CHAPTER 41

(ELLIOT)

I watch the quiet petite Asian woman sitting opposite me the other side of the table and I smile encouragingly at her. I know Ana has something to do with her being here tonight, as I had heard her whispering to Eva earlier and I heard the name Megumi mentioned. I realise that my sisters are possibly matchmaking after the interaction I had with this woman earlier and encouraging something to happen between us.

I am not against that as she seems to be a very nice person. However, I am more than a little bit wary after what happened with Kate. I loved Kate with all my heart and to learn that the only reason she was with me was primarily because she was jealous of Ana being with Christian and she just wanted the perks of the Grey name. It sickens me, that she was no mother to Ava and I feel a massive degree of guilt for the fact I persuaded her to have a child as I knew she wasn't totally on board with the idea. I would never have chosen her to be my child's mother had I been aware of all the facts.

My thoughts are interrupted by a loud laugh and my attention is drawn to the gregarious auburn-haired giant of a man to my left. Stephen Ellison the partner of Eva's work colleague Mark Garrity. He is in construction and like me he owns his own company so we hit it off straight away. He is currently holding court and making Eva, Ana and his sister Shawna laugh loudly. Mark shakes his head and looks embarrassed by his partners antics.

I glance at Christian and see he also has an amused look on his face as he listens to the tales this man is telling. My attention then moves to my daughter who is eating her meal oblivious to everything that is going on around her.

"She is so good".

I look up as Megumi speaks and I smile.

"Yeah she is, I'm quite lucky really" I admit. I automatically stroke Ava's head as I say this.

"Do you have shared custody with her mom?" Megumi asks warily and I shake my head.

"No, I have sole custody. My ex-wife hasn't seen her since we separated" I say simply.

I see a look of shock which quickly morphs into sympathy as she looks down at Ava.

"That's so sad" Megumi says and I just shrug, unwilling to take this line of conversation any further.

"You should speak to Elliot as I'm certain he has dealt with something like that when he renovated my home in Aspen".

I look up at the mention of my name and see all eyes are now on me. I wasn't totally paying attention to what was being said and I think my ignorance must show on my face.

"Sorry I wasn't listening" I admit. This produces a ripple of laughter around the table and Stephen quickly outlines what he was talking about. I realise immediately what he is saying and offer my opinion on the matter.

"Why didn't I think of that? It is so simple I'm slightly embarrassed that I didn't consider it" Stephen says and I shrug again.

"Sometimes the simplest most obvious answers are the hardest to see, things can be right in front of your face and you are oblivious to them" I say. I glance at Megumi as I say this and she smiles at me.

The meal continues and it becomes obvious that I am going to have to leave soon as Ava is becoming a little bit cranky.

As she lets out a small sob which draws everyone's attention, I realise that is our cue to leave.

"I think it's Ava's bedtime" I say apologetically.

Everyone smiles sympathetically. I see Gideon quickly pull out his phone and a moment later he looks up at me, "Raul is waiting outside to take you both back to Christian and Ana's apartment" he says.

"Thanks Gideon" I say gratefully as I pick up Ava into my arms.

"I think I'll call it a night as well; may I hitch a ride with you?" Megumi says and I see Eva's mouth drop open at her friend's question.

"Sure, I don't mind" I say as Megumi rises from her seat.

Eva stands and hugs her friend tightly and whispers something in her ear. I see Megumi nod and squeeze Eva's arm. She mouths the words thank you to her and I glance around the table. I see Ana with a bright smile on her face which confirms for me that she is happy with the turn of events and then I look at Christian and see a smug grin on his face. I wonder briefly what that is all about but quickly dismiss what I have seen.

As we leave Megumi collects our coats and helps me to put Ava's on before offering me mine. I shake my head "Do you mind just holding it for me until we get to the car?" I ask and Megumi shakes her head.

"Not at all" she replies simply.

Raul is as expected waiting outside with the Merc and I put Ava into her car seat and strap her in. I notice that Megumi has taken the seat beside Ava and so I decide to quickly take the passenger seat next to Raul so I don't freak her out by squeezing in beside her.

"I hope you don't mind me coming with you?" Megumi says carefully as I close the door.

I turn to face her and smile reassuringly, "No, not at all… erm… if you don't have any plans and were just going to head home you could come back to the apartment with me and keep me company for a while?"

I see a flash of panic on her face and I quickly jump in to reassure her.

"It's fine if you don't want to, I mean sitting watching the tv isn't the most exciting thing to do, but that is pretty much what my life is now in the evenings".

Megumi glances at Ava once more and seems to be considering what I have said.

"Erm…" she says and then I see a look of resolve in her eyes and she nods her head. "I'd… I'd like that" she says quietly.

I give her one of my brightest smiles, "That's great!" I say. I turn towards Raul and gesture to the road in front of us, "Let's go" I say and I see a smirk pass over his face as he pulls out.

oooOOOooo

When we arrive back at Christian's apartment I carefully lift Ava into my arms and realise that I can't get at my key now. I glance at Megumi apologetically.

"Erm… the apartment key is in my pocket" I say as I nod my head towards my pants.

She quickly realises what I am asking and I see her stiffen slightly before she takes a deep breath and nervously pushes her hand into my pocket.

"It's ok, there isn't any dirty handkerchiefs in there!" I say flippantly to try and reassure her.

She smiles at me and I feel her hand inside my pocket. She quickly grasps the key and pulls her hand away.

"Thanks… sorry about that" I mutter as we walk towards the entrance. Ava has slumped awkwardly in my arms and I am unable to put in the code to enter the building, I glance apologetically towards Megumi once more.

"768451" I say and she just stares at me blankly.

I nod towards the security pad and she quickly realises what I am asking her to do.

She taps in the number and pushes the door open. As we walk through the lobby I see the desk clerk look up and smile at me.

"Good Evening Mr Grey" she says politely.

I just nod and make my way to the elevator; Megumi quickly calls the elevator and as the doors open, we step inside. "Erm… it's the penthouse, so you need to tap in another code" I say with an apologetic shrug.

Megumi nods and waits her finger poised to tap in the code.

"11952" I say and she quickly taps it in. Almost immediately the elevator starts its journey up to the top of the building.

The elevator doors open and Megumi pushes the key into the lock. "The light is just there" I say nodding towards the wall and Megumi switches it on before gasping at the apartment in front of her.

"Yeah, my brother doesn't know the meaning of the word tasteful" I say with a grin.

Megumi giggles at that and grins at me as she follows me in. I can see she is nervous about this, she is wringing her hands and looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I'll just go and put Ava to bed, the kitchen is through there if you want to go and help yourself to a drink or something" I say.

Megumi nods, "I'm fine" she says quickly, "Unless you want something?" she adds.

I shake my head, "No, I'm fine at the moment. I'll get something once I've put Ava to bed" I say.

"Do you need any help?" Megumi asks and I shake my head.

"No, I'm fine" I say.

I watch as Megumi nervously makes her way to the enormous sofa and sits down awkwardly. I don't say anything more and I turn away to take my daughter to bed.

(MEGUMI)

I am quietly freaking out, what the hell am I doing? Eva's words are playing on a loop in my head from earlier.

'El won't hurt you, he's a good man. You can do this'.

Eva clearly has more faith in me than I have. At this moment all I want to do is run. As I stand up to do just that Elliot appears and he looks at me carefully.

"There, sorry about that… is everything ok?" he asks.

I shake my head and a strangled sob escapes my mouth, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have come" I babble and Elliot moves slowly towards me.

"Hey, it's ok if you want to go that's fine. I was just hoping we could sit and have a chat. It's kind of nice having some adult conversation, between Ava and my brother I don't get a lot of that" he says jokingly.

I can't help but smile at that comment and he grins at me, "Don't tell Christian I said that" he adds.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit nervous" I say and inwardly cringe at how pathetic I sound.

Elliot shakes his head, "Not at all, I'm essentially a stranger to you. But I assure you I'm not going to hurt you or do anything to you that you don't want me to do. We can just sit down and have a chat and get to know each other. I'm Eva's brother and you are Eva's friend so we have that in common so that's a good place to start I think" he says as he gestures towards the sofa.

I take a deep breath, and nod. I know I need to do this; I haven't been living since the attack. It was over three years ago and I have not been this close to another man since then. The only men I have tolerated near me have been Cary and my work colleagues. Despite the intensive therapy I have been receiving I just have a fear of men now.

I sit down and almost as if Elliot realises that I won't like it if he gets too close he keeps his distance and relaxes at the opposite end of this huge sofa.

"Ah, that's better" he says as he gets himself comfortable.

"So, what was it like finding out you had a sister?" I begin.

Elliot snorts, "Honestly? It blew my mind. I always knew I'd been adopted as mom and dad were always open and honest with all of us about it. Christian pretty much knew where he came from as he was four when mom and dad adopted him. Mia was a baby as was I. Mia has never shown any interest in finding out where she came from, but after Ana found out about Eva and that led on to Christian finding out more about his birth family it kind of got me thinking about it. I mean, mainly for Ava's sake. So, she knew where her roots were and so that I could gather any information in case there was anything I should know medically. It was a complete shock when it all came out as to who my biological father was, and then the fact I was biologically related to my brother's wife… complete mind fuck!" he says and then looks apologetically at me, "sorry" he adds.

I smile at him; he is a really open and honest man and I begin to relax a little.

"So, how did you and Eva meet?" he asks.

"When Eva started working at Waters Field and Leaman we started talking and discovered we had a number of things in common and it grew from there. There really isn't a lot more I can say. She has been a really good friend to me". I stop there as I don't want to elaborate any further.

"She's an amazing person" Elliot says, "As is Ana, I totally got a good deal when I found out I was related to them" he says with obvious affection.

"What's it like being a single dad?" I ask nervously wondering if I am treading on ground that could be considered too personal.

He shrugs, "To be fair, I was a single dad even when I was married to Ava's mom" he says slightly bitterly.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to pry" I say quickly.

Elliot shakes his head, "No, it's fine. I don't mind talking about her, I won't bad mouth her when Ava is around as no matter what she did Kate is still her mom and I won't be responsible for giving Kate any ammunition in the future to throw at me… not that I think she would bother but there is always the chance she may accuse me of poisoning Ava against her if I say stuff about her in front of her now".

He lets out a small snort, "But Ava is asleep so I have no problem bad mouthing Kate now".

"She really hurt you" I state and Elliot looks up at me, I see the pain in his eyes and he nods.

"Yeah she did" he says simply.

I shuffle a little closer and reach out and touch his hand, "It's ok if you don't want to talk about it, we can talk about something else" I say.

He smiles at me, "I'm sorry, I'm not much company am I" he says and I shake my head.

"No, you are fine. If you want to tell me I'm a good listener" I say.

Elliot squeezes my hand, "You are very kind. I met Kate when Christian started seeing Ana. Kate was Ana's friend. I say that in the loosest possible way, as it transpired that Kate just used Ana to take care of her. They were roommates at university and let's just say if Ana hadn't been there Kate would've starved. Anyway, Ana met Christian and as you know he is Mr big shot billionaire, Kate was hugely jealous that Ana had managed to attract his attention. She… Ana that is, wasn't interested in Christian for his money and influence. She just loved him, which made Christian fall head over heels for her. I took up with Kate as she was around and I fell for her completely. Sadly, it wasn't mutual. I thought she loved me but all she loved was my surname and the money I made. Whilst I am nowhere near as wealthy as my brother, I have made a good living for myself and as you know, I own my own construction company. She actually admitted that she only married me because Ana married Christian… she wanted her own Grey. She wanted me for my surname and the doors that could open for her and nothing more. She put on a good show as it took me a while to work it out, I even had a child with her which I now regret bitterly. Not for me as I love my daughter completely but for Ava, as I have probably fucked her up by providing her with a mother who can't stand her".

He pauses and I am shocked, not only that he is being so open but the story is so sad. He has clearly been damaged by this woman. I find myself moving even closer to him and he smiles sadly at me.

"It all came to a head quite recently. When it all came out about Ana and Eva. Kate was bent out of shape that Ana hadn't told her about any of it and she had to find out via the media when Ana and Eva went public. We were on vacation at the time and I pointed that fact out to her but she wouldn't have it. I called Christian and warned him that Kate wasn't happy and from that, he told Ana and she spilt her guts as to why she hadn't told Kate anything. Apparently, Kate had told her she had never loved me and that she had only married me because she was jealous of Ana and Christian's relationship. Ana was left in a predicament as she didn't want to hurt me, she was scared to say anything to Christian as she knew he would tell me, as he could never stand Kate but eventually she told him and he told me. Kate showed up at their house all guns blazing demanding to know why Ana hadn't told her about Eva and Ana and Kate had a massive argument and it all came out during that of her complete hatred for me. The worst bit was when she told Ana that she'd only agreed to have a baby with me to try and split them up" he pauses and my mouth drops open at that.

"Seriously?" I begin and he nods.

"Yeah, you see Kate got it into her head that Christian controlled Ana. She never understood the fact because Christian was who he was there was always the chance Ana could be kidnapped so she has a degree of security surrounding her, plus he worries about her. Kate saw that as Christian being controlling. She thought that Ana wanted kids, and Christian had refused – not true by the way, Ana is happy as they are. She is quite career minded and while she wants kids eventually, she wants to concentrate on her career at the moment. Kate decided to agree to have Ava as she knew I was desperate to be a dad. She admitted that she only did it to try and drive a wedge between Ana and Christian. She thought that if I told Christian how great it was having a kid; he would capitulate and give Ana what Kate thought she wanted or it would drive a wedge between them and they would separate. She assumed that she was doing Ana a favour as my brother refused to have Ana sign a prenup and so therefore if they separated Ana would be entitled to half of everything. What she failed to realise is she had got it totally wrong. Plus, if Ana and Christian did ever separate, which I might add is highly unlikely. She wouldn't accept a dime from him".

"Oh my god" I say totally shocked at what I have just heard.

"Yeah, she assumed everyone was as shallow and materialistic as she was", Elliot says bitterly. "The worst bit is, she didn't even bother with Ava. There were so many times I would come home and Kate was sitting messing on her phone while Ava was being cared for by the nanny. You know, when I threw Kate out Ava didn't even notice she had gone. She has never asked about her or anything. Kate showed up at my brother's house one evening when we were there and Ava heard her but didn't even care she was there, she never reacted to Kate's voice at all. That's how little an impact Kate had on her life".

I have no idea what to say about all that and a silence spreads out between us. Eventually Elliot speaks again.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have said all that, you don't need to hear what an idiot I have been" he says sadly.

I shake my head, outraged on his behalf. "No, not at all. You are not an idiot you loved her and you thought she loved you but she manipulated you and that is awful. You are clearly a lovely man, I wouldn't be sitting right here now if you weren't" I say and then I stop.

Elliot lets out a small snort of laughter, "You are very kind" he begins and then he pauses and looks at me carefully. I swallow hard wondering what he is going to say next.

"Earlier this morning… when I reached out and touched your arm. You reacted and shrank away from me… I've seen that reaction before…" he says awkwardly and then stops.

I pull my hand away, and look at him nervously.

"I'm sorry" he says quickly.

I shake my head, "No, I… you know your brother came to see me this afternoon" I say and I see Elliot's eyes widen at that.

"Christian?" he says clearly shocked. I nod.

"He came as he also noticed my reaction to your touch and he assured me that you wouldn't hurt me".

"Christian said that?" he says.

I see him thinking about things and he seems to be working something out in his head. He smiles and shakes his head.

"Ever feel like you've been set up?" he mutters.

I look at him questioningly.

"Christian comes to see you, then I hear Ana talking with Eva and your name is mentioned. You get invited to dinner this evening and here we are" he says.

I stare at him in surprise, Eva had invited me to dinner citing the fact I was her friend and that Mark and Stephen were going to be there, but it appears that there is more to this than meets the eye.

"So, you are suggesting that they arranged this" I say.

Elliot nods, "I wouldn't put it past any of them. Christian I am slightly surprised about but Eva and Ana… they have been encouraging me to get back out there but I am wary after what happened with Kate" he says.

"And Eva knows I am also more than a little wary after what happened to me, but she has been encouraging me to learn to trust men for a while" I say.

Elliot's head whips around and he looks carefully at me, "Someone hurt you didn't they?" he says as realisation hits him about my reaction this morning.

I swallow hard, "Yes they did… badly" I say, but unwilling to divulge anything more.

He turns towards me, "Hey it's fine, you don't have to tell me. I will just say this, I'm kind of glad my family meddled as I think you are a lovely person".

I smile widely at him, "As are you, however nothing can come of this as you live one side of the country and I live the other… but I would like to be your friend" I say.

"I'd like that too" he replies.