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 25: Friends & Foes (2,4K)

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💚 I know this chapter is short, but the next one is big, just like the previous one, so please bear with me.

💚 And pay attention to the title and of who we think is friend, and who we think is foe ...

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Christian's PoV

As Christian washed his hands, he hoped that his bathroom break lasted long enough for the movie he was watching with Ana to be almost over. She had come to spend the night with him and thought that watching The Phantom Of The Opera was a great idea. To which Christian had to strongly disagree. Maybe it was because it was a musical, or maybe it was simply because he found the plot boring, but he couldn't wait for this movie to be over.

He walked back to his room, where he found out to his greatest dismay that Ana had paused the movie, waiting for him. He repressed a sigh, and slid back into bed, pointing out,

"You didn't have to wait for me. I would have caught up with the story just fine."

Ana chuckled, rolling her eyes, and she told him, "You're worse than Dad. At least, he doesn't run and hide in the bathroom, and pretends he has business meetings when I take him see a musical."

"I can hardly pretend I have a meeting now, can't I?" He countered, making the brunette laugh at him. She shook a little her head and promised,

"Next time, I will pick a horror movie."

Christian smiled, though he kept for himself that he doubted that would be a good idea either. Though it seemed to Ana liked to scare herself with movies where demons and evil entities were summoned, she rarely assumed the consequences when it was time to sleep, and always asked to sleep with the light on.

She squinted her eyes suspiciously at his smile, apparently reading on his face what his mouth wouldn't say, but she decided to not linger on her ability to watch a horror movie. Instead, she made herself comfortable on the bed, facing her laptop and spooning against Christian as she said with a pouty tone,

"I don't care what either of you says. When I'll have children, I will make them love musicals, and we will use any occasions to go to Broadway together."

"And what if your children don't like musicals?"

"I will make them like musicals. Because no child of mine will know a Disney by heart, but not the lyrics of Chicago, or The Phantom Of The Opera!" She retorted with vigour.

Christian repressed a chuckle, though he did not venture further into that topic for he knew how deep Ana's love for musicals was. She gave him a satisfied scoff, and pressed play on the movie, letting people keep singing about their masquerade, whilst there was a murderous psycho still living within the walls of the Opera house.

With a blank eye, Christian watched the movie play out, barely paying attention to it; and his focus came back to reality when Ana mentioned, "It's been forever since I've been to Broadway. I should see if Kate and Elliott are interested in anything new that came out this season."

Christian simply made a noise to indicate to the brunette that he had heard her, but he kept for himself his true feelings concerning that statement. He was actually bothered by the fact that he couldn't do that simple thing with her. Sure, he didn't really appreciate watching musicals, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have sucked it up for one night if it meant taking his girl out.

Still, it was not a discussion he was willing to rehash with Ana, given the fact that the last time that mentioned their agreement, and how he wouldn't mind bending it, she almost had a fit. Ana was dead serious about keeping their relationship secret from her father, and she was not open nor ready to change that. The argument actually ended with Ana going to bed angry against Christian, and Christian swore to himself that it would be the first and last time that it would happen. He didn't like how it made him feel and liked even less feeling that cold between them.

Sometimes, he wondered if Ana wasn't more interested in the thrill of being with him as a secret from her father, than in being with him simply because they felt good together. But he tried to not overthink about this. Especially since he couldn't talk to anyone about it to have an objective point-of-view. Well, he could ask Jose, but Christian knew that Jose would disapprove hearing that Christian wanted to take yet a step further in his relationship with Ana.

So instead of thinking of how complicated his personal life had become now that he was entertaining a relationship, he focused his thoughts on his work, and how this had become complicated as well. Ever since Raphael had been shot, Christian had started purging the people working for them, not even giving the benefits of the doubt when he doubted their purposes and true intentions. But the more he was leaguing the parasites that would prevent Idris to thrive, the more he was uncovering things that he didn't like.

The main one being the fact that many of those dealers that were trying to undermine Raymond didn't have that idea on heir own, and even more importantly, did not work solely for Idris. Many of those leaders had started taking orders from the Mazarati's. A Italian family that was trying to take Raymond's place for as long as Christian could remember.

Raymond and him had talked about it, and though Raymond had decided to take a more subtle form of striking back, Christian was for going against them right at this second, and show them who they were dealing with. Raymond had argued on this option that if they were to destroy the Mazarati clan, they would need to pick up the pieces, and there were many businesses that the Italian clan mingled with, that Raymond wanted nothing to do with.

So Christian bit his bone on this one, though that did not mean that he put his guard down. On the contrary, he asked several of his men to keep a close eye on the Mazarati patriarch and to keep tabs of everything he was doing and everyone he was seeing. And though that did not help to reveal anything interesting at the moment, Christian knew that it would be useful at some point in the future.

The movie ended, and Ana barely lasted five seconds before falling asleep. Christian smiled at himself, kissing her cheek before he got up to put her laptop away and tuck her in properly. Even though Ana loved to sleep, Christian never saw her fall asleep in front of a movie. Though she never resisted long after the end credits.

When he snuggled into bed next to her, he watched her peacefully sleep, his mind now troubled by yet another problem. It had been several months since Paris, and therefore since he gave Ana his word that he would look for her brother, and no matter how he tried, it always seem to lead to be a dead end. It seemed that shortly before his seventeenth birthday, Michael Steele disappeared into thin air. And this only meant one thing.

Still, he wasn't ready, or willing to give bad news to Ana without concrete proof, and it seemed that the only way he would get any was to ask Raymond about it. And here was the conundrum, how could he question Raymond about a son he officially had never heard off, without compromising his relationship with Ana?

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Christian's PoV

Two days after Ana made Christian watch a musical about a man with half a face living beneath a French building, Christian found himself in a little café, waiting for Jack Hyde. The young man had sent him an email stating that he needed to meet Christian for important and personal reasons, and Christian was starting to grow impatient of the young man's delay.

He was about to get up and leave, when he finally appeared, out of breath and sweaty, and apologising profusely for his lateness. Christian dismissed the idea, his curiosity now picked concerning Jack's reasons for wanting to see him. The young man tried to make small talks, but Christian immediately stopped him. He had never been fond of small talks,

"So? What did you want to talk about?"

"My father," The other man said, making Christian rise an eyebrow at him. He couldn't understand why Jack would go to him, to talk about his father, when many people knew that Christian had been anything but cold toward the older man.

"I have come to learn a few things about him recently, and I want to take his place at the head of the company," Jack explained, but Christian's mind was only half focused on him. He had just spotted Jason Taylor a few tables over and was trying to figure out what the Agent could want with him.

"Whatever squabble you have with your father, I don't see what it has to do with me," Christian said, keeping the FBI agent in his line of vision.

"I want you to help me to take over."

"And why would I do that? Your father has done no wrong to the company."

"Because if you help me, I will take the company further than my father ever could," Jack confidently declared.

Christian rose his eyebrow once again at the young man. If he were honest with himself, he honestly thought that Jack had the potential to make Robinson Inc' thrive even more. But on the other hand, it wasn't up to him to take such hasty decisions, and he didn't want the young Hyde to think that things would always be easy like that with him.

So Christian deeply exhaled with a small smirk, and simply told the man sitting in front of him, "Prove it to me, and then we'll talk."

Jack looked at him with a little surprise, before getting up and leaving Christian alone at the table, probably off to find a way to prove to Christian that it would all be in his best interest. Christian watched the young Hyde exiting the café, a part of him hoping that he would find a way to soon get rid of his father since Christian was anything but fond of the old man.

He waited a few minutes, curious to see if the FBI agent would come and sit on his own, but when the seat previously occupied by Jack Hyde remained empty, Christian looked in the direction of Jason Taylor to catch his attention and pointed with his eyes the empty chair in front of him.

Jason Taylor tried to hide a smile, before walking to Christian and taking the offered seat. As soon as he was seated, Christian asked with a smug tone, "Are you following me to see if I am still s small fish?"

The FBI agent shook a little his head, sliding a file in front of him, "I mentioned someone the last time I saw you, and then, I realised that if Raymond covered his tracks well, even you wouldn't even know who he is."

Christian glanced at the file, on which was labeled 'Michael Steele'. He kept his face unreadable, as if unfazed by this name, and even had the snark to retort with a smirk, "Aren't I supposed to have an illicit affair with the Steele girl? Because I would think I would know all about another Steele if I were to bed one."

Jason grimaced, making Christian smile. "Okay, I admit, I read too much into you going to Paris with Anastasia," He admitted. "But that doesn't mean that you should disregard what this file says," He insisted, tapping the file.

Once again, Christian glanced at the closed file, showing disinterest, but did not make a move to take it in his hand. Jason Taylor had a small smile, and got up, pushing the file closer to Christian as he told him,

"Anyway, I thought I should show you good faith for you to understand that I only have your best interests at heart. People close to Raymond Steele have this tendency to disappear in a rather permanent way. His wife, his son, his best friend. I would be wary if I were you."

On those words, the Agent left, and Christian waited a few more minutes before taking the file in his hands. And the more he read about Michael Steele, the more he doubted that the young Steele simply 'ran away'. He seemed to be too much like Ana to be able to disappear into thin air.

Michael Steele was a straight A scholar, very friendly and in touch with his family. But most importantly, he saw that Raymond was training his son the same way that he was training Christian. Reading between the lines, Christian could even tell that Raymond had introduced his son to his side activities, the exact same way that he was doing with him. Which comforted Christian in his idea that Raymond was training him to take over, though he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

For another hour, Christian read over and over the file, until it finally clicked in his brain. This could be his opening to ask Raymond about his son, without talking about Ana. So he swiftly drove to the Steele mansion and went straight to Raymond's office. There, he found Raymond, fondly smiling at him when he saw him, but he did not let the man utter a single word.

"Explain this," Christian demanded, looking straight into his mentor's eyes.

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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

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~ So cliffy! This doesn't sound good ... Oulala, excited for next chapter?

~ Anyway, question time:

💚What did you think of our couple in this chapter? All cute and normal, though Christian might have some resentment ...

💚What do you think Raymond will say?

💚 What did you think of Christian's theory concerning Ana's brother?

💚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 soon. 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💚💚💚