The next day, I open my laptop and start looking up Coping Together in an attempt to learn more about it. Apart from when it was founded, its main purpose is to help children with parents addicted to drugs, while also attempting to get the parents help in return. Ever since Christian started his company when he was twenty-one, he's been donating to the foundation and hosts fundraisers once a year to help his parents as well. I try to look up the woman in the photo—the one that looks like Christian—but so far, I haven't found anything about her.
Why does Christian have her picture then? They look so similar and if she is in fact his real birth mother, why haven't I found any information? Was that Christian's doing or did his parents have something to do with it?
Before I can ponder it any further, I hear some commotion coming from downstairs and after bookmarking my searches, I head downstairs to see Christian stumbling inside and Taylor struggling to hold him up. Fuck, is he drunk?
"What's wrong?" I ask as I try to help.
"Why the fuck do you care?" Christian growls as he leans against the wall. Asshole.
"Maybe it has something to do with how you reacted in my store", I snap back but before he can respond, he almost falls to the ground and without thinking, I rush to his side and Taylor and I attempt to lead him to his room. I open the door and we carefully guide him inside before sitting him down on the bed, where he falls back with a thud and I'm assuming he's asleep.
"I'll take it from here, Ana. Thank you," Taylor smiles at me and with one final look at Christian, I exit the room. A few minutes later, Taylor re-emerges from Christian's room and quietly closes the door as I notice that he's holding Christian's jacket and an empty bottle of something. My hunch stands corrected.
"He should be alright for now. I'll come check on him in a few hours."
"What's wrong with him?"
"One of his business partners backed out of a deal they formed a few months ago and Mr. Grey was upset."
"What kind of deal was it?"
"I can't say exactly, but I do know that it cost his company over two billion dollars." Holy shit.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's not your fault. I'm sure we'll figure something out."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"I noticed some papers, um, in the great room about an organization called Coping Together. Can you tell me anything about it?" I lie smoothly, hoping he doesn't notice. Taylor looks hesitantly at me and after looking back at Christian's room, turns back to me.
"With all due respect, Ana, I don't think it's a good idea to talk about it." What?
"Why not?"
"It's very personal to Mr. Grey and he doesn't like to bring it up."
"Why? What's so important about it and how does it connect to him at all?"
"It's not my place to say, but I strongly suggest you don't bring it up with him and forget you saw anything as well."
"Taylor, he's my husband." Unfortunately. "I think I have the right to know."
"Trust me, Ana, it's best you don't talk about it with Mr. Grey." I sigh.
"I'm sorry, Taylor. I didn't mean to put you on the spot."
"No harm done, Miss Steele. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business I need to take care of."
"Oh, okay. I'll keep an eye on Christian till you get back."
"I appreciate that, thank you. I'll see you as soon as I can," he says and just like that, he leaves me on my own. I quietly check on Christian—he's still fast asleep—then carefully close the door and head back upstairs, determined to find out as much about my husband as I can.
Three hours later, I'm looking up information about Clayton's Hardware and, surprisingly, Christian has been helping the store even before it started falling apart and needed financial help. I do some more research and also find out that Christian and Mr. Clayton have known each other for over fifteen years and that Ray has been helping out in small way for about as long as well. That's weird. He never told me he was doing that.
Before I can think about it further, my phone starts ringing and I smile after I see the caller ID; it's Kate.
"Hi, Kate."
"Hi, Ana. How's it going with Mr. Moneybags?"
"Honestly, it keeps getting stranger every day."
"Really? How so?"
"I found some," I whisper before continuing, "documents in Christian's office that talk about an organization called Coping Together that his parents founded when he was fifteen."
"Who's the organization for?"
"Kids with parents addicted to drugs and a sort of rehab for the parents as well."
"Have you talked with Christian about it?"
"He came back home drunk, so I don't think I'll be talking with him very soon."
"Is he okay?"
"He's fine, but apparently some deal fell through with his company that costs him two billion dollars."
"Jesus. Do you know what the deal was for?"
"Taylor didn't tell me, but Christian seemed pretty upset."
"Are you two getting along at all?"
"He basically told me to fuck off, so I wouldn't say that we were."
"Do you want me to come over?"
"No, I'm fine, it's alright."
"Ana, you're clearly stressed out and I haven't see you for a week, so how 'bout I come on over and we can go out for a drink?"
"I don't know, Kate..."
"Oh, come on. You're afraid that your hot husband is gonna nark on you?"
"Yeah, a little bit," I respond truthfully, although I could care less how he felt.
"Don't worry about it. Listen, I'll come and pick you up and we'll go to the bar across the street."
"Kate, I don't think..."
"Oh, come on, please?" she begs and I can tell she's pouting. I sigh.
"Fine. I'll let Sawyer know I'm going out."
"Great. I'll be there as soon as I can and we'll get crazy drunk till we can't walk." I giggle in response and she laughs along as well.
"Sounds good. I'll see you later, Kate."
"Bye, Ana!"
"Bye," I reply before hanging up. I close my laptop after bookmarking my searches before I start looking for Sawyer. I find him talking with Taylor and cautiously approach them when I do.
"Ana?" Sawyer says when I get closer.
"Sawyer, um, a friend of mine is coming over and we're gonna go out for a few drinks."
"Of course, Ana," he says professionally. "Did you have a bar in mind?"
"Um, the one across the street?"
"Sounds good. I'll be on the lookout when they come over," he grins before excusing himself and leaving me alone with Taylor.
"Is Christian doing alright?" I ask once Sawyer's out of earshot.
"He's doing just fine, Ana. He's still fast asleep."
"Does he get drunk like this all the time?"
"Only when he's upset, which unfortunately is pretty often."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I appreciate that, Ana, but I'm sure I can handle it by myself."
"Okay. Um, listen, I'm really sorry about harassing you earlier with Coping Together. It's really none of my business."
"Oh, it's not that, Ana. It's just that Mr. Grey never likes to talk about his past with anyone outside his family."
"Is there any reason why?"
"Basically, I guess you can say that he's not very trustworthy with anyone." I can't imagine why.
"Do you know anything about it at all?"
"Mr. Grey hasn't gone into a lot of details about it, but I do know that it was founded once he started getting into some trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"Mostly police arrests, but your father found him one time when he was causing havoc out on the streets and brought him to Mr. Clayton's." What?
"Did his parents know about that at all?"
"He ran away from home and your father called them on where he was at."
"Is that why Christian owes a favor to my father and Mr. Clayton?"
"Partly, but I'm not entirely sure what happened with Mr. Grey before that."
"Has he always had a drinking problem?"
"As far as I know, it started when he was fifteen." Really, that young?
"Thank you, Taylor. That's all I needed to know."
"You didn't hear this from me," he winks and I giggle in response.
"I understand, I promise."
"Good. If you'll excuse me, I have some phone calls I need to make."
"Oh, okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you."
"Trust me, Mrs. Grey, it's no trouble at all," he smiles kindly and with that, he leaves me on my own. Just then, I hear the elevator door open and look to see Kate walk in before pulling me in for a hug.
"Ana," she exclaims. Jeez, it's only been a week.
"Hi, Kate. It's so good to see you," I respond as I return her hug and she starts to pull away.
"Ready to get drunk?" she asks with a mischievous look in her eyes. I giggle.
"Yeah, I am. I just need to grab my things."
"Oh, just leave 'em here. This time, it's on me."
"Are you sure?"
"Ana, you're married to a hotshot billionaire, so it's the least I could do." Well, when she says it like that, I guess she has a point.
"Okay. Thanks, Kate."
"Now, come on. I'm not gonna stop until you tell me more about Christian."
About an hour later, me and Kate are on our third margaritas as Sawyer sits at the bar and she won't stop asking me questions about Christian and Coping Together.
"So, it was founded just because he ran away from home?"
"From what I understand, yes, but I just don't know why yet."
"And Mr. Clayton and your father helped him out?"
"Apparently so. I guess Christian was near the store when it happened and Ray just happened to be there."
"How did Grace and Carrick react to it?"
"Taylor didn't tell me, but I would assume they'd be upset."
"Well, I guess that explains some things, except for why he ran away in the first place."
"I would ask him about it but, you know how he is."
"Ana, won't you at least try to give him a chance?"
"Why should I? We caused a scene at Clayton's and if it wasn't for our arrangement together, I could've lost my job because of it."
"Has he given you any hints about why that happened?"
"None at all and after what I found out today, it still doesn't make any sense."
"Hey, don't give up, Ana. At least you found out something about him."
"Yeah," I sigh. "Except now, I just don't know what to do," I say as I take another sip and order another round.
"How are things going with Elliot?" I ask in an attempt to change the subject.
"It's going okay. He's on some business trip over the weekend, so I won't see him until he gets back."
"What kind of trip is it?"
"Something about a big eco project, but he didn't go into details about it."
"Are you gonna be able to spend time with him before he leaves?"
"He's coming over tonight, so we'll see where it goes from there," she smirks at me and I roll my eyes in response.
"Speaking of men, have you heard about Jack by any chance?" she asks suddenly and I tense up as she does.
"No, I haven't thought about him to be honest and my dad hasn't heard anything either."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you"
"No, it's okay," I smile reassuringly. "At least now I have a bodyguard, so that shouldn't be a problem at all," I say with a half-smile when the waiter comes by with another drink.
"Ana," Kate says gently, causing me to look at her. "Are you sure you're okay? You can always tell me if you're not, you know."
"I'm fine, Kate. There's nothing to worry about, I promise." She smiles as she picks up her glass.
"How about one more drink and then we'll go home?"
"Honestly, that's the best offer I've heard all day," I joke and Kate laughs in response.
We walk out of the bar and after hailing a cab for Kate, she gives me a quick hug and tells me goodbye before climbing into the car and it starts to drive away.
"Excuse me, Ana, I need to use the rest room and then we'll go," Sawyer says and I nod in response before he goes back inside. I pull my jacket closer to my body as a small breeze blows by me and I hear a familiar voice.
"Hello, Ana. How the hell are you?" the voice asks and I turn around to find Jack looming behind me and I suddenly freeze in place. Fuck.
"How did you find me?" I ask shakily as I try not to panic.
"That's not important. I've been thinking a lot about you and why we broke up at all," he remarks and steps closer to me as I immediately step back.
"You better get out of here before I call the cops," I threaten him, just before remembering that I don't have my phone.
"You're such a stupid little bitch, you know that? I thought we had something special and you threw it back in my face." What the fuck is he talking about?
"You cheated on me after I refused to have sex with you."
"Well, maybe now you can pay me back and we won't have to worry about that at all," he says as he steps closer but before he has the chance to touch, Sawyer runs out and throws him to the ground before pulling out his gun. Thank God.
"Ana, are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
"No, he didn't. I'm fine."
"Get in the car and I'll call the police," he orders and without missing a beat, I quickly do as I'm told.