Hi, I hope you all had a great Christmas and for those who don't celebrate Christmas I hope you enjoyed the Holidays anyway!


Chapter 9 - Rushed Decisions

Ana

I know something is wrong. I think I heard Christian yelling at someone outside and my mother, who just stopped by to take Phoebe with her had clearly been crying at some point this morning. Yet, she wasn't going to share what has happened and since I'm not allowed to get up and figure out what is going, I decide to call Gideon. His security and our security work together whenever we are in New York, so I know he knows if something is up.

"Hey Ana, feeling better?" He asks trying to sound normal, but I can tell he is tense.

"What is going on, Gideon. My Mom seems upset and I'm pretty sure I heard Christian yelling at someone."

"Shit... look Ana, you need to recover. Let us take care of it, it's really nothing for you to worry about." He tries to placate me, but I'm not having it.

"Gideon, if there is a threat to my family I want to know now or I swear I will get out of bed and find out what is happening myself." I threaten and hear him sigh.

"Okay, look just stay in bed, I'm already on my way to the Hampton's, just wait and Christian and I will talk to you, but do not fucking dare to get up. We cannot risk having to get you back to the hospital because your incision opens up or shit like that." He says clearly worked up and I take pity on him.

"Fine, I'll wait. See you soon." I mutter and hang up. This is driving me insane. I know that Christian's father and Susannah are still out there, but I'm not worried about me. I can take care of myself and I think I have proven that in the last few days, but I'm worried about my family, the kids especially.

Just when I think about the kids the door opens slightly and Emily pops her head in.

"Hi sweetheart. Do you want to visit me?" I ask, but she looks very timid.

"Emily, it's fine you can come in." I reassure her and she hurries over to me.

"I was bad, Ana." She says and I can see tears in her eyes.

"Darling don't cry, it's okay... just tell me what happened." I say and instead she hands me a flashlight, it's a blue one for kids and I know it's the one Sam uses most nights to read under his blankets when it is way past bedtime.

"I broke it." She whispers sadly, so I try to put it on and smile when I see what is going on with it.

"Did Sam gave you his flashlights?" I ask and she nods.

"He said when I leave it on, I wouldn't have to be afraid in the dark."

"Emily, it's not broken, the batteries have just gone empty after leaving it on all night. It's fine, just take it downstairs and ask Gail to give you some new batteries.

"It's not broken?" She repeats.

"No, it just needs new batteries and even if it was broken, we could always replace it. Now, did you have breakfast already?" I ask and she shakes her head, so I reach for my phone and sent a text to Gail. A minute later she steps inside the bedroom.

"Morning Gail, Emily hasn't had breakfast yet, could you please make something for her and give her some batteries for the flashlight." I ask.

"Of course, come Emily, we will go to the kitchen together and I'll make you breakfast." Gail says and offers Emily her hand. Emily looks at me first, but when I give her an encouraging smile she take Gail's hand and they leave the bedroom together... leaving me to wonder what is going on. If Christian forgets about making sure that everyone in the house has been fed, it's bad.

An hour later Christian, Gideon, Elliot, Carrick and Taylor enter my bedroom. Now, they don't even have to say anything, because when all of them want to talk to me at once, I know we are in a very serious situation.

"How bad is it?" I ask and Christian sits on the edge of the bed and takes my hand.

"About a year before we met, I was very interested in a tech company located in Spokane. The owner was a woman by the name of Karen Miller. She wouldn't budge, didn't want to sell or become part of GEH at all. It became a hostile takeover and soon after I took over her company she ended her life... I didn't care." The last three words are not more than a whisper and he hangs his head in shame.

"Christian..."

"No, let me finish, please." He asks and I nod.

"After her death, her husband tried to contact me, but I never contacted him or acknowledged his attempts to contact me. After a few months he stopped trying and I forgot all about him. Now, I have reasons to believe that Karen Miller's widower is none other than my biological father." He says and I gasp.

"How... I mean why do you believe that this man is your biological father?"

"It's something he said in a note he sent me." He says and doesn't look at me.

"What did he write in the note, Christian?" I ask and he still avoids telling me.

"Christian, what is going on?"

"We believe he wants to punish me for the death of his wife, he... he wrote that he wants me to know what it's like." He says and it takes me a moment to understand what he is trying to tell me and then I understand... he wants to kill me.

"Why now?" I whisper.

"We don't know, Welch and Gideon's team are trying to gather as much information about him as we can get." Christian says and looks at Gideon who nods and sits down on the other side of the bed and I know whatever he is going to say next will most likely really piss me off.

"Ana, I need you to remain calm, you won't like the decision we have made, but it had to be done." My brother says.

"What decision."

"Your mother has left the Hampton's thirty minutes ago to a safe location... she has your children with her, they won't return until we have caught both Susannah and that son of a bitch. She has Sawyer, Reynolds and Raul with her... we wanted to sent you with them, but you are not up for a plane ride. Until we have found them, this place is under lock down."

I stare at my brother... how fucking dare he and my husband to get my children away without giving me the chance to at least see them once more... what if it is months until we find Susannah and Christian's biological father.

"Baby... it won't be for long..."

"You don't know that!" I snap at Christian and pull my hand out of his.

"Ana, both Susannah and that bastard are in the State of New York, we had a chance to get them out of the State and into safety quickly, so we took it."

"It wasn't just your decision to make, you could have at least given me a minute to say goodbye!" I hiss, I'm so mad right now I want to punch someone or something.

"I didn't want to upset you." He says softly and it just pisses me off even more.

"Well, you can be sure as hell that I'm fucking upset now. Get out! All of you, I've had enough!" I yell and at least Carrick, Elliot and Taylor take the hint and leave.

"OUT" I yell at both my brother and husband.

"Ana there is more, the police proposed an idea that would keep you safe until they are found, which is also why the kids couldn't be around."

"Just spit it out." I mutter still fuming that my children have been brought to god knows where without me knowing anything about it.

"There have been many speculations in the media that you've only been released from the hospital because you ... because you wanted to die at home." Christian says and swallows hard.

"Well, I'm not dead now, am I?" I snap not understanding what they are telling me.

"No you are not, but you would be safe if you were." He says and my mouth drops open.

"Excuse me?"

"The police suggested releasing a statement that you have passed away. If the bastard thinks he has reached his goal, he will most likely try to leave the country or become careless, so the chances to catch him will rise." Christian says and I stare at him.

"Excuse me, but are you insane?" I gasp and Gideon chuckles.

"Told ya, Grey."

"You don't get to laugh, Gideon, you sitting here means you are on board with this insanity." I accuse him and he gets this defensive look.

"Well excuse the fuck out of me if I don't want some deranged fucker to kill my sister."

"Ana, baby listen, it's just for a couple of days until he is caught, then everything goes back to normal. We have a statement ready and we just need your okay." Christian looks at me begging me silently to agree, but I'm not having it, this is the single most stupidest idea I have ever heard.

"Even if I would agree to it, you are a little late for that." I mutter and they both frown.

"Why?"

"Well, I was bored and went online for a bit, I went to Twitter and Facebook, saw how many people are worried about me, so I took a selfie and posted in on my accounts." I confess, knowing that both of them hate how active I'm on social media.

I watch as both men start to think rapidly and Gideon even pulls his phone out to check.

"Hell Ana, did you put make up on and have some hold the light in the right spot?" Gideon scowls.

"Well duh, people were thinking I'm on my death bed, besides I didn't want to look like shit in the selfie." I reply pouting and see his lips twitch.

"I guess that's the end of that plan." Christian mutters and runs both hands through his hair.

"Good, now go get my children back home!" I demand and he stares at me.

"No, I'm sorry, baby, but our children want return until it is safe." And with that he gets up.

"Christian where are they?" I yell after him.

"They are safe, Ana, you can call them later this afternoon." He says and leaves the room.

"Where are they, Gideon?"

"I don't know, Ana. We all agreed that Christian, Taylor and your mother are the only ones to know where they have been taken." He says and I seethe. I know Christian is only trying to keep our children safe, but not telling me where they are is taking it too far.

"No, Ana do not get up!" Gideon scolds, but I ignore him and some how manage to get up and slowly make my way to the door holding on to the furniture to steady myself. Finally in the hallway I walk towards the stairs and hear Gideon yell behind me.

"Get your ass up here and talk to your wife, Chris because she is about to walk downstairs."

I immediately hear commotion downstairs followed by Christian seeing me walking towards the stairs and he takes three steps at the time to reach me before I can even make it to the stairs.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing here?" He snaps at me and I glare up at him.

"Where are my children?" I demand and he sighs.

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything, but we have to get you back into bed first." He says with a pleading look. I nod and allow him to carry me into the bedroom, where he puts me back into bed and sits down facing me.

"He approached Sam and Teddy." Christian says his voice sounding defeated.

"He... as in your biological father?" I gasp.

"Yes, Taylor managed to get a picture of him after we had his name. Sam came in while I was looking at it and he recognized him immediately. He told me that he knows him from soccer practice. That he was there watching the kids play and that one day he approached Sam, asked him if he knew some random kids name and that he left when Sam's coach came to see what was going on. I showed the picture to Teddy and he told me almost the same story, except he talked to him on more than one occasion. Fuck, Teddy said he likes him. I panicked. I'm sorry baby. I never meant to upset you, but I needed to get our children out of here, he somehow managed to approach them and gained Teddy's trust... I'm scared out of my mind that he takes them, that he hurts them... I had to act quick and get them somewhere safe." He says and I stroke his cheek.

"Where are they, Christian?"

"Elliot has bought a vacation home at the Florida Keys. It's his surprise for their anniversary and it's also a property that no one knows about. They are there. You can call them later. Please don't be mad at me, Ana." He begs and I shake my head.

"You can't do that to me, Christian. I understand that you are scared because you can't control this situation, but refusing to tell me where our children are is a no go and you can be happy that I'm still weak or otherwise I would have ripped your balls off." I say deadpan and he gulps.

"I didn't mean to hurt you or..."

"Christian please, we are a team. We can't get through this if you start to make decisions without telling me. Had you told me what you just did first, I would have agreed that we need to get our children out of harms way, but you can't just do it and expect me to be okay with it. Now, I hope you are no longer planning on going through with the plan to announce my death." I try to change the topic. I know he is feeling guilty, but just thinking about it pisses me off so badly, I'm afraid to say something that I am going to regret, so I need to calm down first before I can address the subject again.

"No, after your selfie it wouldn't be believable. It was a stupid idea anyway, but Ana, you won't leave the house until he is found." He says all serious and I nod. It's not like I'm up to going out at the moment anyway and I know, if Christian's biological father wants to harm me, this is the perfect time. Because even though I hate to admit it, right now I'm an easy target and couldn't do much to defend myself.

"You are not fighting me on this?" He asks with a smile.

"No. You are right, I'm safe here and I guess I have to admit that right now, I can do nothing to defend myself, so it's best for me to stay here, where I have you and the security to make sure I am safe." I say and he is just about to reply when Taylor bursts into the room.

"Sir, the police has found Susannah." He says and Christian jumps to his.

"What? Are you sure? Has she said anything about that son of a bitch?" He asks and Taylor clears his throat.

"No Sir, I'm afraid she won't be able to give us any answers."

"Why?" Christian demands, but I'm sure I know the answer to that already.

"She is dead, Sir. The police said she was decapitated, they have found her head, but not her body." Taylor says and I gasp. This woman kidnapped me, physically and emotionally abused her daughter and nearly killed me by denying me medical attention when I went into labor, but still absolutely no one deserves to die in such a gruesome way, much less so by the father of her child, because as we are looking at each other all three of us know who murdered her...


New Chapters for Seduction and A Different Life will be up sometime before the end of the year...