Disclaimer: Don't own Fifty Shades!

A/N: I know it's been a while since an update. So instead of boring you all with reasons, I just want to give my appreciation and gratitude for you all still sticking with me. Enjoy!

Cason's POV

Rose's panic could be felt, and Cason smiled despite himself. "I'm here, Case," she said emotionally. "I'll meet you at the hospital. Okay?"

Just as he was about to tell her to just go to his place, fucking Grey growled, "She is not going, asshole." With that, the call was disconnected.

Face becoming hot, Cason threw his cell phone across his living room. That son of a bitch Grey! How was he going to get Rose to come to him now? Did he need to get himself beat up again to get her to visit? Rose had to get away from Grey before he warped her and turned her against him.

Cason paced back and forth impatiently. That fucking rich entitled asshole! By now, after reading up on who the fuck Grey was, Cason would bet his arm and leg that the dick had him beat last week. Son of a bitch didn't even have the balls to hurt him himself. Case sat on the couch, absentmindedly touching his still sore nose. As luck would have it, the gutless cunt hadn't broken it at all. Though he was still left with barely fading bruises that littered his torso and face. The bruises around his throat still fucking hurt to the touch and speaking was a pain in the ass.

Cason felt for the bowie knife he'd strapped to his thigh. The ten-inch blade and deer antler handle were handcrafted by Rose's father. A gift to Cason one Christmas for being such a good friend and business partner. After the attack, Cason was damned sure to never be caught off guard again. He begged the unknown man to stop hurting him, to take everything he owned.

Like hell he'll bend over again. If it was Grey, Cason knew it was only a matter of time that another beating came his way, but this time he was ready. He only hoped it was Grey himself that came.

After talking to his sister earlier this night, he found out that Grey had the pictures of him and Rose. Apparently Grey used to fuck his sister and they were thick as thieves. Why Aileen failed to mention this last week, he didn't know. He nearly slapped her for keeping that information from him. The only reason she bothered to deign him with that fact now was because Rose was cutting into Aileen's time with Grey.

Fucking woman beater, Cason thought, looking over the month-old pictures of Aileen's bruised and bloody face and missing front teeth. His sister told Case that Grey had gotten pissed and hurt her after she decided to end their relationship. He'd kill Grey if he ever hurt his Rose like that. He needed to warn her now before she got in too deep with Grey, but how the fuck was he going to get her away from the asshole?

CPOV

"I'm the only family he has left. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't go to him," Ana dares with her hands on her hips.

"He raped you. You are never seeing him again."

It isn't until the color drains from her face and she freezes that I realize what I said. Swallowing thickly, I approach her slowly. She stares at me, looking dumbfounded and uncertain. After a tense moment of her not responding, I sigh and cup her cheek. Following another beat of neither of us saying anything, I cup the other cheek.

Hesitantly, I break the tense silence. "I'm sorry, sunshine." Still, she says nothing. "Ana? Did you hear me?"

Tears well up in her eyes. "Sunshine, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. I know I'm an ass. I just care about you so damn much. I couldn't hold it in any longer." Her tears spill over and run down her face and my fingers.

She breathes in shakily and then closes her eyes shut. "H-h-he. N-n-o. N-n-n-n-o," she stutters. "Y-y-you don't know w-what y-you're talking about, C-Christian."

I take a deep breath before replying. "He took advantage of you, sunshine."

She shakes her head, and my hands fall to her shoulders. "N-no." Her chin trembles.

"Yes, Ana."

"No."

Please, sweetheart. "Yes, he did. I know it's hard to hear but believe me. He did."

Her head drops, and she continues shaking her head. "No!"

My heartbreaking, I grab her under her chin and force her to meet my eyes. She does so reluctantly. "He took advantage of a fifteen-year-old girl. He raped her, Ana."

Putting her hands on my chest, she pushes hard. I refuse to let her go. "No," she gasps and pushes again. "He didn't."

She begins struggling to get out of my hold. I wrap my arms around her as she manages to twist until her back is to me. Both of us are breathing hard and heavy. Ana lets out a cry of frustration and starts kicking back at me. I simply spread my legs further apart and hold her tight against me.

"He raped you, Ana."

"He's all I have left," she cries, the fight leaving her abruptly. She deflates in my arms and then it's my arms around her that keep her upright.

I rest my chin on the top of her head. "No, he isn't. He doesn't deserve you, sunshine."

She doesn't say a word in reply. Slowly, I guide her to the bed and sit. Positioning her on my lap and hugging her tightly to my chest, I say, "You have me. And Kate and Ethan. George. All those people from the party whose names I don't remember. Don't tell them I said this, but Taylor and Sawyer are fond of you. Even Elliot." Should I mention Mia?

Ana sniffs and buries her face against my neck. "It's not the same."

Her tears are hot against my skin. "How?"

"He loves me. He's my only family left. I know I can count on him for anything."

I swallow back the words threatening to come out and instead grit out, "What about the rest of us? I've only just met Kate and Ethan, but I know they love you like their own sister. I met you weeks ago and now I can't imagine my life without you."

"But—"

"No buts, Ana. Don't devalue your relationships to justify having him in your life. He doesn't deserve any kindness after hurting you."

"No," she asserts, climbing off my lap to stand in front of me. "Cason never hurt me or raped me. I could have told him no. I gave him permission. He didn't do anything wrong."

Looking into her eyes, I saw myself. How many times did I look in the mirror and tell myself that when I was fifteen? How long did it take for me to convince myself my relationship with Elena was consensual? How long did it take Ana to talk herself into believing the web of lies Cason spun her?

Despite my frustration, I remained sitting with my hands in my lap. Voice even and firm, I retort, "Did your father know about the relationship his friend and business partner was having with his underage daughter?"

She crosses her arms in front of her and licks her lips nervously. "Of course not." At my pointed look, she adds, "What father would be okay with anyone dating his daughter?"

I clench my jaw. "Fine. Do Kate or Ethan know?"

"No."

"Why not? You all met in college, right? Why didn't you introduce Cason as your boyfriend instead of—how did you say earlier?—your father's best friend?"

"It's complicated," she whispers, not meeting my eyes.

"Feel free to explain. You were of legal age to consent by then, weren't you? You could have simply introduced him as the older guy you were dating."

She groans. "Fine! I have a friend, Jose, who I've known since I was a kid. His dad and my dad served in the military together and were like brothers. Jose met Cason when I did but I couldn't tell him because then he'd tell his dad who would then tell my dad. He went to the university Kate, Ethan, and I went to. I couldn't say I was dating Cason because Jose already introduced Cason as our dads' friend and my legal guardian. It was too late."

"Is it? If you truly don't think your relationship with Cason was wrong, call Kate now and tell her everything. Or better yet, tell her about last week when he tried to force you."

Her eyes widen almost comically. "What?"

I shrug, trying to appear nonchalant when on the inside I was grasping at straws. "With the Mia fiasco earlier, if she wasn't holding you, she would have scratched my eyes out. Tell her about you and Cason. You don't even have to mention last week. Tell her. If she's okay with all of it, then I will back off. I promise you I will never say another bad thing against Cason again." The words are like ash on my mouth.

A tense moment passes, then Ana grabs her cellphone from the bed. After tapping on the screen several times, she holds the cell to her ear. Within seconds, she says, "Kate? Can you come over please?"