Chapter 16, Never ending circles

Hey everyone, I had some energy to write this. I'm in treatment so the next update will take some time. We're reaching the end.

Thanks to every single person for their messages, I want to say that I appreaciate them and that they mean the world to me in this moment. I'm okay!

Ray Steele never liked Savannah, in fact he avoided going there and used Bob's "discomfort" as an excuse to avoid visiting his ex-wife; they were still good friends and she sometimes visited him to talk about Ana, life or any problem they could have. However, now he was there, with the sole objective to make Ana see reason about her relationship with Grey.

The man wanted Grey away from Ana, as he didn't like at all what Christian said about taking Ana away if it was necessary; and Ray knew that Christian had all the resources to do it if he wanted. For now, he knew Grey couldn't take Ana away; so, this was the perfect moment to fix things.

It was scary for Ray to think that his daughter could disappear any moment, so he had decided to take the first plane to Savannah to talk with her; and mostly with Grey to threaten him. Yeah it was low, something he didn't like or want to do, but Grey hurt Ana and for him that was something hard to forget or forgive. Who could assure him that the man wasn't going to hurt her?

When he arrived at Carla's house he took a deep breath, he had told her he was going to visit but he wanted to be a surprise for Ana; he was carrying with him only a bag for a few days intended to come back to Seattle or Montesano with Ana. He Knew that Ana wasn't a child anymore still he felt was his duty as a father was to protect her and guide her; at that moment he felt whatever he was about to do was the right thing to do.

Carla's house wasn't big, but it was modern with some mid-century touch; Ray liked it a little bit more than his house in Montesano. He had taken a taxi from the airport to get there, on the way he had called Carla to tell her he was almost there.

The taxi had left him, and Carla was already there waiting for him at the door; Bob beside her. Ray smiled at them, he expected to see Ana there in the door, but she wasn't; maybe Carla didn't tell her as he wanted it to be a surprise.

The three went inside the house, Ray observed the decoration and was surprised to see that in the living room there were pictures of him; well maybe it was because of Ana.

"how's everything?" Ray asked, he felt he had to start the conversation.

Bob started to tell him about their lives, about Ana and Christian, and about his achievements in golf. Carla barely talked; she was making breakfast for everyone.

Ray saw the clock in the kitchen and saw it was late for his daughter to be still in bed; Ana usually was a morning person.

"Where's Annie?" he asked.

"In her bedroom, she is still sleeping." Carla replied, she didn't look at him; something was wrong.

"And Grey?" Ray asked with bothersome

"He's in the garage, also sleeping." Ray now suspected it was a lie, a businessman like Grey should be up right now.

"Are you sure Carla? Mind if I give a look?"

Bob and Carla nodded, guiding him to the door that connected the garage to the kitchen. Ray opened the door and saw an empty mattress.

"Where is he, Carla you told me he was in the garage."

"Ray, he does it. He can't be in Ana's room."

"Let's see."

Ray walked upstairs furiously; Bob and Carla were behind him, worried the man would lose control. Carla was shaking, she knew Ray wasn't violent but still she feared about Christian. A thump was heard, Ray followed the sound and opened the door where the sound came from. Oh, he didn't like at all what he saw; Christian Grey was in the same room as hi daughter, both looking tousled.

Ray observed Christian who was standing there wearing his shirt backwards, he had only one sock on and his cheek had still a pillow mark. Ana, well she was still in her pajamas and her hair all messy.

"You!" Ray pointed to Christian, "We need to talk, now. Alone."

Christian nodded, Ray was happy to see fear in his eyes; but he changed his face when Ana looked at both men a little bit uneasy.

"Chris, everything will be okay." He heard Ana and then saw Christian nodding to his daughter. Ray walked away from both, Carla and Bob were just standing there; they looked calm about it.

Going downstairs Ray led Christian to the kitchen, the young man following him with distance. Christian's demeanor was cautious, keeping distance from Ray and remaining quiet.

Ray took a seat, "I want you to stay out of her life, she doesn't need a man like you near her. I've met a woman, who knows you and tells me that you're a sick bastard who likes to beat girls. And I've no doubt about it, I mean you did horrible things to a little girl when you were a teenager; hurting yourself just to make a point and traumatize her."

"Mr. Steele…"

"I don't care about your excuses, about your childhood issues, or about you feeling unloved by everyone around you. I care about my daughter, and honestly the only thing that I want is that she finds someone better than you."

"Dad, stop" Ana shouted, she was standing there with tears in her eyes. Christian wanted to move and embrace her; he didn't move to avoid any problems.

"Dad, he's the one. I know everything he has done. We've been talking about it, I know he has done certain things but please understand he's not that bad."

"Annie, not because he's your soulmate it means he's the one." Ray was furious, shaking of anger.

"But he is, I know that you love me dad; but you need to understand that nobody is perfect. Yeah, I felt heartbroken at the time, but believe me what he did was to protect me from him. He was a troubled teenager, and yes it doesn't justify anything; but Christian had it worse than me."

"Annie,"

"No dad, let me talk." She took a breath, "Christian believed he was unloved, that even me loved him just for duty. And believe me, even when I wanted him gone from my life, I was scared he wasn't alive anymore. When the accident happened, I felt half of me died."

"Annie, I saw you crying."

"Dad, I was a child. I couldn't understand why someone didn't want me. It's like my dad's family, they don't want me; but you, you chose to love me, and I still don't know why. I really want you to understand that sometimes, to love someone you don't need reasons. I don't need a stupid soul mark to understand that Christian is the love of my life."

Ana ran to Christian, hugging him hard. Ray saw that indeed his daughter was in love.

"Ana, I think we need to talk alone." Ray said, "Christian and I."

"Dad,"

"Ana, don't worry." Christian said, "It's okay."

Ana left the room annoyed; she didn't want to leave him alone with her dad; but anyways she did.

"Christian, I won't waste my time listening to your story."

"So, this means you didn't change your mind"

"No, this means… If you hurt my daughter again, I will hunt you. She's my little girl and honestly, I will accept you just for her. "

"Okay, sir."

"Okay, Christian now, are you going to tell me what's going on with Hyde? He just came looking for my girl in our house at Montesano."

"What did you say to him?"

"That she was visiting her mother, I didn't tell him about you; but he asked if I knew you."

"what?"

"Christian, what's going on?"

"I honestly don't know. We found stuff about me and my family in his computer. I'm afraid he knows about Ana and me."