CHAPTER 11

TPOV

I knew my job would become more stressful now that Grey and Ms. Steele are together. Thank fuck Sawyer is already Ms. Steele's CPO, so I don't have to find someone to protect her. Once their relationship is made public knowledge, and if the press bothers Ms. Steele, I expect Grey to add more security, however, I didn't expect Grey to want extra security for tonight's Coping Together event. I have a couple undercover guys patrolling the grounds, but Sawyer and I are on Grey and Steele. Sawyer is my buddy, he's very professional and comes highly recommended, so when I brought him on awhile back as Ms. Steele's CPO, I was thrilled to be working with him. As professional as he is, he didn't keep quiet about how attractive he found Ms. Steele to be, though he quickly put a lid on it when I told what the ramifications would be if Grey heard him say ANYTHING about Ms. Steele. Yes, Mr. Grey and Ms. Steele were just friends at the time Sawyer was hired, but I knew she meant more to him than just a friend. The man chases off any potential suitors, for fuck's sake, just look at that Seahawk, Cooper Helfet.

I'm usually on top of my game, and with no known threats, though I'm always aware of the possibility of unknown threats, I'm still very much aware of Grey's surroundings. I didn't expect anything to happen at the event, just another boring night. Not so long ago, I was complaining that this job is too boring, there's not much excitement to security work. Tonight, shit got real. I'm still not sure how that Rodríguez fucker got onto the Grey's property, but when Sawyer informed me of a suspicious unsub watching Grey and Ms. Steele dancing, I looked where Sawyer said the unsub was, and sure enough, there was José Rodríguez. Knowing Rodríguez wasn't an invited guest, I planned on having a conversation with him while I escorted him off the property.
This was not my first encounter with this Rodríguez fucker. He's not a threat, so I thought, but after Ms. Steele graduated, she went out drinking with her friends. Grey was in town for the graduation, but he had a late business meeting, and I wasn't needed, so Ms. Steele called me.

I didn't know why she called me instead of Grey that night, but when she told me Rodríguez tried to force a kiss on her at the bar and wouldn't take no for an answer, then he followed her home, I knew. Grey would have lost his shit and went too far. She knew it, I knew it, and she made me promise not to tell Grey. Against my better judgment, and my boss, I agreed. I know if Grey ever found out, he will have my ass. When I arrived at her apartment that night, Rodríguez was trying to gain entrance, begging Ms. Steele to let him in. After I dealt with the little shit, I sent him on his way. I have to admit, seeing Rodríguez at the event tonight pissed me off. Ms. Steele hasn't mentioned anything about him since that night of her graduation so it's obvious he's ignoring my promise to fuck him up if he comes anywhere near her again. And then I saw him pull a gun out before I could reach him. Everything happened so fast. Since Sawyer was closer to Grey and Ms. Steele, he went for them, and thank fuck they were close together, while I went for Rodríguez. On instinct, I pulled my weapon and fired the same time he fired his.

Thank fuck this fucker is a lousy shot, all he managed to do was kill the lights, but that didn't stop me from letting off a couple rounds when he raised his gun again. I have a job to do, and that job is to protect, so I go to the gun range to practice my skill set. I may be paid to protect Grey, but Ms. Steele is like a niece to me. No way would I let anyone harm them on my watch. And that's exactly what happened tonight. Thank fuck she wasn't shot, but Ms. Steele suffered a blow to her head. Seeing her lifeless body in Grey's arms was difficult. Grey may be a hard man to work for, he's demanding, selfish, callous, but underneath the hard exterior is a good man. And Ms. Steele... Well, she's as sweet as they come. The police questioned me since it was my gun that sealed Rodríguez's fate. I've killed before, on the job, and I don't enjoy doing it, but I will do whatever I deem necessary to keep everyone safe and protected. They took my weapon as evidence, and said they will likely have more questions later once they talk to more witnesses. On my way to the hospital, I make a call to Welch and Barney. I want them to get me as much information as they can on that little fucker, including anything regarding Ms. Steele's computer and cell phone that has to deal with him. I know she would have said something if he was bothering her again, but she may not have known it was from Rodríguez if he used an alias.

The detectives followed us to the hospital, since the events involved a death, they wanted every eyewitness statement tonight, while it's still fresh. But try as they might, Grey isn't leaving Ms. Steele's side until she wakes, so I have to hold them off by answering more questions about the shooting.
After Ms. Steele wakes, I let Grey know they want to speak with him. Hearing that she woke on her own, and doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects, feels like a weight off my chest, but it quickly lands on my shoulder when I think about what's next. While Grey was speaking to the detectives, Welch and Barney have gotten back with me. The shit they found is worse than I thought. I'll need to debrief the boss on this, before I do, I send Sawyer to get a hardcopy from Welch so I can show the boss.
...

CPOV

I always knew there was a reason I didn't like that fucker, I just fucking knew it, I always had a bad gut feeling about José Rodríguez. To say I am pissed is an understatement, I told Anastasia a million times that he was trying to get into her panties and couldn't be trusted, but she blew me off thinking I was being an overprotective friend. The fact that she only sees the good in people is one of the many things that I love about her, but sometimes she can be so naïve. Even though the threat has been 'taken care of', I don't give a fuck, security will still be heightened. After this, she will be lucky if I ever let her out of my sight again. After the detectives leave, I head back to Anastasia's room. Even though it's been minutes, and I've had my eye on her door, I feel like I've been away from her for far too long. As soon as I enter the room, I notice a vase of lilies. They are Mia's favourite flower, so I suspect they are from my sister.

My family is surrounding Anastasia, on her bed or in a chair near her bed, and my grandfather is sitting right next to her. She's leaning her head on his shoulder as he talks her ear off. I can't help but smile when she giggles at something he tells her.

"Gramps," I say in a jokingly serious tone as I walk up to them, "Get off my girl, you've got your own."

"Don't be scared of a little competition, son." He winks at me, moving away to let me take his place. "Keeps you on your toes."

"Christian," Ana whispers to me once I'm next to her. "Everyone knows we're together."

"Yeah, everyone knows." I agree, looking around, and continuing in a hushed tone. "I know you wanted to keep it between us for awhile, but with what happened tonight..." I trail off not wanting to think about everything that happened.
Her reassuring smile lets me know she's okay with the family knowing. I'm not sure how she will feel when she discovers all of Seattle probably knows as well, so I'll keep that bit of information to myself for now. Anastasia's yawns are a clear sign she's tired. Although she was unconscious and knocked out recently, she needs her rest, so I tell everyone it's time to go home. Of course, no one wants to leave, but they do, understanding she needs to recover.
After they say their goodbyes, and see ya laters, it's just Anastasia and I.

I don't want to upset her, and Rodríguez doesn't deserve her grief, but I have to think of a way to tell Anastasia that her so-called friend was the shooter and he's now dead. Maybe I should wait, but then I think better of it because she'll sense something's wrong and will want to know what. I know she'll convince me to tell her now anyway so I might as well, but how?

"What is it, Christian?" She asks, confirming my thoughts, that she'll suspect I have to tell her something.

"Baby," I hold her close as I sit next to her. "I have to tell you something and I don't want you to get upset, okay?"

"If you're going to tell me it was José, I already know."
How the fuck does she know?!

"I thought I was dreaming it all," She explains, answering my unasked question, "I didn't realize it was real until I woke up here, but I saw him with the gun. I felt something was wrong while we were dancing, and when you started to look around, I saw him. It was only for a split second before everything went dark, but I saw him nonetheless."

I clench my jaw when I hear this. I didn't think she saw anything, wishful thinking, but now this shit will be in her head forever.

"Taylor took care of him." I tell her, I don't want to say more with the mood I'm in, but the look she's giving me, she knows exactly what I mean.
Speaking of Taylor, I need him to contact Welch and Barney. I want to know everything there is to know about this fucker. How is it that no one knew he was a danger? I knew he was a semi-threat, but a threat to me because he wanted Anastasia, not a threat that he'd actually take a shot at me while Anastasia was in my arms.

"I have to pee." Anastasia brings me from my thoughts.
I quickly stand to help her up, but when I follow her to the bathroom she scowls at me.

"I can go by myself, Christian," She tells me sternly, "Don't even think about it, stay here."
Since Anastasia is in the bathroom, I take this opportunity to speak with Taylor.
I know he's standing guard just outside her room, so I open the door and gesture for him to come inside so we can discuss this now.

"Have you contacted Welch and Barney?" I ask him, standing furthest away from the bathroom so Anastasia doesn't hear our conversation, but since I'm in the room I can hear if she needs me.

"Yes, sir, already taken care of, and they've just got back with me."

"And?" I growl irritated when he doesn't continue.

"You're not going to like this." He warns me, handing me a file. When I open the file, I can't fucking believe what I see.
Unable to control my temper, I pick up the vase of lilies and smash it against the wall.

"Ah!" I hear Anastasia scream.
Fuck!

"Ana!" I rush to the bathroom door.

"I'm fine, Christian." She tells me.
I don't believe her so I try to enter the bathroom, but she's locked the door.

"Open this door now."

"Christian, I'm fine," She says through the door. "It was just a spider." Thank fuck it wasn't because she heard me throw the glass vase of- Fuck! Her lilies!

"Taylor," I round the corner from the bathroom door to the main door where he's standing. There's already someone from housekeeping
cleaning up the mess, and another one replacing the vase I broke, adding fresh lilies. That was fast. This is why I pay him the big bucks.

"We'll deal with this shit in the morning." I hand him back the file. My main concern is in the bathroom right now.

"Remember what we said about having a stoke by the time you're 30?" Anastasia jokes when she comes out of the bathroom, Taylor slips out of the main doors before she can see him. "Well you have a few weeks left, and the way you're going, it's going to happen sooner rather than later."

"You screamed, I panicked." I shrug it off.

"Yeah, it was was a huge spider." She over exaggerates, showing me the size with her fingers. I chuckle as I help her back into bed. I remember coming back from a meeting to find Anastasia standing on her desk because of a spider. It was an innocent little thing, but she was terrified and said it was the size of a rat. I was her knight in shining armour that day, and she called me her official spider catcher.

"Christian, do you think there is any chance we could get some food brought in here?"

"I thought you were tired?"

"I am, but I'm so hungry right now."

"I'll have Mrs. Jones make you something and Sawyer can bring it-"

"No,." She interrupts me, knowing Mrs. Jones is a health-nut, such as myself. "I want a burger, some fries and a huge soda."

"Ana..." I trail off when she gives me an innocent pout and the bluest puppy dog eyes I've ever seen. I'll give her anything her heart desires, I want to give her the world, and I can only imagine it getting worse now that she's my wife... errrr.. I mean, girlfriend.
I huff and roll my eyes, pulling my phone out, as I give in. I message Taylor her order, as well as mine, and to send Sawyer to pick it up. They might as well get something to eat for themselves as well, we're going to be here awhile longer and hospital food is crap.
To keep herself occupied while we wait, she messes around with my Ipad that Mrs. Jones packed in my overnight back. I grab a change of clothes and head to the bathroom to finally change out of my tux and into something more comfortable; sweats and a T-shirt.
When I return, Anastasia is starring at the Ipad, about to burst into tears.

"Ana?" She doesn't take her eyes off the screen to acknowledge me. "Baby, what's wrong?"
I know she's watching a video because of the lighting and the sound, but the volume is low so I can't hear anything specific.
She still hasn't answered me so I walk towards her just when I hear my voice come from the Ipad.

"Where the fuck are you taking my wife?!" Fuck! I said that?! I instantly know what she's watching so I rush to her and take the Ipad away.
Sure enough, there's a video of what happened already on the net.

"Christian, it kills me to see you that distraught," She tells me on the verge of tears, "It hurts to much, I can't-"

"Listen to me, baby," I turn off the offending video, placing the Ipad on the side table, and climbing on the bed next to her. "Everything is okay, I'm fine, you're fine, I will take care of this, okay? I promise. Don't worry about anything. I'll take care of it." She nods and wipes her eyes.

I grab my phone again to email Barney, I don't want to call him about this, not when I'm this pissed. I don't want to worry or scare Anastasia anymore than she already is. I didn't notice before, but my phone is lite up with Google alerts and messages regarding the video. I feel like shit for not seeing this before I left Anastasia with internet access. As I continue through my messages, I see a few from Anastasia's father and Kate.
Fuck! I didn't think of contacting them, I was too focused on Anastasia to concentrate on anything else.

"Is that why the hospital staff think I'm your wife?"
I look up hearing Anastasia before I can reply to their messages.

"Yes." I confirm, and now that I think about it, "I hadn't realized I said that at the time. I was so upset, it just came out."

"Seeing you like that, it breaks my heart, Christian, I never want to see you like that ever again."
I scuff.

"Seeing you like that breaks my heart, Anastasia, and I never want to see you hurt again." I repeat her words to me. "I can't promise I wont hurt like that again where you're concerned, but I can make sure you're safe. I hope you know that things will be a lot different now, and you will take security seriously." I know how badly she fought me on Sawyer's arrival and I wont have her trying to talk me out of anything regarding her safety.

"I promise," She agrees. "I will behave myself when it comes to security."

"Good." I kiss her head.

"I'm so thankful you have Taylor, I couldn't handle it if anything happened to you."

"You're my only focus, baby. As long as you're safe, then I'm okay."

"Your safety is important to me, Christian."

She reaches up to caress my cheek. I lean in and soon she starts leaving a trail of kisses to my lips, attaching them to mine.
The kiss starts slow, just as most do, but all too soon, it's getting hot and heavy, and we're practically making out on her hospital bed.
I keep my lips on hers as I pull her underneath me, but before this goes any further, there's a disturbing knock on the door.
Anastasia giggles when I pull away growling at the interruption. Since it's likely Sawyer with our food, I'm about to get up and answer the door, but before I can, the door opens. I get off the bed and turn around to snap on Sawyer, for entering without permission, but suddenly I'm hit in the face with an unexpected punch.

"I always knew you were a no-good-fucker!"

"Daddy!" Anastasia screams from the bed for him to stop, but he ignores her, glaring at me as I wipe the bit of blood from the corner of my mouth.