I love this man. I think inside my head. I'm starting to believe that he's my personal angel send down from the heavens. He's just absolutely perfect in every way. We're still sitting on the bed after the two officers left. I'm laying against facing Christian who sits at the end with my feet in my lap giving me some sort of massage. I've just agreed to move in with Christian. There are people out there that can hurt me, now. Dangerously sick, twisted, people that put me here in the first place. And since I don't have anywhere to go in the first place, Christian's seems like a reasonable option, especially with Taylor staying there as well,

"And how are my two favorite people doing this morning?" Grace, Christian's mother, walks in holding a clipboard. "Ana, it seems like all of you vitals looks good." She says while flipping through some papers. "Are you felling any better?" Her soft, brown eyes looks up to meet mine.

I try to pull my feet away from Christian, but he just holds onto them even tighter. "Um, I feel fine actually." I say with a strong voice. "My face hurts a little bit, and my bruises hurt when something rubs against them, but other than that I feel okay." I'm telling her the truth.

"Ana, when was the last time you ate anything?" She glares at me accusingly.

I don't like this question. "Um…I think I had something…I can't remember." I put my head down in shame. I'm surprised Christian wasn't the first one to bring it up. I know I'm a little on the skinny side, but it's not that bad.

"Ana, you're BMI is extremely low for a woman of your age and height. You need to eat, honey." Grace says to me.

"I'll make her eat." Christian speaks for the first time. "Once we get out of here, I'll have Mrs. Jones make us both something to eat."

I just stare at him. Of course he's going to make me eat. He'll probably serve me up an elephant on a silver platter and hand me a fork.

"Well, you are free to leave whenever you want." Grace informs us. "But, if you feel any pain whatsoever, please come back or at least give me a call, okay?"

"Yes, mother." Christian says while rising to his feet. He comes over to the head of the bed and reaches his hands out to me. "Are you ready to go home, baby?" He asks me.

Am I ready? To go home with Christian? We still have so much more to talk about. I need to say things to him and I'm sure he needs to say things to me.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I tell him and reach my arms out. He pulls me up and grips the top of my arms to steady me. His eyes rake me from top to bottom. He presses his lips firmly together.

"Maybe we should get you a change of clothes before we go." He's referring to my very fashionable hospital gown that ties in the back.

"I don't have any of my clothes with me." I tell him.

"That's all right." He reaches into his pocket to pull out his shiny Blackberry. He presses one button and holds it up to his ear. "Taylor, can you please bring me up Miss Steele's bag. Thank you." He puts the phone away.

"What bag? I don't have a bag." I'm so confused. A soft knock comes from the closed door. Grace must have shut it when she left.

"Come in." Christian says loud enough for him to hear. Taylor walks into the room with a black duffel bag hanging in his hand.

"Miss Steele." He says while handing me the bag. "It's good to see that you're all right."

I take the bag and look to see what's inside. There seems to be a pair of dark gray sweatpants, a light blue hoodie, and I blush when I see a lacy pair of black panties and a matching bra. I'm so glad he thought about also packing a toothbrush and toothpaste as well as a hairbrush. My mouth feels so dry and dirty and I'm sure my hair resembles a rat's nest.

"Thank you so much, Taylor." I go up and give him a hug. He seems extremely hesitant at first, but then he softly pats me on the back.

"It's my pleasure, Miss Steele." He says and backs out of the hug. Christian comes up and puts one of his hands on my waist.

"Go ahead and get the R8 ready." He's talking to Taylor. "Once Ana changes we're out of here."

"Yes, Sir." Taylor walks out the door and shuts it behind him. I walk over to the tiny bathroom and set the bag on the toilet. I grab the tooth brush and tooth paste and start to run the sink water so I can brush my teeth.

"Do you need any help?" I hear Christian say from the frame of the door.

"I think I can manage." I say with suds running from my mouth.

"Alright. I'll be out here waiting when you're done." He shuts the door and leaves me alone so I can change.

I quickly change my clothes and hang the gown up on a hook on the back of the door. I glance in the mirror as I start brushing the tangles on top of my head. I feel so much better now that I'm in normal people clothes.

I step out of the bathroom and walk out to see Christian sitting on the bed with his hands folded between his knees. He looks up as I go over to stand next to him. "Ready?" I nod and take a hold of the hand he reaches out to me. We make our way out the door and into the hallway. A couple of nurses walking by glance from Christian to me. They probably think I'm some kind of mental patient thinking I'm capable of being seen with a God.

We make our way to the main lobby, sign out, and head out the sliding doors. It's pouring down rain. People are rushing around holding umbrellas and cars drive by splashing through puddles. Outside the Audi is waiting with the other SUV behind it. Taylor is sitting in the front seat and jumps out to hand Christian the keys to the R8. He opens the passenger door and gestures me in with his arm. "After you." I climb in and he shuts the door and walks over to the driver's side. The engine roars to life and vibrated the soft leather seats. He looks over and offers me a small smile before veering off into traffic and toward Escala.

"You can take a shower at the apartment if you want." He says. "I'm sure you want to wash off a couple months of filth."

I nod. Even though I changed my clothes, I still feel fifthly with everything that's happened. "I think a shower would be a good idea." I reply back.

I lean my head back against the cold, glass window and just stare at his as he continues to drive at an excessive speed with Taylor following behind us. After a couple more minutes the car pulls up into the massive garage and is turned off.

A mix of feelings run through my mind. The last time I was here was when Christian used the belt on me. That incident caused me to run away like a child and never consider my choice until it was too late. It's my home now, though. I need to get over the past so I can move on. I don't believe that Christian would do anything to hurt me. He's the one that threw me the life raft for God's sake.

My door opens and Christian puts an arm around my waist and leads me to the elevator to take us up to the penthouse. We walk in with Taylor behind us and head straight to the master bedroom with the connecting bathroom.

Christian walks straight in and switches on the lights and draws the curtains that cover the massive windows shut. "I'll go grab your stuff so you can take a shower and get situated." He walks out of the room, leaving me all confused, and returns with two more duffel bags. "This one here," He says while placing the navy bag on the king size bed. "is for day wear. And the black one is full of pajamas and bathing products." He walks up to me. I'm standing completely still with my arms crossed in front of me. I feel cold for some reason. Almost uncomfortable as if I don't belong here.

I feel his hands softly grasp each of my elbows. He bends down so he can look straight into my eyes. "Ana, are you alright? Is something wrong?" His forehead is creased with concern and his mouth turns downward.

I swallow thickly and answer him in a small voice. "Yeah. I'm fine." I lie. "I just want to take a shower and eat something." Well, the showering part isn't a lie.

"Okay. You go take a shower and I'll get Gail to make us something to eat. We can sit in the media room and talk if you would like, or we can just go to bed or do something else." He released me and head over to the bedroom door. "I'll be in my office if you need me." I offer a small nod and he smiles a walks out.

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

I don't deserve him.

I grab the black bag from the bed and mechanically walk over the bathroom door and lock it behind me. I turn on the shower water to let the steam take over the tiles space. I start stripping off my clothes and make the mistake at looking at my naked body in the full length mirror. I gasp in shock.

I'm horrified at what I see. Dead looking blue eyes, cracked lips, and blotchy skin are reflected back at me. That's not the worst thing though. Across my face, from my lips to my ear, is a giant purple/yellow mark. It's in the shape of a handprint. My eyes scan a little lover and my heart thumps at what I find. Bruises. Dark, purple blotches completely cover my neck and my chest. I lean towards the mirror and use my fingers to gently probe one on the side of my neck. It throbs painfully. They're not giant marks either. They're about the size of a quarter.

Teeth marks. My memory tells me.

The memory of the black-eyed man causes moisture to rush into my eyes. I notice how small my body looks as well. My collar bone is too defined, my breasts are covered in bite marks, all of my ribs are countable, and my hipbones protrude out in a sickening way.

How does Christian even want to be seen with this?

I can't hold myself up anymore. The pain in my chest is too great. The moisture in my eyes blurs my vision as I find myself sinking toward the bathroom floor. I throw my head against the massive bathtub and let out a sound only an animal would make.

I'm ruined. I say in my head. Christian will never want me as long as I'm looking like this. He could have any woman he wanted and yet he says that he loves me? The broken, crazy girlfriend that he had to go save because she's so stupid? I cry and cry until I begin struggling to find my breath.

Those men took everything away from me. They took my dignity, my confidence, and basically my entire way of life. Nobody is going to want poor, little Anastasia anymore. My mind goes into overdrive and as I close my eyes flashes of the previous day flow through my mind:

Running through the streets in my crappy shoes, rough hands dragging me towards a dark basement, waking up tied to a chair, a man slapping my face, hands rubbing all over me, sharp stings vibrating through my body, the feeling that life was going to end any minute…. I see it all for a second time.

I can't do this anymore. My life is over. I've been through too much. My throat feels like I've just swallowed a couple of knives and my face is on fire and uncomfortably wet with half dry and half wet tears. My sobs get louder and louder and nothing can be done to stop them.

I just sit there naked on Christian's bathroom floor with no motivation to move whatsoever. Not even when I hear pounding next to me and a boisterous voice screaming my name through the door.