CHRISTIANS POV
"I don't care Ros, get Davidson and his team in that conference room by 1 pm. I am done fucking around on this. He needs to sign that contract today! We need this Ros" Two months. Two fucking months trying to close this deal. This ends today!
"Christian, we are $11 million apart! How am I going to convince him to sign when he wants $40 million and you won't go over $29?" Ros is frustrated, we have been over this same ground for weeks now. But I still have the biggest weapon in my arsenal to unleash on Marcus Davidson.
"Call Phoebe"
"Are you sure? You know what her temper is like. If we catch her in a bad mood she could blow the whole deal"
"Yes but in the right mood Davidson will be shitting himself. He will sign faster than he can say "Yes, Miss Grey"
"OK, I will call her, see you in a hour" We hang up and I sigh. Make or break day.
I know Phoebe is what we need to close this deal. I was once known as the shark of Seattle. The top dog that no one messed with. I'm still that guy but right above me is my daughter.
Phoebe is not A Shark, she's The Shark.
She graduated top of her class at NYU with a double major in economics and business management. When she was 18, instead of coming home for the summer she headed out to England where she helped the UK branch of GEH take over one of the biggest telecommunication firms in England. She has always has a thirst for the business and I knew from the time she was three years old that she would be my successor at Grey House.
I remember the first time I saw her in a board room. She was 16 and working here at GEH as a summer intern. One of the lawyers on the team made the mistake of calling her "little girl" and she was so mad. I have never seen someone rip apart another person in that way before and I've never seen it since.
She made him re draft one of the contracts he had done, pointing out all the mistakes he had made, things that Ros and even myself had missed. When he started to complain she calmly took the contract out of his hands, gave it to another lawyer and said, and I quote "don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya!"
An hour later he was fired for calling her a bitch and a mass memo went out to all staff.
If Miss Grey tells you to do something, you do it.
Since she left college, in the short space of 8 months she has earned herself a reputation across the country as the best negotiator in the world of M&A. She is calm when she needs to be. Forceful when it's called for and terrifying when things are not perfect. In short, shes me twenty five years ago.
I lean back in my chair and think about the me of twenty five years ago. My god what a douch bag I really was!
My life pre Anastasia is mostly a blur of hurt, anger, rage, subs, loneliness, coldness, confinement and secrets. The day Ana tripped into this very office changed who I was in a monumental way. A great way. A way that I cherish every single day.
I look at the pictures of my family that are on my walls and smile.
Ana and I have been married for almost 25 years now and have 5 children who we both adore. After Teddy was born I could not wait to get her pregnant again. When she was pregnant with Phoebe I remember saying to Ana that I wanted lots of children. After Pheebs was born we waited another two years and then welcomed our second daughter, Maggie Rose Grey.
She is twenty years old now and is studying at the University Of Seattle. Her mothers passion for books rubbed off on her and she works a few hours a week at Grey Publishing which was moved to Grey House a few years after Ana and I got married.
Teddy is twenty four and he works for GEH but in an executive capacity. Being tied to Grey House was not something that fitted into his play boy lifestyle so instead he travels across the globe checking in on my foreign businesses. From what his security tells me he has a different woman waiting for him in each town. It doesn't bother me as much as it does Ana who wants him to settle down with a nice girl but the way I see it he is a young man sowing his wild oats.
Five years after Maggie was born we found out that Ana was pregnant with twins. It was a bit of a shock because she was on birth control but when we sat down and worked out how many times we had sex on an average day it became clear. I'm surprised we don't have a dozen kids by now.
We never found out the sex of the twins so when Ana had a boy and a girl we were ecstatic. Our son, Thomas Carrick, takes after me and his brother. He's tall at almost six foot and he has my copper hair but he has his mothers eyes, just like Teddy has. He's a football fanatic and plays for his school team. He has recently started to bring girls home and I was ok with it but when his twin sister brought a boy back I hit the roof. It caused Ana and I to have a massive fall out and in the end we decided that what is good for one, is good for the other. Double standards are not something that Anastasia Grey agrees with. So we banned both of them from dating until they are 16. That gives me a solid 6 months to come to terms with my baby girl dating.
My baby girl, my Katie. Named after her aunt Kate, she's my little fire cracker. She looks just like Ana but she has my hair and Ana's eyes. She is the most affectionate girl in the world. She thinks nothing of coming into my study and curling up on my lap and falling asleep. When she was born she was smaller than Tommy by almost two pounds and had to stay in the hospital longer. I think this is why I'm so protective of her. She was so tiny and fragile that it's hard for me to see her now as a young girl on the cusp of woman hood. I would kill any fucker that dare hurt my little girl or any one of my family.
The last fucker that tried is now six feet under.
My fist clench and my heart rate picks up just like every other time I think of that fucker and think about what he did. How he almost ripped my family apart. How what he did had a ripple affect on my family that can still be seen and felt to this day.
Nine years ago I found out that one of my employees was stealing money from GEH. Edward Cooper worked in my finance department and after getting into a heavy dept with some very shady people, he thought his only option was to help himself to my money. He was found out before he could even withdraw the first cent.
He was fired and then arrested. He was released on bail and instead of just accepting that he was in the wrong and would go to prison because he deserved it, He thought he would take revenge on me because he blamed me for ruining his life.
He drove to Teddy and Phoebes school and shot their two CPO's dead. He then grabbed both my children and locked himself in a classroom with them. The police, the SWAT team and my own highly trained security team surrounded the school within twenty minutes.
He asked for 10 million and a jet to take him somewhere that had no extradition. I agreed to everything straight away, anything to get my kids out of there safely. The stupid fucking police Captain had other ideas and he told me that there was no negotiations in hostage situations. What bull shit is that!
Ten hours. Ten hours he had them in that class room without losing his cool.
Then he lost it. Nobody knows why. He just snapped.
He hit Teddy so hard on the head with the butt of his gun that my son was unconscious for three days. Phoebe tried to stop Cooper from hurting her brother and he grabbed her by the neck and threw her to the floor. He took off his belt and hit her with it, buckle first, eleven times. A grown man who weighed over 200lbs lashing a belt as hard as he could on to the back of a thirteen year old girl who weighed hardly anything. It was a blood bath. He ripped her skin each time he hit her and the buckle kept getting caught in her ripped flesh so it ripped even more.
When he raised the belt for the twelfth time he moved in line with one of the SWAT snipers who shot him right between the eyes.
I'll never forget the sight of my two children on that classroom floor. My son had blood pouring from his head and my little girl was nothing but blood.
They were both rushed to hospital and Teddy didn't wake up for three days because of the blow to the head but we knew he would pull through.
But Phoebe...Phoebe we almost lost.
She was rushed straight into the operating room. She had to have a blood transfusion because of blood loss. She went into cardiac arrest on the table and they had to revive her. I will never ever get the scream that Ana made out of my head when we saw the monitors flat line from the little window in the OR. Watching doctors fight for my daughters life made my knees buckle and I collapsed with Ana in my arms. It wasn't until I woke up that I was told Phoebe pulled through and was going to make a full recovery. Well, physically she made a full recovery. Mentally she has never been the same.
As a result of her scars and the memories of the belt hitting her invoke, Phoebe gets panic attacks if someone touches her back. We paid for the best therapist but nothing worked. I even told her about my childhood with my birth mother and my aversions to touch before Ana came in to my life but still she would not let anyone hug or hold her.
She does not like big crowds, has never brought a boy home and the only people she allows to hug her are my sister Mia's twin 6 year old children Samuel and Skyler. My theory is that because they were only babies they did not know not to touch her and she knew they were not a threat.
Never in a million years did I think when I was 6 years old and let Mia touch me with her tiny newborn hand that one day my daughter would only trust her children. It is funny how life works. I was a cold CEO who could not stand touch and distanced myself from my family and now my daughter is known as the cold hearted bitch of the business world who also can not stand touch. I would give my whole fortune to be able to hold my daughter in a proper hug. I would give my fortune and my soul for Ana to be able to hold her.
Phoebe is not cold hearted to her family though. She comes over once a week for family dinner and every Friday she attends family dinner at Bellevue, but her weekends are hers and hers alone. She goes sailing and to my utter annoyance and disgust, motorcycle riding! I fucking hate that she loves bikes but She is an adrenalin junkie. She has been skydiving, bungy jumping, white water rafting, even swimming with sharks. The more dangerous the better. I hate that she take so many risks with things that are out of her control.
I am pulled from memory lane when Andrea buzzes me letting me know that everyone is waiting for me in the main conference room. I walk in and shake hands with Davidson and his team. I look around and realize that Phoebe is not here yet. I raise my eyebrow at Ros asking silently where she is and she just shakes her head.
After 10 minutes Phoebe is still a no show. I am about to send her another "where the fuck are you?" texts when she breezes in the door. She looks so much like Ana it is scary but she is a little taller and has my gray eyes. She is dressed in black pants, a red shirt, a black vest and red sky high heels. Her eyes are smoky and her hair is in a pony tail down her back.
She's out for blood.
She strolls up to the head of the table and stands next to my chair. She throws a folder on the table in front of Davidson and then leans onto the table with her palms flat, glaring at him. He visibly sinks down in his chair and goes a shade whiter.
"Davidson, I am going to make this quick because number one, I am a very busy woman and number Two, You have pissed me off to no end by dragging your feet on his deal. In that folder are the details of a company in Portland called LightTech. They do the same exact thing that your company do, only they are willing to sell for a lot less than you are. The only reason that this deal is still on the table for you is because when, not if, when, your company goes belly up, over 1000 people will lose their jobs and as you know GEH pride ourselves on saving jobs...now... You have one minute to sign that contract on the dotted line for $29 million which you know is a very good deal considering you are hemorrhaging money or I call LightTech and you can take your money pit of a company and go find someone else who is willing to pull it out of the quick sand that You got it into!" she straightens up and crosses her arms across her chest with her eyes pinning him to his seat.
He looks to his colleagues for help and then to Ros and I. Yeah buddy good luck with that. Without saying a word he takes the contract and signs his name on the dotted line which earns him a butter wouldn't melt smile from Phoebe.
"You made the right decision Davidson. Ros, I will email you the P&l sheets later...Dad I will see you tomorrow at Bellevue" she shakes Davidson and his teams hands and gives me a kiss on the cheek and then breezes out the door just as quick as she breezed in.
From her walking in, to Davidson signing took 4 minutes. God she is good.
After I leave the meeting I tell Andrea to send a dozen pink roses to Escala for Phoebe with a note that says "WDB" which means "well done bug"
When ever she would do something good as a child I would say well done bug. I say it now every time she lands a big deal at work. She does not need for me to tell her how proud I am of her. She knows without me saying anything.
After a long day at the office all I want to do is have a nice meal, climb into a bath and then make love to Ana until I pass out. But as soon as I get in the door I know that's not going to happen.
Ana rarely raises her voice at the kids and the only times I remember her doing it is when they put themselves in danger. When Teddy took my R8 before he had a licence she went nuclear on him and would not let him apply for his licence for a year. When Phoebe was 6 and jumped in the pool without water wings she shouted at her and then cried because she thought she was too harsh.
Now she is raising her voice at our youngest daughter about something. I walk into the family room and as soon as my presence is known, Katie looks at me with pleading eyes.
"Do you want to tell him? Or do I?" Ana asks her while folding her arms across her chest.
Yeah, she's pissed.
"Moooom!" Katie pouts but Ana turns to me.
"I got a call from Principle Cohen today and guess what he called about? He wanted to talk about Katherine's attendance because she had missed her afternoon classes for the last three days"
"What? You missed your classes? Where were you?" I ask my now very silent daughter who has slumped herself down on the sofa.
"Oh you're going to love this one. She skipped classes and ditched her security for three hours so she could go with Isabelle and that Duncan boy to the mall! They would stay there for hours and get back to school just in time for her security to not miss her!" Ana is seething.
After everything that happened with Phoebe and Teddy we tightened security on the whole family. The kids know not to go anywhere without a CPO.
"Is that a joke? Katherine, you have five minutes to explain yourself"
"Daddy, I didn't do anything wrong! God I am a fifteen year old girl and do you know I have never been to the mall with my friends without having to take half the secret service? I want to be normal! I don't want or need security! I had my hood up so no one even recognized me" she pouts but it won't work on me. Just as I am about to tell her she is grounded the front door slams and Phoebe comes storming into the room with her sights set on her little sister.
"Have you lost your fucking mind? What the fuck were you thinking ditching security? Do you know how much fucking danger you were in? Do you know what type of Psychos are out there just waiting for a chance to nab the billionaires kid? DO YOU?" She is raving mad and for the first time since I walked into the room Katie looks contrite.
I am fanatical about security. Phoebe is at another level completely.
She has her own team and they coordinate with my team but just like I like to be in control of my security, Phoebe likes to be in charge of hers. She hates the unknown.
"I'm sorry, Pheebs. It was stupid and I won't do it again" Katie bleats out. She adores her big sister and hates it when she gets in trouble.
"Damn right you won't do it again! I'm assigning one of my guys to you for the foreseeable future and I can garen-fucking-tee you that he will be glued to your ass!"
Katie gets up and glares at her sister with fire in her eyes.
"You can't do that! You're not my mother!"
"No but I am and I agree with her. You ditch security then we will double it. Ditch it again and we will triple it! When we feel you can be trusted again we will think of relenting but until then you have double the eyes watching you" Ana tells her sternly.
"Christian, anything to add?"
"You're grounded, baby girl. Two weeks. I want your phone and your iPad" Katie's mouth drops open in shock and then her teenage attitude takes over.
"Oh this is fucking horse shit! I fucking hate you, Phoebe Grey!" She screams and then stamps her way up the stairs.
Ana, Phoebe and I all sigh in unison. Phoebe looks hurt at her sisters words and she goes to follow her.
"Leave her be, Pheebs. She's a little hot head when she's upset. You know she didn't mean what she said don't you?" Ana asks her.
"Yeah, I know Mom but she needs to get real with her security. If something happened to her I..." She looks pained when she thinks about her sister being in danger.
Ana walks over to her and takes her hand gently.
"She will be fine, Pheebs. Now, do you want to stay for dinner?"
"No thanks, Mom. I have to finish up some paperwork"
"Come on, Phoebe. Leave that until tomorrow, even I've already shut my phone off for the night"
"Sorry, daddy no can do. I need to get the contract sorted for LightTech" she smirks.
"I thought you told Davidson you would only buy them if he refused to sign?"
"It was a lie of omission...seeing as I closed the deal with LightTech ten minutes before the meeting with Davidson. That's why I was late" she smiles and then kisses her mother and I before telling us goodbye.
Ana looks forlornly at her oldest daughters retreating back. I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her.
"She will be OK" I whisper.
"I just want her happy, Christian. She puts on this front, like she is ready to take on the world but I can see it behind her eyes. She has that same lost look that you had when we begin dating. I just want her to find her...her More"
"She will find her own path Ana. And she may have a lost look but she's nowhere near as bad as I was. I was a closet Dom with a string of Ex Subs and a child abuser behind me. Phoebe is a smart girl and she will find her way eventually"
MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, PHOEBES POV.
I feel so out of control right now! When my security team informed me that my fathers team had told them about her skipping school my blood boiled. Does she not know the dangers out there? I was in a class room with two CPOs guarding the door and that deranged fuck still got in and beat my brother unconscious before mutilating my back. I dread to think what someone could do if they found one of my siblings unprotected.
There is only one person who can help me feel back on track right now.
I grab my iPhone and press the right contact.
"Hey baby, what's up?"
"I need you! It's been a shitty afternoon and...I just need you"
"You know I'm here for you, baby. Playroom?"
"Yes. I'll be there in twenty minutes"
"Are you topping or am I?"
"I am. I want you on your knees waiting for me when I get there"
"Yes, Mistress"