I've changed my mind since I have only two more chapters to write you'll get daily updates from now on. Enjoy!
Elliot Grey was on the couch having a beer after he had helped his new wife to unpack. Their honeymoon had been amazing and now they had one night to reacclimate before his parents gala that they planned to attend.
„Can you open, I'm changing." Kate called out from upstairs when he heard the doorbell.
„Sure, I'll get it, babe." He yelled back, got up and opened the door only to look in surprise at the woman in front of him.
„Look at that... hi Ana." He said and pulled her in for a hug. For a while, he had been really mad at her for leaving Christian and Kate without so much as a word, but then he realized that she must have had reasons for doing what she had done and now that she was back he didn't want to make things harder for her than they probably already were.
„Hi Elliot, you look great, married life seems to agree with you."
„Yup... who would have thought that I turn out to be marriage material in my old days." He grinned and Ana laughed.
„Believe me, you've always been marriage material... is Kate home?"
„Upstairs, just go up and thean it's the door at the end of the hallway."
„Ok, thanks... and wish me luck." Ana said as she walked up the stairs. When she reached the room she knocked. „Kate, it's me, Ana, can I come in?" She called out and a second later Kate opened the door.
„Come in... I... you know what, I'm mad at you, you missed my wedding!" Kate said and Ana looked at her hands.
„I wanted you to have your special day to yourself... I was gone for so long, people who have known both of us would have started to ask questions and I didn't want the focus on your wedding day to shift on someone else."
„Ok... I understand that, but I need to know one thing... is this just a short visit in town or are you really planning on staying, because I can't do this again, Ana. You are like a sister to me and I cannot let you in only for you to leave without a trace again. Just, if you know you won't stay don't make me think we could go back to how it was." Kate begged in a very uncharacteristic way for her and tears started to run down her cheeks, which was Ana's undoing as well and she pulled her friend into her arms.
„I'm so, so sorry Kate, but I'm not leaving again... I'm back and this time I won't leave again, I promise." She whispered.
„Why did you never call me?" Kate asked and Ana sighed.
„Because I wasn't ready to talk about what happened and I just wanted to be alone I promise one day I'm going to tell you everything, you can give me the full-on Katherine Kavanagh inquisition, but for now I just hope that my promise not to disappear again is enough."
„Can I chip you?" Kate asked making Ana laugh.
„I'm pretty sure not just Gideon, but Christian too has someone watching me, is that enough for now?"
„Barely...so, what are your plans, do you want to get back together with Christian or are you secretly dating Cross?"
„I'm not dating Gideon...he is like a brother to me. As for Christian, I would like to think that we could have a second chance, but now is not the right time."
„He waited for you, you know. After two years we tried to get him to date, but he never once did. He is a good man, Ana... don't let him wait forever."
„I won't... and since when are you his cheerleader?"
„Well, with your disappearance we bonded... in a way we both lost you, so we had something in common and it made us connect... he can still be an arrogant ass... but I just found out that beneath that is a pretty decent guy, one that is worth to be given a second chance." Kate said hoping to get a little more of n reaction out of Ana, but it almost seemed as if she wasn't allowing herself to even go there.
„Tell me about your wedding and honeymoon... how did Elliot propose... do you guys want to start a family?" Ana asked and they sat down on the huge bed, where Kate filled her in on everything Ana had missed while being away.
Jason Taylor knew he had just made a major step forward into finding out why Ana had disappeared, he couldn't quite connect the dots yet, or maybe he didn't want to, because he knew that he wasn't the only one who had had this thought over the years, but he knew that this could very well be the key to getting some much-needed answers.
„Andrea, is the boss in his office?"
„Yes, you can go through." She said and so he stepped into Grey's office.
„Taylor?" Grey asked him and Jason cleared his throat.
„I've made a discovery, Sir."
„What is it?"
„Jack Hyde died in a car accident five weeks ago."
„He is dead?"
„Yes, he rear-ended a truck while driving drunk out of his mind, the load wasn't secured properly, some of it broke the windshield and he got decapitated." Taylor said and Christian winced with the graphic imagine his head of security had just created.
„I see, so what does this mean?"
„Well, I also discovered that Miss Steele wasn't initially named to be in charge of the Seattle branch of Cross Publishing, Cross changed his mind the day after Hyde's death became public through news articles." Taylor explained and Christian got up.
He had suspected Hyde to be the reason for Ana's disappearance for a long time, yet there was nothing to link him to it. Nothing but a gut feeling and the knowledge that something about the guy just wasn't right. Christian had him followed for almost two years, but there was no connection to Ana... nothing that gave even the slightest clue to her whereabouts or that he was the reason for her leaving.
The other guests at the hotel said there had been no unusual noises from Ana's or Hyde's room the day Ana decided to leave her old life behind... still Christian had always suspected that something that happened in the two hours they had spent in their rooms must have been the reason for her disappearance.
„What happened to his belongings?"
„This is where things get interesting... his apartment and everything he owned was bought by Cross Industries ."
„Motherfucker... I knew it... he did something to her... he made her leave and Cross knows what happened... he all but admitted that he was working on helping Ana... fucking hell, Taylor do you believe... I mean..." Christian stopped, he couldn't even bring himself to think of what possibly had happened to Ana, it made him sick, but with this new knowledge, he couldn't just ignore the possibility any longer.
„Sir, I... yes, it is possible that Hyde did something to Miss Steele. If so, this is a very delicate subject... my advice would be to ask Flynn how to approach the topic with Miss Steele in the most sensitive manner to make sure no old trauma is opened up again." Taylor said visibly uncomfortable.
„Yes, I guess that is a good idea... Ana confessed she was suffering from an eating disorder... I don't want her to fall back into that because of me. I'll make an appointment. Why do you think did Cross buy his belongings?"
„I'm not sure, Sir. At this point, I could only speculate which is not very professional."
„Thank you, Taylor, keep me updated." Christian said and dialed Flynn after Taylor had left the office.
„Christian, it is good to hear from you."
„Likewise John... I need an emergency meeting."
„Oh...of course, I'm full today, but I have an hour around lunchtime."
„Come to my office... any wishes for lunch?"
„Quinoa salad... Rhio n has put me on a diet." John confessed.
„It will be ready when you arrive. Thank you, John."
„You are most welcome, Christian."
When Christian came home in the evening, he dismissed his usual glass of wine and went for something stronger instead. John had basically told him that he couldn't ask Ana if she had been raped by Hyde... that in any way that question alone could be a huge trigger for her. Instead, Flynn had given him the advice to wait until Ana was ready to come to him and tell him what had happened to her.
Just the thought of Hyde hurting in that way... knowing that she wouldn't have had a chance to defend herself against a guy of his build made him want to throw up... the thought was just vile to him, but above that it was the fact that if this was the case, if Hyde truly harmed her in that way and she decided to run... then it meant she must have thought he wouldn't want her anymore after another man had touched her and the thought alone made him want to run to her and just hold her in his arms.
He remembered all the times he had told her that she was his, just his and his alone... was that what had driven her away? Was the thought that he wouldn't want her anymore enough to make her run? He wanted to believe that she had known better but then he remembered the girl she had been, innocent, naive and insecure about herself. She didn't understand what he saw in her to begin with, so, of course, she could have thought that he wouldn't want her anymore after what had happened.
„Sir, dinner is ready in five." Mrs. Jones announced and he thought of Ana alone in her apartment... nothing to do but think and he just couldn't take it.
„Is it enough for two, Mrs. Jones?" He asked.
„Certainly, Sir."
„Good, can you put everything together so I can take it with me... pack a bottle of wine to go with it as well." He said surprising his housekeeper, but she nodded and five minutes later he stepped into the elevator, got off on the fifteenth floor and knocked at Ana's door. When she opened the door she smiled and he had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms, hold her and just tell her that she was still everything he had ever wanted.
„Hi... umm... I was about to have dinner and I thought... only if you don't have plans." He mumbled and with a smile, she took the bag from him.
„Come in, I was too lazy to cook and just about to order a pizza I would regret eating at the gym tomorrow." She said and led him to her breakfast bar where she got plates and helped him unpack the bag Mrs. Jones had put together.
„How was your day?" He asked when they started to eat.
„Productive... but you'll hear about it." She said with a slight smirked.
„Already stealing potential author's from under my nose, Miss Lambert?" He asked amused.
„Maybe... so how was your day?" She asked and he had to force himself to keep his expression relaxed.
„The usual... nothing exciting." He got out.
„I bought a dress for the gala today. Kate and Mia helped me pick it... or I guess I should say they tried to help me because I didn't want to look like Barbie or Barbie's slutty sister." She said and that amused him.
„So no pink or see-through?"
„Nope, not my style... and of course, I don't want you to be on high alert to fight off other men all night."
„Ana... I'm always on high alert to fight off men when I'm around you."
„True... but I wouldn't want to give you more reasons to do so... plus, I wouldn't want to meet potential new authors being dressed like a joke... I've heard Boyce Fox will be there."
„He is signed with SIP, Ana." Christian said with a raised brow.
„Doesn't mean he will be forever... you know if a good opportunity presents itself, he might not be able to reset." She said innocently and he was surprised and pleased that she obviously wasn't bluffing when she said could make her competition go away.
After dinner, he was thinking about a good excuse to stay longer, but Ana beat him to it.
„I know you probably have a lot of work waiting for you... but I thought maybe you would like to stay to watch a movie?" She asked again chewing on her bottom lip, but he slapped the thoughts that habit of hers brought to mind right back and smiled instead.
„Yes, a movie sounds great... you can pick." He said and while she watched the movie he watched her, wondering what Hyde must have done to her to make her run from him and everyone she had ever known... one thing was for sure though, Hyde could be happy to be already burning in hell, because otherwise, it would have been his pleasure to hand deliver him there...