Christian has been acting strange ever since he came back from whatever business he had to attend to. His abrupt departure, Grace's calming words, and Carrick's flustered face when he came into the kitchen with an associate…. Taylor was it? Made it pretty evident that he had to deal with his other business.

I couldn't help recalling his detachment when we first arrived hours earlier and now I have an overly affectionate Christian who couldn't keep his hands off me. Not that minded, of course. Maybe that's how he is after he deals with the family business. Men are a mystery.

"… Would you like to go home now?" he whispers in my ear. I gave him a quick nod and within moments we had said our goodbyes and were on our way down the elevator.

"What's up?" Christian asks, tapping my leg as he drives out of the garage.

"Nothing," I smile at him, "just thinking."

"About what?"

"This."

He furrows his eyebrows, "And what's that?"

"Christian, I want you to be honest with me," I turn my head so I could look at this face. "…About everything. I know I'm new to all of this, but I don't need you to keep me in the dark."

"I promise to always be honest with you," he vows, running his hands through his hair. "Let's save this discussion for home, okay?"

"Okay."

The rest of our drive was silent, not awkward, but still somewhat tense. Finally, we arrived at his building, which he has called our home more than once.

If I'm being completely honest with myself I've been warring between feeling like I'm all in, but then a part of my brain is telling me that this is too much. I don't know which one side was trying to protect me. In all honesty, this was moving fast from finding out my family was in the mafia, essentially becoming a hostage in my uncle's home, an insane shoot-out that resulted in a house blowing up, finding out that I was part of unrequited love, and possibly developing feelings for the other part of that coupling. It's a mess, I'm a mess.

It feels like Christian and I have known each other for much longer than a week, and I guess all of these events have sped up our relationship. I didn't know the man who was standing next to me, but somehow this felt right. What if he snored or hacked up phlegm in the middle of the sleep… or I hate how he chews his food? How many meals have we shared? Despite the familiarity, I was starting to feel I knew we had to slow our pace while we were in this weird place. The conversation with Grace felt like she was prepping me for this... for him.

"So, Anastasia, how are you and Christian?" Grace asked gleefully, "You have no idea how happy I am for you two, he's waited so long."

"Uh, we're taking it slow," I said apprehensively.

"Oh of course, but Christian is a good man," she prattled on. "I think you balance him."

"Yeah, he's pretty amazing," I agree, I look around the room hoping that we didn't have to talk about this more. I'm still so confused about it and casually chatting about it with Grace was not helping. It made me think about how fast we were going. It was too fast, right? But then again, I know what I feel for him and it felt right when we were together. How easily we were able to fit with each other was what continued to perplex me.

"You'll get used to it," she smiles at me warmly.

"Sorry?"

"The waiting." Oh, she isn't going to sugar coat it. "Darling, it comes with the territory, he's good at what he does so you don't have to worry."

"I'm not worried about him," I confessed. Shit, I sounded like a bitch. "Uhh, I don't mean it that way, I meant that I know he's good at it. He wouldn't do it if he wasn't."

She laughs, and then quietly whispers, "He's probably better than his father, but don't tell Carrick that."

I laugh, "How so?"

"He learned from the best and he's somehow evolved that to something more. I've never seen him in action of course, but a mom just knows."

I give her a large smile, "When did he get involved in all of this?"

"He's never really been uninvolved, he merely took a break while he went to school and established his company."

I nod, "That alone is astonishing, he's accomplished so much."

"He has, we're so proud of him."

"As you should be," I reply as she sits next to me.

"Don't let it scare you," she squeezes my arm, "I know that you may feel overwhelmed, but I have a feeling that you're cut out for this life. You'll be good for Christian."

I couldn't help but smile, "I think so, too."

"Ana?" Christian interrupts my thoughts.

"Sorry," I replied apologetically.

"Just thinking again?" he asks with a wry smile.

"Yeah," I reply, as he takes my hand and leads me to the great room.

"Did you mean what you said in the car?"

"About being honest?"

"Yes."

"Of course, I would never lie to you," he said sincerely and this is usually the time where I would run. Since that was my MO, I'm the runner, but somehow I just can't find it in me to do so.

"I think we're moving too fast," I blurt out without really thinking. Guess the cat is out of the bag.

He clears his throat. Shit. I fucked it up.

"Christian…" I began, "what I said to you last night was true. I'm developing feelings for you, but I still think that we're moving fast." I shake my head trying to form my words properly; I grabbed his hand and pull him closer. "I've only met you two weeks ago and within the week we've somehow started living together. I'm just not used to being so close to someone so quickly… I guess I'm a little worried."

"Ana, you have nothing to be worried about… you know that I've felt this for years."

"It's just that, what if I don't live up to what you've built in your head-"

"Aww baby," he laughs lightly, he pulls me closer to him so I was practically on his lap. "You are everything that I thought you would be."

"No, you can't know that!" I exclaim, jumping from his arms, "we don't even know each other."

"Really?" he raises his eyebrow at me. "Ana, I know you well enough. You're caring despite your tough exterior," he laughs, "you're loyal, headstrong, intelligent, witty, honest, and sweet. Though you never really want to show that part of you. You act tough so you won't get hurt. I understand that, gattina, I do. You haven't gotten that attention that you deserve, but I'm here now and I want to give you the world."

Well shit.

"Christian-"

"Just listen to me," he cuts me off sternly. "Please promise me that you'll be honest with me and in return I will be honest with you and that you will talk to me if you ever feel overwhelmed."

"I will," I concede.

"I'm serious, you said that you wanted to stay-"

"I do… I still feel the same," I reassure him, "trust me."

"I do," he kisses my forehead, "now let's talk about what's going to transpire in the next few weeks."

"Alright," I nod, burying this issue.

He looks at me sheepishly as he leads me back down on the couch. "I have ordered for the takedown of Genovese-"

"My uncle!" I interjected quickly, "I know he's not in good company, but he's my only family."

"Gattina, you know I would never do anything to your real family, and Danny is not lucky enough to be considered part of yours."

"So what does this mean for me?"

"Well…" he looks at me apprehensively. "Once we take them down there will be some backlash a war may arise…," he replies glibly. "And in the meantime, security will be ramped up. I don't want you to feel like you're a prisoner, but it will be safer here. If you feel the need to go out I want to be present so I could be there to protect you."

Wow. That will be intense, to say the least, but overall makes sense.

"Will I need security in the bathroom?" I jest.

"No, not exactly, you can be alone here, the guards will be just outside, but when you go out you will be with me and your bodyguards," he replied seriously, completely missing my sarcasm.

"Isn't that a tad excessive?"

"Not at all, I protect what's mine," he smirks.

I raise my brow at him, "Yours, eh?"

"Yes," he growls as he captures my mouth. "I just want you to know that if I could I would never leave your side, but that's probably not going to be our reality, regrettably."

"Be a little reasonable," I gasp as we continued, deepening our kiss until I was practically rolling my hips into him as his tongue fucked my mouth. Holy hell, everything about him is amazing.

"I am being reasonable," he says before he latches on to my neck, he's flipped us over so I'm on my back.

"No, you're not, what do you think?" I moan in his mouth, "Don't you think you're advertising that I'm important to you?"

"Who cares?" he pulls off my shirt, and then unlatches my bra, the sight making him groan. "If they're dumb enough to try to harm what's mine then they deserve what I do to them." He nibbles on my nipples making them so hard that it was almost painful, "Plus, nothing will happen to you so this conversation is ridiculous."

"You don't know that," I object as I run my hands through his hair, gripping it as he sucked harder on each of my breasts, biting them every so often. With each passing moan I fought to keep our conversation going, "You won't always be there to protect me."

"I'll die trying," he reassures me as he works his way down my stomach.

His words hit a chord; I quickly sit up and pull him up with me.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" I ask incredulously.

"What?" he looks at me in surprise.

"You'd die trying?" I repeat, "Christian, dying for me is not an option. This isn't Romeo and Juliet, you won't die for me."

He smirks, "But baby, it's the honourable thing to do."

"I'm not kidding around, Christian," I replied, deadpan. "I am quite capable of taking care of myself." I tuck my legs to my chest, "I appreciate what you're trying to protect me and I am all for you trying to do that, but you can't protect me 24/7."

"Anastasia, you are my responsibility-"

My eyes go wide and anger immediately filled my body, "I am nobody's responsibility but my own, now you can be my equal and respect me as my individual or you can go back to the dark ages. Just because you're a man doesn't mean you know what's best for me or what I should do-"

"I don't want to tell you what to do…"

"Really?" I said sarcastically, "because I'm pretty sure you just dictated what my life will be like if I spend it with you. I am happy to follow your plan during this time but I will not be kept my entire life."

"I'm just trying to protect you."

"What if I don't want that? What if I want to come with you and shoot some people?" I huff.

He laughs softly, which only fuelled my ire. I quickly grab my shirt and put it back on, forgoing my bra. What a pompous prick.

"Ana relax-"

"No, Christian, I'm not a pet that you're responsible for."

"That's hardly the case."

"I understand that I will have to make sacrifices for the time being, but I will not be someone else's responsibility for the rest of my life. I don't think I can do this; I need to get my own place."

"No," he deadpans.

"NO?" I raise my voice at him, "to hell I won't."

I stalk out of the room and head for the nearest phone. I will not be kept.

"Ana, you're safer here than anywhere else."

"Don't you understand what I'm trying to get at?" I asked.

"No, do you?" he looks at me. "I'm just trying to say that I want to and feel the need to protect you. You are my life, you've been in my thoughts every fucking day and if I fucking lose you to some stupid shit…" he rages, then something in him flips I could see the rage in his eyes. Then within a split second, his fist connects with his wall, leaving a sizeable dent and the loud crack flipped a switch inside me.

Everything became cloudy and I felt like I was losing myself. I could hear him faintly behind me, but everything was just a blur. I locked myself in the bathroom, memories of my mother's second husband rushed through my head and I felt my body stiffen. The same look that I had always gotten from that monster was the one Christian had on his face. Did I push him too hard? I trembled as I curled up in the tub.

I heard his footsteps nearing and the jingle of the door as he tried to open it, only to find that it was locked.

I could hear his muffled voice, but I was too lost in my memories. I tucked my head in between my knees and started to spiral further and further.

I could see his lips were moving but nothing connected. I trembled when fingers touched, and my body started shaking. I curled further into a ball and shut my eyes closed, I could hazily recall my body being lifted from the tub and slowly placed on a soft bed.

The last thing I could recall was looking into Christian's eyes and feeling my world crumble around me.