So many theories about what happened to Ana, I have to say though that I quite surprised that most of you believe that Ana was pregnant, miscarried or had an abortion. I'm not going to say if any of it is correct since that would be spoiling the plot. On a different note, I'm currently writing chapter 15 and since this story will be complete at chapter 20 I might be able to finish it until next Sunday so you might get daily updates after that. One guest asked to just post everything at once and while I would love to do so, that would give me anxiety because I like to have a couple of chapters stocked up so I won't slow down with the regular updates...
„Angus, this is unacceptable... how can there still be nothing... why is no one talking?"
„I'm not quite sure, Sir." His driver and security guard answered while Gideon Cross starred at the ceiling wondering if he had ever dealt with someone as fucked up as this person. The bitter truth was that he knew only one person as evil and sadistic... but that person was dead and would never be able to harm anyone again.
„Sir, Christian Grey is here to see you." The voice of his assistant Scott came through the speaker and Gideon smiled. Ana had told him this would happen, but he was prepared for the visit.
„Send him in, Scott. Thank you, Angus... just keep digging." He said and dismissed Angus while at the same time the glass door to his office opened and Christian Grey came in.
He, of course, knew of the famous Christian Grey, billionaire, and business mogul, just like him, though they both had chosen very different fields which was why their ways only crossed very seldom if at all. He had seen him maybe a handful of times at functions and other events, but with their fields of expertise so different and due to the fact that they lived on different coasts they had never done business together.
„Mr. Grey, to what do I owe your surprising visit?" Gideon asked as he motioned for him to sit.
„Can I offer you a drink?"
„No, thank you, Mr. Cross. I'm here to discuss a mutual friend of ours, you know her as Anastasia Lambert."
„I must say, Ana knows you well, she told me you would pay me a visit once you found out about our friendship."
„Cut the crap, Cross... why are you supporting her?" Christian asked pissed.
„I beg your pardon?"
„The job... the car... the fucking necklace!"
„First, Anastasia managed to get the job without me even knowing her... it was through her job here at the Crossfire Building that we met. As for her car and necklace, both were presents one for her birthday, the other for Christmas... are you not in the habit of giving gifts to your friends if the occasion is right?" Gideon asked amused.
„Fair enough, what about the 1.5 million you put in her account about a year ago."
„An additional bonus for outstanding work. Anastasia is gold for my publishing business, every single book she has selected has become number one on the bestsellers lists, many of them have broken sales records and turned into extraordinary lucrative deals for the business, so I decided to give Anastasia an end of the year bonus that I would have given everyone else who is such a successful employee either... but I'm sure you reward outstanding employees as well." Gideon said smugly.
„You want to fuck her!" Christian accused him and Gideon pushed to his feet, pressed both fists onto the desk and leaned over to Christian.
„Careful Grey, I don't like to be questioned about my motives, especially when I am accused of trying to buy sexual favors from my employees and Anastasia happens to be a good friend too. I would never disrespect her by trying to buy myself her love because we both know that she is not the girl for a casual flirt, nor can anyone buy her love. All I did for her was out of friendship and I won't allow you to taint that by throwing your dirty accusations at me."
„She told me you wanted to fuck her when you met."
„Well, I would have needed to be blind and crazy not to see her beauty when we met. Anastasia is exquisite... beautiful inside and out, but she didn't want me, she made that very clear and at the same time it was very clear to me that she needed a friend and I was willing to fill that position in her life. She has become my friend... family really and I treasure that because as you probably know for a man of my status it is very hard to find people who are genuine and not interested in the material aspect that comes with being my friend." He said and sat back down never breaking eye contact with Grey.
„Let's make one thing clear, Cross. Anastasia is mine, you will never have her, are we clear."
„Ana is not a possession, Grey, she belongs to herself and I don't want her in the way you want her, this doesn't have to become a pissing contest because I do believe we both have her best interest at heart. Should you however try to control her life or boss her around be assured that I will be there to kick your ass into shape... it has taken me a long time to help Ana turn into the strong and independent woman she is today, I won't allow you or anyone else for that matter to take that away from her."
Christian felt his temper rising, this guy was an arrogant prick who felt like he had the right to talk about Anastasia like he was her father or older brother when he was neither and this line of conversation was also not helping him in any way.
„Why did Ana change her name?"
„To start over without the fear of being found by anyone."
„And why didn't she want to be found?"
„You have to ask her."
„I have asked her and she didn't answer my question."
„Well, then that is your answer, she doesn't want you to know and I will not go behind her back. Unless she chooses to tell you, I can't help you." Cross said and Christian wanted to strangle him but held his temper at bay.
„At least tell me if she is safe... do I need to have security on her?"
„She is safe and I have people making sure it stays that way."
„Fuck! At least tell me whom she is running from... all I want is to protect her." Christian said, got up and started to pace... he knew she was in some sort of trouble, there was no other reason for the way she was acting and it drove him insane that he couldn't do anything because he still had no idea what had happened all those years ago.
Gideon looked at Grey and felt sorry for the guy, it was clear that even four years apart hadn't changed his feelings for Ana and he was dying to understand what happened... to protect her, but he couldn't tell him... Ana would never forgive him, she had done all she could so he would never know and they were this close to finally end this nightmare for her... to allow her to tell him the truth... he couldn't risk him getting involved, because he knew it would break both of them if he found out and saw what happened.
„Look, Grey, Ana is no longer in direct danger... which is why she was able to return to Seattle and approach you... I'm working on the rest... give it time... eventually everything will work out the way you are hoping for. That is all I can tell you... the rest is not my story to tell."
„Why doesn't she trust me?" Christian asked defeated because obviously, she trusted Cross more than she did him because otherwise, she would have come to him for help instead of running from him.
„This is not about trust... or at least not in the way you think. And if it is any help to you, I will tell you what she told me when I first approached her." Gideon said and Christian nodded.
„She told me that she wasn't interested in a short affair or love because her heart, body and soul belonged to one man alone and that would never change."
„So, she has never dated?"
„No, and not due to lack of willing candidates, she just never wanted to be with anyone else... and now please excuse me I have a meeting in fifteen minutes and need to get prepared."
Christian nodded, shook his hand and left Cross's office still unsure of what had happened to Ana but a little more calm in the knowledge that at least she was still his and hadn't moved on completely because that meant there was still hope for him to get her back.
The background check Welsh had gathered had presented him with little new facts. There was a nine-week gap between her disappearing and starting her job at Cross Publishing, she had shared an apartment with five other women at first and as she continued to climb the ladder in her career she had rented an apartment close to her work, where she had lived until she had moved back to Seattle two weeks ago. No relationships, other events of importance or even a fucking ticket... nothing she just lived her life and still she had changed her name and lived under the radar to avoid being found.
One of the main reasons he didn't find her was not her name change, however, it was because Cross's team had made sure his security would get no information about her. Cross had basically made sure it was impossible for anyone to find her unless she wanted to be found and unfortunately she didn't want him to find her.
Ray and Carla hadn't been much help either because even when he confronted them they just told them that as her parents they had to respect her wishes even if they didn't agree with the way she was handling things and he couldn't argue with that.
In the evening when he was back in Seattle he went to Escala, surprised when he found Mia in the living room sipping a cocktail.
„Hello Mia, please don't take this wrong, but I'm not in the mood for company."
„Alright then... I'm sure Ana and I will have fun on our own." Mia said and turned around with a grin.
„What did you just say?"
„I said I'm not mad and that Ana and I will have fun either way."
„What do you mean Ana and you?"
„I met Ana at the beauty salon, while she was getting her nails done and we started to talk. I told her about the new club I really liked and we decided to go out to dance tonight. I asked her if it was ok to bring you too because you are in such a foul mood lately and she agreed, but like I said if you don't want to..."
„No, I just have to change. Can you give me fifteen minutes?"
„Sure, I'll have my cocktail to keep me company and Ana isn't expecting us for another twenty minutes anyway." Mia explained and Christian went into his bedroom where he undressed before he went into the bathroom to take a shower. Maybe this was his chance to get some much-needed answers out of Ana and even if not, every little bit of time spent in her presence was something he treasured because he now knew how miserable life without her truly was...