Ch 25: New Dream?
Ana was quite shocked and confused. Her mother in law told her she believed she was innocent; but still wasn't sure she could trust Grace. There was only one way to find out if she was truly sincere.
I had my doubts about Grace, her telling me she believed that I'm innocent is a little far fetched coming from her. But I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt for Christians sake.
Ana and Grace broke free from their embrace. Grace looked in her daughter in law in the eyes. She could see Ana coming around in talking with her.
"So, tell me, what can I do to help you?" Grace asked as they both sat on the cot. "I know I could never replace your mother. But, I'm here, I'm here for you. Just tell me what you need," Grace told Ana.
Ana looked away from Grace especially when she mentioned her mother. She really missed Maureen so much. Even though she was adopted; Ed and Maureen never treated Ana like she wasn't their biological parents. They made her feel safe.
"Ana?" Grace asked her. "I hope you do know that I will do whatever I can to help you. Rather if its a hug...or just someone to talk to…"
"Yeah...I...um...Christian has been there for me, as my brother and sister in law. But the one person who I relied on...well… I just miss her right about now," Ana told Grace, her voice trembling.
"Of course you would. Ana, there is nothing like it in the world. Having your mothers love and standing by you, it's like nothing else."
"I'm just scared...really scared," Ana replied breaking down.
"Its okay… I'm here for you…" Grace told Ana as she took Ana into her arms and allowed Ana to cry.
I never thought I'd say this about my mother in law, but she really is helping me. Just having her to talk too is a big relief. Who knew?
Grace held Ana in her arms as she felt her daughter in law break down and sob. "Its okay, Anastasia. I'm here...I'm here."
Ana pulled away a bit as she continued to talk with her mother in law. It felt weird for Ana to talk with Grace.
I could see that Ana was becoming more comfortable with me. I'm glad to see we're making some headway. I keep telling myself, this is for Christian. I'm doing this for him.
"I can only imagine how this must feel for you," Grace said to Ana.
"It's hard. I mean, being stuck behind these bars is like a nightmare. I miss Christian so much."
"He misses you too, Ana. I could see it in his eyes that day in the courtroom. Just trust in that love, it will get you both through." Grace replied.
"I'm trying to, believe me. It's all that I have right now. I'm just afraid for him. He's been so determined to find who set me up…" her voice trailed off as they got distracted with a bunch of chaos of voices.
They saw Christian being walked in and his hands cuffed behind his back. "Hey, honey, I'm home," he told her a little cocky.
"What?" Ana asked surprised. "What's going on?" she asked.
David shoved Christian into the bars while he uncuffed him. Ana kept asking them what was going on.
"I'll tell you what happened," Frank told Ana. "Your husband decided to try and take the law into his own hands and he lost."
"Oh my god! Christian what happened?" Ana questioned him. She was afraid that he would do something to get himself into trouble.
Grace asked to get out of Ana's holding cell and be with her son. David allowed his mother in the cell with Christian.
"Son, what is going on?" Grace asked Christian. She turned to Frank and David asking. "What exactly did you charge my son with?"
"He was getting too involved in this case, Mrs Grey," David told Grace.
"It seemed Christian thought he could track down the eyewitness and get her not to testify," Frank continued.
Christian leaned back against the bars in front of his wifes holding cell looking back at Frank.
"You know what, I wouldn't have to look for the witness if you pigs would do your fucking jobs!" Christian yelled at the cops.
Frank started going after Christian. "You listen to me, Grey, I've had enough of your cracks. You think your so smart, try again and see what happens."
"Whatever," Christian smirked back. "Are you gonna arrest me? You already have. Besides, I didn't get anywhere with your so called witness. In fact I was the one who got knocked in back of the head."
"Christian?" Ana asked her husband. "Are you okay?"
"No, I have a big knot on my head. Feel it," he instructed as he took her hand across the bars and put it to his head.
"Did you happen to see this person?" Frank asked.
Christian turned his direction. "Now how would I have seen this person if they hit me from the back? If you geniunesses would go after the real killer then maybe we'd get somewhere," he told Frank.
David told his boss that they have been searching for Lockhart but couldn't find her anywhere.
"Where did you stash her, Christian?" Frank grilled him.
"What the fuck?" Christian yelled back. "Don't you guys have enough sense to maybe ask questions at the last place she was seen. Try at Company," he suggested.
"All I do know is this, you were the last one to be seen with Lockhart, you do the math," Frank replied snidely.
"How dare you!" Grace yelled at Frank. "If my son told you he has no idea where this so called witness is, then why aren't you looking for the real killer?"
"We have the real killer behind bars Mrs Grey," David replied snidely.
"That is such bullshit!" Christian yelled at David. Ana was trying to get her husband to calm down.
"Honey, please calm down…"
"You should listen to your wife, Grey," David suggested.
"Oh, go fuck yourself, Grant!" Christian replied back angrily.
"Shut up all of you!" Frank shouted to everyone. "This isn't getting us anywhere. We just need to put out an APB on Ruth and hope we find her," Frank told David as they left the holding cells. The guards stood by.
"Christian, I'm going to take off. Please, take care of yourself, okay?" his mother asked. She kissed him on the cheek. "Ana, remember what I told you. If you need me, don't hesitate to ask," Grace told Ana while she nodded back. Christian saw their exchange and wondered what was going on.
"What was my mother doing here?"
Ana looked back at her husband. "Believe it or not, we were talking."
"Oh? So do you not think she had anything to do with setting you up?"
"I don't know…" she sighed to him. "All that I do know is that I love you. Here, let me massage your head for you."
Ana was rubbing her husband's head trying to make him feel better while he moaned out. He missed her touching him.
"What took you so long?" Christian asked, the man walked into the holding cell as Christian stared back at him.
"I've been busy. Looks like you got yourself in a heap of trouble there, Grey," the man said.
"Yeah, well, if you do your job, maybe you could get us both out of here," Christian curtly replied.
"Christian, who is this guy?" Ana asked, not recognizing him.
"I'm your attorney, Mrs Grey. I'm Boyce Fox, nice to meet you," he told her while looking at her longer than he should. Damn, when Christian said his wife was hot, he wasn't lying. Ana got the creeps the way he was looking at her.
"Hey! Eyes over here, counselor," Christian told him darkly, not liking the way Boyce was looking at his wife like she was a piece of meat.
"Don't mind me, just admiring your taste, Christian," he told his client.
"If you want to keep your job, I suggest you keep your eyes off my wife," Christian snapped, emphasizing the word off to him.
"So tell me, Christian, what brought you in here? I heard you made the witness disappear."
"You heard wrong. I don't know where the fuck she is. All I do know is that my wife is innocent. Now are you going to help us or not?"
"Fine. But, just so you know, I'm not a babysitter."
"I'm not sorry I went after the witness. I was trying to get her to tell the truth, while talking to her someone got me on the back of the head."
"Christian, are you sure your okay?" Ana asked her husband out of concern.
"I'm fine, baby. Don't worry about me. Let's just focus on getting us out of here."
Boyce watched their exchange. "Are you two love birds done licking each other wounds?" he asked curtly.
"What the hell does that mean?" Christian turned back to their lawyer.
"It means that I have a huge case on my hands and I don't need my clients husband getting in the way. Christian, you have got to stay out of this," Boyce told him.
"Do you really expect me to just sit there and allow my wife get charged with a murder she didn't commit?"
"I expect you to let me do my job. Do you not realize that you just made your wife look guiltier than she already is?"
"I'm not guilty!" Ana yelled at Boyce.
"It's not me you have to convince, Ana," he yelled back. He calmed down and spoke to Christian. "I will get you out of here tomorrow."
"Fine. Just don't make me regret hiring you," Christian told Boyce.
Boyce left leaving Ana and Christian alone in their holding cells.
"I don't like him," she told Christian.
"I know...I didn't really like the way he was looking at you either, like you were a piece of meat. But, for the moment, I have to get passed my jealousy to get you out of here," he told her back.
Ana pulled Christian closer to her through the bars, she wanted to feel him against her. She smiled back at her husband.
"What's that smile for?" he asked.
"You. You were jealous of Boyce?" she asked.
Christian sighed. "Well...yeah. I'm going to be jealous of any man looking at you the way he did."
"That's sweet." she told him.
"Sweet? You think it's sweet?" he asked her amused.
"What did you want me to think?"
"Sexy maybe but not sweet," he replied back.
"Okay, okay, I love the way my man gets jealous. Its very sexy and it just makes me hot thinking about it," she purred.
"Oh yeah?" he asked, with a little smirk forming on his lips.
"I love you, Christian. Always remember that okay?" she told him.
"I know you do baby, I love you too. We will get you out of here. Once this trial is over and we've proven your innocence, we are going to start building our home at Laurel Falls and start our own family."
"I thought…" Ana started to say but stopped.
"You thought what? Tell me," he said to her.
"I thought we were going to California…"
"Oh...that. With everything going on I forgot to tell you that Jimmy did call me. He said under the circumstance he couldn't hire me."
"What? No…" Ana yelled out as she paced around in her cell. "But that was your dream…" she told him.
"I have a new dream. I have a dream of us living at Laurel Falls in our new home I build for us and three kids running around."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"About three kids? Well, we could make it four if you insist." He told her half laughing.
Ana burst out laughing too. "That's not what I meant. I just want you to be happy."
"As long as I'm with you...I am happy. Come here sweetie," he told her.
They sat on the cot in there cells putting them back to back as they held each other through the bars. Christian let Ana know his dream was to be with her and to have that big family they've always wanted. That was his dream. The next day, Boyce showed back up as he was let inside of Christian's cell.
"Here I am. Your all set," Boyce told Christian.
"You got me out of here?"
"Sure did. It was no small fee either."
"What about the witness?" Ana asked. "Did they find her?"
"Technically yes. She was seen at a local hospital picking up her kid and headed for somewhere unknown."
"So they now know I didn't do anything to their witness."
"Your off the hook on that but your still got that part of stealing the record on you."
"Do they think she was the one who hit me on the head? Well, that should prove she was lying," Christian told Boyce.
"Not in their eyes. They see it as she being scared and ran off."
"Oh that's just great. When I get my hands on this person..."
"Whoa! Slow down there, Christian. Your not getting involved in this. Your going home and staying out of this."
"No, I'm not doing that."
"You have too. Your only making things worse for your wife. She already has the Grey baggage hanging over her head, she doesn't need you playing detective and getting into more trouble."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you telling me because of my name, my wife looks guilty?" Christian asked his attorney.
"It doesn't help her, Christian. You two have five minutes then I need to speak with my client," Boyce told the couple. He left them alone.
"I really don't like him." Ana said to her husband.
"I know. To be honest, part of me wishes I weren't leaving so I could stay here with you."
"Me too. Listen to me, I want you to go home and stop getting yourself into trouble."
"Okay, you two times up!" Boyce came in telling the couple.
"Just a few more minutes," Christian told him.
"I need to have some time with my client Christian. Say your goodbyes and go home."
Christian nodded and he said his love you's to Ana and gave her another kiss before heading out. Boyce told him to stay out of trouble. Ana had been left alone with Boyce in the holding cell. He paced around in the small space as they stared back at each other.
"What kind of woman are you, Ana?" he asked her.
"What? I'm not following the question," she answered.
"You seem to have them all fooled. I mean here you are the woman who your friends grew up with, your brother, they all seem to think you are so innocent that you could never kill anyone, even though you did it before," he claimed.
"What are you talking about?" Ana asked back.
"You killed your husband's brother, Elliot. That doesn't exactly look good in a court of law," he exclaimed to her.
"That was self defense and everyone knows that!" she spat to her attorney.
"Do you hear yourself? Your making an excuse about a man you killed, Ana! It may have been self defense in your eyes but not to a grand jury," he stated.
"But...but… that isn't fair. There was no arrest made, no record of foul play…"
"It doesn't matter. It's a matter of public record that you have indeed killed someone. Ana, you held a knife to your best friends father's throat, there were eyewitnesses to this. Do you honestly think the judge won't allow any of this in the trial?"
"Whatever," she snapped back.
"Whatever, you say? You better get yourself prepared for a fight Ana because when this is all over your will be prosecuted for the murder of Ben Warren and your excuse of I didn't do it, won't cut it! I know exactly what happened that night Ana. You went to Ben Warrens apartment that night and shot him in cold blood. You watched the man crawl to the phone to call for help!"
"Shut up! I did no such thing! If you keep this up, I'll…" her voice trailed off.
"You'll what, Anastasia?" he asked, getting her in personal space. "You'll what? Tell me. What are you going to do?" he argued.
"I'm going to fire you, that's what!" she spat angrily.
Boyce laughed at her. "Is that the best you got? Come on, I thought you were married to the mob, Ana? Show me what you got?" he shouted louder.
Ana went after him by pushing him up against the bars as she shouted. "It wasn't me! I did not kill Ben! I was nowhere near Towers that night as I with my husband!" she shouted back in his face.
Boyce looked Ana in the eyes, as they were wide as saucers. He smirked back at Ana. "Now we're getting somewhere."
"What do you mean?" still holding him against the bars.
"Your finally fighting back. Don't you get it? You have to fight this Ana. I know you aren't guilty of doing this."
Ana pulled back from Boyce. "You believe me?" she asked.
"Let me put it this way, your voice, your eyes told me you weren't the real killer. However, we have to make the jury see that."
"How do we do that?"
"By fighting back. Now, Mrs Grey, we have more work to do." He told her.
Christian was out of his mind being without his wife. He knew he couldn't go back to her childhood home without her being with him. Even though Rick had accepted him, he still felt as if he was an outsider to the Steeles. There was only one place he would feel at home. He entered the living room at the Grey mansion. His mother met his eyes as she ran to her son, hugging him.
"Christian, I'm so glad your out of jail." Grace told her son.
"Me too. Hey, grandmother," Christian said to Elizabeth. He knelt down to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"It's good to see you my grandson. We will need to visit tomorrow. I'm tired and going to bed, good night" she told him wheeling herself into her bedroom.
Christian turned to his mother. "I came here to talk to you about Ana."
Grace turned to him saying, "I've been meaning to talk to you myself."
"She wanted me to thank you for coming to see her. It really meant a lot to her and to me. This whole thing had become a nightmare for us and we're barely hanging on as we don't know who set her up. I've tried to help, but its leading up to a dead end."
"Yes, I could see that. Ana has been very brave."
"She has mother. I can't believe the cops really think she did this. There was no way she could have shot him, watched him crawl to the phone and shoot him again."
Grace looked back at Christian in shock. "Wait...did you say there was two shots?"
"Yeah, according to the police."
"Wow, I had no idea," Grace told her son sitting down. If my son said was true then...who was the second person who shot Ben?
"Mother, are you okay? You look kind of pale," he told her.
"I'm fine...I'm just in shock. I had no idea there were two shots," she breathed out. "This changes everything."
"What does?" he asked, looking at his mother.
"Nothing. I'm just tired, it's been a long day." Grace told him.
"Yeah for me too. Do you mind if I stay here for awhile?"
"Of course you can. I left your room the same way you left it."
"Thanks, mother. You get a good night sleep. I have to make some calls. I'll see you tomorrow." he told her. Both of them retired for the night.
The next day, Christian went to Towers for a meeting. He had someone who was doing for detective "work" for him. This person let him know that Lockhart hadn't picked up her last check yet at Towers. Ruth worked as a maid there at Towers and he found it strange for single working mother wouldn't need the money, unless she was paid off to lie.
"Thank you, good work. Just keep me posted, if you hear of anything else," he told Jack.
"Christian, for whatever it's worth, I think your wife is innocent."
Christian nodded. He turned and walked right into someone. When their eyes met he wasn't happy to see this person.
"Christian...I'm so glad I bumped into you," she told him.
"Leila, I really don't have the time for your right now," he said, trying to get passed her.
"Please hear me out. I'm sorry about everything that happened between us," she said to him. "I've been too afraid to call you because I was afraid you couldn't forgive me."
"Look, Leila, I have more important things to worry about besides you," he told her roughly.
"I deserve that. I heard about what happened with Ben's murder and Ana," she told him.
"What about it?"
"I know I tried to come in between you and Ana, but it wasn't worth it, because I hate seeing you like this."
Christian stared back at his ex and suddenly it hit him! I don't know why I didn't see this before. "You did it, didn't you?" he questioned angrily.
"What? I don't know what you're talking about?"
"I'm talking about you, Liela. Your one of the few people who had it in for Ben and framed my wife for it," he growled out.
"You really believe that I could kill Ben and frame Ana for it? Are you out of your mind!" she shouted angrily to him, forgetting they were in a public place.
"You had plenty of ammunition for killing Ben. I know where you come from, exactly like me. I know your daddy's little girl and he would give you an alibi."
"You want an alibi, I will give you one," she growled angrily reaching into her purse. She pulled out receipts for a hotel, plane tickets, "here is your proof!" she threw it at Christian. "I was out of town working with Jimmy! He asked me to fill in since you couldn't fulfill it."
Leila started to walk away when Christian stopped her. "I'm sorry! I've been under alot of pressure right now, I didn't mean to take it out on you," he told her gently.
She looked at her ex, her face softening. "I get it. Your scared. I just hate seeing you like this."
"I know...it's just hard being without her you know," his voice broke as he began to get choked up a bit.
"Christian, I'm here for you if you need to talk. I really have missed our friendship," Leila told him as she gently rubbed his shoulder.
Kate and Jose walked in Towers and saw Christian with Leila. Jose wasn't liking what he was seeing. He saw her touching him and Christian reciprocating. He went over to them. Kate watched Jose as he reamed out Christian for being with Leila.
"What the hell is going on here?" Jose growled to Christian. "Your wife is in jail and your now out here flirting with another woman while Ana is falling apart. Why kind of husband are you?"
"Jose, you have no idea what the hell your talking about so back off!" Christian warned.
"Can we go sit and have dinner please?" Kate asked her fiance who ignored her.
"You need to stay out of this…" Christian yelled at Jose.
"Or what? What are you going to do about it?" Jose asked, getting into Christian's face.
"May I have a word with you, now?" Christian asked Jose. "I'll be right back," Christian told Leila. The two men went aside so they could talk.
"Jose, I appreciate your helping Ana by not telling kate about her not having an alibi," Christian started saying.
"It's the least I could do after everything she's done for me. But what about what your doing?"
"Exactly what am I doing?"
"Your out with another woman, going behind Ana's back."
"One, don't ever question my loyalty to my wife. I just ran into Leila, I'm not out with her. We're old friends and I just happened to run into her, okay?"
"Whatever. Just don't expect me to keep quiet about this," Jose stated.
"What the hell do you mean by that?"Christian spat.
"Nothing. Just be careful on whom you talk to," Jose said, as he left Christian's side.
He walked back over to Leila who saw Jose walk passed her and he didn't seem too happy.
"What was that about?"
"He's just worried about Ana. Their old friends," he told her.
"Yeah, well, he was way out of line talking to you that way especially with everything you are doing for Ana."
"Sure, I am. Except for the fact of changing who I am," he expressed to her.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing. I just know that none of this would be happening to her if she hadn't of married me," he told her sadly.
"Why are you doing this to yourself?"
"Leila, I know what its costing her being married to me. I have a lot of enemies out there who would like nothing better than get to me."
"Are you saying that you think one of the families is setting her up?"
"I wouldn't put it past them."
"If you like, I could maybe do some investigating for you?"
"No, no, don't do that."
"It's the least I could do for you after everything. Besides they might be more upfront of what happened if I asked around."
"You want to help Ana? I find that hard to believe," he told her.
"I admit I'm not her biggest fan, but you love her."
"I love her more than anything in this world." He stated to Leila.
"Okay. Then let me do the asking around. I'll get back to you, okay?"
"Thanks."
"No problem. I'll be in touch." Leila told him walking away.
Christian watched as his ex got into the elevator and left. He told himself that he would do whatever it took to get Ana out of prison. Lie, cheat the system. He would do whatever it took to set her free.
A/N: Hello readers, I have decided to do a book three. It will be where most of the questions will be answered. If I continued it from this it would be a very long book. So we will see how this goes. Thank you for your continued support and time on this story being told. One more chapter of this one then we move to Book Three. As soon as I get a banner made, I will release the new title. It will still lead with Married to the Mob as it continues the mob series. Please also check out my new edit for this chapter in my Karen Cullen Grey group in my Married to the Mob: Mobster, Husband, or Both. Link can be found on my profile.