A.N
WOW! Totally blown away by the response to this story! So glad so many of you loved the first chapter. I'm going to alternate weeks with my stories – this week I will focus on this story and then next week I will focus on Falling for the Unknown 😊
Just a little side not to my guest reviewer who comments on my grammar and spelling…if your comments are not welcome in any of my other stories, please refrain yourself from commenting on this one because they aren't welcome here either😊 If you can't enjoy the story with the SILLY errors I have made then just stop reading now kay? Thanks!
Enjoy the next chapter my lovelies, a time jump with lots of surprises!
Much Love
K xx
3 Years Later
Stepping into the hotel, Christian had his eyes glued to his phone as he headed over to the reception desk. "Reservations for Grey." He simply told the receptionist as he finished off his email before slipping his phone into his pocket, Taylor standing dutifully behind him with their suitcases as they waited for their room keys. It was a hot August day and he just wanted to get to his room and relax before his meeting later today.
"Welcome to the Lily-Rose Mr Grey. Have you stayed in one of our establishments before?" She asked curiously with a soft smile to him.
Christian raised an eyebrow as he looked to her. "Do I look like someone who would normally stay in a hotel called the Lily-Rose?" He asked with a shake of his head. He was only staying here because it was close to the coastline and near where he needed to be. He hadn't even heard of this place before.
The receptionist pursed her lips as she slid him his keys. "Very well. Breakfast serves from 7am until 10am. Lunch is served between the hours of 12 and 2pm. Dinner is then served from 6pm until 9pm. Your mini bar is fully stocked to use as you wish, if you wish for anything additional in the mini bar then you will have to pay for the extra on your departure. Rooms service is available 24 hours a day and there is a laundry service should you require it and will be billed to your room and payment required on your departure. We also have a gym and spa should you wish to use those. The gym is included in your room package but the spa you will have to pay for the treatments. Any questions?"
"The additional room I booked?" He asked with a bored tone.
"Unfortunately, the room you asked for is not available so we have given you the room opposite your room."
"Not available? I specifically asked for the two rooms to be booked alongside one another."
"I appreciate that Mr Grey, but unfortunately we cannot accommodate that request and we did the best we could. I can assure you that the floor that you are on there are only the three rooms."
"Well who's in the room I asked for then? I'll simply ask them to switch for the duration of my stay."
"I'm sorry Mr Grey but I can't give you that information. Data Protection and I can assure you that the person in that room will not be willing to switch."
Christian sighed and shook his head. "Very well." He snapped as he took the keys and headed over to the elevator with Taylor. "Will this be a security issue?" He asked him passing him his key.
Taylor shook his head. "Shouldn't be sir. I'll take a quick look at the layouts of the rooms and go from there. Not many people know you are here in California so we shouldn't run into any problems. The press probably won't even know you're here until we are long gone." He told him before pushing the button to their designated floor.
Christian gave a slight nod before he then looked up as he heard giggling as a little girl ran into the elevator just as the doors closed.
"Lily-Rose!" Came the voice from the other side.
The little girl just giggled as she then grinned up to the two men. "Hi!" She beamed before she went over to the buttons, a pout soon forming on her lips. "You pushed it."
Christian raised an eyebrow and looked to Taylor who shrugged at him. "Pushed what?" Christian asked her.
"My button." She pointed to the floor that was highlighted.
"Well that's where we are going." He told her with a shrug.
The girl frowned as she looked to the buttons before looking back to Christian and Taylor, eyeing them suspiciously. "Are you going to see my mommy?"
Christian shook his head. "No. We are staying on that floor." He told her before he examined her. She had bright blue eyes and long brown hair that was down, but she had a unicorn headband in to keep it out of her face. She couldn't be older than three if that. She looked familiar but he couldn't quite put his finger on who she reminded him of. "Why are you on your own? And didn't your mommy and daddy tell you, you shouldn't talk to strangers?"
"I runned from Uncle Luke. I want my mommy." She told him before shrugging. "I don't haves a dad and mommy says if anyone tries anything uncle Luke will kick their big fat butts!"
"Don't you think your uncle Luke is going to be worried?"
"No." She replied to him deadpan before she looked to Taylor and smiled. "You're very big!" She told him with a giggle. "You look like my grandpa. But he has lots of silver in his hair. Lots more than you."
Christian tried to stifle a laugh as he looked Taylor before looking down to the little girl again. "How old are you?"
The girls face lit up as she held up three fingers. "I'm three! It was my birthday last week. I had lots of cards and presents and I had the bestest party ever. My grandpa let me ride ons a pony but mommy says I can't have one because we live here." She pouted.
"You live here?" Christian asked.
She nodded. "Yep. I'm Lily-Rose. Like this place!" She giggled before she then looked up as the doors opened. A pout soon returning on her lips seeing who was there.
"Lily-Rose you are lucky I knew you were coming here." The man scolded as he scooped her up and rested her on his hip.
"Hows did you know?" She asked with a frown as she folded her little arms across her chest and huffed a little.
He chuckled. "Because you only know number fourteen and I've been letting you push the same button as soon as you could reach it. There's not many other floors you would go to." He shook his head before looking to Christian and Taylor. "Apologise for your little intruder. She's getting faster by the day."
"No. Yous getting slower." Lily-Rose giggled before pouting. "Uncle Luke I want my mommy."
Luke sighed. "I know but mommy is very busy right now. I thought we were going to have fun at the park?" He asked before shaking his head. "Look let's let these two men out of the elevator and we can talk more about what we can do?" He suggested before he smiled to Christian and Taylor. "Sorry guys. Enjoy your stay." He told them before he wandered off with Lily-Rose.
"Bye!" Lily-Rose called back to them before turning her attention back to her uncle Luke.
"Well that's a first." Christian grumbled with a shake of his head as he headed over to their rooms. "I thought kids weren't allowed to run around in hotels? Shouldn't that shit be made like the rules?"
"Well seeing as she lives here…I guess the rules don't really apply to her." Taylor told him with a shrug before following him into the room. Taking a look at the room he then looked to Christian. "I'll be back in a second." He told him before exiting Christian's room and going to his own.
As his phone went off, Christian then pulled out his phone and pressed it to his ear. "Grey." He answered. "Hi Ros….no we've just got to the rooms." He paused before rolling his eyes. "Of course, he does. I'll call him. He can come to me. This place, despite the name is actually pretty impressive. If he calls again tell him I will call him within the next hour. Bye." Hanging up the phone he slipped it into his pocket before looking up as Taylor came back in.
"Both rooms are pretty much identical. The only way in or out is through the main door to the rooms and of course the balconies but I don't see anyone scaling the building which is fourteen floors up."
Christian gave a nod. "I just had Ros on the phone. It seems dear Mr Callahan wants to meet today. He got word that I was in California." He rolled his eyes. "We shall have him come here."
"I shall call down to reception and ask for a private seating. Any pacific time?"
"Say seven. I want to shower and catch up on some paperwork before this meeting."
Taylor gave a nod. "I'll go make the arrangements. I will be back shortly." He informed him before leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
Taking his tie off, Christian shrugged out of his jacket before tossing it onto the back of the sofa before flopping down on it. He always stayed in Penthouse suites. The rooms were spacious and up to his taste. Looking to the window, he looked out to the view. He could see the coastline and he couldn't help but smile. He loved being by the water.
Getting up from the sofa he headed to the bathroom and had a quick shower knowing that Taylor would be back soon. Standing under the hot water, he let it pound on his back, relaxing him slightly. He was glad that a gym use was included with his room because he could see him using it a lot.
When he was done in the shower, he turned it off before wrapping a towel around his waist and heading to the bedroom and put on some fresh clothes, a simple t-shirt and sweat pants. As the door knocked, knowing it was Taylor, he went over to the door, and opened it and let Taylor in.
"Everything is arranged sir. You have a secure table in the restaurant for seven. I'll be on a table nearby."
Christian nodded as he ruffled his hair with the towel. "Very well. Did you happen to get a look at the menu?"
"I did and everything on there is something you would eat along with some dishes I hadn't personally heard of but sounded delicious enough."
Looking to his watch, Christian then looked to Taylor. "Thank you, Taylor. We have a few hours, I might go and explore the hotel a little, see the gym. You can stay here if you wish."
"Are you sure you don't need me to accompany you?"
Christian shook his head. "I won't be going far. I'll text you once I have returned." He simply told him before he dismissed him and slipped on his sliders before grabbing his room key and phone and headed out. He knew Taylor would probably be anxious the whole time. Stepping into the elevator he pushed the button to go back down to the ground floor. As the doors opened, he stepped out, a frown forming on his features as he heard raised voices, one he recognised from the guy he saw earlier in the elevator with the little girl. Glancing over he saw the guy, Luke arguing with someone at the doors with the little girl hiding behind him. Christian couldn't help but go over.
"Leave. Now." Luke hissed at the guy.
"No. I'm not doing anything wrong. I just want to talk to her." The guy replied with a shrug before he looked down to Lily-Rose. "Hey princess. I've missed you."
Moving Lily-Rose more behind him, Luke glared at him. "You don't get to talk to her. Last time you tried to talk to her, I walked in on your trying to rape her. That little girl saw everything, including the black eye you gave her mother. The fact she is right behind me is the reason you are still breathing. Get out. Before I call the police."
"Everything okay over here?" Christian asked as he stepped closer. He had heard everything. As far as he was concerned, anyone who attempted to rape someone should be shot.
Lily-Rose looked up hearing Christian and moved over to him and hid behind his legs. "Kick his big fat butt uncle Luke!" She shouted at him and clung onto Christian's legs and looked up to him, her little blue eyes threatening to let the little tears fall, though he could see now that she was upset, her eyes had gone a shade of grey. "He hurt my mommy. I don't like him."
Luke looked back to Lily-Rose before he glanced to Christian then back to scum in front of him. "Everything's fine. I'm just trying to take out the trash."
"Luke…." Came the receptionists voice.
"What Rebecca?" Luke growled, not taking his eyes off the man in front of him.
"She's on her way down…"
"Fuck." Luke hissed. "Don't move." He snapped at him before he then turned to Christian. "Can I trust you?" He simply asked him.
Slightly taken back by his question, Christian glanced to the guy before he then looked to Luke and gave a nod. "Yes…"
"Shit is about to go down…will you just keep an eye on this one while we get this mess sorted?" He asked gesturing to Lily-Rose slightly with his head. "Her mom may need me and I don't like leaving her and she seems pretty comfy around you."
Christin gave a nod as he looked down to Lily-Rose before looking to Luke once more. "Sure. Though if she grabs my sweat pants any tighter, I fear she's going to pull them right down and give everyone in this lobby an eyeful. Names Christian by the way."
Luke smirked slightly before he bent down so he was face to face with Lily-Rose. "Hey pudding…look me and mommy are going to try and get rid of him. Will you be a good girl and stay here with Christian?"
Lily-Rose gave a little nod as she clung onto tighter to Christian's legs. "I don't want mommy to get hurt again." She whispered with sadness in her voice.
Luke's heart broke as he heard her. "He's not going to hurt your mommy I promise you. Now stay here with Christian okay? Then afterwards we will go for ice cream."
"Otay." She whispered before she then looked up to Christian and moved her arms up indicating she wanted to be picked up.
Christian hesitated for a moment. How was he supposed to hold her? Picking her up, he rested her on his hip, like he watched Luke do earlier with her. It was such an alien feeling to him right now. He had never held a child before.
Lily-Rose smiled to him before she then grinned and played with a strand of his hair. "You have hair like me." She beamed. "My hair goes reddy in the sunshine too!" She giggled as she rested her head on his shoulder before she gasped as she spotted a familiar person. "Mommy." She whispered; her eyes glued to her mother.
"You are not welcome here, Jose." She hissed at him. "How many times do you actually have to be told?"
Jose smirked. "I'm not doing anything wrong. This is a hotel. A public place."
"Consider yourself wrong." She snapped as she pushed a piece of paper into his chest.
Taking the paper, he looked down to it before scoffing as he looked to her once more. "A restraining order? Is this really necessary? I just want to talk."
"And I don't want to talk to you." She snapped. "This is my home. This is my daughters' home and as of right now you are not allowed in here. In fact, you are not allowed in a hundred feet of me or her. So, I suggest you turn your ass around and get out of here before I call the police or watch as Luke kicks your sorry ass."
Jose glared at her. "This is isn't over."
"This is over. I indulged you today Jose by coming down here, but this is the last time you see me. You come here again and you will deal with either Luke or the police. Now get out. You're making my hotel look trashy."
Jose glared at her before glaring at Luke. Turning on his heel he stormed out.
"You did well." Luke whispered to her.
"I feel like I need a drink." She mumbled with a shake of her head before she rubbed her forehead and looked to Luke. "Where's Lily-Rose?"
"Mommy!" Lily-Rose called as she wriggled out of Christian's grasp and ran over to her mother.
Hearing her daughter call her, she turned around in time to catch her daughter, embracing her close she kissed her head. "I'm here baby." She whispered before she looked up, her eyes widening as she spotted Christian who had his eyes glued to her. "Holy fuck." She whispered to herself.
"Mommy that's a naughty word." Lily-Rose scolded with a frown.
"Sorry baby." She smiled slightly to her before she turned her eyes towards Christian once more who had stepped closer to them. "Hi…"
"Hello Anastasia. Long time no see."
"Christian." She swallowed before she then looked to Luke. "Luke will you take Lily-Rose?"
Luke frowned a little noticing the interaction between the two before he nodded and took Lily-Rose from Ana. "Sure. Come on pudding. Let's go get that ice cream I promised." He mused as he headed off.
Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, Ana then looked to Christian. "What are you doing in California?" She asked softly.
"Business." He simply told her as he looked to her. As soon as he saw Ana and then looked to Lily-Rose he felt sick. He did the math. "Is she mine?" He asked her. He had to know. He still had dreams about that night. To this day it was the best night of his life. Best sex he had ever had!
Ana looked to him and sighed. "Yes. She's your daughter."
A.N
Bit of a cliffy….sorry!
Up next will be a much needed conversation between the two!
