College and work are kicking my ass I swear. Luckily I'm done with school for a few months, so hopefully work and traveling don't keep me too busy so I can actually update this story more reasonably.

Since some of you had asked this at the end of the last chapter, I figured I'd answer it here. The secret Christian's so worried about telling her is going to be basically the same one as in the book: the reason why he chose to do the whole BDSM relationship in the first place. So dealing with the mom issues and the punishment stuff etc. etc.

That said, enjoy.

CPOV

Out of all the things Jose could have been hinting to at yesterday's event, this was definitely nowhere on my list of ideas.

The headline alone stood out, not to mention the rest of the article - or articles to be exact. It seemed like every major newspaper had a similar article.

ELENA LINCOLN: THE SCANDAL

We all know Elena Lincoln, wife to the bigshot Lincoln Timber owner, but she also has her own business - or should we say HAD her own business.

It turns out that every single one of Mrs. Lincoln's employees quit this morning - but that's not even the most shocking part. The shocking part is who they went to work for instead.

Elliot Grey, owner of Grey Construction.

Yup, you heard it here. Elena Lincoln lost all her employees to Elliot Grey.

Now we don't know what jobs ex-salon workers could do in a construction business, and it doesn't look like we'll be finding out anytime soon. Grey and Lincoln are both tight-lipped on the issue.

Though we can't really blame Mrs. Lincoln - it's got to be embarrassing.

Even more curious was the event that happened the night before, honoring a few of Washington's finest businessmen and women. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln and Elliot and Christian Grey, and their respective dates Katherine Kavanagh and Anastasia Steele, were in attendance last night. We're aware that it didn't go so well for Mrs. Lincoln, even though she was honored. It was said that her and her husband were having a few problems caused by the projector displaying a picture of Mrs. Lincoln and a younger man, who during the presentation was explained to be her nephew.

Except Elena Lincoln doesn't HAVE a nephew, because she doesn't have any siblings. So who was that younger man she was with? We may never know, but there are obviously a few rumors going around - and they WOULD explain why her and her husband were having issues last night.

And we're all well aware of how powerful Mr. Lincoln is. Would it be too unheard of to think that maybe HE had something to do with this?

Regardless, there are definitely other people who could have wanted to ruin Mrs. Lincoln's business. She had plenty of competition in the beauty world - though none of that explains Elliot's involvement in snagging her employees.

If any new information comes out, you'll see it here first!

I couldn't say that I felt bad for her, because I didn't. I was however curious about what the hell Elliot wanted with a bunch of salon workers.

I looked over at Ana, still fast asleep next to me - not that I could blame her. It was seven in the morning and I'd definitely worn her out last night.

Her hair was splayed out around her, her eyelashes casting a shadow along her cheekbones as the light filtered in through the glass door of the balcony and in that moment it hit me harder than ever - I loved this woman.

I fucking loved this woman.

This complicated, crazy, infuriating, beautiful, headstrong woman.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" she murmured, arms stretching above her head.

You. The fact that I love you and don't know what the hell I'd do without you.

"This article about Elena. Jose wasn't kidding when he said the best was yet to come." I said, handing her the newspaper.

She sat up, running a hand through her hair while her eyes scanned over the article - and got bigger the more she read.

"Wow...what the hell is Elliot going to do with a bunch of salon workers?"

I shrugged, "Hell if I know."

She shook her head and said, "I kind of feel bad. I mean she's horrible, but her entire business is ruined."

I shrugged, "She'll be fine. If Elena Lincoln is anything, it's resourceful. Besides, I doubt Linc's going to leave her, even with everything going on."

She nodded, handing me back the article before flopping back down onto the bed.

"You know, I've been thinking."

"About what?" she asked, turing her head so she was looking at me.

"About us."

Her eyes widened, clearly surprised - not that I could blame her. I wasn't exactly known for talking about this stuff.

"What about us?"

"About you moving in here."

That caused her to sit up, "What?"

"I mean you're already here most of the time anyway, and I definitely want you here."

She blinked a few times, a completely blank look on her face before shaking her head, "This is crazy. How do you even know you want me to live here? Move in here. I mean with all my stuff and -"

"It's not like there isn't room. I want you here, Ana."

"But how do you know that?"

Well that was easy to think, but not easy to say but...

"Because I lo-"

"Helloooooo, anybody home?"

Leave it to Jose to interrupt the moment when I finally got up the nerve to spit the words out.

"We'll be right down!" called Ana, throwing the covers off herself. "We'll talk about it later, okay?"

I nodded, getting up as well and following her downstairs.

"I take it you've heard?" asked Jose, a practically face splitting smile on his face. Jordan was with him too, looking around with wide eyes. It reminded me of the first time Ana had seen Escala.

"Hey, Jordan." said Ana, giving both of them a hug. "Yeah, we saw. How'd you get Elliot to go along with it? And what the hell is he even going to use salon workers for?"

Jose chuckled, "Convincing him was easy. He wasn't exactly a fan of Elena to begin with, especially when I told him that she was trying to fuck with your relationship. As far as the salon workers...he's gifting them to a friend."

"What?"

"Well you remember Jane, right?"

Ana nodded, "Sure, you work with her all the time."

"Well she's always wanted to open her own salon, but that's expensive work, and finding qualified and reputable stylists is even harder - but with Elena's stylists...I mean there's no way it won't be a success."

Ana chuckled and I couldn't help but be a little amused myself. It was a pretty good plan.

"How'd you convince all of them to leave?" I asked.

Jose shrugged, "I told them Elliot would pay them double. Turns out they weren't that loyal to the bitch troll to begin with."

"Has anyone heard from Elena? I mean what's she have to say about all this?"

"No idea. From what Kate said she's refused to talk to the press about it." said Jordan.

"Besides, who cares? I just finished the last thing on the way over here, so she'd be stupid to continue messing with you." said Jose.

"What'd you do?"

"Had a bouquet of flowers delivered to her house."

Ana raised an eyebrow and Jose's smile turned a little devious.

"With a card...'hope you enjoyed the surprises, xoxo Ana and Friends'. I'm sure she'll love it."

"You're ridiculous." said Ana, unable to keep the smile off her face.

Ridiculous or not, I was pretty sure Elena was done sticking her nose in our business.

She wasn't that stupid.

APOV

I had no idea what to think about Christian telling me he wanted me to move into Escala. I mean how did he even know he was ready for that?

How did I know if I was ready for that?

He did have a good point about me practically living here already, but my things weren't scattered around everywhere, and we didn't spend every day together - plus I had responsibilities to Kate and Jose. I mean we lived together, technically.

I shook the thoughts from my head, instead focusing on the painting in front of me. It was the one of Christian from Paris that I hadn't finished yet, but that was almost done now.

Sitting on one of the balconies at Escala really was the perfect place to paint. It was beautiful and there was a slight breeze and the fresh air did wonders for my creativity.

"I can't think of many situations in which you look better."

I turned and found Christian standing in the doorway, a slight smirk on his face.

"You always look so relaxed when you paint."

"I..." I shook my head and glanced back at the canvas, "I figured I should finish this."

I heard his footsteps as he walked closer, stopping to stand right behind me, one hand resting on my shoulder.

"You're so talented; it's kind of crazy."

"Thank you." I said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear before standing up.

There was a conflicted look on his face, as if he had something to say, but didn't really want to say it.

Or maybe didn't know how.

"What's on your mind?"

After a few seconds of silence he took a deep breath and said, "Ana, I l-"

His train of thought was interrupted by Taylor, an apologetic look on his face as he said, "Mr. Grey, Mrs. Lincoln is here."

"What?" we both asked at the same time.

"She requested to speak with you. Both of you." said Taylor with a shrug. "She's still downstairs at the elevator."

Christian let out an exasperated sigh and said, "Fine, let her up."

Taylor nodded, disappearing again, and Christian ran a hand through his hair.

"Ridiculous." he muttered, before taking my hand and leading me back inside and into the living room to wait for Elena.

I wasn't sure what she wanted, or why she wanted to talk to both of us, but I was hoping it was only to tell us that she would officially be minding her own damn business from now on.

Though I was a little doubtful that she'd make the trip all the way out to Escala for that.

Then again Elena was a fairly dramatic person - so I'd learned.

When the elevator doors opened Elena stepped out, looking as she usually did in all black.

"Christian...Anastasia." she said, not removing the giant black sunglasses she was wearing.

"What do you want, Elena?" asked Christian, obviously not interested in small talk.

"To apologize. I...I was wrong for interfering in your life."

"You came all this way for that? You could've called."

"I wanted to explain." she said slowly, "I felt like I owed you an explanation - especially you, Ana, for involving Dylan and your mother."

I bit my tongue, refusing to say anything because I didn't exactly trust myself to not pull a Jose and completely go off.

"So explain. We don't have all day." said Christian, leaning back against the arm rest of the couch.

"Things with Linc have been pretty bad, and I saw how happy you and Ana were...and I guess I was jealous. You'd never cared about anyone like you cared about her...anyway, I dug around in her past to try to find something that would make you realize that she wasn't worth it - and then I found Dylan. I'd really just wanted him to flirt with you so that you'd leave Christian, but that didn't really work...and things with Linc weren't getting any better -"

"Linc's a decent guy. What the hell are you talking about?" interrupted Christian.

"Decent guy? Right." she said, removing her sunglasses to reveal a pretty bad looking black eye, "Because decent guys do this."

Damn.

That was unexpected.

"I'm supposed to believe Linc did that to you?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"I don't expect you to believe anything I say." she said, putting her sunglasses back on, "I'm just telling you."

"Just finish the story, Elena."

She sighed but did as he asked, "So I started asking more questions about Carla and Stephen - and of course Dylan told me everything, and I figured that if I threatened reopening the case you'd back off."

Christian's jaw clenched and he asked, "Are you done?"

She nodded, unsure.

"Good. Get out."

"But I was hoping that we could still -"

"Elena after everything you've done don't you dare try to end this as us being friends."

"But -"

"I accept your apology, Elena. I wish you well. I hope you figure out what's going on between you and Linc - but hear me when I say this: I am not your friend. Taylor will show you out."

And with that he turned and headed back up the stairs leaving Elena and I standing in the living room alone, Taylor a few feet away at the elevator doors.

"I really am sorry." she said, "And I know I have no right to ask you this, but you've been in a relationship like...this...so please don't judge me for trying to find a way out of it."

I wasn't sure if I believed that Linc had done that or not, but it did bring back memories of Dylan - though none of that excused any of the things she did.

"I would never judge a woman for trying to find her way out of an abusive relationship, but you knew Christian was happy with me, yet you still tried to ruin our relationship and my family - for that I do judge you, because it says a lot about your character."

"I -"

"We have things to do today." I said shaking my head, "Taylor, would you show Mrs. Lincoln the door?"

"Of course." he said, motioning for Elena to follow him while I went upstairs to find Christian.

I found him out on the balcony, but before I could step outside I noticed he was on the phone.

"...trust my own judgement if I was friends with Elena for so long without seeing what kind of person she was?"

I knew eavesdropping was wrong, but for some reason I couldn't get myself to move away from the balcony door.

"I know she's different, Finn. That's part of the problem."

Silence.

Lots of silence, and then Christian sighed, his voice soft.

"I don't deserve her. All of the shit she's put up with, with Elena alone - I mean for fuck's sake Elena tried to get her mom sent to prison. Who the fucking hell am I to deserve a woman that amazing?"

Oh...oh my...

This giant, stupid, idiot. Of course he deserved me.

"I don't even know how to bring it up, Finn."

Now or never, I suppose.

"I guess this makes it a little easier then." I said softly.

He spun around, clearly surprised to see me, but he didn't seem upset.

"Finn, I'll call you later." he said, before hanging up and tossing his phone onto the table.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long." I said honestly, "But long enough. Christian, how could you think that you don't deserve me?"

"Because -"

"Can you honestly not see how amazing you are and how lucky I am to have you?"

"I...why would you be lucky? There are things I haven't told you that would completely change how you felt about -"

"No," I said, shaking my head, "They wouldn't. I'm lucky, Christian, because for as stubborn and overprotective and domineering as you are, you care. You have such a big heart, whether you want to admit it or not."

He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, "I don't deserve -"

"God damnit, Christian, I love you." I said, the words spilling out before I could stop them, but once they were out there was no doubt in my mind that I meant them.

I loved him. This big, stupid, idiot.

He looked conflicted and shook his head, "You can't...it's not...I'm not -"

"How is that a bad thing?"

He shook his head again, running a hand through his hair and looking more confused than I'd ever seen him before.

"Because I'm not the type of person someone falls in love with."

"That's stupid. You're -"

"No, Ana, it's not stupid!" he snapped, his voice raised, "What's stupid is that you think I'm the guy for you."

"Are you kidding? What the hell did you think was going to happen? That we were just going to date and care about each other? That it wasn't ever going to be more than that? Well I'm sorry, but it's more than that for me, even if it isn't for you." I said, forcing the tears down.

I would not cry in front of him.

He groaned, "Don't you get it? I have nothing to offer you, Anastasia. Nothing that you actually need."

"You don't get it." I said, "You're what I need, Christian. You, and only you. You keep telling me that you can't give me anything, but you already have. You gave me me back. You've helped me more than anyone, so don't you dare say that."

"You don't know about my past. You wouldn't have told me that if you knew." he said, his eyes guarded, like when I first met him.

"You don't get to tell me what I would and wouldn't do." I snapped, "The fact that you don't trust me enough to tell me about your past is one thing, but to try and act like it's because I'm going to leave you is shit and you know it. I've never given you a reason to think I'd leave you."

"It's not you, it's -"

"I swear on my life if you finish that sentence I will hurt you." I said, livid, "You don't get to dismiss our entire relationship with one cliche breakup line."

"I'm not breaking up with you -"

"And I'm not staying." I said, interrupting him.

His eyes widened, and at that moment more than any other I realized I couldn't ever fully understand Christian Grey. Here he was telling me that I shouldn't love him, that he wasn't right for me, but then was surprised when I mentioned breaking up. What the fuck was going on?

"I don't want -"

"I don't think you know what you do and don't want, Christian." I interrupted, unclasping the bracelet he'd given me in Paris, "But I'm not going to sit around while you try to figure it out. You think you're not good enough for me? Fine. I know you're wrong, but I can't argue with you about it because all of this is dependent on some past thing that you're not telling me about."

I stepped closer to him, taking his hand and placing the bracelet in it, "So I'm going to go."

He shook his head, refusing to take the bracelet, "This ultimatum isn't fair."

"Ultimatum?" I asked, confused.

What the hell was he talking about?

CPOV

I didn't want her to leave.

I didn't want her to love me.

Not because I didn't love her, because fuck I did. I fucking loved this woman more than anything in the world, but I wasn't right for her.

This morning I'd been about to tell her I loved her, but then Elena showed up and I just -

If I told her about why I'd first been attracted to her, about why I chose the women I did, there was no way she was going to stick around.

"The fact that you're going to leave if I don't tell you."

She shook her head, her blue eyes glassy, "That's not what I'm saying. I respect your right to privacy, but you obviously don't feel the same way about me, and you don't think I should love you because of that past thing, so I don't see how we're moving past that."

I shook my head, "Of course we -"

"I can't not love you, Christian!" she yelled, a tear sliding down her cheek, "And I can't stay in a relationship knowing that you're not okay with that."

"I..."

She shook her head, angrily wiping away the stray tear and said, "You can have Taylor pick up the Audi later today."

Fuck. No. No. No.

"Ana -"

"Please don't." she said quietly.

She walked past me into the bedroom and picked up her bag from the floor and headed downstairs towards the elevator, and I felt like I couldn't fucking breathe.

Was I wrong about this whole thing? Would it be better to know for sure if she would leave if I told her?

Did I deserve to be happy with her?

I remembered the words Taylor had said to me when I'd questioned whether or not I was good enough for her, "Be better."

Could I be better, though? Was I already?

"My mother was a crack whore."

She spun around to face me, her eyes slightly wider than usual, but she didn't say anything.

"She had a pimp. I don't remember a lot of specifics. He was around a lot though...didn't really care for me - or her, I suppose."

She slowly walked back over to me, "That's where you got the scars from."

It wasn't a question.

I nodded anyway.

I forced myself to look at her and said, "I found her lying on the floor one day. She wouldn't wake up."

Her eyes widened and she blinked quickly, attempting to get rid of the tears I saw gathering there, but one still managed to spill over.

The ache in my chest only worsened seeing that, and I stepped forward, wiping it away with my thumb, "Please don't cry."

"I'm sorry." she said softly, "I just..." she trailed off, shaking her head, "Why would that change anything?"

I took a deep breath and said, "The reason I enjoyed what this lifestyle offered me was because it was a way to take out my anger on women who reminded me of my mother."

She inhaled a sharp breath and her eyes widened slightly as she tried to wrap her head around what I'd said.

"So...the reason you like me is because I remind you of your mom?"

I shook my head, "No, I mean that's why I was first interested in you, but trust me, after the second time we talked I knew you were nothing like her...I just..."

"You just what?" she asked softly.

"I just want you to stay."

"It sounds like you're telling me you need something I can't give you." she said quietly, "I don't want to lose myself to be with you. I don't want to compromise who I am to make you happy."

"When I first met you I wanted to control you, claim you, but now...Ana, I just want to love you, anyway that I can, for as long as you'll let me."

At my confession her lips parted on a gasp and she looked thoroughly shocked. Not that I blamed her, this entire conversation had been one giant roller coaster.

"You...I thought you didn't..."

"I never said I didn't love you." I said, moving so I was directly in front of her.

"I don't know what you want me to do."

"Stay." I said honestly, "Tell me that you don't hate me for what I told -"

"I do not hate you." she said, interrupting me. "I can't even imagine what that was like for you. Who am I to judge? I just...I'm worried that Elena was right, and that I'm really not enough for you."

"That was my past...and I'm still working on it, but Ana, I can't imagine my life without you - and I don't want to."

She was quiet for a moment before she threw her arms around my neck in the tightest hug I'd ever been in in my life, but still didn't say anything. I wrapped my arms around her waist, and waited, until I realized that she was crying.

"Ana, baby, please don't cry." I said, rubbing her back, "I'm sorry."

She didn't say anything, just another sniffle.

"I'm an idiot. I should've told you about this before, and I should've told you I loved you weeks ago when I first figured it out."

"Weeks ago?" she murmured into my neck.

I nodded, "Weeks ago. But I was..." Spit it out, Grey. "I was scared of losing you."

"Can I make you happy?" she asked, so quiet that I almost didn't catch it.

"Ana, you already make me happy. I should be asking you that question."

"I don't think I'd be putting up with you if you didn't."

I chuckled softly but didn't say anything, instead continuing the rhythmic circles on her back for a while.

"I love you." I said quietly, the words as soft as a whisper, but I knew she heard me.

I waited, holding my breath for her answer.

"I love you too."

Thank fuck.

Alright, there we go. Sorry it's been so long, school, work, blah blah blah.

Anyway, review and let me know what you thought, sorry if it's a little rough, but at least it's here lol.

Is Elena telling the truth about Linc or is it just another game of hers - and where the hell is Dylan? I guess we'll see.