I enter a board room with Christian, Taylor, and about five other men that I don't recognize at all. One looks a little older than the rest and sits next to Christian and, by the looks of it, looks very close with him as well.
"Hey, Dad. How's Mom and Mia?" Dad? They look nothing alike.
"Hello, Son, and they're doing fine. Mia's new business is booming and Elliot's helping her with the expansion."
"How's his career going?"
"Just fine. He got three new clients overnight, so I guess they're starting to respect him."
"That's good. If he needs anything from me, be sure to let him know."
"I will. Is this your new fiancée?" he asks while directing his attention toward me.
"Yes, this is Anastasia Steele. I met her at Clayton's before all this started."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Grey," I address as we shake hands.
"You too, my dear and please, call me Carrick,", he says as he smiles warmly at me and I like him immediately.
"Please call me Ana."
"Will do," he grins.
"Carrick is my lawyer. I don't make a decision without him and he knows about our situation," Christian explains before we all take our seats. Carrick knows about this? And he's okay with it?
"Now, Ana, I know this might be a little shocking for you, but I assure you that my son's intentions are very pure for the time being." Pure?
"What do you mean?" I inquire as I take my seat and Christian sits down beside me.
"I just mean that you wouldn't have to worry about Christian going back on his word, even if you divorce him."
"What about if he does it?" If he does, maybe I can get out of this nightmare sooner.
"I promise that'll never happen. Christian understands how important this is for your father and no matter what happens, he won't jeopardize your relationship."
"Will he cheat on me?" I ask him and even Christian looks surprised when I do.
"Believe me, Christian's not the type for it."
"But even if he did, would it change anything at all?"
"Not necessarily, but he would have to pay you back for it."
"How so?"
"In any way that you want."
"And what about the press? Are they ever gonna know about this?"
"Don't worry, we'll handle the press and make sure they never find out. That's why we're technically holding the ceremony here in contrast to a public event."
"But what about when we're alone?"
"What do you mean, Ana?"
"Meaning would he touch me or force me to sleep in his bed?" If he does, then I'll have an excuse to ask for a favor.
"Oh no, of course not. He's not allowed to touch you and you're not allowed to touch him." As he says this, Christian shifts uncomfortably in his seat and turns away to avoid my gaze. What?
"Would I have to stay at his penthouse?"
"Unfortunately, yes but not every day. It would only be when it's absolutely necessary and you're allowed to leave any time you wish. If Christian would ever need you for something, you'd have to come with him no matter what."
"And he would let me know?"
"Absolutely, unless you're unavailable."
"Because nobody is supposed to know about this, do I have to keep it a secret?"
"We would prefer it that way and if you want, you could sign a non-disclosure agreement just to be safe." Shit, they're really taking this seriously.
"And what if I step out of line? Would Christian terminate the relationship?"
"Considering his courtesy to your father, then no, he can't at all."
"Have you talked with him about this?"
"Yes and we already went over the contract and NDA and said that if there anything you wanted to negotiate, then you could without any problems."
"I'm still not so sure about this. I hardly even know Christian."
"I understand, Ana, but all parties, including you, have something to gain from this once it ends. Ray wouldn't have agreed to it if it meant you couldn't be happy and after all this is over, you'll never have to see Christian again." Thank God for that.
"Do I have to sign it right now?"
"If you want, you could take it home for the night and come back tomorrow afternoon to discuss any further plans and we could reach an agreement then."
"What about the NDA?"
"Well, with all due respect, we would prefer it if you would sign that now, just in case you change your mind. Christian already signed another copy before you arrived." He did?
"Can I see please see it?"
"Of course," he says before reaching in his bag and pulling out a piece of paper. I take it from him and quickly scan over the document, making sure that Christian won't kill me if I talk. The room falls silent as I read and after a few minutes, I slowly nod my head.
"Don't worry, Ana. This will all be worth it in the end," Carrick says kindly and I absentmindedly wonder how Christian could be his son; they're definitely nothing alike.
After taking a deep breath and borrowing a pen from Carrick, I hesitantly sign my name on the dotted line of the NDA just as Carrick pulls out a copy of the contract, which is about ten pages total and attached with a little clip. Hmm, I was expecting it to be longer.
"Does tomorrow sound like a plan?" Carrick asks.
"Yeah, I think I'll be available then. Although I'll have to tell my roommate that I'm leaving."
"Does she know about this?" Fuck.
"Yes but I didn't know about the NDA. She won't tell anyone, I swear."
"Are you sure about that?"
"She once went six months without telling me about a surprise party for me so trust me, she won't say anything about this at all."
"Alright, Ana. Until then, I think Christian should take you back to his penthouse so you can discuss the contract together." What?
"I have to spend time with her over this?" Christian asks, causing me to roll my eyes at him. Jackass.
"Well, you might be living together, so why not start that right now?"
"Dad..."
"Just do it, Christian; it'll be over before you know it," Carrick remarks sternly before standing with the other men and Taylor and after a goodbye shake, they all leave the room. Once they're gone, Christian groans loudly and runs his hands through his hair in—at least, I'm assuming—exasperation. Once he's done, he turns to face me.
"You really fucked this up, Steele. If you had just kept your mouth shut, this never would've happened."
"Well, maybe next time you can learn some fucking manners and not expect it on a silver platter so I can take it into consideration."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that maybe if you had treated me any better, I wouldn't have acted in the way that I did."
"Listen, Steele, I didn't ask for a fucking marriage to save your little store and now thanks to you, I gotta live up to my debt. If I didn't know your father, I wouldn't be doing this at all."
"Oh, so this is my fault?"
"That's right, Steele, so don't screw this up for me. For once in my life, I just wanna do something right," he says and closes his eyes as if he's in pain. I furrow my brows at his sudden turn of emotions but before I can say anything about it, he suddenly stands up and extends his hand for mine while waiting for me to accept.
"Come on, honey, let's go home and discuss this contract. Taylor could take you home when we're done."
"You're acting as if you've done this sort of thing before."
"Let's just say, it wouldn't be the first one I ever signed one." What does that mean? Has he already married someone to help them? For some reason, the thought makes me nauseas. After a few moments, I reluctantly take his hand and he leads me out the door, once again making me question why I'm doing this at all.
Back at Christian's penthouse—no, our penthouse—Christian leads me down the hall to his office and after a quick greeting toward Gail as she leaves to talk with Taylor, Christian closes the door before gesturing for me to take a seat. I quickly do as I'm told and pull out the contract as he takes a seat as well.
"How do you wanna do this?" I inquire.
"Just list everything one by one and we'll discuss anything you want."
"What if there's anything I wanna change?"
"I'll talk to Carrick about it and he can change whatever you want."
"You're not really too excited about this, huh?"
"Are you?"
"It's not every day I'm engaged to someone I hardly know."
"Well, join the club because you're not the only one', he says as he takes out his own copy and gives us each a pen. I roll my eyes at his comment before noticing a picture on his desk of what looks like his parents and two other people I don't know.
"Who are they?"
"My parents; Carrick and Grace, and my brother, Elliot, and my sister, Mia."
"Are you all close?"
"I guess so. They helped get me through college," he says and the tone in his voice tells me he doesn't wanna talk about it. I hold my tongue and shift uncomfortably in my seat before we carefully go over the contract and make changes as we do.
About two hours later, me and Christian finish our meeting and come to a negotiable agreement with a few new rules as well.
"So, when can Carrick write up a new contract?"
"I'll e-mail him what we talked about and he can have it done before we meet."
"How does he know about all this?"
"Him and Grace heard about the incident and when I talked to Ray about it, we started making plans after they asked me what was going on."
"Without informing me of it?"
"We wanted to see if we could make it reasonable before that happened."
"Nice to know you're considerate," I respond sardonically.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault when you decided to yell at me the way you did."
"I'm just surprised that nobody else has done it yet."
"No, they just scream a little differentially when it comes to me," he says with a brow raised and it doesn't take long for me to understand what he meant.
"You're a real piece of work, Mr. Grey."
"You're one to talk, Miss Steele. Are we done here for now?"
"Yes, and will you let me know when a new contract is ready before we meet again?"
"Sure. Taylor already gave me your number, so I'll call you when I can. Of course he does.
"When do you want me to move in?"
"As soon as you sign the line and we become husband and wife." Jesus, even saying it makes me sick.
"But not before?"
"In case you didn't notice but I'm not exactly excited for this, so why make it any longer?"
"And I'll never have to sleep with you?"
"Jesus, why are you so worried about that? I'm not gonna touch you and I'm not a fucking monster."
"I'm sorry. I'm just not used to living with a man."
"Considering your behavior, I don't find that hard to believe." I start to open my mouth to protest but before I can respond, we suddenly hear a knock on the door and Christian stands to go see who it is. Once he opens the door, I notice that it's Taylor.
"What is it, Taylor?"
"Sir, I'm sorry to bother you but there's someone here to see you." Christian furrows his brows and I can tell he looks really worried for some reason. Why? Who's out there?
"Tell her I'll be right there," he says dismissively and with a small nod and friendly wave toward me, Taylor walks away.
"Who is it?"
"Just one more reason of why I'm not gonna cheat on you," he says but before he goes any further, he suddenly leaves the room. What the fuck was that about? Grabbing my things, I follow him out in the foyer and see a young woman around my age standing by the elevator, looking pissed and a little hurt. Who the hell is she?
"Hello, Veronica," Christian remarks politely and I can immediately tell that he doesn't wanna see her.
"Why didn't you visit me last night? I thought you said you were coming over?" Last night? Why was he seeing her last night?
"I told you, something already came up."
"Like what?" she inquires but before Christian can respond, Veronica looks in my direction and her jaw drops when she sees me standing in the great room. She then looks back at Christian and before I can react, she suddenly slaps him across his cheek before turning on her heel and heading for the elevator. What the hell? I quickly run to him without thinking and can see him flinching like he's in terrible pain.
"Are you okay?" I inquire as I try to check his cheek. Did she really hit him that hard?
"Don't touch me," he demands as he tries to back away from me.
"Does it hurt?"
"I said, don't fucking touch me," he orders more forcefully and I immediately step away and he softens as I do.
"I'm sorry," I respond truthfully.
"Don't worry about it," he says softly. "Do you want Taylor to take you home?"
"Yes, please. I need to tell Kate about what's going on."
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow at my company," he replies before heading for his office and Taylor starts leading me toward the elevator. Holy cow. How am I ever gonna explain this Kate?