-"Well, this is a surprise. I didn't think you of all people would reach out to me. I thought Eric wanted you to stay out of the underworld." "He called me last week. He mentioned your name and I knew I had to find you. I have a question; lots of questions," Elena sat at one side of a table in a local café safely downtown. Opposite her was the informant, Black; his hands were clasped and one of his legs relaxingly up. "Questions for little old me?" He cooed innocently enough. Elena knew how risky it was for her to be here however and was in no mood for games.
"Cut the crap, Arthur. I know you're searching for Ray's daughter- Anastasia Steele." "You know her, then?" Black's lips curled into a knowing smirk. "We work together, though I don't know if she'll ever return to the office again." "Likely not," he chuckled to himself. "You got the attention of my ex-husband. What are you playing at?" "Do you care for the girl?" Black's eyes slowly began to lower onto her. "Decidedly not, but she's an important core that'll cause a ripple effect if she's plucked." "You're smarter than Eric gives you credit for," he then laughed.
"I'm serious. Why are you trying to find Hyde? And better yet, why are you trying to save her? To warn Anastasia about Hyde and my ex-husband?" "Oh, I'm not doing it out of the kindness of my heart; I could care less about the princess or Eric." This made Elena shutter; this was something very, very dangerous to say out loud. Satisfied with her scared reaction, the informant continued. "I don't care, but my current employer does. It'd be convenient for all of us if Hyde disappeared. But seeing as Lincoln already knows about Anastasia, I guess the whole thing's pointless now." "You didn't answer my question." "Not that it's any of your business, Jacobson still resents Steele. But he doesn't want his daughter and only heir to die. If she dies, that'll create a power vacuum. Plus, she's an innocent woman; he's not that heartless," Black tossed his hand nonchalantly in the air.
"So Jacobson's hired you to tell Anastasia about Hyde and Eric, on top of killing Hyde?" "See? You are quick," Black flashed her a brilliant smile. "Why not just tell Steele and let him take care of it?" Elena was more than a little confused, raising a suspicious eyebrow. "Oh, you know how Ray is." "No, I don't actually. I just recently learned that Anastasia was his daughter." "Well if I told him, he'd destroy Anastasia's passport so fast; after she was settled in Europe of course. My research tells me that he's already cancelled her PhD offer here and transferred it to York. She'll be moving there very soon I'm sure." "She's leaving the country?! For good?" Elena's eyes widened in shock. "I'm sure she'll come back to visit her husband. He'll run the Dollars while she lives safety across the Atlantic. Or at least until Steele discovers that Anastasia's infertile."-
"You didn't have to escort me to the airport," I scowled over to Mr. Bodyguard, who was sitting right beside me with his stupid arms crossed in that stupid way. We were taking transit to the airport; Daddy ordered that he didn't leave my side until I made it through security. "You don't think I have uses of my time? Like finding Black and crushing him?" He didn't even look at me. Oh, stupid me; how could I not see that? My eyes rolled as I pulled out my burner phone. Daddy made me leave my personal phone at the manor; I doubt I'd ever see it again. There was a text from an unknown number; not Christian, Paul, or Kate's. [Hey babe. My old man said he ran into you last week. We should meet up sometime. Jason]
Jason? Who's Jason? Jason, Jason….. Oh wait. "My son's about your age. His name's Jacob. I'll bring him around the manor sometime." Don't tell me…. That twin lap-dancer dick I saw in the Five-Way Catacomb? Ugh, gross! His dad must have given him my new phone number. This was so not what I needed right now. With the biggest eyeroll ever done by humankind, I deleted the message and shoved the phone back into my pocket. I just stared out the window the rest of the journey, which was about ten minutes long.
Of course Mr. Bodyguard was glued at my side the entire way in. I got my tickets, checked in my bag, and went to security. At the entrance, I turned thankful to soon be chaperon-less. Finally! "Well, thanks for everything. I'll see you when I get back," I wasn't looking at him while talking; I was too in a hurry to get through the gate. But as I was about to may my mad dash, a strong hand took hold of my upper arm. I blinked back in surprise to see Mr. Bodyguard holding onto me; once again with a torturous grip. Though I don't think it was this harsh on purpose; I doubt he knew his own strength.
His face was… sincere. Really, really sincere; a sincerity I'd never seen from him before. We gazed at each other for a second, though it felt much longer than that. Eventually his lips parted a tad; he wasn't smile. "Don't die." "Huh?" "It'd be a real inconvenience if you died, so don't; alright?" W-what is he talking about? Where is this coming from? If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was actually worried about me- a little. "I… don't plan to," my lips spurted out, not really sure what to say to this. His eyes narrowed sternly onto mine. "I mean it. I'll fly to Florence to save your ass if I have to."
Oh….. oh, ok; I knew what this was. It didn't take a genuine to know that this was the kindest, most authentic thing Mr. Bodyguard would ever say to me. That's how men like him showed affection, that they cared…. Don't get me wrong! He was still my annoyed babysitter, but… maybe he didn't hate me as much as I thought he did. I smiled and he relaxed his grip a little. I smiled up at him pleased… "I'll be careful, I promise." He didn't verbally reply, finally letting go of my arm. With one last wave his way, I then went to go through security.
Once on the other side, I quickly found my gate and sat down. While waiting, I pulled out my passport again, flipping to the page with the UK visa. Daddy…. My eyes narrowed upset upon it. Why would do this? What are you up to? As I inspected, something caught my eye. Wait… This is an extended Tier 4 visa; the kind you get for PhD…. On the visa, it said my place of residence was York. York? Why York of all places? And why a PhD visa? Was it easier for him to get me one because I'm a student? But no… that doesn't make sense. You can only get one of these visas if you're registered with a UK university, which I am not. Daddy must have pulled some strings, but I have no clue what those strings might be. I'll have to have a long talk with him when I get back.
That's when I spotted a little, wrapped box hidden inside my bag. Curious- I don't remember packing that. Pulling it out, I opened it; inside was this black bracelet with a small button on the side of the top. Huh, what's this? I ponderingly examined it; didn't look like a normal bracelet. Everything suddenly made sense when I found a police logo at the bottom. There's something I want to give you.
Awe! It's an emergency bracelet from Paul; he must have slipped it into my bag before we went to the bar the other night. Just in case he got too drunk to remember to give it to me. He wanted to make sure I had it. So sweet, a warm smile crossed my lips. I happily put it on my right wrist; sure, it wouldn't work in Italy, but it still felt good to wear something from him. If I couldn't wear Christian's colors, Paul was definitely not a bad second. With that, I kept smiling and pulled out a book to start reading.
"Florence?! She's on her way to Florence?!" Christian was pacing his living room floor while Paul leaned up against the table with his arms folded and head down; Jason was also there, also leaning up against a wall. Christian was currently on the phone with Jerome, Mr. Steele's righthand man. "Yes, sir; she'll be spending some time there." "W-what are you talking about? Anastasia never said anything about Italy!" "It was…. an unexpected surprise from her father, sir. Also, I've been instructed to inform you that Miss Steele will not be completing her internship. Would you please terminate her contract as soon as possible?" "She wha-….? Is this because of the situation with Black?" Christian was absolutely floored and sick with worry. Paul was in the same boat, though he chose to listen quietly in the background for the moment.
"I'm not at liberty to say, sir." "Well…. when will she be returning? What hotel is she staying at?" "I cannot say, sir." "Uh, well….." Christian began to understand that he wouldn't get any substantial answers from this conversation. When Jerome didn't say anything more, Christian saw fit to end the call. "Thank you for letting us know, Jerome. I appreciate it." "Certainly, sir. Until next time," click. The CEO sighed and hung up; he turned to face both men with a defeated expression.
"Anastasia's gone to Florence. My guess is that Steele got scared after Black's break-in and sent her away." "So, she's in Florence- alone- right now?" Paul growled, still not taking his stare off the floor. "I doubt that she's alone, but yes; she's out of the country for who knows how long." "Dammit!" Paul whispered under his breath. "So what now, boss?" Jason asked Christian. "We need to be smart about this and figure it out. It's obvious that Steele's gone into protection-mode. But we definitely need to do something." Christian could barely contain his worried; it actually scared him how worried-sick he was. And Paul…
They both blinked when Paul suddenly straightened up and started marching silently towards the front door. "Where are you going?" Christian frowned. "Where do you think?
I'm going to catch Black."