AUTHORS NOTE: There appears to be a series of miscommunication between myself and the guest reviewer 'Charlotte'. It is something I want to clear up once and for all as I really don't want this to escalate into something ridiculous.

I generally don't respond to guest reviews because (a) I can't, as they don't have an account and therefore I cannot respond privately to any comments which I prefer to do, and (b) because the majority of the time guest reviews don't even see the light of day as they tend to be from trolls who are abusive, obnoxious and rude and I refuse to draw attention to these sorts of people as they are not worth my time or effort to acknowledge and I will not give them any attention to encourage their vile rants.

However, the initial review from 'Charlotte' was neither of these things. It was purely a point of view, a point of view which I did the courtesy of replying to as I do like to respond when people make a valid point or say something nice which leaves me no alternative but to shout out to them in an author's note. She said and I quote 'I HATE the idea of Meg and Elliot together. He is rushing into something. Also, he does not need to try to form something with the first girl who catches his eye'. End quote.

It was a valid point and I appreciated the direct honesty and I felt I should acknowledge it, just like I try to do for other reviews. Therefore, I responded in the same direct manner explaining my reasoning for writing the story the way I had whilst acknowledging the differing point of view and also acknowledging that you didn't like it and accepting that fact. I expected that to be the end of it so imagine my shock when I read the follow up review – and I quote: 'I don't have an FF account. However, with as much as I read, I guess I need to sign up for one. I seemed to have upset you by my comment about Elliot and Meg and that was not my intention. I thought we were allowed to leave comments. I didn't think I said anything harmful or hurtful. At least I hope I didn't. I am a fan of yours and I love your stories. I will just keep my comments to myself from now on'.

I want to make it crystal clear I was not upset or offended by anything. (When I have received guest reviews telling me to 'stop writing and just die', trust me this does not even register on the offended scale!) Yes of course you are entitled to leave reviews and comments and I welcome them and I sincerely apologise to you if I offended you with my previous authors note response… and finally, yes, it is a good idea to have an FF account. I hope that clarifies everything and puts it to rest.

CHAPTER 56

"Is there any more wine?" I ask as I place the empty wine bottle down and quickly scan the table.

We are all sitting around the dining table, plans for my father to grill have been abandoned as the weather is pretty diabolical today. Christian stands and grasping an identical bottle near him he moves it towards me.

"There is some in this one" he says as he places it within my reach.

"Thanks bro" I say as I grab the bottle and refill my glass.

Christian smiles at me and I take a moment to really look at him. He really is so different now, he could almost be called relaxed and laid back, nothing like the tightly reined in uptight man I remember. The change over the past three years has been astounding and nothing short of remarkable. The rude and self-centred man he was before he met Ana has now thankfully long gone. Meeting her started the change and made him a much more pleasant person to be around, but recently he has changed even more. Since he found out the truth about where he originally came from and reconnected with his birth family, and of course now that he is getting the correct therapy for his needs and issues rather than being fleeced by that charlatan Flynn he seems to have found a kind of inner peace which had previously always eluded him and it is really wonderful to see.

I glance at Ana and then at my parents. She was the catalyst for the initial change when Christian met her and fell head over heels for her but since then she has helped in so many ways that she probably is totally unaware of. The way she brought everything out into the open with the festering resentment which had gone on for years between my father and Christian. Their relationship had always been so strained but now they are closer than they have ever been, because she made them open up to each other and just talk. The way she called everyone out on their failings and helped to add a voice to make people face up to those failings has helped heal our family. Then there is the way she helped me rid myself of Kate. I had been in denial about Kate for such a long time. I knew deep down that my marriage was a sham but just didn't want to admit that fact and I preferred to live in ignorance of the very obvious truth. The only downside to that whole episode is that I still feel a degree of guilt that Ana knew Kate's true intentions and was too afraid to say anything for fear of causing any upset and so was essentially stuck in the middle of our dysfunctional relationship, until Kate went too far and the lid was blown off everything. She continually tells me that she doesn't blame me for any of it and that I was just trying to make my marriage work and that the only person to blame was Kate.

I look at Ana, my sister. That was a huge revelation but I had loved Ana like a sister ever since she came into our family and I saw the way she immeasurably improved Christian's life. Therefore, to find out that she was actually biologically related to me, whilst it was a shocking revelation it was also a very welcome one as I couldn't think of anyone better to have in my corner. Then of course there is Eva, outspoken, blunt and to the point Eva. It occurs to me that I am surrounded by sisters. Ana and Eva and then of course Lucy my biological mothers' daughter. I don't consider her sister Jen related to me though which although sad is nothing I can rectify until she comes to terms with everything she has done. Then of course there is Mia, who I grew up with and whilst I don't share any biological link with her, I will always be her brother as we shared our childhood and grew up together.

I take a moment to look at Mia, who is at this moment talking and gesturing wildly with her hands as she describes whatever it is she is talking about. She has matured greatly in such a short period of time. She was the poster girl for spoilt entitled brat but now that she has distanced herself from her former friends who encouraged that selfish entitled behaviour and instead has been under the influence of Meg and more recently Lucy, she has become a much nicer person. I glance at Meg, my darling Megumi who uprooted her life and left New York to be with me. Things moved so fast between us and it wasn't our intention for them to evolve so quickly. We both had every intention of just being friends but you can't help who you fall in love with and I fell for her big time and I thank my lucky stars every day that she feels the same way about me. I worry sometimes that she feels overwhelmed and swept along but she has assured me a number of times when I have voiced my concerns that there isn't anywhere she would rather be, which makes me all the more determined to give her the life she so richly deserves.

I am pulled from my musings by Mia who is now speaking.

"I want to help you with Christian's birthday party" she says and smiles at Ana who nods enthusiastically and starts voicing her plans for his birthday celebrations.

I see Christian roll his eyes and he shakes his head in quiet exasperation. "I don't like to make a big thing about my birthday… you both know this" he argues but Ana just reaches out and pats his arm.

"And as I have told you many times, I like to mark the occasion you came into the world as if you hadn't, I wouldn't be the happily married woman with the wonderful life I have right now".

I watch as Christian's irritated gaze softens considerably as he hears this and I snort with laughter.

"She's got you there! You can't argue with that can you bro?" I call and Christian glances at me and shrugs but there is now a look of obvious amusement on his face.

"You know, I have always prided myself that I had an answer for any argument and that it was inevitable that I would always get my own way in most situations. However, I find myself unable to say no when it comes to Ana and I always manage to find myself unable to argue with her, when she comes up with comments like that".

He shakes his head again before wrapping his arm around Ana. He pulls her close and presses a kiss to her lips. Then leaning even closer he whispers something in her ear which makes her blush and she looks down at her plate. He gives her a smug self-satisfied smirk as she shuffles uncomfortably and I know he has probably said something totally inappropriate to her to make her react that way.

A moment later Ana seems to restore her equilibrium as she clears her throat and looks up, "Oh I meant to say, I spoke to Eva last night. She was so disappointed that they were unable to be here today but she said that they are definitely flying in for your birthday. She said that if anything happens then, that she is leaving Gideon behind and will fly out to Seattle alone".

Mia giggles at that, and I smile as I can picture Eva saying something like that, "What happened this time?" Mia asks looking at Ana questioningly.

Ana shrugs, "I'm not sure to be honest, Gideon has been having on going issues with a businessman in New York who holds a grudge against the Cross family for what Gideon's father did years ago. From what Eva told me he appears to have made it his life work to irritate and annoy Gideon and try and cause trouble when Cross Industries do anything and going on what Eva said, it appears he is playing his games again and Gideon needs to be on the ground in New York to stop him again".

"Who is it? Is it that guy… what's his name? Erm… Langton? Langford? Lang… something?" I ask, my interest peaking at this information. I talk to Eva regularly and she has mentioned issues with this guy in passing but she has never gone into any real detail about him, and I wonder if it is someone as well-known as Gideon and Christian or as powerful. It has to be someone with a degree of influence to be able to cause issues with someone as powerful as Gideon.

Ana looks across at me, "Ryan Landon" she says simply and I nod my head as I remember Eva telling me his name. I hadn't actually heard of him; so after Eva had told me about him I'd googled him and found he has built quite the empire in IT and gaming and is quite well known in New York and around the East Coast. He is looking to become a household name though as he has been developing a game console to rival the GenTen Console which is the brainchild of Cross Industries. From what I've seen of reviews of the PhaseOne, it is a good console but it is inferior in many ways to the GenTen console, so he has his work cut out to try and rival the stranglehold Gideon has over that area of the gaming industry.

"LanCorp" I say as the name of this man's company pops into my head and Christian nods.

"Yes, that fucker is quite the thorn in Gideon's side by all accounts" he says bitterly and then glances sheepishly at our mother as she immediately chastises him for his language.

"Christian, language" Grace says as she glares across the table and I see Ana stifle a giggle at Christian's chastened reaction.

"Sorry mom" Christian replies and I can't help but grin as it is normally me who gets pulled up for my bad language, although since I became a dad I do try and modify my more colourful outbursts as much as I can now.

"What has he done then?" I ask as I don't really talk that much with Gideon but I know he has become quite close with Christian so I'm guessing he knows what is going on.

Christian sighs and takes a gulp of his wine. "As far as I'm aware he just regularly needles Gideon, he is a constant irritation. He is continuously trying to undercut Gideon with his PhaseOne gaming system. He is always making snide comments in the media and basically just being a pain in the ass. I don't know the details of what has happened recently which made Gideon and Eva unable to fly out to Seattle but it had something to do with the GenTen, I believe he was claiming intellectual theft or something I'm not too sure of the details but I'm sure Gideon will tell me when I talk to him next".

"Why does he do it?" Sadie asks as she is listening to the conversation.

Christian shrugs "Because he's an idiot with a grudge. His father lost a great deal of money when the Ponzi scheme Gideon's father operated collapsed. It was a huge thing as a lot of people lost money. Landon's father lost more than most as he invested more than most and it nearly ruined him. Ryan Landon picked up the baton and has made it his life work to make Gideon pay for what his father did".

"Is Gideon's father not around then?" Lucy asks and Christian shakes his head.

"No, he committed suicide when it all came out about the scheme, he was arrested and he killed himself rather than facing up to what he had done and facing the jail time which he was due. It's ridiculous really though as it is all ancient history. Gideon was just a young child when his father killed himself so there is no way he can be held accountable for his actions and I think it's rather petty that Landon is carrying on with this pointless feud considering he is a very wealthy man in his own right now".

"He probably sees it as avenging his dad, but why he would want to carry on with the vendetta when as you say he is far wealthier than his father ever was is the million-dollar question, I mean what does he get out of it?" Ana says sadly.

"He probably has been doing it for so long he doesn't know how to stop" I say and Christian nods thoughtfully.

"Or he's just a petty small-minded asshole" he says bluntly.

I smile at that assessment and nod in agreement, "Well, I think we can take that as read!" I reply.

oooOOOooo

Later that day…

"So, the reason why you and Gideon were a no show in Seattle this weekend came up at lunch today" I say carefully as I stare at my laptop screen.

Eva sighs and rolls her eyes; she is clearly irritated by whatever is going on at the moment.

"Ryan Landon is a pain in the ass" she says bitterly.

"What has he done?" I ask.

Eva sighs, "To be totally honest I'm not altogether sure exactly the ins and outs of what he has done this time. Ever since he tried to drag me into his feud, Gideon tries to protect me from what is going on. But whatever it is that he has done this time has caused Gideon and Arash to be in ongoing discussions and has caused them both an enormous amount of work. Not to mention it has made Gideon be in a foul mood for the past week or so. Do you know the history of the ongoing feud between Ryan Landon and Gideon, have I told you about it?" she pauses and looks questioningly at me and I nod.

"Yes and No. No you haven't told me the ins and outs of it but yes I know the history of it because Christian explained that it was a years old feud which originated with their fathers" I reply.

Eva nods, "That's right, Geoffrey Cross nearly ruined the Landon family. The way I see it is if Landon senior hadn't been so damn greedy then he wouldn't have invested and lost the money. Landon wasn't happy when I told him that as obviously, he doesn't see things that way and has made it his mission to get his pound of Cross flesh. As I previously said he tried to drag me into it when he started playing games with me you know" she says.

"Really? How?" I ask, my protective streak when it comes to all my sisters coming to the fore.

Eva sighs, "As you know I work for a marketing company, when he first launched the PhaseOne gaming system he approached Waters Field and Leaman to market it. He specifically asked for me to work on it, obviously he thought I would be unable to say no as he had made the request to the partners. However, I refused to do so on the grounds of it being a conflict of interests because of Gideon and his GenTen being a major competitor, the partners understood and declined his request. That clearly didn't go down well, as he was obviously planning something nefarious and he went off in a huff and the next thing we knew his own in-house marketing team were handling it. Gideon was also furious that he had drawn me into his petty games. I wasn't best pleased either so that was when I confronted him and told him my views on the matter. The thing is, no matter what he does he has never managed to get one over on Gideon, as well… he is in totally a different league business wise so I don't know why he persists".

"Maybe that is exactly why he does" I say thoughtfully, Eva stills and looks at me as she thinks about that. "I mean, if he is always on the backfoot with Gideon he hasn't achieved what he set out to do. He has never managed to avenge his father if Gideon always manages to stop him and essentially squash his plans so he just keeps trying, not knowing when to give it up and just let it go" I say as it all becomes clear in my head exactly why Landon is doing what he is doing.

"You know that could be it, plus he is eaten up with resentment that Gideon is so powerful and wealthy. In his twisted mind he almost sees that as Gideon rubbing his nose in it, even though Gideon was just a child when everything happened" she says and I can see her mind working as though a plan is now forming and I grin.

"You are planning something, now aren't you?" I say with obvious amusement.

"Maybe" Eva says with a dismissive shrug. "But that has really made things clear, I'm actually surprised I had never made that connection before as it is obvious when you think about it. Landon is always making accusations that Gideon's wealth was built on money from what Geoffrey Cross did".

"How did Gideon build Cross Industries?" I ask carefully.

Eva smiles, "Gambling, he played blackjack, and he played cleverly and he played well. He won a lot and he invested the money he won into starting Cross Industries. He was investigated several times in the early days as these accusations persisted about where he got his money from to start Cross Industries and as he built it and became more successful the rumours persisted but nobody ever found any link to Geoffrey Cross and the Ponzi Scheme money – because there isn't one. Landon just refuses to accept that though… but now that we have a reason why he persists in his games I am certain I can come up with a plan to end it once and for all if I sit and think about it".

"Well, Gideon talks to Christian so I'm certain that if you are planning something you could count on his help and if you have Christian's help, you'll have Ana's as well… I'm not sure how I could help, as while I own my own business I'm not in the same league as Gideon or Christian but you know if I can help in any way I will" I say.

Eva smiles at me, "Thanks bro" she says affectionately. "I'm going to speak to Gideon and tell him your theory. It makes a hell of a lot of sense as to why he persists, the thing is he isn't effective enough to damage Gideon so he is just like an annoying fly constantly buzzing around".

"If you manage to get Christian on board as well, he doesn't stand a chance" I say.

"No, he really doesn't, does he" Eva agrees with a wicked grin.