A/N I will finish the story. I'm deeply sorry that I've been sow quiet over the summer. It's been a hast and overwhelming time - I have my first novel accepted in publishing house (don't worry, I don't attempt to write in English and it's not even a romance), I have the next manuscript in the middle of writing, I have some projects where I promised a short story or novella… And I still do this joggling with fulltime job, household to clean and teenager to be raised. And I love it all!

And I love you all as well! I want to give some special thanks to that anonymous reviewer who wrote the simple 'don't stop' review today. It was all I needed. I've probably lost some of my readers over the summer. So let's just hope I haven't lost these few who left a review or few behind their reading. It is absolutely the most inspiring thing in a whole world! So I realized today that I really need to take some time for this story and simply go with it. (Because I have another distracter as well – another story idea for this fanfic, but I refuse to write it before I've finished this one). So, a chapter in two days (or in a day, if I'm inspired enough)!

Christian's POV

I knew it was hard for Ana. I saw it written all over her face, when we had breakfast on Wednesday morning. But the problems with Leila were not over yet and as much as I wanted to see Ana happy, I preferred 'being alive' before 'happy'.

"There is absolutely no way I would let Sawyer take my manuscripts. I was supposed to do it and I will do it no matter what you would say." Ana stood up, placed her fists on her hips and I was almost imagining her stomping her foot as a real five-year-old. "You can't hide me behind the locks." And with that her eyes shone watery.

"No, baby, I would never want to hide you behind locks."

"But that's how it feels. You can't! Not now! Please!"

I rushed to her before her rambling turned into sobs. I felt as a piece of shit.

"Of course you can go," I reassured her. "I just hoped that you wouldn't have to. Please try to keep yourself safe. Could you do that for me?"

She nodded and just like that, out of a thin air she giggled.

"What did I say that was so funny?" I asked.

"Well, Christian, you do realize that starting tomorrow I will be at work again. You know, the full days again? I will be in SIP from the morning till the evening. Do you think you can manage it without having an heart attack?"

"I know," I nodded. I nodded even when the reality was quite the opposite. I took a deep breath and thought about the whole situation. We got our man behind Leila and he was tracking all her moves. If she was so much as thinking about getting close to Ana, we were already noticed about it. Then again, Ana had Sawyer with her all the time and if they took Ryan with them as a driver then it would be, should be alright.

"Take Ryan with you as a driver. That way Sawyer wouldn't leave you even for a moment to park a car and it would make me a little calmer," I told after considering everything.

"I can do that," she answered with a small voice. I saw pain in her eyes and I tried my best to assure her that this whole thing is temporary and she was not and never would be closed behind any doors again. She had her demons, I had mine and I just had to find a way to clear the air without hurting her even more.

With that I left to the office. It was a dull day and I won't stop for too long on it. The only remarkable thing was a phone call from my dad where he stated that the date of Elena's trial is set into August 25th and they would start hearing witnesses whether or not she was able to bring her sorry ass into the court room.

Taylor informed me that Ana was in and back from SIP and at some point she was heading to Flynn's office. I knew she was going to have a rough session. She confessed for having a joint session with the police informant who got lost into the hellhole she was in. I smiled over the thought how she would react when she finally saw who the informant was. I hoped that seeing her friend from high school could help her more than any other women could.

"Sir," Taylor said while he was entering my office. "We might have a situation in our hands."

"What?" My mind went wild as soon as I saw his worried figure. There could be anything and as I saw myself still healthy and unhurt it only meant that the situation he was indicating laid somewhere else. Back in Escala? Something with Gail? Ana?

"Is Ana alright?" I asked as soon as I had that thought.

"Yes sir, she is unharmed. However I got disturbing news from Barney. It seems that miss Williams have gained a license to carry a weapon."

"What?" Instantly I saw red. "How is that even possible? Wasn't there needed the paper stating that she's mentally stable?"

"Apparently she's stable enough or even better player than we give her a credit. In that case... well, anything is possible. We can' even say if the target is you or Ana, but I guess that one of you is the reason she went after a gun."

Ana! It was like pocket of ice water for my system. Her new job, her newly found life and then again - her fears and insecurities. I had to keep her at home till the situation was solved. I just wasn't able to breathe without keeping her safe. I prayed for god to let Ana see the reason and I still knew how it was going to destroy what she had gained back

"Flynn!" I yelled into phone without waiting his greeting. "I need your help with Ana. There's an emergency and a need to tight up security."

"Good afternoon to you as well. I have to apologize, I can't really talk right now, but I will call you back after an hour."

An hour! An hour wasn't acceptable but what was I able to do when he simply disconnected the call. I thought about revising the contract and his bills. I thought about getting a new shrink as my mind was trying to find some sense again. Ana had a long session today and, fuck, I probably interfered her session. On the other hand - if she had a session now, why the fuck did Flynn answer his phone?

Intercom buzzed and brought me out of my thoughts. My next meeting was about to begin and I just couldn't ignore that. I just wanted that one old technology company far too much to ignore the meeting. Right now I knew that Ana was unharmed and Ryan and Śawyer were both aware of the situation and with her. I was positive that they were able to drag her straight home after her session.

"Good afternoon!" I greeted my guests as I entered the conference room. "I know You've been showed around here. I hope you've enjoyed your stay. So, before we go deeper into our meeting, I would just like to ask: do you, gentlemen, think that the HR department you saw in here, could possibly keep all the valuable employees in their positions?"

"Mr. Grey, this was never a question!" Mr. Werner stated. Werner was an old man who looked like he should had retired at least five years ago. No one could say he was stupid or rude or anything that could stop business at first sight. But Werner, just like the other owners, was old and slow. His mind was stuck into one model, but the world had moved on.

"Okay, but what is the question? I've shown you the details I'd like to change in WGS electronics and if you ever look deeper into your accounting, you could all see that without extra resources WGS would be broke within a year or two. You do have qualified workers who don't deserve being unemployed. You do have worthy products, but without an investor it would be all gone."

"Investor, not pirate!" Werner snapped.

I sat there, counted to three and then to ten before I said another word. It was going to be one long meeting. It would had been all easier if I went hostile, but I didn't want to take that turn. So we sat there and continued our negotiation over next two hours.

"Can we talk in private?" Werner asked me when we were stretching our legs few hours later. "It would take only few minutes."

It wasn't my normal acting, but curiosity just got better of me and I nodded.

"I'll be honest with you," Werner said. "When you got interested in us, I got interested in you. I hired a detective and he have pointed out some actions that should be alarming and out of character for a businessman like you."

"I can't guarantee that I'll answer, but I would like to know what sounded so fishy about me?"

"You've been in and out of police station and court house."

"That's no secret as it's been all over the newspapers."

"No, that by itself isn't, but he gave me a picture or five where you are with that Steele girl who went missing on spring. I start to think there is a connection."

"As I told," I pointed out as calm as possible, "I promised to not answer if the question was not mine to answer. However I can tell you that I have never been part of human trafficking or kidnapping. There are legal ways to earn money and you should know that as well."

"I have a grand daughter," mr. Werner sighed. "She's barely grown up and I would never want to make a connection with a man with that kind of shadow over his head."

I tried to digest all the information. Ana was seen and it was the matter of minutes when the papers knew it as well. A shadow! But then again – Werner didn't say a bad word about the deal.

"If it could ease your heart," I answered finally. My speech was slow and stepping on each word. "I would give this deal over to my COO. She is really competent and maybe if you won't feel that kind of pressure, we could find a solution that would be perfect for everyone. She will be there when we'll meet next time and since then you could talk with her."

I turned away and pulled my phone out. "Taylor!" I yelled into it after few seconds.