My dear little broccolis 💚💚💚

💚 So remember that this pic is RATED M, and it is not only for the sexy times. Some dark moments will be approached in this story, and they can trigger some people. This is a fair warning to remind you that this story sets place in a dark world, which means it is bound to mountains dark themes.

Love, Mina 💚💚💚

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Chapter 23: Night Out (3,0K)

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💚So you need to hear the song to see have a full experience of the chapter. Do it, it will make better, trust me.

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Cellblock Tango - Chicago

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Ryan's PoV

When Ryan entered the bar where Luke had proposed to meet, he was more than sceptic. It seemed to be a little bit more classy than he expected. He had hoped for a night of drinking with Christian and Luke (well, mostly with Luke), celebrating Luke's recovery, and it seemed that binge drinking wasn't something he would be able to do in this bar.

Still, it was Luke's night, and he said that he liked this place, so Ryan kept for himself any ill feeling he had for the place, and went to sit by the bar, where Luke and Christian were already sitting, with drinks in front of them.

"Gee, I thought you were going to ditch on us and leave me alone with him," Luke complained once Ryan was seated. The blue eyed man snickered, glancing over Christian before he ordered a pint of beer and assured his other friend,

"I would never leave you alone with that stick in the mud when fun is supposed to be at the party. I want you to actually enjoy yourself, Luke, and we both know that Christian doesn't know the meaning of the word."

As Ryan expected it, Luke laughed with him, whilst Christian ignored the both of them, drinking whatever fruit juice he had ordered.

Ryan had to admit that Christian's mood had been more sullen than usual ever since Luke had been shot. Whilst Luke was in the hospital, loosing a lung and learning to live for the rest of his life with only one, Ryan had learnt how ruthless Christian could get. Over the years, he had seen Christian take drastic measures with some people, but never to this point.

The day that followed the shooting, Christian had asked Raymond for carte blanche, and to nobody's surprise, he had been granted it. The very same night, Christian had tracked down the man who had shot Luke, and cut his index finger so he could never shoot again. Then, he had tracked every dealer and gang leader that had been present that night, and all replaced them one by one.

Ryan had followed Christian in his thirst for justice, and what had frightened him most wasn't the way the cruel demeanour he treated people, but more the way that he didn't seem affected the least in the world by what he was doing. Whether it was torturing someone for information, or watching someone beg for a second chance, Christian's cold attitude never wavered.

And though he never thought before that he would betray his friend, those past couple of weeks taught Ryan one thing, he would do anything to never be on Christian's bad side. He could actually see why Raymond placed such high hopes in the man. Christian never tried to put his interests first, and Ryan actually doubted that Christian ever tried to enrich himself more than what Raymond was paying him.

Ryan glanced at the drink in Luke's hands, surprised not to see a beer since it was Luke's drink of predilection, and when his friend caught his gaze, he smiled and explained, "The cocktails here are the bomb. I never drink a single beer when I'm here."

Ryan nodded, but did not change his order nonetheless, knowing that with his convalescence, Luke wouldn't be able to drink much, and Ryan would probably end up drinking the most out of the two. He actually felt bad for his friend, because he never really thought of losing a major organ. Sure the doctors told Luke that he could live just fine on one lung, as long as he didn't do any Olympics or marathon, and he steered clear from cigarettes and other lung hazard substances. But still, it felt to Luke that living on one lung suddenly made life more dangerous.

He actually didn't blame his friend when he announced that he wanted to stay in the comfort of what he had been doing so far, meaning keeping up with security from his office. Christian on the other hand was not that pleased with that decision. Though Ryan did not tell anything to either Luke or Christian, he had overheard Christian talking Raymond into giving more responsibilities to Luke.

"Here's your drink, sir," The barmaid said, putting in front of Ryan his pint of beer on a coaster.

For a second, Ryan froze, before his natural flirtatious ways came back, kicking in. He had never been shy around girls, and he knew that he was very capable of charming a girl into his bed, very well aware that his looks helped him a great deal. After all, mixed people with clear blue eyes were a big turn on for girls.

The barmaid was of mixed race as well, her natural curls hidden in a bun, though a few strands escaped the elastic band. She had big eyes, black as the night highlighted by long lashes, and plump lips painted with red lipstick.

He flashed her a bright smile, revealing his pearly whites, as he flirted, "If I had known that you were the barmaid, I would have asked for something more complicated."

The barmaid rose her well defined eyebrows at him, a mocking smile spreading her beautiful lips, and she asked, "And why that?"

"So I would have to see you longer than just pouring me a beer. It takes time to make a complicated drink."

The girl suppressed a snicker, and leaned on the counter so her face was inches from Ryan's, "You're playing way out of your league, big boy. I don't play with nice boys."

"Who says I'm a nice boy? You have no idea how naughty I can get," He retorted, leaning even closer to her.

She straightened up a bit, looking at him up and down with a small smirk on her face, before she informed him, "Anyone hanging around Luke can only be a nice boys. Especially when they're wearing suits on a Saturday night."

With that, she glanced at Christian, before swaying to the other side of the counter. And though Ryan cursed his friends for killing his vibe, he confidently told them, "Gentlemen, I'm not going home alone tonight."

Luke snickered, remind Ryan, "She just blew you off."

"Because I hang out with you! Dude! Why does she think you are a good boy? I mean, I know better."

Luke grinned, sipping on his drink. "Because nice boys are not thrown out in the middle of the night. They even get call back in the morning."

This made Christian sneer alongside with Ryan. "Remind me when is the last time you got laid?" He asked with sarcasm.

Both Ryan and Christian knew that it had been a long time since Luke had been with anyone, so his argument seemed void of sense. That did not stop Luke to point out another obvious truth,

"You wanna talk? I could practically call you a monk! It's been what? A year, at least?"

"Didn't I tell you? I plan on becoming a monk," Christian quipped, which made both Ryan and Luke laugh out loud. If there were two things that everyone knew about Christian, it was his loyalty to their boss, and his desire to have a family. Leaving the life of a monk did not suit with any of those.

Still, Ryan narrowed his eyes at the coppered hair man, and told him with an accusatory tone, "I have heard rumours about you and that girl who moved in your building. People have been seeing you with her."

Christian smirked, and purposely batted his lashes at Ryan as he said with a sweet and girly tone, "People have been seeing you with me. Do you have something to tell me?"

Ryan grimaced, whilst Luke laughed next to him. The idea of being intimate with Christian was unsettling, and even frightening. He wasn't a voyeur, far from it, but he had seen Christian out of the shower a couple of times, and his towel seem to promise more pain than fun. In truth, Ryan had tried to play for the other team in his youth, but he liked the touch of a woman too much. He liked the curves that he would never find in a man and what he liked most was to fall asleep with one of them in his hand.

The barmaid passed in front of them once again, preparing a cocktail, and Ryan hailed her, "You didn't give me your name, you know."

"Because guys like you don't need to know my name."

"My name's Ryan. Just so you know what to scream, when I'll pound into you tonight," He told her with a smirk, which she returned, thinking a bit about it, before she let him know,

"The name is Suzie."

She left to take care of other customers, Ryan having a big grin on his face "Like I said, I won't be going home alone tonight."

He saw Christian roll his eyes and tapped his shoulder, "Come on Christian. Abstinence can be hard. I'm sure one of the girls in this place is going to love helping you with the release."

"I am very fine with the way it is, now. Worry about your night, instead of mine," Christian said, clearly not interested in finding someone for the night.

Ryan didn't insist much knowing how stubborn Christian could get, and the three men watched as people came up an improvised stage, and sang famous songs. According to Luke, it was karaoke night, and it was pretty popular. But Ryan did not pay much attention to what was happening on stage, and was more interested on what was happening behind the counter. He flirted with Suzie, happy to see that she came Into his game.

It was a few drinks later, and several butchered songs later that things turned south. Christian was working though his phone, like most of the times they would go out (it seemed that he did not know how to disconnect), and Ryan was getting worked up just by talking to Suzie, when Luke nudged him in the ribs, and pressed him to look at the stage.

Ana and her best friend were there, all smiles and ready to sing a song from a musical. Ryan glanced at Christian, wondering if he could make him leave without him noticing the brunette. If he were honest with himself, Ryan had always thought that Raymond was overprotective over his daughter. Way too overprotective. The girl didn't even have the possibility to be out with her best friend alone. So if it were only up to him, he would pretend like he didn't see the girl in the bar, with only the company of her friend. And he knew that Luke thought like him.

But Christian was another story … Christian was loyal to Raymond, and to Raymond only. If he saw the young brunette somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, Ryan knew that Christian would report it to her father.

But unfortunately, it seemed to have been the moment when Christian looked up his phone and glanced at the stage, seeing Ana and her friend there. He did not show any emotions, which was a constant with Christian, and simply kept his eyes on the stage for a few other seconds, before scanning the rest of the bar.

"Where is Jose?" Luke asked, probably hoping that Christian would simply assume that his best friend was in the area, just unseen. But Christian cut off the hope,

"Off." He did not add another word, his eyes going back to the stage where Ana and her friend both had a mike in hand and were barely looking at the screen displaying the lyrics for Chicago's Cell Block Tango. Katherine took the first verse, getting down the stage as she did so, and dancing between other customers of the bar.

You know how people have these little habits that get you down

Like Bernie

Bernie you like to chew gum

No, not chew, pop

So I came home this one day

And I'm really irritated

I'm looking for a little bit o' sympathy

And there's Bernie lyin' on the couch, drinkin' a beer and chewin'.

No, not chewin'

Poppin'. So, I said to him, I said "You pop that Gum one more time"

And he did

So I took the shotgun off the wall

And I fired two warning shots

Into his head

She made the gun gesture as she sang the last words, and the two girls sang the chorus together, with Ana helping her friend back on the stage before she herself got down. Ryan glanced at Christian, wondering if the man would intervene, but Christian only seemed to look at the show with a bored eye.

I met Ezekiel Young from Salt Lake city about two years ago

(She caressed a random's dude head)

And he told me he was single

And we hit it off right away

(She sat on his laps, smiling)

So, we started living together

He'd go to work, he'd come home

I'd fix him a drink, we'd have dinner

(She played with his glass of whiskey)

And then I found out,

"Single" he told me

Single, my ass

(She yanked the guy's head by his hair)

Not only was he married

Oh, no, he had six wives

One of those Mormons, you know

(She shrugged)

So that night when he came home from work,

I fixed him his drink as usual

(She drank from the guy's drink, bottoms up)

You know, some guys just can't hold their arsenic

As she said those words, she got up with a smirk before singing the chorus with her friend. They sang the rest of the song switching places between verse, and dancing like in the musical during the choruses. They were both really invested in the song, and when it was over, many people applauded and whistled their way, making them beam with excitement.

They went back to sit at their table, rather far from the bar, and Ryan couldn't help but feel bad for the brunette. Twice she had gone abroad, and had the possibility to have the fun of her life, but she had been stuck with Christian. He probably had her back and locked in her room by 8pm. He was sure that she would have enjoyed herself more, even if it had been several people looking after her, than if it were just Christian.

"Well, those are ladies you don't want to piss," Luke uttered with a small smile, and Ryan couldn't agree more. If one of their favourite song was a song about women killing their husbands for popping gum, it sure would be best to be on their good side. Especially knowing that if Ana were to ever kill someone, Ryan was sure that Raymond would cover for her, and that nobody would ever find out.

"I think I should go," Christian said, and both Ryan and Luke whined.

"Dude, the night is still young! Just pretend you didn't see nothing, and enjoy the rest of the night with us."

Christian rose an eyebrow at Ryan, a small smirk playing on his lips. "The sooner I leave, the more you can flirt with Miss Great Smile over there."

Ryan didn't have the time to respond anything, that Ana appeared next to Luke, alongside her friend. Everyone looked at each other, before Katherine broke the silence, and said, "Are you guys following us? Because if that's so, you shouldn't be drinking on the job."

"Does your fiancé know that you're planning to kill him if he pops gum?" Ryan shot back, making Ana laugh before she ordered drinks for her friend and her as she retorted,

"Elliott is perfection. He knows better than to get on Kate's nerves."

They waited for their drinks, and once they had them in hand, they looked at the group of men, and Ana's said, "So … we can keep this between us, right? No need to ruin everyone's night, including the people who aren't here."

Ryan knew that she was talking about her father, and asking them to keep to themselves her night out with her friend; but subconsciously, all eyes fell on Christian who was staring right back at Ana. For two seconds that seemed to last forever, the two of them looked at each other, before Christian got up his stool and announced,

"I need to make a phone call."

The two girls grimaced as he left the bar, and Ryan followed him to try and reason him. As soon as they were outside, he reasoned his friend, "It's just a girl's night, in the City. Who will be stupid enough to do something to Raymond's daughter in his won city?"

Christian turned to look at him, slightly confused, and so Ryan continued. "I know you're high on loyalty and all, but—"

"I'm calling Jose. As for what you were referring, as far as I know, Ana is at her friend's apartment. But maybe I will see something contradicting that when I will get back inside."

For a second, Ryan stared dumbfounded at his friend, not sure he understood properly the innuendo. But when Christian brought his phone to his ear, he went back inside, and told the girls, "Maybe you should disappear before he gets back."

Ana rolled her eyes, mumbling something under her breath that made her friend laugh, and the two girls left. When Christian came back, he did not mention the episode, and simply told the guys that he was leaving to meet with Jose, wishing Ryan good luck with the barmaid.

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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

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~ So this chapter was here to show how people perceive Christian from the outside because we always assume that he is expressing what he is feeling, and I wanted to show you that, it's not the case. Plus a couple of other things that will be important later on.

~ Anyway, question time:

💚What did you think of Ryan and his flirt with Suzie?

💚What do you think of the relationship between the three men?

💚 What did you think of the girls singing?

💚What did you think of this chapter overall? And what do you think will happen next?

💚What was your favourite part?

💚Anyway, E L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, everything else is mine.

‼️FOR REVIEWERS‼️

I am so sorry, but this chapter doesn't have any answers. I am rather tired, and I will be back to answering reviews for the next chapter. Also, I will try to put ten chapters out there by the end of the year, but that's just a try. And THANK YOU so much to all of you for taking the time to read the story, for following it and for reviewing it. You have no idea what it means to me.

Love, Mina💚💚💚