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 39: Vegas (7,0K)

💚So, fanfic has decided to deny me my obsession with broccoli and refuses to put the emoji, while every other emoji is fine! I call racism! This is blatant racism against broccoli!

💚Anyway, do you guys realise that we are over 340 reviews! OMG thank you so much! You keep making my day when you review, you have no idea how much!

💚And I know you all want Ray's pov and for him to know, but Christian and Ana need to sort out things between them first.

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

Christian's PoV

After his breakfast with the Steele, Christian went back to his place, happily greeted by Bastille. The cat kept on brushing against his leg while he was preparing his bag, and though it slowed Christian in his preparation, he was far from complaining. He even smiled at the ball of hair when he mewled, demanding caresses when brushing against the leg did not give him any.

When he had come back before dawn to check his mails and take a shower, Bastille was nowhere to be seen, but since the cat often roamed around the roof at night, Christian hadn't really thought anything of it. Now that he was home in the broad daylight, the cat was demanding attention that he did not have for almost three weeks. But Christian only gave him a minute, before leaving the apartment and going to see Mia.

Once in the lift on his way down, he sent a text to Jose, telling him that he would drop by his place in half an hour, or so. After knocking, he wondered if maybe he should have come to see her when the sun was still down since it was Friday and that she was probably at school.

But luckily for him, Mia opened the front door, her messenger bag slung across her shoulder and her keys in hands. She was obviously on her way out. For a second, she stared at Christian, her blue eyes never blinking before she slapped Christian across the face.

"Don't you ever do that again!"

"I think next time, I'll stay dead," Christian said leaning against the wall while Mia glared at him before she fondly smiled.

"I'm glad you're not dead. I didn't like the idea of no longer seeing you."

"It takes more than a bullet to kill me," He plastered, hoping to reassure. She rolled her eyes, locking her front door, and he added, "Thanks for taking care of Bastille, by the way."

"Well, first of all … I think your cat should be named Casper because I still haven't seen him. Second … Jose wanted to give him to your girlfriend, but apparently, she was in denial, so I got stuck cat sitting meanwhile. I guess she knew better than us."

Christian kept his surprise of Jose's gesture, but he couldn't help but smile about Ana's denial. He loved the faith she had in his word, and how sure he would be back, no matter what. Though a part of him told him to talk to her about it, because one day, the announcement could be real, no matter what he could have promised to her beforehand.

"Did you get to see her since you came back?" Mia asked as they walked to the elevator and she called for it.

"I did." Mia rose an eyebrow, before shaking her head when Christian remained tight-lipped about what transpired between him and his girlfriend.

"You know, one day I am eventually going to meet her, and I will tell her all about how you never wanted to speak about her."

Christian chuckled, entering the lift with his friend, and pressing the button for the ground floor as he said, "Then she'll know I never talked trash about her."

Mia rolled her eyes once again, but with a playful smile on her lips this time. Once the lift reached its destination, she stepped out of it and said her goodbyes, though she turned last minute and said as the door closed, "Make sure to see Jose. He was really shaken up by your death."

The door closed on Mia waving at him, and Christian went back to his top floor to take his bag and leave. What he was not expecting was to find his best friend on his couch, petting Bastille and looking at him the same way Gail did a few hours ago. As soon as he closed the door, the cat escaped Jose's gentle caresses and rushed to Christian who crouched to pick him before walking to sit next to his friend.

Jose finally blinked, shaking his head slightly as he whispered more to himself than to Christian, "You're probably the only person in the world who can defy the laws of Nature like that and come back from the dead."

"I did not come back from the dead. I just took a very very close bullet. And if you ask me, I will not risk it again," Christian reasoned, a part of his mind trying to figure out how Jose got so fast at his place.

And then it hit him. Jose and Ethan Kavanagh had reconciled, and Jose had spent the night in the building. There was no other logical explanation. Jose was leaving too far from this building to be able to have come in the little time it took Christian to say hi to Mia.

A small silence grew between the two men, during which Christian gave Bastille what the pet had been asking ever since he came back. He watched his friend gaze into the void, and though he couldn't really explain the logic that his brain followed, he could suddenly see what those past weeks had been for Jose. It was more than losing a friend or keeping for him a secret as heavy as the gelato ship he was entertaining with Ana. It was the fact that he had been the one to ask Christian to go abroad. Christian had been planning to go to Macau before going to Peru anyway, but he never told anyone but Raymond. He rarely talked about his plans to anyone but Raymond, and now it seemed like a giant mistake.

"You know, even I were dead, it wouldn't have been your fault," He finally said, not wanting his best friend to feel guilt over something he had no implications with.

Jose darkly chuckled, shaking his head as he pointed out, "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have gone there by yourself. You would have taken Ryan, or Luke, or even O'Neill."

"No. I was planning to make the back and forth trip by myself. It was just verifying some things and firing a guy. I don't need backup. It's almost official business when you come to think of it. You asking me to go to Moscow only changed my departure ticket plane. Macau was already in my plans. Didn't Raymond tell you so?"

"Yeah. He tried to. I didn't really listen," Jose mumbled, his eyes still lost into space.

"I should have told you about it. actually, now that I think of it, I should talk to you a bit more when it comes to those things."

"Yes, you should."

Christian smiled, putting the cat down and getting up to pour Jose and him a glass of water each. When he came back, he asked about something that had been on his mind, but he didn't want to talk to Raymond about,

"Was he still alive when you got your present?"

When he sent Andrew in a box, Christian knew that there were chances that Jose would only receive a corpse, but he also believed that the drugs he had sedated the pimp with could keep him alive long enough to survive the plane ride. He glanced sideways, and saw that small smile of relief as Jose told him, finally turning to look at him,

"He was. And I will never be able to thank you enough for what you did for me. Not just sending him, but .. the other part. Though, to be honest, I did not watch it. I overheard it lay while Ethan watched."

"That's … morbid." When he had made the video, Christian had figured that Jose would appreciate seeing the man who had destroyed his childhood being broken in all possible senses. never, he would have thought that Jose would use the video as a way to break the ice with Ethan. It wasn't much that Christian cared of how the young Kavanagh saw him, but more that it seemed a bit extreme from Jose who beforehand refused to even talk about it to his lover.

"I don't even know what took over me," The Hispanic man explained, "I was upset and grieving, and Ethan was asking questions. So I just gave him the CD. I mean, it was easier than talking."

Christian nodded, not sure he himself would have gone that road, but not emitting any sort of judgement of how his friend handled his life.

"Did you get to see Raymond?" Jose asked, changing the topic, apparently uncomfortable with lingering so much on his personal life.

"Yes. I'm leaving in half an hour to the airport. I'm meeting him there to go to Vegas."

"You know, he was really devastated when he learnt the news. I don't think I've seen him that … helpless."

"Probably because you haven't seen him after his wife's death," Christian dismissed, not really eager to talk about his relationship with Raymond. Jose seemed to understand as he asked about the other moment of the Steele family,

"Have you seen Ana? She was in pretty bad shape too."

"I thought she was in denial," Christian mused because he couldn't understand how Ana could be down if she had been so sure that he would be back. This didn't make any sense.

"So you've seen her, already," Jose deduced, and it was Christian's turn to look into space. For a moment, he hesitated on keeping for himself what only concerned he and Ana. But then, he knew he would feel better talking about it with someone who was not in their relationship.

So he leant backwards, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, before he told Jose, "You know, … for a moment I really thought I was going to die out there. And … all I could think about was her. She was literally my last thought, and she was the first person I thought of when I reopened my eyes …"

He placed his wrists on his forehead, trying to see clear, when he perfectly well resumed his situation, "I'm screwed."

"Why? Just tell her."

"I did. And when she saw me sitting next to her father at the breakfast table, she almost had a heart attack, before acting as usual. She doesn't want her father to find out, and, honestly, I don't want to fight her on that. It's not worth it. The risks of losing her are too high."

This was something he had been thinking over and over as Ana fought against sleep and exchanged small talks with him. He knew she liked their relationship just as it was, and he couldn't risk arguing with her on that. He could lose more than his job on that, he would lose Raymond's respect and Ana. He feared that she would leave him if he forced her hand on coming out of the closet.

"Christian … If you love her, you should just put your foot down. Because your relationship can't go further than it is, otherwise," Jose reasoned, and Christian was grateful that for once, his friend did not try to talk him out of his couple. He had a sad smile, opening his eyes as reality dawned on him,

"I guess I am weak, after all." He was. When it came to Ana, he couldn't recall a single time when he didn't go her way. He put her needs, and her wants, ahead of his, and he gladly did it.

"You're just like her father. You know, saying no to Ana won't kill her. She's not made of sugar," Jose argued.

"Maybe. But like I said, I don't want to fight. I just want to enjoy being with her, especially when two weeks ago, I thought I'd never get to do it again."

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

Christian's PoV

For the first part of the flight, Christian barely spoke with Raymond, going through his emails while listening with one ear his boss fill him in about who he wanted to replace the manager he had sent in Macau. He wanted to steal the girl out of her job because apparently she had strong work ethics and was handling her team with an iron fist. When Raymond gave him a flash drive to check her resume, Christian was done sorting his emails. He opened her file, and the first thing he noticed was that she would be better positioned in Macau.

"Why keep her here? The girl speaks three different kinds of Chinese?"

"I want to see how well she works when she works for me first. If all goes well, I will call back Jerry in a year, and transfer her to Macau then."

"Is she single?" Christian asked, making Raymond smirk at him, pointing the screen displaying the young woman in front of them. Christian rolled his eyes, not impressed by the woman's generous cleavage as he let his mentor know,

"Not my type. But she's thirty-three, and if she's with someone, it might be hard to uproot her next year. Especially if they start talking children."

"And here I thought death would have put some perspective in your life," Raymond said with a bleak tone. "Don't worry. She's a career-driven woman, children are not on her agenda right now."

Christian nodded, closing the screen as he understood that Raymond knew more on that woman than the resume was showing. He had no doubts that his boss had asked Luke to give her all the details of her life, so he could woo her into his casino as he wanted.

Christian closed his eyes and rested his head back, the fatigue from the last few weeks suddenly coming down on him. Though he had spent more than two weeks bedridden, with nothing to do but rest, his recovery did not give him the rest he needed. And he had barely slept ever since he got back on his feet. The previous night was a perfect example. He could have gone to his place and get some sleep, or even sleep a little with Ana, but he spent most of the night talking with her, forgoing his exhaustion for the simple pleasure of being with her.

"So? Did dying put your life in perspective?" Raymond asked with a nonchalant tone as if to make conversation. Christian did not open his eyes, mostly because he did not like how intense Raymond's gaze had become since he came back. He did not like the feel of those brown eyes scanning through his soul.

"Not really. I am not planning on changing jobs or moving to another country, don't worry."

He heard Raymond have a small chuckle before a guffaw came from a few seats down where Ana was with the Kavanagh kids. He willed his eyes to stay closed, repositioning himself a little bit more comfortable in his seat and wished that the flight would be over yet.

"By the way, I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, but you need to make a will. I was at loss of what to do with your place and your investments."

This made Christian open his eyes because he just realised that this was something he would need to take care of, first thing back in New York. "I have a will. I just have to update it."

"You have a will?"

"In my nightstand. So next time, you will know where to look. I made the will when I gave you the last payment to buy the flat. So it is a bit outdated."

"Why? Nothing has really changed since then."

"Well, I have a cat, now. Someone needs to take him in if I die, and I don't think Mia is up for it," Christian explained. He saw the taunt that Raymond was about to say, but the older man stopped himself as his daughter passed by them and went to the bathroom. Both men watched her pass, and once she was out of sight, Raymond told Christian,

"You don't have to get her a present, you know. Ana is the kind of person to ask present to everyone she sees on her birthday. You'll see, she'll ask the stewardess for something before we get out of the plane."

Christian repressed a smile, learning a new side of Ana. He knew that she was pretty enthusiast about her birthday and its celebration, but he didn't know that she liked presents that much.

"Well, it's too late for that. I already made arrangements."

Raymond frowned, giving Christian that look that made Christian feel so uncomfortable on the inside; and he asked, "What did you get her in a spare hour you got in the morning?"

"An hour with Eric Clapton after his show," Christian said as if nothing, shrugging a little for good measure. Raymond kept on looking at him, suspicion written all over his face, and though it wasn't the entire truth, Christian explained, "She mentioned it during breakfast, and I figured it would be better than dull chocolates."

"I would have preferred the chocolates," Raymond mumbled, more to himself than to Christian, reminding Christian of that little thing he witnessed about his boss's life that he had never seen before.

"Oh, yeah. Apparently, you're leaving with a diet Nazi," He chuckled, recalling the small banter he saw in the morning. It was funny how Ana was paying attention to what amount of sugar her father was eating when she herself ate much more than the healthy requirement. In all honesty, Christian had never seen Ana restrain herself from food because of health issues.

"Tell me about it! She gave Gail this lists of forbidden foods and forbidden meals. The only time I can have some eggs and bacon for breakfast is when I'm away. I curse the day that blasted doctor called home and she picked up."

"Well, when you'll live long enough to meet your grandchildren, and not speak to them through a breathing machine, you'll thank me," Ana's voice snapped from behind them.

The two men turned their head to her, and saw her glaring at her father before sitting in front of them, shaking her head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. It's not good to talk ill behind a person's back."

"Nobody is speaking ill. I was just explaining to Christian the joy of fatherhood."

Ana snorted in a very unladylike fashion that made her father laugh at her while Christian looked through the window to give them a pretence of privacy. "We're staying at your casino, right?" Ana asked her father.

"Well, I don't see the point of having a place, if I'm not going to use it when I'm in town."

"Great. Can I get the Royale Suite? The one with the view?"

"I don't see why not," Raymond told her.

She brightly smiled, with one of those smiles that Christian loved so much, and was about to get up when her father stopped her. "While I have you here and alone, I do have some grand rules I'd like to set."

"Dad, I'm not a kid anymore. it's the whole point of us going to Vegas, actually."

Christian repressed a smile, seeing that he was not the only one to suffer from her smart mouth; but her father seemed unimpressed.

"Humour me. We're about to spend a weekend in Sin-City, and I just want to set some things straight. No alcohol coma." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head a little. "No gambling your life away."

"I don't even know how to play any card game."

"And no getting married in front of Elvis," Raymond warned, and though the first two requests seemed light in Christian's ear, he was sure that this was the one Raymond was afraid might come true. He could hear in his boss's voice how this probability was worrying the man.

"So? Does that mean that I can get hitched in a non-Elvis chapel?" Ana joked, not realising how serious her father was. He rose her eyebrow at her, making her shake her head with a gentle smile as she got up and kissed his cheek, saying,

"I'm kidding, Dad! Gee, do you really think I would do that to you?"

And on those words she went back to her friends, laughing with innocence while Christian kept his eyes on Raymond. Ana might think that her father was joking around, but Christian could clearly see that this whole express Vegas marriage was something stressing the man out. To be honest, Christian felt that if Ana had staid for an answer, Raymond would have clearly told her that yes, he thought she would get 'hitched in front of Elvis'.

"And then she wonders why my blood pressure is high," Raymond said with a small shake of his head.

"In all honesty, I don't think that a girl who spends half a day looking for the perfect liquor for her father would get married without her father walking her down the aisle," Christian assured Raymond, keeping for himself that Ana also seemed like the kind of girl who wanted the big Cinderella wedding.

"Maybe … But there are many things I thought she would never do, and still ended up doing them. She's growing up, whether I like it or not."

.

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

Christian's PoV

After they landed in Sin-City, Christian let the Steele and the Kavanagh celebrate Ana's birthday and went to the casino where Julia Fernandez, the manager Raymond had his eyes on, was working. He wasn't much checking on her but more tasting the waters, and after touring through the casino for a couple of hours, he went to a poker room and sat at the table to play.

Christian wasn't much of a gambler, but he still liked to play poker. It wasn't for the game in itself, or even to practice his poker face, but more to practice reading in people trying to conceal things from him, and the more he could read into their game, the more it was building into his confidence in how well he could spot a liar and read a person.

As he played, he let his mind wander to the suggestion that Raymond gave him concerning Ping and how he could thank him for saving his life, and now he was trying to find himself some time to go back to China during the next month, so he could propose to pay for the education of Ping's children, whatever they might want to do in life.

After a couple of hours of playing, Christian started considering leaving the table, rather disappointed in his opponents, but the game suddenly became more interesting as Raymond came into the room, alongside Ethan Kavanagh. Christian stayed on his seat, interested again in the game.

Strictly talking about cards, he knew he was better than Raymond, whether it was luck or strategy, he didn't know. But Raymond was one of the rare people he couldn't completely read. And though he often bluffed his way out of a game with his boss, he still liked the challenge to play with him.

After a few hands, he also discovered that Ethan was not bad and that his poker face was more developed than the ones of his previous adversaries. It was far from being as good as Raymond's, but it made Christian doubt a couple of times.

They talked about various things throughout the game, and after an hour of playing, Ethan smiled to himself, and muttered loud enough for the whole table to hear,

"Isn't it ironic to play cards in Vegas, knowing that we're going to church in the morning."

Christian slightly rose his eyebrow, looking from Ethan to Raymond, and the latter explained to him, "Ana decided to wait for us to be in Sin-City to drag us to church for the mess. The logic of that girl will always amaze me."

There were a few small laughs around the table, but Christian contented himself on genuinely smiling, the image of Raymond praying in a church stuck in his mind depicting something rather ironic. Raymond slightly glared in his direction,

"It's not funny."

"You in church? I beg to differ," Christian retorted, his mocking smile never leaving his lips.

For as long as he had known Raymond, he had never seen the man as a religious person. If anything, Raymond and he were very much alike in the religious department, believing only on themselves. But he also knew that Ana believed in the higher power. And though he found it odd that Ana would go to mess while in Vegas, he was still more surprised by Raymond going, than by her going.

The game kept on going on for another hour, small talks still filling the room as people came and left the table. And just when Christian was about to call it a night, Ana wandered into the room and went to sit between her father and Christian, grading a light chair to occupy the empty space.

She watched them play as Ethan wondered about his sister and her whereabouts. "She's so married! Instead of going to see showgirls with me, she said that she was going to Skype Elliott and hop to bed. How boring! So I was hoping that one of you would accompany me," Ana complained with a sigh, making the men around the table laugh.

In her naivety, she frowned, not understanding why people were making fun of her, and so Raymond explained, "Shouldn't we be the one trying to drag you to watch showgirls and not the other way around?"

She shrugged, not really caring and apparently more interested in the game now than in seeing half-naked girls. "Will you teach me? So I would have a skill other than my good charms and manners to fall back on?"

Raymond had a small smile, checking the cards that had been dealt to him, before he let his daughter now, "If you want to become a shark at this game, I think you have better chances with Christian teaching you. He is reaping me off."

"How can he be better than you?"

"Because he knows how to bluff better than me," Raymond simply said, adding a few chips in the middle of the table.

Ana snapped her head to Christian, though he noticed that she did not look at him in the eye. She barely did when her father was around. "I thought you were an honest man!"

This ought to make the whole table frankly laugh at her, even the dealer allowing himself a condescending smile toward the redhead. Though he did not personally his opponents, Christian knew that they were business moguls, and he was sure that at least one of them was very much aware of Raymond's and his sides activities. Ana stared at Christian for a couple of seconds, before looking down on her knees, slightly blushing and feeling like she just said something stupid.

"No businessman is an honest man, Ana," Ethan explained. "If you want to thrive in business, you need to know how to lie. That's how you convince people to invest in you."

Ana seemed shocked, her eyes going around the table as she exclaimed, "So you're all liars!?"

"We're all excellent poker players," Raymond rectified, eyeing one of his adversary who was about to protest for his 'honour'. The man silenced himself, and the game kept on going for a few hands before Christian called it a night.

He left and went back to Raymond's own casino, heading straight to his room where he knew he would have a dreamless sleep. Once there, he took a shower and then checked his phone where he had two texts messages. One from Mia, and another from Ana.

Really, I am starting to think that this whole cat thing is a ploy to make me go all the way up to your place and admire the view from up there. Because the cat is never around! Tell him I won't eat him, I'm vegan! Mia

Can I come? Ana

Christian smiled to himself, answering Ana first, and then playing with a stereotype with Mia.

Of course, you can always come. Room 14120. Christian

Well, are you sure you don't have some Asian ascendants? Maybe he can sense that, and does not feel safe around you. Christian

Ten minutes after he sent the text to Ana, she was knocking on his door, wearing a blue nightgown. Christian kissed her right away before leading her inside and putting on a shirt. He had noticed the way she had looked at his wound and simply wanted to make her stop thinking about it.

"I just wanted to sleep in your arms," She said, climbing into his bed and getting under the covers. Christian joined her taking her in his arms as he pointed out,

"Then maybe the smart choice would have been for me to come to your room. Since I wake up before you."

"No, it's okay. I have to get up early tomorrow morning," She said, snuggling against Christian's chest.

"Oh yes, I've heard." She looked up, her eyes soft and curious before she seemed to understand that he already knew about her plans for the morning.

"Maybe you could come with us."

"To do what?" He chortled, having, even more difficulties picturing himself in a church, than picturing his boss.

"I don't know. Pray. Thank God for being alive."

This tore a pure and genuine laugh out of Christian that surprised him. Then, he shook his head and kissed his girl's forehead as he told her,

"God has nothing to do with me being alive. I am only alive because of a man Chinese named Ping."

Ana sat up a little, looking at Christian with her brows furrowed as she asked, "You took a bullet to the chest, you're not even contemplating the idea that maybe God —"

"Did what? Put me on Ping's path? Magically curved the bullet so it didn't touch my heart? Why was I on the bullet's path in the first place, then?"

"I don't know. All I know is that tomorrow, I am going to church, and I will light a candle for you," She snapped, brusquely laying back and throwing the covers over her head.

Christian sighed, feeling bad for having laughed at her. He himself wasn't a religious man, but he knew that it wasn't Ana's case, and aftermath, he felt like he could have been a bit more considerate in his words.

"Babe, don't be mad. It's just not me. You can light your candle, it won't change how I view the world."

Ana pushed the covers off her face, her lips hesitating between pouting and smiling. "I can't be mad when you call me babe."

He smiled, kissing her lips as he scouted her closer to him, making her giggle. For a moment, they did nothing but gaze into each other's eyes, when Ana suddenly frowned and asked with obfuscation,

"How come you're so good at lying?!"

"As Ethan told you, it's in my job description."

"Did you ever lie to me?"

"I've eluded the truth at times, but I've always been honest with you."

She thought a bit about this answer, before asking with candour, "Would you ever lie to me?"

"No," He immediately answered, the very idea prosperous in his mind. Still, he emitted some reserve, "But I am not above eluding the truth."

"Well, you're the master of that, so I'm not worried here," She bitterly said, making Christian reach for her cheek and caress it with love.

"What would you like to know?"

"Uh? I don't know. I don't have a list unscripted in my brain." Christian smiled, waiting for her to come up with a question, but he wished he hadn't when she finally had a topic in mind, "Tell me about your parents."

"I already told you. They left me when I was five, end of story."

She shook her head, and insisted, "I mean before they left. How were they? And didn't you ever try to look for them? What if they died in a car accident, that would explain why they left you?"

"They didn't die because otherwise, the social worker would have told me so. I would have been listed as an orphan, not as a ward. They left me, Ana. It doesn't matter how they were before, it doesn't matter how they are now, the situation remains the same, they left a five years old kid fend for himself."

"Sorry," She whispered, kissing his cheek, and Christian simply shrugged it off,

"It's in the past. I don't really care to even think about then. It's more interesting to think about now, especially when you're nearby." She smiled, her cheeks slightly reddening with pleasure. "Anyway, what did you get for your birthday?" He asked her, to lead her astray from the topic, but also because he just recalled that he had something for her.

Ana brightly smiled, sitting up straight as she said as if she was presenting an exposé,

"Well, after you left this morning, Jake dropped by and gave me a collection of scented candles from a brand that I love. Which was perfect because I was running low with a few of my favourite scents. Aunt Elena and Uncle Eamon got me tickets for the Fashion Week in September. Front row seat. I'm going with Kate, it's going to be awesome.

You got me the bracelet and the Eric Clapton meeting. By The Way, thank you so much! It was so lovely seeing him! He is such a nice man. I think that without Kate, I would have made a fool out of myself and fangirled more than talked with him. Haha

Ethan got me those scuba diving lessons, which is so cool. Every year, we do something like that together, since Kate is a chicken who likes to have both of her feet on the ground at all time. But it's okay because she gave me an album photo of our twenty-one years together. I'll show it to you when we will get back. You'll get to see my cute face when I was little, with big cheeks and missing teeth.

Mia said she got me something, but I will have to wait to be back to see what it is. Elliott got me this super fancy chessboard, so I can kick his ass with class. You know, it's actually how Elliott and I met, playing chess at school. We really were nerds. And Dad … Dad was weird. He got me a car."

"A car?" Christian mused, surprised that Raymond gave his daughter the means to drive around by herself, but also by the simplicity of the gesture. No matter the brand of the car, it seemed out of Raymond's character to give his daughter such an impersonal gift.

"Yup. He even said that I could drive it around all by myself." Christian smiled at her enthusiasm, a part of him sure that Raymond had hired someone to follow his daughter around. It seemed uncharacteristic of the man to simply let his daughter wander off in the wild. Suddenly, she frowned, "Though, he said it wasn't what he intended. now, I wonder what he wanted to give me in the first place."

Neither of them had time to think about it because someone knocked on Christian's door. He watched Ana freeze with fear, before she hid under the covers, probably thinking it was her father. Christian, on the other hand, was more relaxed. Even if it was Raymond, he didn't really care. He cared that Ana was found in his bed, but not really that their relationship was discovered.

Still, he took his gun and placed it in his back, not knowing who might be behind the closed door. He didn't try to hide his surprise to find Ethan on the other side, still dressed in his day clothes. He seemed a bit dishevelled, making Christian sure that the young man had had a few drinks.

He rose an eyebrow, not sure what the Kavanagh could want with him, keeping the door almost closed so nobody could see what was happening inside. He watched as Ethan closed his eyes and took a long inspiration before he said,

"I'll be brief. I wanted to thank you. You know, for what you did for Jose."

Christian kept his face unreadable, though he doubted that this was the reason Ethan came to him. still, he let him know, "Don't mention it. Jose is my friend, and it was only natural."

Ethan made a face that showed that he didn't think that whatever he saw in the video was natural, or even normal for that matter. He took another deep breath, and told Christian, "I'd like to ask you a question."

The seriousness of his tone made Christian step out of the room and close it properly so they could have some privacy, which didn't go unnoticed by Ethan. He glanced at the closed door, and asked with embarrassment, "Oh … you were entertaining?"

"Your question?" Christian questioned, unfazed.

"Well … it's just something Jose said. But I can't ask him, because that would put him in an awkward position. I can't ask my Mom, because .. well, she's my Mom. And you are … not really involved in my life, so I —"

"I'm not the one you should ask," Christian cut him off, understanding Ethan's trail of thoughts and not wanting to get in the middle of what he considered to be a personal issue. He could understand why Ethan didn't want to ask his mother about doubts that sprouted in his mind, but he also respected Elena's past and that she should be the one to talk about it.

"I get why you don't want to ask either of them, but I am not the solution. You have other options. You have your father, you have Raymond. It is not my place to tell you what happened or did not happen in your parents' life."

Ethan grimaced, clearly not happy with the turn of events. "I had a feeling you would turn me to Raymond."

"Which means you knew from the start the right thing to do."

The young man nodded, and waved his goodbye, walking back to his room. Christian did the same, climbing back into bed next to Ana and kissing her, after having put his gun down the nightstand.

"Was that a stripper coming to spice up your night?" She playfully asked. Christian wrapped his arms around her and told her, wiggling his eyebrows,

"Yeah. Maybe I should have asked her in so we could have a threesome…"

Ana mimicked him, sticking her tongue out. He shook his head at her, poking her nose, before bluntly getting up and walking to his trousers so he could retrieve the small box there. Then he walked back to his girl, and he gave her the box.

"Yay! Another present! I am so blessed!" She opened it, revealing a charm in the form of a small plane.

"I couldn't find anything that screamed Vegas, so I got that one instead."

Ana smiled, delicately putting the box on her nightstand before launching at Christian and kissing him. He had noticed that she was not wearing the bracelet, but given the fact that she had come to sleep with him, he didn't really mind. Especially knowing that ever since Christmas, there hadn't been a day since he had seen Ana without the necklace he gave her. He could only hope it would be the same with the bracelet.

When she broke their kiss, she traced the line of his torso over his shirt and said, "You know, I've been thinking about last night, and …"

"If you want a rerun, you don't have to be shy about it." Though this was mostly bragging, because he was exhausted, and longed to go to sleep.

"No. You seem pretty tired. I don't want your monster cock to be sick. I was thinking that … maybe I should go to the doctor and get a prescription."

Christian stared at her, not understanding where this conversation was leading, and so Ana sigh and explained, "I liked … feeling all of you, last night. And I certainly wouldn't mind if this happened again."

Christian kept looking at her, even though his mind finally understood what she was talking about. He wasn't going to lie, feeling her without the latex protection had been a very pleasant experience.

"You don't seem very excited about this," She sadly said, making Christian snap out of his thoughts in a shake of his head,

"It's your body, Ana. I don't have any say in this. You're the only one who has a veto on what to do with your body," He told her, not wanting to influence her in any way. Sure he would love to be intimate with her without anything between them, but that implied that she would have to make a change in her life. Whether it was pills or IUD, it was something meant to play with her hormones, and he felt that the decision should only fall on her shoulders.

"I know that, but …" She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before looking at Christian with a bright smile, determination gleaming in her blue orbs, "You know what, I'm taking the appointment, and I'm getting birth control anyway. so, are you going to stop using condoms?"

"Let me know when you start," He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

She smiled at him, before resting her face on his chest, and they both fell asleep with this feeling of happiness surrounding hem.

.

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‼️PLEASE DON'T BE A SILENT READER AND LEAVE A REVIEW

IT REALLY DOES HELP‼️

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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

~ Anyway, question time:

💚What did you think of Raymond's demands?

💚What did you think of the last conversation between our couple?

💚What did you think of the conversation between Christian and Ethan?

💚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.

Love, Mina💚💚💚