He is here, I can hear him, sense him, and I am scared. I feel myself tremble as I hear footsteps heading towards my room. I want to yell but I know that this will only mean more trouble for me. I want to run but his stronger and faster then me. My heart is hammering against my chest and sweat starts to fall down my forehead. I hope he does this fast. I hope he will beat me up so much that my heart will eventually stop and all this pain would disappear. I cannot handle this anymore. I hope today is the day I die. I had enough of all these lies, the teasing at school, and watching mum pretend that nothing is wrong. Just enough of everything.

Seconds later I hear glass being thrown, I can almost feel his anger, and he is going to take it out on me.

''Ana, Where are you?'' He calls but I stay here in my room not moving a single muscle. Please don't do this I want to say. ''Where are you, you little slut.'' He slurs and I hear him even closer now. I lick my dry lips and start moving towards the end of my room away from him. ''Come out you bitch.'' He shouts again and I have to cover my mouth to stop the sob from escaping. Where are you mum? I need you. I hug my small frame with my shaking hands and stand there with my back against the wall.

Bang, bang, bang.

His hitting my door and I am way beyond scared.

Bang, bang, bang and the door falls to the ground revealing him. I swallow and I find myself stepping from foot to foot. He is smiling at me with that look in his eyes. ''There you are.'' No. . He moves towards me and before I can do anything he hits me and he hits me hard. I fall to the ground and cry out in pain. God the pain. It hurts. Mummy it hurts!

Then there is another hit across my back and the pain gets unbearable. Please stop, please. Tears are falling down my cheeks and the fear of death is raising. I find myself thinking that this is not the way I want my life to end, but there is nothing I can do. The hits come one after another and I start choking on all these tears. Please make it stop. Mummy!

I bolt out of bed with sweat and fear. My nightmare slowly fading but the feeling that it created in me is still there. I take in even and steady breaths but it's doing nothing to calm me. I have had these nightmares plenty of times before but this one just seemed so real. Everything about it seemed real. I could feel every emotion and feel every bit of pain. I sigh and shake my head to try and get rid of this nightmare. This past... I know, I know everyone has a past and we are meant to face it but I cannot. I just use sex as a distraction.

Leaving all these thoughts aside I swing my legs over and get out of bed and head for the shower. Once I step in, the boiling hot water starts pouring over me. Relaxing my muscles and making me a lot more calmer then I was a few seconds ago. I run my hands over my body focussing on every single bit of it washing away this fear and this stress. I put my fingers into my hair and I start massaging the shampoo gently in my scalp while humming a song quietly to myself.

''Ana, how long you going to be?'' Kate asks through the bathroom door. I roll my eyes. Of course, how could I have forgotten that Kate needs her hour in the bathroom. I find myself smiling regardless of what I have been through this morning.

''I'll be a second.'' I answer her as soon as I turn the water off.

Minutes later I find myself back in my room and admiring my reflection in the mirror. Long dark brown hair falling down my back, big ocean blue eyes, and a slim figure. I smirk. I have came to accept and even like myself even more ever since I started doing my job. Men adore me, please me, and pay a good price for my services all thanks to this body that I have. I smile and do a little spin in the mirror.

''What are you doing?'' I jump at the sudden sound of Kate's voice. ''Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.''

I face her and bring the towel closer to me. ''It's fine, Kate, and to answer your question I was just spinning in my room.'' I pause. ''… for ermm no reason.''

She shakes her head and walks further into my room. ''You coming out with us?''

I frown. ''What do you mean?''

''I mean are you coming with me and Elliot to dinner today?'' How could I have possibly forgotten about that? Today I am meant to meet Kate's boyfriend that she has been seeing for a couple of weeks now and I have been very curious every since she told me about him. Not like she needs to know that.

''Yeah sure, what time?'' I ask as I go through my underwear drawer. Something plain please. Not lace and not silk just plain white underwear that is all I want. But I find that I am in fact a sexy underwear type of girl no cotton in sight. Shaking my head with annoyance I pick out a blue lace bra and panties to match.

''About two.'' I will need to ring Liv and ask her to clear my schedule for that then.

''Sure that should be fine.' I say as I put my leg into my panties while still holding my towel. This is a lot harder then I thought it would be.

I hear Kate laughing and when I turn to face her I see her rolling around my bed laughing. Why on earth is she laughing? ''Kate?''

''What?'' She wipes her eyes and focuses on me again.

''What are you laughing at?'' I put my other leg in and pull my panties up.

''Your just amusing''

I narrow my eyes at her. ''What do you mean by that?'' I turn my back towards her, drop my towel, and start putting my bra on. Nearly there Steele.

''Just made me laugh at how you were putting your underwear on.'' I throw my towel at her.

''Very funny, you try putting on your underwear while holding up a towel.''

She throws her hands up in defence. ''Okay, okay, point taken.''

I roll my eyes and stick my tongue out at her and she laughs again. ''Anyway, where is this dinner you were on about?'' I head towards my wardrobe to find something suitable to wear.

''His house.'' I do a full turn to face her again all wide eyes. ''What?''

''Why his house?''

''Don't look so surprised that it's his house, I just wanted to meet his parents that's all.''

''Of course you want to know everything about his life'' I smirk at her.

She throws the towel back at me and we both laugh. ''Okay, maybe I'm just curious about his parents.''

I start walking towards my wardrobe again. ''And we can both agree on that.'' I take two dresses out. A fitted black pencil dress and a navy blue one. ''Which one?'' I hold them both up and wait while Kate decides.

''Wait I got something better.'' She hops off my bed and disappears into her room. I groan, really? Couldn't you just pick out of these two? A moment later she is back in my room holding up a beautiful plum dress that I have never seen before.

''Wow, Kate, it's beautiful but I can't have it.''

Kate's smile fades and she frowns at me. ''Steele, you are having it end off.'' She hands me the dress and I carefully take it from her as if it might break. Kate truly has a great fashion sense but then so do I. But I have to hide that little secret.

I look up and smile at her. ''Thank you.''

''No problem.'' She hugs me and I blush remembering that I am still standing in my underwear while she is hugging me.

''Ermm... I should get dressed.''

''Oh, yeah sure.'' She murmurs and skips out of my room. Typical Kate for you. Okay, time to get dressed, Ana.

I rifle through the piles and piles of papers on my desk to try and locate my car keys. For God sakes where are they? We are going to be late and I do not do late. Ever. Everything is always perfect in my world. I book an appointment with a client, we meet, and we get to business. I never arrive late. This is seriously not my afternoon at all. I check my watch and find that me and Kate are indeed over twenty minutes late.

''Kate!'' I yell as I still try and find my keys. ''Kate!'' I yell again when I don't hear an answer.

''What!''

''Hurry up we are late!''

I finally locate my keys and run out the door barely making it in these very uncomfortable heels that Kate made me wear. How does she walk in these beats me. I get in my Audi and so those Kate, I start the engine and we make our way towards the highway.

''You excited?'' I ask as I signal to change lanes.

''Yes!'' Kate squeals and I just have to laugh at her. She is such a teenager sometimes.

''Who else is going to be there?'' I ask out of curiosity.

''His mum, dad, sister, and his brother.''

''Oh he's got a brother then.''

I can almost feel her eyes on me. ''Yes, his name is Christian and he is just as handsome as his brother Elliot.''

''I shall look forward to it then.'' I attempt to sound disinterested even though I am and I think I succeed.

The rest of the journey we sit in comfortable silence. It gives me some time to think. I ask myself how it would be if I was to have a normal relationship just like Kate is having. Would I be happy? Would I have just as much fun as I am having now with my job? Yeah of course you would. My sarcastic self jumps into the debate in my head. I roll my eyes, that is true. How would it be possible to have just as much fun with only one guy? It just seems unrealistic.

I think about mum and how she was always the party animal and did not really care about me even though I really wanted her to. She did not care that my dad abused me for years. She did not care that I was hurting. She did not care at all. She just cared about alcohol. So I turned to sex for comfort and distraction. Liv showed me a way through this and ever since I have managed to keep the demons at bay. But the nightmares are still there and I constantly wake up with that uneasy feeling inside of me that he will come back and hurt me again. It did not matter that I attended weekly therapy sessions with Flynn the nightmares still returned.

''Ana, you okay?''

I turn my head towards her and give her a reassuring smile. ''Yep.''

''We are here.'' She beams.

My sat nav instructs me to pull off of the main road and onto a little lane, where I find myself in front of the biggest pair of metal gates that I have ever seen. A silver plaque on a pillar states ''The Grey House'' Oh my God! I take my sunglasses off and look past these metal gates, and down the gravel that seems to go on for miles. There's no sign of a house, just a tree lined road that I cannot see the end off. Are we in the right place?

''Are you sure this is the place?'' I ask Kate.

''Positive.''

''You never told me he was some rich guy.''

''Well because it would put you off.'' She points out. This Ana that she thinks she knows would indeed be put off by being informed of this. But the Ana that rules the night world would jump out of her skin to meet this man and she would want to please him in every way possible. The thought of this puts a smile on my face but I quickly hide it not wanting Kate to see it.

''Well yes I would be put off.'' I lie suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

She nods. ''See this is why I didn't tell you, but we are here so we better find a way to somehow get in.'' She points at the gates.

''Let me investigate.'' I get out of my car and walk up to the gates, giving them a little jiggle, but they won't budge. I look at Kate but she just shakes her head. I stand for a few minutes wondering what the hell I am meant to do.

''You need to press the intercom.'' I jump at the sudden sound of a low rumble coming from nowwhere, stabbing at the silent country air.

''What the hell?'' I mutter to myself. I look around me, but it's only me and Kate here.

''Over here.'' I hear the voice again. I do a full sixty turn and see the intercom further down the lane. I drove straight past it. Typical me. I run over and press the button.

''Ana Steele and Kate Kavanagh.'' I announce us to the stranger on the other side.

''I know.'' The voice sounds bored and totally not interested. Nice way to treat guests. ''Come in then.'' I look towards the gates and see them opening. Alright, Mr Grumpy give me a chance. Doing a small jog towards the car I finally hop in.

''Well he sounded like an ass.'' Kate says and I laugh completely agreeing with her but not actually saying it. I start the engine of my Audi and drive through the gates which are now fully open. We continue on the tree lined gravel driveway that seems to go on forever. With trees lying on either side of the lane at regular and even intervals, you would think that they put them in specific places to conceal what lies beyond. After a mile or so of sheltered driving, I pull into a perfectly rounded courtyard. I turn my head towards the huge house that looms centrally and demands attention. Wow.

''Very rich then?'' I ask and when Kate doesn't say anything I look at her and see her blushing. Kate never blushes. Well this is new. ''Okay, lets go then.'' I cut the engine and get out the car as does Kate. This place truly looks amazing. The lawns are greener then green, the house looks like it receives daily scrub downs and even the gravel looks like it receives a daily hoover. If this is how the house looks on the outside then I'm scared to think what it looks like inside.

''Well this looks nice.'' Kate grabs my hand and leads me towards the stairs that lead towards massive wooden doors that are obviously the entrance to this house or mansion. I look up at the dozens of sash bay windows, seeing plush curtains hanging at them all. This family has cash and I mean a lot of it.

The black door that we are heading towards are adorned with highly polished silver furniture- are flanked by six giant bay windows, with pillars in carved stone guarding them. Giant limestone blocks made up the structure of the mansion, with lush bay trees lining the face. The fountain in the centre of the courtyard is in a shape of a swan. Spraying water out of it's beak. Little lights around it made it sparkle making it look magical. I turn my attention back to the door which I find are now open and a tall immaculate young woman steps out with a massive grin on her face. Gorgeous short black haircut, gorgeous make up, and gorgeous shoes. Everything about her was gorgeous.

''Kate!'' She runs up to my best friend and hugs her.

''Hey, Mia.'' Kate knows her than.

I stand there suddenly feeling very out of place. ''Mia, this is my room mate Ana that I was talking to you about.'' I smile at her and she takes me completely by surprise when she pulls me into a hug.

''Nice to meet you, Ana.'' She sings in my ear. So much like Kate, no wonder these two seem to get along. ''Come on in, the dinner is almost ready.'' Me and Kate smile at each other and follow Miss Bouncy Mia to the house.

Pure curiosity has me walking up the steps and crossing the threshold into a huge entrance hall. I gaze around the vast area and I am instantly amazed by the grand, centrally position, curved staircase that leads up to the first floor.

The décor look expensive, delicate, and very intimidating. Deep reds, taupe's with hints of silver and original woodwork, along with the rich mahogany parquet floor, makes the place look immaculate and different. I have never seen anything like this before. But then again this is exactly how I would have expected this place to be like. When you talking about rich people this is the only kind of standard that they accept in a house.

Mia heads off to the left, leaving me and Kate to scuttle off after her. Our heels clink on the parquet floor as Mia leads us past the central staircase and towards the dinning room I presume.

''Have you been here before?'' I whisper to Kate.

''No, never and this is why I wanted to come.'' She grins at me and increases her pace so she catches up with Mia whereas I allow myself to slowly drag my feet along behind. I watch them as they chat loudly about how Mia's recent holiday in Italy went and how much she wants Kate to go with her next time. I sigh wishing that I was offered an opportunity like that.

After a couple of minutes of walking down a long corridor we finally come to a stop. I take in my surroundings and find that I was right and we are in the dinning room. It's far bigger then I have imagined, an oval shaped table is right in the middle. Obviously the main attraction in this room. Plates, bowls, forks, knives, spoons, glasses, and even name tags are evenly laid on the table. In the middle there is a big bouquet of red roses making the whole set up look elegant and beautiful.

''Kate, Ana, this is my mum, my dad, and my brother Eliot.'' Mia introduces us.

An older looking woman dressed in a blue dress, tan heels, and wearing expensive looking jewellery comes towards me and Kate. Her warm smile looks reassuring and welcoming all at the same time. She looked like a caring and thoughtful woman.

She hugs first me and than she hugs Kate. ''I am Dr. Grace Trevelyan- Grey but you two can call me Grace.'' I cannot help the smile that appears on my lips, she sounds like a loving mother to her children and her husband.

''I am Carrick, Grace's husband, it's a pleasure to meet you.'' A tall, older, but still handsome man with laughing eyes and blonde hair comes towards us. Before I know it I receive yet another hug.

''Nice to meet you too.'' Kate and I speak in unison. Everyone including us laughs.

''We are so pleased that you both could make it.'' Grace murmurs.

''We wouldn't miss it for the world.'' Kate smiles sweetly at Grace. A very handsome looking gentleman kisses Kate on the cheek and she visibly melts. This must be Elliot and I cannot help but smile at the pair. He looks just like her type. Curly blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a cheeky smile.

''Hey, baby.'' He greets her and Kate kisses him on the lips. Her way of saying hi.

''I missed you.'' She whispers.

''Me too.''

Eventually they both turn to face us all. ''Ana, this is my boyfriend Elliot, Elliot this is my best friend Ana.'' Elliot walks towards me and takes me in a big long bear hug which I try to return the best I can.

''Nice to meet you Elliot.''

''You too.'' He winks at me.

''Okay everyone, time to take your seats, just find your name tag and sit down.'' Carrick announces and we all nod in agreement. Play nice Steele, and everything is going to be perfect. I start walking round the table to try and locate my name and I eventually find it I am sitting in the middle of Kate and Christian.

Once everyone is seated I lean over to Kate to whisper to her. ''Is Christian coming?''

She shrugs her shoulders. ''No idea.'' She answers me and resumes her conversation with Mia and Elliot while we wait for the food to arrive.

''Ana, would you be so kind and help me with the champagne glasses?'' Grace asks.

''Of course.'' I carefully stand up and brush my plum dress down and wobble my way behind Grace towards the kitchen. She passes me the tray of glasses and I start to make my way back and just when I am about to reach the door to the dinning room I trip and fall. Spilling all the champagne on the floor and breaking all the glasses. Damn those shoes. No one has noticed yet so I start to clean this mess up by picking up bits of broken glass from the floor and putting it back on the tray.

I'd just squatted to reach one more peace of broken glass from the floor when I ran into a pair of luxurious black oxfords draped in tailored black slacks. I waited a beat for the man to move out of my way and when he didn't, I tilted my head up to allow my line of sight to rise. The custom three-piece suit made me tingly in all the right places, but it was the tall, powerfully lean body inside it that made it sensational. But it wasn't till I reached the man's face that I went for the count. Wow... just... wow.

He sank into an elegant crouch right in front of me. We were eye level and the first thing I noticed were his eyes. Dark looking, intense, and secretive looking grey eyes. I was stunned and I could only stare. He was producing some strange force of magnetism. It felt as if he had all the power here and not me and that should never happen. I am meant to be in control not the guy. I always felt so sure of myself but in this exact moment I felt completely powerless.

The only thing I was doing was staring at him. Copper hair framed a breathtaking face. The stubble covering his square jaw did nothing to conceal the handsome features beneath it. His bone structure could make a sculpture weep with joy, while a firmly etched mouth, a blade of a nose, and those dark grey eyes made him unbearably gorgeous.

His white shirt is casually rolled at the sleeves, but he still wears a tie, a grey one loosely knotted and hanging down a broad chest. That tie perfectly matched those brilliant irises. His eyes were intense and assessing as if he was reading me like a book. As if I couldn't hide from him, as if all my lies were out, and as if my dark secret was out too. I couldn't believe how bare I felt. When it came to guys I always put on a face and I put everything aside but with this unbelievably handsome stranger it seems that I cannot hide anything about myself.

My hear beat quickened and I parted my lips to accommodate faster breaths. He smells unforgettably good. Whatever the smell that he was creating was, it was mouthwatering. As was he.

He held out his hand to me, exposing an expensive looking watch.

With a shaky intake of breath I reluctantly put my hand in his. My heart leaped as soon as his grip tightened. It felt as if I touched fire, that was travelling up my arm, and so I quickly took my hand away. He frowned.

''Are you all right?'' His voice smooth and sounded full of power and full of control. I could tell that he was the dangerous kind, a kind that I should stay away from. But there was nothing that could stop me thinking about sex. His eyes, his looks, and even his voice brought sex to mind. Extraordinary sex. I felt drawn to him, as if there was a rope around my waist and he was pulling it.

He was just the type of guy that made a woman want to rip his shirt apart and watch the buttons scatter all over the floor. There was nothing about him that told me that he wasn't good at driving a woman crazy in bed. He defiantly was good at fucking and all the woman must fall at his feet.

''Miss?'' I hear his voice again.

Blinking out of my semi-daze, I manage to make myself look away. I suddenly felt stupid. This has never happened before with a guy. I always manage to keep my emotions away but right now it seemed like I lost that. It must be the alcohol, I repeat to myself over and over again. After all I did drink a few glasses of wine Carrick offered.

''Yeah, I'm fine.'' I quickly stand but so does he. I can feel his eyes on me but I do not dare look at him.

''Oh my God! Ana darling are you okay?'' Grace runs up to me and assesses me at arms length but I still keep my eyes firmly to the ground. I need to get out of here. I am for sure not spending anymore time here especially with him sitting right next to me.

''Yeah I am fine, Grace.'' I walk past her and into the living room to find Kate. ''Kate, Liv called, it's an emergency I have to go so tell everyone that I am sorry about the mess.'' I lie once again.

''It's okay, you do what you have to do.'' She hugs me and lets me jog off to the exit door. I do a one last glance back and his there looking at me. Watching my every move. I bite my lip and moan as I turn my back to him and leave.

Once I am outside the cold rain makes contact with my skin. My pulse slowly starts to return to normal as does my breathing. What the hell was that? I feel light headed and flushed everywhere. This cannot happen again. I am the powerful one. I know guys like the back of my hand. But this one was different, I couldn't read him at all.

I put my head in my hands and take more deep breaths in.

I take out my phone as I make my way to my Audi.

''Hey, A.'' Liv's cheerful tone makes me smile a little.

''Could we meet tomorrow for lunch? I have loads to talk to you about.''

''Oh I do enjoy gossip, sure. Noon?''

''I'll text you where and yeah noon seems fine.''

Just when I am about to hang up she says something else. ''Your Saturday appointment is all booked, you have to meet the guy at eleven at heathman hotel.''

I nod to myself. ''Sure, bye.'' At least I will have some kind of distraction and my sexual frustration will be taken care off. It takes all my energy not to go back there and beg him to fuck me. Forget it, Ana. I sigh and get in my Audi and put my hands on the stirring wheel.

This cannot happen. I do business and not plain fucking without the cash.

I shake myself out of the slight melt down I just had and drive off. Steele you need to take a grip. Besides you will never have to see him again.