Chapter 21: Firing Jack Hyde (Anastasia's POV)

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" His voice actually sounded demonic, nothing like the mild mannered and socially awkward COO that I'd known for the past two years. Was the wild-eyed man standing in front of me really Jack Hyde?

"Anastasia Steele. You just had to have the last word, didn't you? Well, come in, come in." He bowed dramatically like a very bad actor in a high school play.

I stood just outside his apartment with Luke at my side. Two other security officers of mine were standing just a few feet away, and the covert operative I had watching Hyde was still sitting in his car, watching everything, ready to move in if needed.

"No thank you, Mr. Hyde. I just came to speak with you briefly, and then I'll be on my way," I told him, keeping my voice emotionless and showing no reaction to his lack of clothing. He had chosen to answer the door wearing nothing but a pair of faded plaid boxers.

He laughed a sinister laugh, reminding me of a villain in a comic strip series. Then he said snidely, "What you mean to say is that you came to fire me in person. Because Little Miss Perfect Steele doesn't do anything halfway."

I wasn't surprised that he knew. I'd suspected when he hadn't shown up for work today for the first time in the two years he had worked for me, that he knew I was on to him. I was a bit surprised, however, that he was this forthcoming.

"That is correct, Mr. Hyde." I told him, still emotionless, showing him no signs of surprise. "Since you didn't show up for work today, I came here to tell you in person. If you had shown up at Ismintis tomorrow, you wouldn't have been able to get in because your security clearance has already been revoked."

He continued to smirk at me, unconcerned with my words. "I hadn't planned on returning, but I do appreciate the extra effort," he said sarcastically. "Your silly little company has outgrown its usefulness to me. Damn shame, too, but I like the new plan better anyway. As for your stupid company, what kind of name is 'Wisdom International'? Such a fucking joke. I couldn't stand to waste my time there another minute."

I ignored his insult because I recognized that he was trying to bait me. I didn't need his approval to know that Ismintis was much more than a silly little company, and I also realized that his fall from the position of COO of a Fortune 500 company had to be hard to take no matter how much he deserved to be fired. Instead of retaliating, I glanced at Luke and said, "Good. I'm glad that this only took a minute. We will just be on our way, then."

Hyde ignored me. He said, "I am curious though. Which infraction was it that got to you the most? The three million dollars I so skillfully stole from you, or the audio files of your private conversations I sent to the bastard that you're currently screwing?"

I filed that information away, that he was aware that I knew about both things, and that if he was speaking literally, then there was still another $200,000 that I hadn't known about. I wasn't surprised that he knew about Christian and me. Since the media fiasco on Friday, pretty much everyone knew about us, even if we hadn't made it public. I knew we weren't fooling anyone.

"Both of those are equally grievous, don't you think?" I responded.

"What I think is that it's a damn shame you started fucking that bastard and ruined my original plan. It would have been perfect. I'd been planning it for nearly five years, and it was nearly ready to execute. It was the only reason I took the job at your stupid little company. You don't think I enjoyed being your bitch, do you? You think I liked working for a cunt like you? Hell, no. It was all to get to him. I'd have ruined him. Instead, you ruined everything. The one thing I didn't count on was you being a horny bitch. I was sure you were a dyke. If I'd known you like cock and that you like it rough, I'd have played my role differently. I can think of a few other 'positions' I would have enjoyed more. But rest assured, when I execute the new plan, I will tap that ass of yours that you've been flaunting in my face for two fucking years. I can hardly wait to get a piece of that."

What the hell? I glanced at Luke as Hyde began to stroke himself through his thin boxers. Luke looked as disgusted as I felt. "Let's go," I told Luke, and I started to walk away.

"Wait, bitch!" Hyde called out. "I have a little gift for your fuck buddy. He's going to want to see what I have, trust me. Don't go away yet." Hyde turned and went back inside his house.

"Do you think he's going for a gun?" I whispered cautiously to Luke. Once again, I considered leaving, but I wanted to know what he had on Christian. Luke shrugged but took his gun from its holster as a precaution. Ryan and Prescott followed suit.

When Hyde returned a minute later, there were three guns pointed at him. He sneered at me and asked, "Do you really think I'd shoot you while you're literally standing on my front doorstep?"

"I have no idea what you might do, Mr. Hyde," I responded. "I obviously don't know you at all." I motioned to Luke to put his gun away, but Ryan and Prescott kept theirs trained on Hyde.

Hyde laughed his sinister laugh again and said, "You're right about that, bitch. But to be fair, you aren't the only one who didn't know your coworker as well as you thought you did. Who would have thought that prim and proper Princess Anastasia Steele, the queen of pompous bitches, was actually a whips and chains loving, cock-sucking, cum-slurping slut? Surprised the hell out of me. In a good way. Like I said earlier, I can hardly wait to have some fun with you. But I will bide my time, until you and the rat bastard you're fucking least expect it."

I raised one eyebrow at him to show him that I wasn't impressed or intimidated by him. I would never let him know that he was actually scaring me. "I think we're done here," I told Luke.

"Wait! You can't go without this," Hyde called out as I started walking away again. He walked towards me, holding up a USB drive between two fingers.

When Hyde got too close to me, Luke stood between him and me. "Back off!" Luke warned. He put his hands on Hyde's chest and pushed him away.

Hyde ignored Luke, held up the USB drive so I could see it clearly, looked over Luke's shoulder, and said to me, "Give this to your fuck buddy. Tell him it's just a taste of what's to come. I know his secret, and soon, when he least expects it, the entire world will know his secret. And give him this message too: There will always be copies. He can delete whatever the fuck he wants from my hard drive, but there will always be copies. He can't get away from it. This is going to be so much better than the original plan would have been, so thank you, bitch, for ruining it for me."

Luke glanced at me for instruction, and when I nodded, he took the USB drive from Hyde. Luke examined it carefully.

"It's not poisonous," Hyde told him snidely.

"Like I'd believe you," Luke responded.

"I don't really give two shits what you believe," Hyde told Luke. Then he turned to me and said, "One more thing, Princess Anastasia. You know what happened to the first Princess Anastasia? She was killed, tragically. Watch your back, your royal highness. Your goons won't always be there to protect you. I will be watching, and I'll strike when you least expect it."

"Are you seriously threatening my life?" I asked incredulously. "You really are certifiably out of your mind, aren't you?"

Hyde simply laughed again and answered, "Yep. You should have done a more thorough job on your background check when you hired me. Then again, I am a genius, and my Princeton education was real. My job experience before I started working for you was real too. I didn't fake any of that. I just got rid of certain... records."

"Mr. Hyde, I'm leaving now," I told him. "Give my regards to Mr. Dickhead in Addis Ababa."

With that, I walked back to the parking lot, determined not to turn back regardless of what other bullshit came out of his mouth. But he didn't say anything else. Instead, I heard his door slam. Only then did Prescott and Ryan follow Sawyer and me to the parking lot.

Once we were in my car, and Luke was driving us away, I finally began to relax. Holy shit! That was intense. I was shocked at how different this Hyde was to the man who had worked closely with me for two years. I considered myself one of the best at reading people, but this evil bastard had totally bamboozled me. I took a deep breath, got my phone out of my purse, and called Christian. As I called his number, my hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"Anastasia," Christian answered before the phone barely had time to ring even once, and he sounded so worried.

I couldn't hold back the tears, hearing him answer like that. "Christian," I cried out between sobs.

"Oh, God, Ana, did he hurt you? Are you injured? I'll kill him!" Christian sounded panicked.

"I'm not hurt," I told him as I continued to sob, sounding disgusting to myself but unable to do anything about it. "My God, Christian, I didn't even know him."

"Ana, what happened?" Christian asked.

"He was so evil. Like, unreal evil. Like threatening to rape and kill me evil. And Christian, he has your videos. He gave me a thumb drive to give you, and I'm sure that's what is on it. He said he'd expose you to the world. And Christian, he said the only reason he worked for me was to get to you. Everything Samantha suggested this morning was right on. He was framing you, but our relationship ruined his plan, so now he said he has a new plan... and Christian, I think he means to do something even worse."

"He threatened you," Christian whispered, as if that was the only thing he'd heard me say.

"Yeah, he did. But I think he said all that just to get to you. You're the one he really wants to hurt, Christian. He just wants to use me to get to you. My God, what did you do to him? Why does he hate you so much?"

"I have no idea," Christian answered. "Apparently, I just found out today, we were in foster care together in Detroit, but I have no memory of that. I was a traumatized four-year-old who wasn't even able to speak. I didn't know anything about him. I'd never heard of him until he came to work for you."

"Well, he knew who you were," I told him.

"Yeah, I know," Christian responded. "And he's a dangerous son of a bitch."

"You're right," I agreed. "I found that out tonight. I'm sorry that I cut our call short earlier, but I had to confront him."

Christian sounded pissed as he said, "I'm so fucking angry with you about that, but we can talk about it more after you get home. Are you far away?"

I looked out the car window at the traffic and the street signs before I answered, "About twenty minutes away, I think."

"OK," Christian responded, "I need to make a couple of calls in light of what you've just told me, so we can continue this conversation after you get here."

"OK, that's fine," I answered. "And Christian... I'm sorry again for not calling you earlier today."

"Yeah, well, I'm pissed off about that too. But we will talk about it when you get here."

"I think I need to be punished," I suggested flirtatiously.

"Oh, you so need to be punished," he agreed, still sounding angry and unaffected by my flirting. "But don't think that you're going to enjoy it, princess. And don't plan on sitting down tomorrow."

I gulped before I responded. "Whatever pleases you, Ma..."

"Anastasia, don't you fucking dare," he warned, cutting me off. I knew better than to call him Master without my collar on, but I felt like it fit the context of the way our conversation was headed.

"I'm sorry," I responded.

"And stop fucking apologizing. I need to go make those calls. I will see you in a few minutes," he said, and then he ended the call.

I took another deep breath and closed my eyes. I kept them shut the rest of the way back to Escala, trying to calm myself, to find my inner peace. I was still shaken by my encounter with Hyde, and I felt uneasy about the way my conversation with Christian had been cut short.

A few minutes later, I stepped out of the elevator into Christian's penthouse, and when I saw him standing there, my jaw dropped to the floor. Holy shit! I knew he was a Greek god, but this was ridiculous. He was wearing a pair of ripped, faded jeans, with the top button undone. He didn't have on a shirt or shoes, and his ripped body was just begging me to lick him all over.

I didn't have long to stand there drooling, because Christian padded towards me, with an almost feral look in his eyes. Holy shit! This was my Dom, and I was in trouble, but I needed him like I needed air to breathe. He crushed his lips against mine and the kiss we shared felt like he was drinking from me, as if I was cool water and he was dying of thirst.

The kiss lasted a couple of minutes, and as I struggled to catch my breath, Christian said simply, "The thumb drive?"

I answered, still out of breath, "Luke is on his way right now to give it to Samantha and Barney. They need to check it out, make sure there aren't any viruses. Don't worry about Samantha. She's discreet."

Christian's eyes flickered in recognition, but he covered it so quickly I almost missed it. He didn't comment. Instead, he took my hand and said, "Come." He led me into his kitchen, to the breakfast bar. "Sit," he commanded, and I obeyed. He put a plate in front of me, and another in front of his seat. Gail's chicken caesar salad. Perfect. "Eat," Christian commanded, and again, I obeyed him without speaking.

As he sat beside me and ate his own dinner, he never took his eyes off me. I ate in silence until my plate was empty because I knew it would make him happy. As I ate, I glanced around and noticed a couple of things on the table: my collar, and a blindfold. My Dom clearly had plans, and it was just a matter of time before he shared them with me.

Finally, as I finished the last bite, I looked at him and asked teasingly, "Are you going to say anything to me other than one word commands?"

He ignored my teasing tone and answered seriously, "No."

I sighed and decided that I needed to address one of the sources of his anger. "Christian, look, I know you didn't want me to confront Hyde, but you can't order me to stay in my car and expect me to obey you. I've made it clear to you that you can't control me outside of our sex life. It's all laid out in our contract."

I'd clearly said the wrong thing, as was evidenced by his pushing back his chair, standing quickly, and storming out of the room. "Christian!" I called after him.

He returned in just a minute, holding some papers in his hand, which he ripped up angrily in front of me as he spit words at me. "Do you want to know what I think of this God damned contract, Anastasia? I fucking told you when we made it that we didn't fucking need it. You said you wanted to sign it for 'symbolic reasons' or some shit like that. Hell, Ana, we don't even have any rules outside of the playroom, and I agreed to that. I've never fucking done this shit before, but I want it, with you. When I told you not to get out of the fucking car at Hyde's, it wasn't because I was trying to control you like some fucking submissive. It was because I was trying to protect the woman I love, and I couldn't fucking do that because you were so fucking determined to put yourself in danger."

Once again, I couldn't hold back my tears, but I ignored them and just let them fall as I responded to him, "Christian, I had Sawyer right there at my side, and Ryan and Prescott just a few feet away. They were all armed. And I had a covert operative in a car just a few more feet away, ready to move in if needed."

"You had three covert operatives," he corrected me. "I have two guys watching Hyde myself."

"See," I told him. "With all that security, I was safe."

"You weren't safe, Anastasia. That bastard could have hurt you, even with all your security. Do you know what it would do to me if something happened to you? And how the hell am I supposed to protect you if you keep putting yourself at risk?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, feeling defensive. "I'm not stupid, Christian. I am careful..."

"Bullshit," he cut me off. "What about the night we met, Anastasia? How careful were you then?"

"What do you mean, Christian? I trusted you..."

"Yeah, until you found out who I was," he spit out bitterly. "Then, you couldn't wait to get away from me. You left there without a way home, without your purse, without your jacket, without even your fucking shoes. How the hell did you even get home?"

"Luke," I answered, feeling humbled. "And without panties too," I reminded him. I thought it might diffuse him, but it only made him angrier.

"Without a bra or panties, in a sexy as hell dress, in the fucking rain, in the middle of the night, in downtown fucking Seattle. What the hell were you thinking, Ana?"

I bowed my head submissively. He had me. I was ashamed as I answered weakly, "I was thinking that Christian Grey, my arch enemy, had just rocked my world."

He ignored my weak dig at him. "Thank God Sawyer was there to take you home. I didn't even know who you were until after you left, and even if I had, I couldn't go after you because you were too afraid of me at the time. Ana, you've got to start taking your safety more seriously. And listen to me when I am trying to protect you. Stop thinking I'm trying to control you. I'm not your fucking Dom outside of the playroom."

"You look like my fucking Dom right now," I told him, trying to lighten the conversation again. I let my eyes roam his body again. That chest, which was fucking perfect in spite of his scars, and I could touch him there! I was the only one who could touch him there. It made me feel almost giddy. And those abs. And those sexy fucking jeans. God, I wanted him. But then a disturbing thought occurred to me.

"What's that look for, princess?" he asked. "Your face just went from wanting to devour me to looking worried as hell."

"You just ripped up our contract," I reminded him.

"Yeah, because we don't need a fucking contract. We never did. We've never had a D/s relationship, not really. And we never will."

"But... what does that mean?" I asked "Do you not want to take me into the playroom any more?"

"Oh, I fucking want to take you into the playroom, you bet your sweet ass, I do," he answered. "I want to spank your ass until you can't walk for a week. And then I want to fuck you so hard that you'll never go a day without thinking of me again."

"Christian, I didn't go today without thinking of you," I corrected him.

"Then why the hell couldn't you call me?" he asked. "Thirty fucking seconds, Anastasia. That's all it would have taken. If you thought of me at all, you could have sent a fucking text message. That would have taken what, ten seconds of your time?"

I felt ashamed again. "It was a hard day," I said lamely.

"I realize that, princess. Which is why I wanted to be there for you. But you didn't answer my call or return my messages."

"I'm sorry, Christian," I whispered.

"Stop fucking apologizing," he commanded.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked. "How can I make it up to you? I can promise you that it will never happen again. Seriously, it won't. But what can I do to make you feel better right now? You didn't answer my question... or at least I didn't understand your answer." I picked up my collar from the table and asked him, "How does this work without a contract? Will you still put this on me, and will I still be yours when I wear it? Can I still call you Master, and will you still punish me?"

Christian blew out air in exasperation. "Yes, to all of the above. We have never needed a fucking contract to do what we enjoy doing." He took my collar from me and asked, "Do you want this?"

"Yes," I answered wholeheartedly.

"All of the same playroom rules still apply," he explained. "We know what they are. Is that what you want?"

"Yes, Christian. Please," I answered.

"Tell me what you want, princess," he prompted me, and I knew exactly what he wanted to hear.

I knelt in front of him, bowed my head submissively, and said, "Please, punish me, Master."

Christian sucked in all the air in the room, so it seemed, and then he blew it out slowly. "You are so fucking beautiful," he muttered. He stared at me for another few seconds before he stood up and put the collar around my neck. I remained in my submissive position, with my head bowed.

Christian towered above me, and he began to command me in his Dom voice. "Look at me," he said, and I snapped my eyes to his. He kept eye contact with me as he reached over and took a couple of things from the table. "Hold out your hands in front of you." When I did he placed a key and a blindfold in my hands. "This is the key to the playroom. I want you to be there, waiting for me in exactly twenty minutes. In the meantime, go take a shower. After you shower, take down your hair from that bun. Then, once you're in position in the playroom, put on the blindfold and place your hands behind your back."

"Yes, Master," I responded.

Without another word, Christian turned and walked towards his office. I stood and quickly made my way upstairs, to the playroom, feeling nervous but excited about what was to come.