I can't believe it! This story has been nominated in the WIP category in the Top Five FSOG group on Facebook! If you want to vote, please join the group and vote by July 20th! Thank you everyone for the support- this is so cool!
I was sitting at my tiny desk, staring at my computer screen. Gwen was tapping away on her computer, but she didn't make any conversation. I briefly wondered what she was so focused on. I didn't ask; I was on edge.
I had two hours before I had to meet Kate and I was impatiently waiting for the arrival of Leila and Susannah. Frowning, I thought back to the conversation with Elizabeth. Her reaction to the pictures of Issac didn't seem fake. My gut was telling me that she was telling me the truth, but if I got it wrong, this whole operation could go belly-up. And Christian would be humiliated publicly.
"Hey Gwen," I asked softly, causing her to glance up. "What are some subtle tells that someone is lying?"
She smiled. "Well, there are the obvious ones like touching your face or looking down when recalling events."
I nodded. "What about the less obvious ones?"
"One that I find to be true is the use of hand gestures. Liars tend to use gestures after speaking, rather than at the same time. But if the person is controlled, they won't use hand gestures at all," Gwen mused. "I think my favorite tell is when someone says 'let me be honest' or 'let me tell you the truth'."
I nodded replaying my conversation with Elizabeth. I'd have to ask Welch for the tapes and watch the conversation again to make absolutely certain she wasn't lying. "Thanks Gwen."
I sent a quick email asking Welch for the recording of the conversation, hoping to be able to review them before my coffee with Kate.
Welch replied promptly and I settled in to watch it with a cup of English Breakfast tea. After watching for some of the cues that Gwen mentioned, I sent a text to Issac asking what he thought about Elizabeth.
I received a text from Christian. C & G placed the order. 3 days.
I smirked. We had three days before the guns would arrive and I knew that I had to get this blackmail business squared away out before then. This had to be coordinated perfectly so the submissive wouldn't release the pictures and would remain quiet after Elena's arrest.
My mind suddenly flashed back to Luke Sawyer bleeding out in the mausoleum and I shivered. His death hadn't haunted as I had expected it to. In truth, I hadn't even reacted to my apartment exploding either. I felt like I was waiting for the ball to drop- trying to get as much done as possible before I started having horrific flashbacks. Part of me wondered if meeting Kate would bring it all to the surface again.
My phone was buzzing. It was Issac.
"Ana, Leila is here," he said.
"I'll be there in two minutes," I said hanging up quickly. I frowned as I stood up, offering a tight smile to Gwen before walking towards the meeting room as fast as my heels would allow.
I entered the room in the same way as I had with Elizabeth. Still, as I sat down across from Leila Williams, I was shocked by the resemblance she had to Elizabeth and even to me. I didn't like it at all.
"Miss Williams," I said evenly, causing the brunette to look up. I frowned as her eyes took in my appearance. "We are here to discuss your relationship with Mr. Grey."
She brightened instantly and sat up taller, with an unusual glint in her eyes. "Does Master want another contract?"
I paused. "Potentially. Obviously, we're talking to all of the other submissives too."
She openly frowned at that. "Mistress told me I was the only one he would consider again. I'm the only one who could please Master like that."
I took an unsteady breath, trying to restrain myself. Issac slid a piece of paper towards me.
Mistress = Elena
"Well, Leila, you don't mind if I call you that do you?" I said, not giving her time to say anything. "Your mistress is clearly mistaken as Mr. Grey expressed interest in multiple submissives he would be open to contract again."
She frowned again. "Mistress knows more than you."
I raised my eyebrows. "Are you friends with Susannah?"
Leila snorted. "No. She's weak and gets scared. Mistress had to punish her for changing her mind. Master scared her."
I glanced as Issac, who was looking at her with narrowed eyes. I wished we were able to pause the meeting, and talk, but I didn't want Leila to suspect anything more.
"Thank you, Leila," I began. "We will take your words into consideration, but Mr. Grey expressed interest in us interviewing Susannah for the role. Is there any reason in your opinion that we should not?"
"She's scared. Mistress scared her and after her punishment, Mistress let her leave. Master wants me and he will like the fact that I'm still with Mistress," Leila said frantically.
I raised my eyebrows. "Why do you call him 'Master'?"
She smirked at me. "Don't you wish you could call him Master?
"Not particularly, no," I said evenly, nodding at Welch after his screen flashed with the message that Susannah had arrived and was sitting in a different conference room. "Well Leila, we will review this and make sure that the new contract is up to date before transporting you to Escala. Please give us a few minutes."
She nodded eagerly and I was so glad to leave that room. As we left the room, Welch pressed a button that seemingly locked the door. He shrugged, "I know she's desperate for this new contract, but until we talk to Susannah, I'm not taking any chances."
I nodded before turning to Issac as we walked through the offices. "What do you think?"
He frowned. "She's unhinged and very loyal to Elena still. But I don't know if Susannah is really gone like Leila seems to think. It could have been Susannah's condition of release from Elena."
I nodded. It made sense that Leila would be the easiest to manipulate to try anything to get back to Christian, but Susannah's situation was unknown and not very clear.
We filed into the conference room and I was surprised that Susannah's hair was cut quite short- a huge difference from Elizabeth and Leila.
She looked nervous and a little afraid as we sat down. I offered her a warm smile to put her at ease.
"Hi Susannah, my name is Ana. This is Issac Reynolds and Barney Welch," I began. "We were asked to talk to you on behalf of Mr. Grey."
She nodded. "But about what?"
"Well, he would like to reinstate your contract if you're interested and not already contracted to someone else," I said, making a show of glancing down at the folder.
She began to sweat and I immediately noticed. "I'd like that."
"Alright, well we do have a few questions to ask first," I said. "What is your relationship to Elena Lincoln like these days?"
Susannah glanced down and laced her fingers together on the table. "Well, um, I'm not really using her to find new contracts anymore."
"Why not?" I asked.
"She let me leave," Susannah said softly.
"What were the conditions of your release?" Issac said. "I had conditions when I left her after training."
Susannah's face paled and she looked like she was about to cry. "Please! I don't want to do it but she said she would tell my parents if I didn't!"
She slumped over burying her head in her arms and sobs wracked her body.
"Susannah," I said softly, placing my hand lightly on her's. "We can help you. Mr. Grey finally realized that Elena is a shady character and he wants to help you. But we need to know what the situation is to be able to do that. Welch, would you mind getting Susannah some water and tissues?"
Welch nodded and left the room. Susannah lifted her head slowly. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, Susannah," Issac said. "Elena was still controlling me when I worked here and Ana helped me get free of her."
Susannah looked confused, as she took a tissue from Welch who had returned. "I've been agonizing over this for years. Elena wants me to leak the pictures of Christian and I together if something happens to her."
"What do you mean if something happens to her?" I asked frowning.
"Like if she disappears or tells me to," Susannah said, her brown eyes widening. "Is someone going to kill her?"
I sighed. "I'm sure you're aware that Elena has more enemies than friends. And recently, people have learned that she has a taste for underage boys. That has also painted a huge target on her back."
Susannah nodded. "She said someone would tell my parents everything if I didn't leak the pictures."
"Leila Williams," I said.
"How- do you really think so?" Susannah asked. I nodded, not divulging anymore information.
"Well to get started, we will pay you $5 million to not leak the pictures," I said. "You'd get $3 million if you leaked them correct?"
Susannah nodded and I continued. "We will also have a member of Christian's security team assigned to you for the next year at least. This is non-negotiable. You will also have access to a safe house that only Welch knows the location of to hide if anything spooks you. We have reason to believe that Elena is also mixed up in her ex-husbands business and that it will catch up with her soon, leading us to believe that everything will be set in motion sooner than you think."
"What about Leila?" she asked softly.
"We have been following Miss Williams and will be providing her with financial compensation too. If Mr. Grey signs a contract with her, we think it might appease her and allow us to buy more time to turn her against Elena. Don't worry about her," I said.
Susannah bit her lip. "How can I not worry about her?"
I sighed. "We are going to be sending your parents to the Caribbean since they won a random, free trip. There won't be much service on the island and we will be monitoring all communication of your parents' accounts. We can intercept any message if it comes to that."
"But that's illegal!" Susannah burst out.
"And so is what you would have to do to Mr. Grey. You'd be violating an NDA, a contract, and blackmailing him. It's your choice, Susannah," I said, closing the folder and standing up. "We can walk away now and I'm sure we will be able to handle the fallout without much consequence. Can you?"
Susannah's eyes went wide. "Ok, I'll follow your plan. What's the first step?"
I smiled and sat back down. "Issac will run over the timeline with you and he will introduce you to your protection officer and run through scenarios with you. I have to run into another meeting."
"Thank you, Ana," she said. I placed my card in front of her.
"Call me if you have any questions," I said, wondering if it was a good idea to give her my card. I'd find out in the future.
I left the conference room and headed to the elevators to meet Kate at the coffee shop where I met Ros and Gwen for tea at the beginning of my employment under Christian.
"Ana!" I heard Kate's voice call out from a table in the back of the cafe. I took a deep breath and smiled as I walked over.
"Hi Kate," I said sliding into a chair opposite her. I noticed the cup of tea in front of me.
"I got you some tea," Kate said quietly.
"Thank you, that's very thoughtful," I said, taking in her tanned skin and the dark circles under her eyes.
"I would like to start off by apologizing to you, Ana," Kate said, staring into her coffee cup. "I should never have just called you."
I titled my head to the side. I believed her apology was genuine, but I sensed that this was a meeting for closure rather than an attempt to salvage our friendship.
"Yes, it was quite abrupt," I said. "And during a very traumatic time too. You weren't the only one who was freaked out."
Kate nodded, her eyes watery. "My dad did some digging and hired a private investigator. Apparently, that FBI agent, Luke Sawyer, did it. He didn't cover his tracks."
I frowned but nodded.
"You already knew that," Kate said accusingly.
"I did," I said. "I have access to a lot of information now."
"Because you work for the Grey family," she said, some disdain in her voice.
I paused, wanting to say something, but I just raised an eyebrow and took a sip of my tea.
Kate continued. "I can't be friends with you since you're involved in something so dangerous. You've put me in harm's way twice: once at the bar, once at home."
I knew she was trying to get me to fight for her, but I knew that I couldn't just walk away from Christian. Not when he was so close to getting out. Kate wouldn't listen to those promises either.
"I know," I said softly. I didn't have to say anything else. Kate was furious that I wasn't backing down and begging for her forgiveness. Instead, I stood up and I turned and walked out of the cafe without another word. I didn't look back.
Thank you for all of the reviews and support :)
