I would like to say very quickly, thank you to those who consistently review each chapter. You really make me smile :)


Nicholas White stood at the edge of the balcony that overlooked the alley where he had almost caught her. If there was one thing he had learned in his years, it was that the perpetrator always came back to the scene of the crime. She had been running to something, trying to get somewhere. He had watched for hours, the butts of his many cigarettes smoked down by his feet. The balcony belonged to an abandoned building so it wasn't like someone would care.

He let out a breath of relief when he saw a black van pull up, a young Hispanic man coming out. He looked around, everywhere but up.

Idiot... Nicholas thought, putting out his last cigarette and turning to walk downstairs. Out he came, slowly from the front door with his pistol in his hands out in front of him. He watched as the young man opened a hatch and disappeared inside. Quickly, Nicholas ran to the side of the hatch crouching to the side to not be seen. Minutes passed and the hatch opened once more. Without any preamble, Nicholas whipped his pistol against the mans head and down he went.


Jose woke to the sight of a dark damp room. The light above his head shone dimly and it was through a haze he was looking. The last thing he had remembered was the sight of a pistol coming into contact with him. There had been no fight. He had a simple mission really; all he had planned to do was go into the security hatch to see what they needed in there for supplies in case of an emergency. This was not part of his plan.

A man came walking into focus, tall and built. He wore black clothes, much the same as what Ana would wear when she was attempting a heist. His hair was buzzed into a crew cut and black ink peaked out from his collar.

"Who the hell are you?" It shocked Jose that when he spoke his words sounded garbled. Had he been drugged? He felt a little off but not by much.

"Still recuperating from that blow eh? My name doesn't matter Jose." The man grinned at him. "Yeah... I know who you are. Went through your wallet. You also seem to have a picture of the girl i'm looking for in there." The man walked closer, and Jose could see a knife in one hand, the other cleaning it with a dirty rag.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The man let out a short harsh laugh and delivered a blow to his face using the hand that held the rag. Jose coughed and sputtered, spitting out what he thought was a piece of tooth. He saw the blood from his mouth trail on the floor.

"This can be hard... or it can be easy... it's your choice. The other day a girl... the girl in your wallet... stole something from my boss. Something very valuable. It's my job to get it back. By whatever means necessary." The man held the knife up to his face, staring at the edge before dropping it onto a nearby table.

"I don't know where she is... she never came back." Jose lied. "We've been looking for her for days!"

Another blow to his face and Jose coughed again.

"I can do this all day Jose. Can you?"

"FUCKING BRING IT." Jose pushed his face out, waiting for the mans fist to come into contact with him.

"With pleasure."


Ana blinked away the sleep still in her eyes. The sight around her was unfamiliar, but the one next to her was comforting. She found herself waking up next to Christian Grey. He lay facing the ceiling, one arm pulled over his head. His lips were slightly parted, and he looked peaceful. Ana moved slowly, pushing the covers off of her and raised her eyebrows seeing that she was only in panties.

She grimaced as she sat up, the soreness between her legs evident.

"clothes... clothes... where the hell can I find clothes?" She stood, looking around and found a towel. Wrapping it around her waist she moved to the door peaking out to find the hallway empty. She tip toed her way towards the spare room where she had found clothes before. Ana pulled open the many drawers, not finding much. It was in the closet that she found a sun dress, one that looked barely worn.

After she was cleaned up and dressed, she tip toed back into the hallway allowing herself to look around freely. It was too big for one man, and Ana was sure he must be lonely. He had his friend, which Ana was trying hard not to think about. She didn't want to be a home wrecker, but also wanted Jack satisfied with this mission. There were many rooms, each door shut. She found herself opening them, and examining what was inside. In one, she had found his office, but quickly closed it for fear she heard a noise. She found the video game room once again and grinned looking at all of the unopened games. The best room however was a rather large library, filled with first editions of her favorite books. She found herself getting lost in there before making her way back into the hallway. The last room she went to open, and found the door handle wouldn't turn. She jiggled it, but it stayed locked. She reached up to run her hand along the top of the door frame but found it empty.

It was in that room she knew she needed to look.

"Miss Steele... are you giving yourself a tour?" With a yelp Ana turned and there stood Christian in his pajamas. She felt like a child with her hand in the cookie jar but quickly recovered.

"Yes, I didn't want to wake you up." Ana replied.

Christian sauntered towards her, grabbing her chin and bringing her lips to his. She kissed him lightly, and found that he was trying to deepen the kiss. She pulled back. "What's in this room?"

"Nothing of your concern... for now. Can I ask you a question Ana?"

"I thought you might."

Christian leaned towards her, pressing his lips against her shoulder, his fingertips gliding down her arm. "Just how inexperienced are you?"

She coughed on her own saliva, the question shocking her. "Excuse me?"

"Ana..." He pulled back giving her an incredulous look.

"Ugh. This is embarrassing. I've been with one person before.. but it was pretty lame, and lasted for maybe thirty seconds." She closed her eyes leaning her head back.

He didn't respond, but simply grabbed her hand and pulled. She found herself following him back into the room. "Come. Let me educate you, and then we'll head out on my boat. We have some things to talk about." He pushed her down onto the bed.

She didn't want him asking questions, but as his head fell between her legs she found her mind cleared of anything but him.


Christian watched as Ana stood nervously at the bow of the boat. She had been toying with her own fingers for almost an hour now. He wasn't sure if she was nervous for him to press her with questions, or nervous that she had slept with him.

This was a first for him. Never had he strayed from one of his contractual relationships. He wouldn't have considered it 'cheating', but he felt he should respect them enough to stay 'faithful'. He would have to face that sooner or later. He had also never allowed a woman to sleep in his bed, but he had found himself staring at her sleep for almost an hour in his drunken stupor the night before. Where this was going between them, he didn't know, but he could admit one thing to himself... he found himself drawn to her, and yes, he liked her. Either way, this talk had to happen.

He walked behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder and felt her jump at the contact.

"Ana, I know you don't have a brother." He began immediately, and felt her stiffen. "I can't go without having background checks done on the people who walk into my life. Especially in your situation."

"Christian.. I..." She looked up at him and looked at a loss for words. "Okay... fine." She let out a small sob. "I lied. Okay?"

"This I know. What I don't know, is why. And what is the truth?" He gazed into her eyes, his grey piercing her blue.

"I'm a thief. I took a job to steal a diamond... I stole it. I don't have anywhere to live... I was pretty sure it would get me some money." She kept her gaze locked with his.

"Did you come back to try and steal from me?" Christian felt himself tensing up. He was the richest man in Seattle, and he was sleeping with a thief.

"No... I came back because I had no where to go. I thought you'd take pity on me." She began to walk away from him but before she could he grasped her hand.

"Ana. Stop."

He looked at her face to see her crying. "I'm sorry I lied to you... i'm sorry.. but I had no where to go."

Christian put his arms around her, wanting to for the first time in his life console another human being.


Ana found it easier and easier to lie. Maybe because she was partially telling the truth. Now that this conversation had happened she was sure this would be easier. She was sure he'd let his guard down.

She had cried in his arms for almost ten minutes, and he had let her. The rest of their trip had remained uneventful, but peaceful. They now sat in a small restaurant on the water near where he had docked the boat.

Ana picked at her chicken dish, her mind full of what she should do next. She gasped in shock when she saw the flash of a camera and Brutes number one and two confronting the person.

"I don't understand," She asked Christian who had cleared his dish. "Why do people want to take pictures of you?"

Christian chuckled, reaching out a hand to grasp one of hers. "Because i'm wealthy Anastasia, and very very private. In fact, you're the first woman I think I've been seen out with."

"Why are you so private?" Ana asked, pushing her food away. Christian grimaced, but she pretended to ignore it. "Something to hide?"

She watched his face harden and quickly apologized, "No, I don't Ana. I just don't understand the fascination with my life. I don't really like talking about me. Let's talk about you." Christian took a swig of his beer. "I think we can establish that you may be in trouble. Someone might be angry at you."

Ana looked towards her hands, letting out a soft sigh. This is not a lie, this is not a lie... "Yes, I am. And yes they are."

"I can take care of you, you know..." He looked surprised at the words leaving his mouth. "Make sure you're safe."

She couldn't help but raise both eyebrows in shock. This man barely knew her. In fact... he knew nothing about her. "Christian, you don't know me. Why? Why would you help me?"

With an exasperated sigh he released her hand and leaned back in his chair. He ran a hand through his unruly hair. "Ana, i'm used to having control in my life, rather control of the situations presented to me. It's driving me crazy to not know what's happening with you, or to you. I just want to make sure you're okay. Just say yes... accept my help."

She looked out of the corner of her eye at Brutes one and two coming back with an SD card she was sure.

"Okay Christian. Yes."


Nicholas stood at a sink in the corner of the dark room he had just spent hours in. His hands were cut and bloodied, but the majority of the blood had not belonged to him. The cool water felt soothing and washed away the red leaving his hands bruised.

The boy was tough. He had endured quite a while before passing out. He was still tied to the chair, but was slumped over. The stream of blood that had been coming to his face had ceased. Both eyes were swollen and bruised, and Nicholas was pretty sure he had broken the boy's nose.

Nicholas dried his hands and walked back over towards Jose. He smacked his face a few times before grabbing a glass of water and throwing it in his face.

Jose woke with a gasp.

"Had enough yet?" Asked Nicholas, pulling up his own chair and sitting in front of him. He was surprised to find that Jose began crying, a stream of tears running down his face. Nicholas grimaced, his comfort zone slipping. There was nothing more embarrassing than seeing a grown man cry.

"She came back..." Jose began. Nicholas leaned forward, a smirk replacing the grimace. "She came back, and was sent back out. The mission changed. I don't know where the diamond is... the boss thought she might have stolen it. I don't know..." Jose's words sounded garbled again, most likely from his face being so swollen.

"Where did she go?"

"Grey's... Christian Grey's... please... just let me leave." He continued to sob and Nicholas stood walking away from the crying boy.

He needed to speak to Mr. Lincoln about a certain Christian Grey.