Two weeks and four days had passed, since Ana left Christian's hotel room. She threw a quick glance at her watch and saw that it was almost 7 in the evening. Hurriedly, she got up and walked out her office. As she stepped into the elevator, she heard someone call out to her.

"Hey, Ana. Will I see you at the party?" Jason asked, a smile gracing his handsome face.

The firm she worked at, had organized a party for all employees.

She cleared her throat and nodded." Yeah, of course. And you?" Ana replied.

Jason's face immediately lit up, as he heard her answer." I will be attending the party, yes." He responded.

As the elevator went down, it stopped a few times, letting others get inside. Ana and Jason spoke about the latest case they were working on, until they reached the first floor. Jason walked Ana to her car, even though she declined.

As Ana slid into the driver's seat, Jason nodded." See you in a few." He said and walked towards his own car.

During the drive to her apartment, Ana concentrated on the road. And of course Christian was also on her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get him out of her head. As she let out a deep breath, Ana's eyes welled up.

'I gotta stop thinking about him. I gotta accept that he doesn't want me in his life for some God damn reason!' she thought.

Since she left his hotel room that night, she hadn't called or seen him. That night, Ana asked him numerous times who he was talking about. He talked about evil people wanting to hurt her, but he didn't explain anything to her. Though she begged him to confide in her, he refused to. She spent 30 minutes, asking him to make her understand, but he had shut her out. Completely...

"Why are you pushing me away?" she asked him, as her voice trembled.

He didn't answer though. Instead, Christian helped Ana wear her jacket and begged her to go.

So that did it! She had enough of his stubbornness and stormed out his hotel room. Ana drove away as fast as she could, as her tears rolled down her cheeks. When she stepped out of her car, she looked up and saw Christian at a distance, sitting in a car… He had followed her, because he wanted to make sure that she arrived home safely…

As she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, Ana turned around and walked away, her heart ramming against her rib cage…

That was almost three weeks ago and yet it felt like it happened yesterday...

As Ana reached her apartment, she unlocked her door and walked inside. She placed her briefcase and phone on the desk and decided to take a warm and relaxing bath. God, she needed that. The party will begin around 8, but she didn't care to arrive on time. She really needed that bath. Right now.

As Ana undressed, she looked at her own reflection in the mirror. Why did she love him this much? It hurts so much, not being able to be with him. As a sharp pain consumed her heart, she got her bath ready and stepped inside the tub.

"Hmmmm…" she sighed, feeling her muscles relax instantly.

As Ana closed her eyes, she slowly and eventually felt a bit better. The warm water did her good. As her mind drifted off, it brought her back in Tinos.

The green forest… the mountains, where she and Christian looked at the marbles… … the beach where she laid down on, after he saved her from almost drowning… the blue ocean, where she held onto him for dear life… his cottage, where he opened up to her and shared a bit of his life with her… his villa, where she found out about Agathe and the curse …

"Christian." She whispered.

At one point, it was like she almost could feel his presence. Like he was here with her, beside her. Her eyes were still shut and she could hardly breathe. The feelings were too overwhelming. She could almost smell him; his scent could always drive her a bit wild.

She kept thinking about him, with her eyes shut tightly… She didn't want to open her eyes, because that meant that she had to go back to reality. Here in her mind, in her fantasy, Christian was with her...

She could almost feel his skin on hers, his lips on her own and she could hear him tell her:

"I'm so in love with you."

Ana was rudely taken out of her thoughts by her phone ringing loudly. She immediately got up from the bath tub and wrapped a towel around her body. As she walked towards her phone to pick up, she mumbled some things. Things like:" the person who's calling me is So DEAD! How dare someone disturb me? I'm gonna strangle this person."

"Hello." Ana said.

"Hey, Ana. It's me, Jason. I was on my way to the party and I thought… well, do you mind if I pick you up? We'll be heading the same way… so I thought…" he said, stumbling over his own words.

Ana smiled and decided to save him the torture." I'd like that, Jason. You can come pick me up." She replied.

"What time?" he asked.

"Give me 45 minutes." She said.

"Ok, see you then." He responded.

"See you then, Jase." Ana replied.

As Ana hung up the phone, she closed her eyes for a couple of moments and decided to change...

xxx

Ana was wearing a red strapless dress, complete with ruby earrings and black pumps. Her hair was up, she went for the Smokey eyes look and her lips were painted red. As Ana double checked her reflection in the mirror, she heard the doorbell ring. She was satisfied at her appearance and walked out the bedroom door.

Jason. Jason Fuller. Why must it be him? From the bottom of her heart, Ana wished that instead of her co-worker, Christian was at the door right now…

As she swung the door open, Jason's mouth fell slightly open.

"Jase, are you okay?" she asked, her brows furrowing.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just… you look…" he said.

"I look okay?" she teased.

"No… yeah, I mean… you look beautiful." He replied.

Ana shook her head and grabbed her bag, before locking her front door.

xxx

When they arrived, the party was already on full swing. Jason helped her out of her coat, as Ana's eyes scanned the place. She wasn't really in the mood to be there, but she did her best to act like she was having a blast. Like usual, Jason acted like a real gentleman towards her. Ana was very thankful for that.

On her second glass of wine, her boss walked over to Ana and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ana? I'd like you to meet one of our biggest clients." he said.

As she turned around to face her boss, her eyes landed on a pair of familiar blue ones.

"Ana Steele, meet Adon Papadakis." Mr. Walker said.

"Mr. Papadakis. What a surprise. What are you doing in New York?" Ana asked, very surprised.

Without asking, Adon took Ana's hand in his and kissed it." I'm here for business, but now that I see you here. I hope to have some pleasure too… if you don't mind." he said, attempting to flirt with her.

Ana replied with a laugh, but didn't like the way he was talking and looking at her. No, not at all.

"So, my name is Jason Fuller, I also work at this firm." Jason said, a fake smile plastered on his face.

The two men shook hands, while exchanging a look. Ana noticed the tension between the two, making her feel really uncomfortable.

"So, Jason. Walk with me. Let Ana have a chat with Mr. Papadakis." Mr. Walker ordered.

"But…" Jason began, but was cut off by his boss.

"Now, right now." he ordered. So even though Jason didn't want to leave Ana alone with that man, he followed Mr. Walker, not wanting to upset his boss.

Ana didn't want to have this 'chat' with Adon, but she had no choice. As her eyes darted towards Jason and saw him walking away, Adon brought his lips to her ears.

"You are very pretty, you know that?" Adon whispered.

A shiver went up and down her spine, as she felt his breath on her skin. And to be clear, it wasn't the good kind of shiver. But the 'what in the hell, what a creep!' kind of shiver.

Ana instantly opened the gap between them, as she thought of an excuse to leave the party.

As a sigh escaped her lips, Ana said." Gosh, I'm so tired. The case I'm working on, it's draining all my energy. I think I'm gonna head home."

"But why? Come on, the night is still young. Stay? You look so stressed out. Let me help you with that. First, let me get you another drink." Adon suggested.

"I'm not sure. And besides, I came with Jason. So I don't think that…" she began, but he cut her off.

"Is he your boyfriend?" he asked rudely.

Ana chuckled nervously." My boyfriend? No, he's not my boyfriend." she replied.

"Then it's settled. I will make sure that you have a little fun tonight." Adon promised, his voice self-assured.

Ana was really torn at the moment; she didn't want to go back to her quiet apartment yet. It will only make her feel miserable. But on the other hand, she didn't want to be in the same room with Adon either. What to do?

As her mind automatically drifted off to Christian, she decided she had enough! She was sick and tired of being rejected and pushed away by the man she loved.

So, she swallowed the huge lump in her throat and nodded." Okay, let's have fun, Mr. Papadakis." She said and walked over to the bar.

xxx

The whole evening Adon was with Ana, acting like he owned her. She drank and drank, till she couldn't stand on her own two feet any longer. Ana was attempting to drink her pain and sorrow away. The pain that Christian had caused her. She wanted to feel nothing; only if it was for a little while. She wanted her sorrow to disappear and instead wanted to feel the numbness.

In her opinion, being numb was better than feeling only sorrow and pain…

Ana wasn't used to drinking a lot, so at one point she got really drunk. As she observed the glass in her hand like it was something interesting, Adon watched her.

"So, since you've been back in New York. Have you been in contact with your boyfriend, Christian?" he asked with a curious tone in his voice.

She let out a breathy sigh and shook her head." Let's get a few things straight: One. He isn't my boyfriend… anymore. We broke up, cause of reasons I don't understand. Two… Christian is an Ass…" she said, slurring the S.

"And three… I don't get to see him anymore, but whatever. It's not like I can't live without the man or something. Wait! I forgot number four! Four… I wish I never went to Tinos." She said, as her eyes welled up.

It all became too much for her to handle, so Ana let her tears flow. While feeling a gnawing pain in her heart, she frantically wiped her tears away.

"I'm so sorry he hurt you." Adon said and brushed a lock from her face.

She looked at him and furrowed her brows." What are you doing? Why are you here, Adon?" she asked.

But instead of answering her, Adon leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Her first reaction was to pull away from the kiss, but she froze as she felt his lips on hers.

"Oh, now I see." They heard someone say loudly.

As Ana turned around, she saw Jason storm out.

"Jason, wait!" she said and decided to go after him.

Jason was her friend; she didn't mean to hurt him like this. Damn it! She wished that she didn't attend this party in the first place. No, Ana had to explain it to him in some way. She didn't want to lose Jason's friendship…

Ana was just about to follow him, when Adon grabbed her and forced her to sit back on her stool.

She narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips." Who… who do you think you are? You aren't the boss of me?! You Greeks are all the same! You think you can control ev… everyone and everything?! Do you?! Well, let me tell you s…" she began, but was cut off by her boss.

"Ana, I think you had enough to drink. It's time for you to go home." Mr. Walker said and then looked at Adon." Why don't you bring her home, Mr. Papadakis?"

"Of course, no problem." He replied.

"No! I'm not going with him! He's freaking creepy," she spat and decided to leave anyway.

Ana got up from her stool and attempted to walk away, but she wasn't able to. As the room started to spin before her very eyes, she felt someone catch her.

"Damn it, Adon. Leave me alone!" Ana hissed, as she attempted to hit him on the chest.

He looked down at her and smirked." No, I can't. I wasn't able to resist you in Tinos. Who says I am able to resist you now?" He said with a cold tone in his voice.

xxx

From the rooftop of the next building, Christian had been watching Ana the whole night. He turned his heightened senses on, and saw and heard everything Ana and the others said. As her words cut him like a knife, he silently took that punishment. He was the one who pushed her away, so she wasn't at fault here. Ana was hurt and needed to let it all out.

He stayed calm until… until he saw Adon kissing her! At that, he wasn't able to contain the monster! As his chest heaved heavily, he slowly turned. His eyes had changed golden, as his fangs slowly descended and his claws followed gradually…

The monster was out and wanted to tear Adon Papadakis into shreds!

"She is MINE!" The monster roared.

But just as the monster was about to leave the rooftop via the fire escape, he felt a sharp pain in his neck. His eyes immediately landed on the person who caused the pain, at the same time his hand landed on his neck, feeling a dart embedded in the skin there.

At that, he changed back into his human form.

As his eyes darted towards said person, Christian saw the tranquilizer gun.

"Why?!" he croaked and sank onto the floor with a loud thud, his knees giving out.


Note: From here on out, it's gonna get more intense, you all.

Ana will return to Tinos, Greece soon.

Why? For a good reason she has to go back.

Is she being forced to? Or does she have to do something very important there?

Thank you so much for the support. :)

You guys, rock! ;)

Review...

J