C POV
"There you are.", Ana whispers. She pads into the living room where I'm sitting by the window and looking out at the night sky. "I woke up, and you weren't there."
"I couldn't sleep.", I murmur. She sits on the sofa and latches her eyes on to me. I exhale a long sigh and shake my head. "I told you I was ok when you said no to moving in with me, but the entire conversation has been running on playback in my head. You told me first you weren't ready, yet you then said you liked your apartment. Giving me two different reasons or maybe I should say excuses isn't going to cut it. I want the truth. I want that honesty that we've been having."
"Fine. I'll be honest with you. I said no because the timing of you asking me to move in was suspicious."
"What?", I scoff. "How in the hell is that?"
"We had been talking about Leila and Samual Donovan earlier in the day, and you mentioned how I was going to have the secondary CPO with me at all times. It seemed like you were asking me to move in so you could keep an eye on me." She closes her eyes and reopens them with tears. I stand and walk over to the sofa where I sit down on the cushion next to her.
"I'm not going to lie and say having you at the apartment wouldn't ease my mind and worry, but that's not why I asked you to move in. Baby, I asked you to move in because I like having you in the bed when I go to sleep and when I wake up. There's nothing better than the feeling I have when I'm around you, and I want to be around you as much as possible."
"I want that too.", she says. "I want to move in with you."
"Really? I don't want you to feel like you have to." She cups my chin and smiles.
"Really. I really want to move in with you. I want us to take that next step." Our lips crash together instantly.
"Breakfast was delicious.", I say while Ana and I are cleaning up after breakfast. "I wish I could've been more help."
"You were a master at chopping the peppers for the omelettes. Also, let's not forget the coffee you made."
"I only turned the coffee maker on.", I shrug.
"But you did a great job at it.", she giggles as we hear Kate and Elliot in the living room. Ana closes the gap between us and lowers her voice. "Should I go ahead and tell Kate I'm moving out?"
"It's up to you."
"Hey guys.", Kate says from the doorway. "What are you up to?"
"Cleaning up from breakfast.", Ana answers. "And you two?" Kate turns to Elliot and then back to us.
"I've got some news for you. How about we go into the living room?" Ana nods, and we follow Kate and Elliot into the living room. I sit down in one of the arm chairs and pull Ana into my lap while Kate and Elliot remain standing. "Ok. I wasn't sure when or how I was going to tell you so I decided to treat it like ripping off a band-aid. Elliot asked me to move in with him, and I said yes." Elliot's grinning like a loon at the news. "Ana, I realize it might be shocking, but I really want to move forward with Elliot."
"Moving in together is definitely moving forward.", I tell Kate and Elliot.
"It's one we wouldn't be taking if we weren't ready.", Elliot replies. Ana starts laughing. "I'm glad you're laughing instead of yelling."
"I'm not going to yell.", Ana says. "The reason I'm laughing is because Christian and I have some news of our own. Christian asked me to move in with him, and I said yes." Kate's jaw drops opens, and she wraps her arms around Ana.
"Ana, that's great.", Kate sighs. She and Ana end their embrace and look back and forth at Elliot and me. "You do realize our days of not worrying about the toilet seat being down are over, right?"
"Ewww. We're going to be living with boys.", Ana groans jokingly.
"Don't you mean men?", I smirk. Ana sits back down in my lap and kisses the corner of my mouth.
"My bad."
A POV
"So the two of you are both moving in with your guys?", Julia asks Kate and me on Monday morning as we're having Starbucks before heading to the office.
"Yep.", Kate nods. "Our lease isn't up for another month, but the move is happening next weekend."
"I've got the Clothing Palette anniversary party next Saturday, but I should have most of my things moved by that night.", I reply. I nibble on my danish and see the frown on Julia's face. "What's the matter?"
"Even though I'm happy for the two of you, I'm still a little bummed. The three of us have lived in the same apartment for so long, and it's going to be weird not having you here."
"Not being in the same building doesn't mean we won't still see each other. We'll see each other at work, and we'll also hang out like we are now.", Kate assures Julia.
"Kate's right. Our friendship won't change.", I say as Julia's phone buzzes. She quickly glances at the screen and blushes. "Will?"
"Yeah. He called yesterday morning and asked if I wanted to have lunch with him, and I said yes. We once again met up at the place where we had a nice meal. We're going out again Friday night, and I'm going to let him pick me up at my apartment."
"See, you're also making a lot of progress." I eat the rest of my danish and check the time. "I guess we should get going."
"Yeah, we should." We gather our things and start walking towards the front where I see Samual Donovan entering. Sawyer eyes him and stations himself by my side.
"It's Samual Donovan.", I mutter to Kate and Julia. All hope of him not seeing me go away when his eyes land on me. A sly grin crosses his face. My group and I start weaving through the tables to avoid him, but he stops us before we get to the door.
"Move.", Sawyer orders. Donovan only laughs.
"He said move, and I suggest you do as he said.", Kate hisses at Donovan.
"How sweet of them standing up for you.", Donovan tells me. "It's been a while since I've seen you."
"Not long enough.", I snarl.
"Your boyfriend must be proud of himself for stealing the police department account from me."
"He didn't steal anything from you. He put in a bid which was better than yours. You need to accept it and move on."
"Oh, no, no, no.", he murmurs. "I think the only way to recover from losing the deal is to take something from him." He licks his lips and winks. "Maybe taking the thing most special to him." The bastard attempts to step forward but is quickly pushed back by Sawyer. "Ana, you and I both know we're inevitable. It's going to happen."
"Never."
"We'll see. Have a great day." He moves away, but I feel his eyes on me the entire time we're walking out.
"Ana, are you ok?", Julia asks.
"Yeah. I'm fine.", I say even though a part of me is shaken.
After calling Mr. Nelson and telling him I'm going to be late I head to GEH. Kate and I were in her car this morning with Sawyer following behind us, but I'm now in the back of his SUV. I know Christian's going to blow a gasket when I tell him about the confrontation with Donovan, but he needs to know.
"Are you ok?", Sawyer asks, snapping me out of my daze.
"Yeah.", I nod as he parks the SUV. We get out and go inside the building.
Arriving on Christian's floor, Sawyer and I head in the direction of Christian's office. Thoughts of Donvoan go away if only briefly when I see Christian talking to Andrea. She sees me first and smiles. Christian also smiles, yet he also looks puzzled as he's probably wondering why I'm here. His eyes go to Sawyer.
"Can we go in your office?", I ask Christian. His hand goes to the small of my back as we along with Sawyer step inside his office. "You might want to sit down." I motion for Christian to sit, but he shakes his head.
"I'd rather stand. Judging from the way you're acting something happened." He turns to Sawyer. "What was it?"
"As you know I had breakfast with Kate and Julia. Things were going great until we got ready to leave, and Samual Donovan showed up."
"Where were you?", a seething Christian asks Sawyer.
"I was right by Ana's side, making sure he didn't lay a hand on her."
"Sawyer did his job.", I assure Christian. "Donovan still tried to talk crap." Christian pulls at his tie. "He talked about how you stole the police department deal from him which I told him was a complete lie. You got the deal fair and square."
"That's the truth.", Christian replies. "What else did he say?"
"He said the best way for him to recover might be to take away the most important thing to you." Christian jaw tightens.
"That mother fucker! He really has no idea who he's messing with." I place my hands on his shoulder in an effort to soothe him.
"I don't want you to do anything crazy. All that would do is make Donovan happy."
"You're right. I promise you I'm not going to do anything that'll land me behind bars." He pulls me into him and kisses the top of my head. "You mean everything to me."
"The feeling is mutual.", I giggle as I step out of his hold. "I've got to get to work."
C POV
"Sir, I was told you wanted to see me." I look up from my work and see Paula Baker standing in the doorway of my office. After much deliberation and with Taylor's help, I came to the decision to assign Baker as Ana's other CPO. She's worked as a member of my security for only a year, but she worked for a private security firm for three years prior.
"Yes. Please come in and have a seat." She sits in the chair in front of my desk. "I asked you here because I've decided to give you an important assignment. You're going to be a CPO for Anastasia Steele, my girlfriend."
"Isn't Sawyer already assigned to Ms. Steele?"
"He is and will remain in the same position, but I need two people protecting her. I expect nothing but your full attention when guarding Ana."
"I promise I'm going to give my best. You won't regret your decision.", she says.
"Good. You'll be starting in the morning, but I'd like to introduce you to Ana this evening.", I say. "I'll be in contact about the time, but that's all for now." As she's leaving, my phone rings. I see that it's Kate calling. I answer the call and only hear sobbing in the background. "Hello? Kate?"
"Christian.", Kate finally says. "It's Ana and Sawyer. They've been shot."
"Can I help you?", a nurse asks me as soon as I rush to the nurses' station at the hospital. I wish I could wake up from this bad dream.
"Yes you can.", I snarl. "You can tell me where my girlfriend is." The nurse's eyes widen at my tone. "Where's Ana Steele!"
"Sir, please lower your voice."
"I'll lower my voice when I get answers." I grip the top of the counter.
"It's ok.", I hear my mom tell the nurse. "This is my son." My mom walks from behind the window and to me. "I was getting off my shift when Ana and Sawyer were brought in." She holds my hand and starts leading me to a hallway where Kate and Julia are pacing. The two of them run to me.
"Where is she?", I ask for what feels like the thousandth time. "And where's Sawyer?"
"They're still working on them.", Kate murmurs. "I called Elliot who was going to pick up Mia. Ana's parents were in Tacoma for a getaway but are on their way back."
"I don't understand. How did this happen?"
"Ana had finished her work for the day, but Kate and I had a few more things to do so Ana said she was going to have Sawyer taker her to get things for dinner. She wanted to cook dinner for the two of you.", Julia says. "Not long after they left we heard several loud booms. We weren't sure what was going on at first, but I looked out the window and saw Sawyer and Ana ducking. That's when I realized the booms were gunshots."
"Where is he?" We turn and see a frantic Mia dashing towards us. "Where's Luke?" The anguish on Mia's face is exactly how I'm feeling. One of the door at the end of the hallway opens, and two doctors walk out.
"Everyone, this is Dr. Phillip Grant and Dr. Catherine Moss.", my mom says.
"I've been working with Luke Sawyer.", Dr. Grant tells us. "He suffered a gunshot to the right shoulder as well as one to the left side of his lower abdomen. We're prepping him for surgery where we're going to remove the bullets."
"I'm treating Ana Steele.", Dr. Moss says. "Ana suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. It appears the bullet barely missed her heart. She's also being prepped for surgery which is where I need to going myself."
"You're going to get the bullet out, and she's going to fine, right? Right?", I plead, feeling as if my entire world is crumbling before me. The doctor doesn't answer immediately. "Well?"
"I'm not going to lie. It's serious, but I'm going to do all I can.", she answers. She and Dr. Grant then walk back through the door.
"Luke and Ana are tough. They're going to pull through this.", Elliot says.
"They have to.", Mia whispers. My mom wraps one arm around Mia and the other around me. Both Mia and I let emotions take over.
"They have to.", I repeat.