CHAPTER 37

I am watching Christian being put through his paces and it breaks my heart to see him struggling, at one point he is grimacing with the effort and he looks across helplessly at me. I give him a reassuring look and I stand and walk towards him.

"Come on Christian you can do this, where is that single minded confident CEO I married?" I whisper in his ear and I rub his arm encouragingly.

I watch as determination washes over him and a steely expression appears in his eyes and then we all see something remarkable, he moves his leg. He looks as astonished as we are as he was clearly not expecting it.

"Did you see that baby?" he gasps.

"I did, now do it again" I demand.

Once again his leg moves, not a lot but it was movement and I see a smile on the physio's face.

"Well I think you need to take over his physio, as you seem to be getting better results than me!" he says.

"That is because she is my reason to live," Christian says quietly.

I fight to hold back the tears trying to escape and I look at him, "Well, you had better do that again then" I say firmly.

Christian grins and I watch him slowly move his legs. After a gruelling session we return to his room and Christian is on a high after his achievements. I push Christian into the shower and he manoeuvres himself in and sits on the bench to clean himself. I stand and wait, watching to make sure he is ok before helping him dry himself and getting him back to bed.

We are sitting talking when there is a knock at the door and when it opens we see Gail pushing Jason into the room.

Christian's face lights up when he sees him. "Taylor, well you are a sight for sore eyes, it's good to see you" he says.

"You too sir," Jason replies.

"How are you?" Christian asks seriously.

"I'm good, give it a few more days then I am out of here" he says.

"No you are not!" Gail says slapping him on the shoulder.

I giggle, Jason Taylor burly security ex military man who could kill someone with his bare hands is brought into line by a woman half his size. Then I think about Christian and I, and I realise for the first time that I am the one who holds the power in our relationship too.

"Sir, are you aware of conversation between Garrett and Welch?" Jason asks looking swiftly at me.

Christian nods, "Ana briefly told me about it" he says stiffly.

Jason hands him the flash drive and the papers I gave him earlier, and Christian plugs it into his laptop and listens and reads the papers, his expression impassive. When it has finished, Christian looks at me and I see the fear in his eyes.

"Don't worry Christian," I say trying to calm him, "Raul assured me we will be fine and he is bringing Garrett in" I say, hoping that I am right.

As we sit there discussing the conversation my phone rings, I glance at it and it is a number I don't recognise. I let it go to voicemail and am surprised when I see that a message has been left. I retrieve it and I gasp when I hear Welch's voice coming to me.

"Mrs Grey, this is Geoff Welch here, I implore you not to hang up before you finish listening to this message, you are in danger. Tony Garrett is determined to abduct you in an attempt to extort money from Mr Grey. I know this because... because he is my brother, and he is also behind the Charlie Tango incident. I cannot stand by and watch him do this, he is unstable. Please take notice of this message and inform the security team to be on high alert, he is planning to abduct you from the hospital this evening when you leave to go the Heathman, please believe me on this and thank you for listening to it and goodbye" the line goes dead and I am rigid with anxiety.

"Baby? What is it?" Christian asks.

"Erm... what?" I say returning to planet earth I look at him and he is staring at me.

"Baby what's happened, who was that?" he asks.

"Welch" I say shortly and hand him my phone.

He calls up the phone message and listens to it, almost immediately he grabs his phone and calls Raul and shouts Luke who must have been just outside as he immediately enters the room. Raul has obviously answered his phone, because the next thing Christian is demanding more security and answers as to why Garrett hasn't been picked up yet.

I figure that Raul is patiently explaining things to him, as I see him calm and quieten. I hold out my hand and gesture to him that I want his phone, he tells Raul that I want to speak and he puts me on the line.

"Raul, hi it's Ana I have received a message from Welch warning me about Garrett, he is planning to try and take me when I leave the hospital tonight" I say.

"Yes Mrs Grey we have received the same message, I was just telling Mr Grey that security has been upgraded and we are ready to take him, we need him to think we are oblivious and we need to catch him in the act".

"Ok, so I am kind of like bait" I say quietly.

"NO!" Christian bellows, I put my hand out and squeeze his arm, as he leans forward waving his arms and gesturing wildly for his phone. I put the call on speaker so he can hear and I push his hand away.

"RAUL I WILL NOT HAVE MY WIFE USED AS BAIT" Christian shouts at his phone.

"Mr Grey, I assure you she will be safe and in our sights at all times, it is the only way to apprehend the subject," Raul replies calmly.

I decide to step in, "It's ok Raul, I will do it".

I glare at Christian daring him to say anything else, I hear him growl and he throws his hands up in the air in despair.

"Raul, Jason Taylor here, can you explain me to the plan of action?" he says calmly, I know he is doing this to try and calm Christian down and reassure him.

"Hello Jason, how are you? I hope you are recovering well" Raul says politely.

"I am thank you" Jason responds.

"Well, the plan is Mrs Grey is to continue with her nightly routine of leaving the hospital around the time she normally does. I have twenty Cross Industries security personnel at present stationed around the hospital blending in as visitors. They are in constant contact with Sawyer and Fisher who is Mrs Grey's CPO today. Ryan is also on the ground posing as press control, stationed outside the hospital, this amount will be doubled tonight, and outside the hospital I will have fifteen GEH security personnel, strategically placed around the grounds. I will also personally be on the ground tonight co-ordinating the operation". He stops speaking and I look at Jason's expression, he looks impressed and nods at Christian.

Christian rubs his face with his hand, "Raul, you personally guarantee my wife's safety?" he says.

"I do Mr Grey," Raul says confidently.

Christian looks at me and I raise my eyebrows at him and he sighs.

"Fine" he says shortly, "But I swear to god if anything, anything at all happens to my wife, I will personally make you pay, do you understand me?" he growls.

"I do sir" Raul says calmly.

I wrap my arms around Christian's neck and he pulls me away and looks straight at me.

"No fucking heroics Anastasia, do you understand me, you do exactly what the security team tells you and you do not deviate from it for any reason, I'm not happy about this at all, so you will do exactly as you are told and you will ring me as soon as you are safely back in the Heathman do you understand me?"

I nod at him, it hasn't escaped my notice that he has used my full name, "yes Christian" I say.

He looks pacified by my response and nods, and then turns his attention to Luke.

"Leave Fisher here with me, I want you with Ana, and you are not to let her out of your sight, please Luke keep her safe," he says almost pleading and we all noticed that he called Luke by his first name.

Luke nods confidently, "Yes sir, I informed Raul you would probably want to switch CPO's if you agreed to this, and Raul has been working on the assumption I will be Mrs Grey's CPO tonight".

Christian nods "Ok that's all Sawyer thank you" he says and Luke leaves the room.

"What do you think Taylor, does all this sound doable to you?" Christian asks Jason.

I see him think a moment before he answers, "Mr Grey, Raul Huerta is the best, if he is confident and says nothing will go wrong, you can believe him, he will have every eventuality covered and if he is on the ground personally, I can't see how it will fail" Jason says.

I look at him and I believe that he is speaking the truth and not just pacifying Christian and telling him what he wants to hear.

oooOOOooo

All too soon the time for me to leave arrives. Christian is beside himself and is snapping at everyone around him. I wrap my arms around him and whisper into his ear.

"Calm down! Everything is going to be fine, just trust your team and Gideon's teams to do this," I say and I kiss him.

He clings to me as if his life depends on it, "I'll try its just you are my world Ana and I won't survive if anything happens to you, please listen to them baby, and don't do anything stupid!" he looks at me, the fear and worry is clearly etched on his face.

I stroke his cheek and he leans into my touch, "I'll be good" I whisper to him.

There is a knock at the door and Raul enters with Luke.

"Are you ready Mrs Grey?" he asks politely.

I take a deep breath and nod. He smiles at me and walks over he has something in his hand.

"I'd like you to wear this please," he says handing me a tiny box.

I look at it suspiciously, "What is it?" I ask.

"State of the art, recording device and tracker in one, one of Mr Cross's subsidiary companies have been developing it," Raul explains.

I nod and watch as he attaches it under the collar of my jacket; he speaks into his sleeve and then presses an earpiece to his ear. Then he leans towards me and speaks to me.

"Testing, testing, one, two, three, are you getting this Mike, over?" he says.

He presses the earpiece and listens and then smiles widely.

"We are up and running Mrs Grey, ok when you are ready to leave just go as you normally would ok, Luke will be with you and you will be absolutely fine," Raul assures me.

I nod and turn to Christian who looks absolutely petrified.

"I'm going then, ok?" I say to him, he nods at me wordlessly.

As I reach the door I turn and give him a big smile and blow him a kiss, "I'll call you when I get to the Heathman" I say.

Christian nods again and as I go out of the door I hear him call me.

"Ana wait," he shouts.

I go back inside, "Yes?" I say.

"I love you baby, so fucking much, thank you for doing this for me, please stay safe and call me as soon as you get to the Heathman," he says.

I smile, "I love you too Christian, and just remember after tonight it will all be over," I say and without another word I leave the room. I look up at Luke and he gives me a reassuring nod.

"Ready?" he asks.

"As I'll ever be" I reply and with a deep breath I leave the hospital with Luke at my side.

I can't help but look at people I pass as I leave the hospital, wondering if they are real visitors or part of Gideon's security team.

As we leave the hospital I am surprised to note that there are no press waiting for us which I am pleased about. Luke escorts me to the waiting SUV. As he does so I see movement in the bushes to my left, and then I see Garrett making his way slowly towards us, I turn to Luke.

"To our left, in the bushes do you see him?" I say nervously.

"I do Mrs Grey don't worry, if you've seen him and I've seen him, then everyone else has as well," he says reassuringly.

"I'm glad there's no media here tonight, they are the last thing we need in the mix" I say.

"Mr Cross set up a diversion for them in Portland, something far more newsworthy than you leaving the hospital and saying nothing to them!" Luke says with a grin.

As we reach the SUV Garrett pounces. He tries to take out Luke but he is ready for him and sends Garratt crashing into the side of the SUV, but then I hear a noise and Luke sinks to the ground. Garrett turns to me and grabs me.

"What did you do to him?" I ask.

"Knocked him out, he'll be fine" he says.

"Now Mrs Grey, are you going to come quietly or do I have knock you out as well?" he says he is so close to my ear I want to cringe.

I see movement all around and I know the security teams are closing in. I feel something being pressed into my side and I realise he must have a gun or something. I pull my mind back from my wandering thoughts. I feel Garrett is inching us towards the SUV I quickly realise that I need to keep him out of the car so I try distraction.

"Why, what do you want with me?" I ask.

I am fighting to keep calm, all I can smell is stale cigarettes and sweat and I want to throw up. I control my breathing and try to keep a clear head, as he moves us again I manage to manoeuvre my arms so one is free of his grasp. I am actually quite surprised by how weak he actually is and how easy it was for me to free my arm. My mind starts formulating a plan to free myself completely, I think of Christian's words about not being a hero but I need to do this, and he is struggling to keep a firm hold on me. He's a big man when it comes to torturing little kids but he can't even keep a firm hold on me without struggling. I don't struggle but with every movement he makes, I twist a little, releasing myself a little more.

"You are my ticket to a new life, I figure that little shit will pay a lot of good money to get you back, so you are coming with me until he pays up, while you are with me I'll enjoy sampling you. I took his mother so I will enjoy taking his wife as well" he says with a grin.

I feel him pushing up against me he is aroused and it makes angry, I won't be a victim again. All the memories of Morton crash through my mind and my anger bubbles to the surface. I work out what I am going to do, I have one free arm I watch his reaction and I notice he has become distracted by something. I look and he is watching the bushes and I figure he has spotted some of the security closing in, his grip on me loosens some more and I grab my chance.

I am filled with anger and I picture him torturing Christian as a toddler and it gives me the rush of adrenalin I need. It fuels my strength and with lightning speed I grab the hand with the gun in which is pushed into my side and I bring my foot back and stamp on his foot with my stiletto. He yelps in pain and because he isn't expecting it. I jab his hand into his own thigh and squeeze his hand so tightly digging my nails in that he pulls the trigger. There is a loud bang and then a roar of pain. His grip leaves me completely and I shake myself free of him and yank the gun from his hand.

"You fucking piece of shit" I scream as I wave the gun at him.

I am pointing the gun straight at him and he is petrified now all his bravado has gone and he is pleading with me not to shoot him. He has his hand clasped over his leg where he is bleeding profusely.

I take a moment to really look at him and I wish Christian could see him like this so pathetic, pleading with me, "You are nothing but a nasty coward, you are no man at all, as soon as someone stands up to you, you fall apart. You terrorised my husband when he was a small child because he couldn't fight back – did it make you feel like a big man, torturing a defenceless child? You are nothing but a weak vile bully, I should just pull this trigger right now you worthless piece of shit".

I glance down and see that Luke is coming around and reaching for his weapon, the security teams are rushing towards us. It feels like it has taken forever for them to appear but in reality everything has happened in a matter of seconds.

I take a step back and the security team fall on Garrett and drag him to his feet, he is glaring at me as he is practically carried away, I turn my attention to Luke and help him to his feet.

"Are you ok?" I ask.

"Fine" he replies but he looks a little pale.

I check him where he was hit and I shake my head and insist he goes to get checked out, Raul approaches us, I give him the gun and he hands it back to someone, who places it in a plastic bag.

"Everything ok?" he asks looking worried, I nod at him.

"I'm fine, but take Luke to get checked out, he got hit with the butt of that gun and he blacked out for a moment" I say.

Raul nods and leads Luke away, I don't notice but turn to see Ryan standing by my side, I smile at him and I realise I don't want to go back to the hotel, I want to be with my husband.

"Are you ready to go Mrs Grey?" Ryan asks, he looks surprised when I shake my head.

"No I want to see Christian" I say.

He nods and leads me back into the hospital.

"When Luke got whacked and he grabbed you, Raul nearly had a coronary," Ryan says quietly.

"I bet he did" I reply. "I bet he nearly had another one when I struggled with Garrett and the gun went off" I add with a grin.

"You're not kidding, every fucking... I mean every single one of us nearly had a coronary when that gun went off," he says soberly.

We reach Christians room and I open the door quietly, I pause as I hear voices.

"I'm sure everything is fine sir, she will call you as soon as she reaches the Heathman, and my guess is she is on route now".

I smile as I recognise Jason's voice trying to calm Christian. I take a deep breath and walk in through the door, Christian is sitting in bed with his head in his hands and Jason is sitting in a wheelchair beside him. They both look around and see me and their expressions are one of surprise, then shock, relief and finally confusion.

"Ana? Are you ok, what happened, why are you here?" Christian immediately goes on alert as I walk towards him.

"I wanted to tell you in person, that Garrett has been caught and taken away and that I am absolutely fine" I say.

I walk towards the bed and kick my shoes off, and climb on to the bed beside him and wrap my arms around him.

Christian pulls me towards him so he can see me and I see him run his hands all over me and look me over as though he is checking me for injury. Taylor pulls out his phone and sends a text.

"I guess that is my cue to get out of here" he says with a grin.

A moment later Gail appears and wishes us both goodnight and wheels Taylor away. As soon as he is gone, Christian lets out a huge sigh of relief and holds me to him.

"What happened, did everything go according to plan, he didn't touch you did he?" he asks.

"It's all over, that's all you need to know," I say.

Christian pulls me away from him and looks hard at me, "Ana what happened?" he asks curtly.

I sigh, "Everything was going to plan until Garrett pulled out a gun and whacked Luke with the butt of it and knocked him out, he grabbed me and threatened to knock me out but I kept my cool and managed to move a little so my arm was free and when he was distracted, I grabbed his hand with the gun and jabbed it into his leg and squeezed so hard and dug my nails in that he pulled the trigger and shot himself in the leg. He let me go, I grabbed the gun and held him at gunpoint. You should've seen him Christian he was pathetic, I threatened to shoot him and he was pleading with me not to hurt him. He was pounced on by the team, Raul came and took Luke to be checked over and Ryan escorted me back here to you" I say, I watch as I see the anger building as I am explaining everything and when I finish I wait for the explosion that I know is coming.

He doesn't disappoint and when it comes it is quite impressive. "WHAT THE FUCK?! I TOLD YOU - NO FUCKING HEROICS ANA!" he shouts.

There is a knock at the door and I am saved from responding when Raul appears, "Mrs Grey I have come to retrieve the device" he says warily.

I'm fully aware that he hasn't made eye contact with Christian and I am certain he heard Christian's outburst a moment ago. I just nod and point to my jacket which I put on a nearby chair. He pulls the device from behind the collar and pushes it into his pocket.

"Thank you" he says, he finally looks sheepishly at Christian who is glaring back at him.

"Garrett is in custody sir" he says quietly.

"Good, but things didn't quite go according to plan did they?" Christian snaps.

I watch Raul and I am quite impressed how he is now standing his ground and how confidently he responds. "No sir, it didn't, but Mrs Grey kept a cool clear head and brought everything back into our control, you should be very proud of her Mr Grey, she is an exceptional woman," he says.

I smile; I am really impressed now as this has completely deflated Christian and taken all the anger out of him. "I know she is, why do you think I married her," Christian says but still in a clipped tone. I know the anger is still there under the surface and he is trying to control it.

"I'll say goodnight to you both" Raul says I can tell he is clearly anxious to get out of the room.

"Thank you Raul" I say as he moves away.

"No thank you Mrs Grey" Raul replies and with a polite nod leaves us.

Christian looks at me the his mood has switched again, the anger is gone and fear and anguish are evident in his eyes and when he speaks it is also clear in his tone of voice, "Ana, what if he had shot you and killed you" he says.

He is still thinking about this scenario and all the what if's, I shake my head and put my finger on his lips.

"But he didn't, he was far too weak, I was surprised how easily I could overpower him" I say.

"But Ana" Christian begins.

"Shhh, I'm here, nothing happened, Garrett has been captured and now I am here with you" I say.

I lean towards him and kiss him to stop him from saying anything more, I hear him groan and he pulls me to him and deepens the kiss.

I turn and straddle Christians lap and I see his eyebrows raise, leaning towards him I rest my hands on his chest and he takes a deep breath and pulls me even closer.

"I want you" I whisper in his ear. I know that I am shamelessly distracting him with sex but it seems to work.

"Take me then" he whispers back.

I don't need telling twice and within moments I have him exposed to me and I am smothering his entire body with kisses. Pulling away I peel off my clothes and then hovering over him I gently lower myself onto his waiting erection.

I gasp as he enters me and I hold on to his shoulders steadying myself as I begin to move. Christian wraps his arms around me and starts kissing and caressing my exposed breast, I increase the pace and moan as I feel him stroking that spot inside me which drives me wild. We continue until I feel Christian start to stiffen and then he grabs my hips as he holds me down on him and I feel him spurting and emptying himself deep inside me. He lets out a loud groan and I start moving again milking him he moans again and it sends me over the edge and I feel myself tighten around him.

"Oh baby" Christian gasps as he holds me close, "Thank you" he mutters.

He buries his head into my shoulder and then I realise that I feel his tears on my shoulder.

"Christian what is it?" I ask.

"You... you are an amazing woman, you did something my own mother didn't do, you protected me from him, he could have hurt you or even killed you, but you put me first and protected me... I ... I ... I don't know what to say to you. I am having all sorts of feelings, it's overwhelming, and I have never felt so loved and cherished in my life. I just can't get my head around the fact that you did that for me, but I am also still very pissed that you put yourself in danger" I look at him and see the confusion on his face and I stroke his cheek.

Ok so the distraction of sex didn't work as well as I thought. I need to stop him over-thinking this.

"Why do you think I did it Christian?" I ask gently.

He doesn't answer me immediately so I answer it for him, "Because I love you, because you are everything to me," I say as I cup his face forcing him to look straight at me, "and besides, I knew I could take him down," I add with a grin.

"Oh Ana" he moans and pulls me close. I glance down at his erection between us and giggle.

"Up for round two?" I ask with a wicked grin and I am gifted with his full HD smile that's enough of an answer for me and soon we are lost in each other again.