam believed that he would only protect you, that he would fuck you and then hand you over to the wolves. Henry heard about it and... That's how the Alpha found out that Jenna was married to his father. However, he already knew from other sources that Jenna was loyal to another boss, and that she would only stay in his house if he accepted this. He was in no danger, as he already knew her father and even liked him. And before you ask, his father didn't meet Adam at the mansion. He called Jenna and Adam traveled to Edinburgh to meet him."