NOTE:

I just finished revamping the first five chapters, I took out the part where it said Ana had martial arts training and added other details. If you decide to re-read, feedback appreciated. It was a lot of work rewriting them, it took me many hours since they were mostly written in third person and I wanted them to match the rest of the chapters. Even though I revised them three times each, the pronoun switching was tricky, and there might still be some mistakes. Overall, I believe the story reads better :)

Chapter twelve

Ana POV

God, no! The last thing I wanted was to sleep alone. I've never slept in a room alone in my entire life. I always slept next to my sister Maria. I opened my mouth to protest but then the phone rang at that exact moment.

I immediately assumed it was his phone ringing. But no, it was the cell phone Christian had gifted me the one making all that racket. It startled me since it was the first time it rang. I had made it a habit of carrying it with me in case Christian needed to get hold of me. But my experience with cell phones was limited; this was the first mobile phone I'd ever owned. So far, I'd only received a couple of texts from Christian to tell me around what time I could expect him home. Back home, Jose carried a cell phone but he didn't use it to surf the internet. Half the time Jose had been frustrated trying to get a signal, it seemed like a huge hassle.

Christian was looking at me with a big question mark on his face. We were both wondering who could be calling me, especially at this hour. He let it ring one more time before he snatched the phone from my hand and answered it.

"Hello?"

Unbelievingly, Jose's voice came in loud and clear through the speakers.

JOSE: Hola, puedo hablar con Ana? (May I speak to Ana?)

"This is him, isn't it? The asshole that got you pregnant?" Christian hissed and I nodded. In the next moment, his face contoured into a murderous rage, and I braced myself for the worst.

CHRISTIAN: How dare you call her? She doesn't want to talk to you.

"Jose!" I blurted out and Christian glared at me.

"No me llames mas por favor! ( Please don't call me anymore!)

"No, Jose. Tu y yo hemos terminado para siempre, soy una mujer casada." ( You and I are over for good, I'm a married woman now.)

JOSE: Ana, yo tengo derecho a saber de ti y de nuestro hijo ( I have the right to know about you and our child.)

CHRISTIAN: Jose, this is Ana's husband. Don't you ever call here again, do you understand? Ana is happy with me!" Christian yelled at Jose. His voice was so loud it startled me. He then turned to me and demanded: "Tell him!"

I translated what he said word per word, my heart was breaking. In the next moment, Christian then grabbed the phone and flung it out the balcony. Instinctively, I retreated for him in fear that I would be the next object of his anger. Instead, he looked at me with steely but wounded eyes.

"I would never hurt you, Anastasia," he took my face in his hands and held my gaze until my breathing normalized and I was no longer scared. I marveled at this power Christian seemed to have over me. It was as if he was and hypnotist and me his willing subject. All I wanted to do was please him. "Tell me you understand."

I nodded and he seemed satisfied. Together we left the balcony, tiptoed past Mr. Carrick's sleeping form and I closed the door behind us. Christian kept walking ahead of me. Not knowing what else to do, I followed him. He was understandably jealous of Jose, and I felt responsible for this. I hoped with all my heart that Christian would get over this. Jealousy was the green-eyed monster could eat a person up, it could be hugely destructive. I'd seen it again and again in the people that had weaved in and out of my life.

...

Christian POV

I made a beeline to the mini-bar in my study and examined the bottles. Finding none to my liking, I crouched down to the bottom shelf and pulled out of the mini-refrigerator a bottle of scotch and poured myself a strong dose and finally added three ice cubes. After draining the large glass, I poured myself another.

I wanted Anastasia more than anything in the world but if I was going to make sure Anastasia fell in love with me before bedding her, I needed to be really patient and patience was not exactly one of my virtues. I didn't know how long I stood there before I heard her lovely voice.

"Christian?"

I turned around slowly. Ana was standing at the threshold, looking at me, uncertainty in her eyes.

I almost offered her a drink and then I remembered she was pregnant. That SOB had her before me; the thought made me irrationally angry all over again.

"I'm tired, I need to go to bed-"

"Tell me more about him," I suddenly interrupted her, " this ex-boyfriend of yours that you claim to love. What does he have that I don't?"

Ana took a step back, stunned. "I-I don't know what to say-"

"How is he in bed?" I demanded, raising my voice. "Were you thinking of him when you were kissing me?"

It was a twisted question, I know, but were so many questions I wanted to ask. How was I supposed to compete against this man when I had zero information about him? I was accustomed to being the winner in every battle I'd ever participated in, and this was the first time I'd felt at a disadvantage, and it was killing me.

My line of questioning was scaring her but I didn't care. I desperately needed an answer to my questions. She made a motion to retreat further but I prevented her by grabbing her arm.

"Look at me, Anastasia," I lifted her chin and made her look into my eyes. "Answer me!" I'd never felt so freaking vulnerable in my life than at this moment. It freaked the heck out of me. I was making a fool of myself and yet, I couldn't help it.

She shook her head. "You are drunk," she murmured, her voice shaking.

"No, no," I shook my head, I wasn't drunk. I handled liquor well, somehow I always managed to keep a clear head. "Just answer the questions, dammit!"

All of a sudden, she started crying, and that made me relax my grip on her arm. "Ana," I said her name softly this time. Gently, I guided her to sit with me on the couch and she seemed to relax a little. "I just want to hear the details of your life with him. That's all I need," I managed to say in a calmer tone of voice.

...

Ana POV

I hated seeing Christian drunk. In my life, I'd dealt with my share of drunks, thank you, very much. Anyway, it occurred to me that if I shared everything Christian wanted to know, it would calm him down enough to see that Jose was not a threat to him. He was thousands of miles away, across the ocean.

I took a deep breath and gazed into his gray orbs before I spoke. "I didn't know he was going to call."

"You gave him your number!" He said in a low voice.

I bit my lip and he furrowed his brow. "I don't think, I didn't give it to him." It was the truth, I felt good, I had nothing to hide.

...

Christian POV

I couldn't believe it, Elena was again messing with my life. I made a mental note to have Taylor double security and block her calls. If she ever so much tried to set foot in this house or contact me or Anastasia she was going to be sorry.

"Okay, now tell me. Was he good to you?"

She took a deep breath before answering. "Not as good as you."

Smart answer. I couldn't help but smile at her. No wonder I was crazy about her. She was both honest and smart.

The next question caught her completely off-guard.

"So...what does he have that I don't have?"

Her smile faded. She looked stricken. "Please, Christian, I don't know how to answer that..."

She looked so vulnerable and lost, I took pity on her, and dropped the question. I followed up with a different question. This was the question that kept popping in my head like a broken record and that I desperately needed an answer to, "how is he in bed?"

She blushed crimson red. "Sometimes...he wasn't good to me," she said, her eyes downcast.

"What? What did he do to you?" I asked, suspecting the worst. "Did he hurt you?"

At first, she didn't answer but her eyes said it all. No wonder she'd been terrified I was going to hit her earlier when I threw the phone off the balcony.

"He...got jealous sometimes," she murmured, barely meeting my gaze, ashamed. "

"Did he hit you?"

She nodded, not meeting my gaze. "Maybe once or twice," she admitted reluctantly.

The bastard! Suddenly, I felt vastly superior to this SOB. I would NEVER treat a woman like that.

I lifted her chin and she met my gaze, a little uncertain. Right then, I wanted to reassure her that I was a much better man than that creep she'd left behind. "Ana, I will never, ever hurt you. I would rather cut my arm off first. Do you believe me?"

...

Ana POV

I breathed a sigh of relief. Christian was back to being sweet and gentle with me, and I felt all was well with the world. I promised myself not to do anything that would make him upset again. I sure hoped Jose didn't try to call me again. Although now that Christian had destroyed the phone, it was less likely to happen.

Christian walked me to the master bedroom, made sure I had everything I needed and waited for me to get out of the bathroom in my nightgown. It was an electric blue baby doll that hung just above my knees.

After I came out of the bathroom, he tucked me in bed, and kissed my forehead, and repeated his intentions of sleeping in the adjacent room, like a true gentleman."

But I..." I weakly protested, "I don't want you to go," I murmured quietly but he was already half-way across the threshold.

I had trouble sleeping after Christian left. My mind was awake but my body was dead tired. I considered following him into the other room and climbing in bed with him but I was so incredibly tired I couldn't move a muscle.

...

Christian POV

The next morning I woke up with a mild hangover. Gail sent two cups of black coffee to my room with one of the maids. The coffee helped sober me up. I visited dad in his room and was reassured by the nurse that dad had a good night. By the time I came downstairs to the breakfast room, I was in a really good mood.

Ana was already at the table waiting for me sipping a cup of orange juice. She'd been looking out the windows to the side of the breakfast nook, watching the birds in the garden.

"Good morning," I said taking a seat beside her.

"It's a beautiful morning indeed," Ana smiled at me. "This is my favorite room in the house. I love the view... a lot."

"I thought the library was your favorite room," I smirked at her.

"Yes, it is. I guess I have two favorite rooms," she smiled sheepishly. "I think I will read here from now on."

I smiled back at her, looking into those gorgeous blue eyes of her. So pure and forgiving. I felt a pang of regret about the way I acted last night.

"Ana, about last night, it was not my intention to frighten you," I said. It was the closest thing to an apology. I sincerely hoped it would be enough. She really had no idea how much power she had over me.

Ana smiled her most forgiving smile yet. "It's okay," she murmured.

Gail made us a nice breakfast. She even stayed and visited with us for a little while. We talked about the birds in the garden. Gail told Ana that there were several books in the library about bird watching if she was interested in bird watching as a hobby. Ana nodded sweetly.

...

ANA POV

After breakfast, Christian told me he was working in the home office today but not until after my doctor's appointment. I stiffened. I hated doctors, I didn't trust them, in my experience, they were nearly always bearers of bad news.

Christian put his arm around me protectively. I snuggled up to him and lifted my lips for a kiss. Much to my disappointment, Christian's kiss was chaste and much too brief. Ugh. This Adonis of a man was truly the death of me. His mercurial ways co-existed happily with his softer side, the combination was intriguing, beyond thrilling.

As it was, I was getting the message loud and clear. Christian would be good to me as long as I didn't make him jealous. Other than that, he was going to make an exceptionally good husband.

When the doctor arrived later that afternoon, Christian was by my side and he helped me answer the doctor's questions about my medical history. There were so many confusing questions, even though the reverse side of the questionnaire was in Spanish, but I've never had to fill out this type of questionnaire before. I put an X on the box that asked about yellow fever.

When I was eight years old, I came down with yellow fever. I was so sick writhing in bed, shivering and vomiting. when the fever finally broke, I weighed about ten pounds less than before and my skin was all yellow. Mom had joked that my forehead had been so hot it almost burned her hand when she touched it.

"A fever that high can boil your brain and cause permanent brain damage," she told me after I had recovered. "So don't tell anyone you had it If you do, you might have trouble catching a husband.

Also, make sure you don't give him your cherry before you get a ring on that finger. A package that's been opened doesn't have the same appeal."

If I had only listened to her advice, I would be living the perfect life, I mused.

Dr. Greene's voice quickly brought me out of my musings. She had a nice smile; she really tried her best to put my mind at ease and was gentle in her suggestion that I put on some weight. I freaked out when she suggested a vaginal exam. My gaze shifted to Christian, my eyes wide with apprehension. He put his arm and my shoulder and assured me it was going to be okay.

"It's the best way to confirm your pregnancy and make sure everything is going well," Dr. Greene said kindly. "Especially since you haven't had this type of exam before."

Both Christian and Dr. Green stepped out of the room so I could change into a gown. We were in a room that had an examination table and other medical supplies. It was like I was in a real clinic except this was in my new home.

Dr. Green returned alone. My heart sank. I considered bolting out of the room and never turning back, but Christian really wanted me to do this. The moment of truth was here and there was no escaping my fate. I took a deep breath like she told me. I closed my eyes, and before I knew it, it was all over.

"Congratulations," Dr. Greene said. "You are five weeks pregnant."

NO! I screamed in my head, her words hit me like a thousand bricks. All along, I'd been harboring the secret hope that I was all a mistake and that I wasn't truly pregnant. I held my head, it throbbed like somebody hit me with a hammer. My eyes burned. I couldn't stop the sobs, the shaking, the sounds coming out of my mouth seemed prehistoric.

It wasn't fair, I wanted so desperately to start a new life with Christian. But this baby was a link to the past I couldn't ignore. God, how was I supposed to get a clean break from the past as long as I carried a reminder of Jose's shadow everywhere I went?

Dr. Greene cocked her head at my reaction. "I take it this is not good news? There are other options, my dear."

NOTE: Merry Xmas & happy new year!