A/N: I can't believe the filming of Darker and Freed is over. It's bittersweet, yet it means we're one step closer to seeing the books come to life on screen. This chapter has a lot happening, and I hope you enjoy.
C POV
Sitting at my table in Pulse, I swallow back more of my scotch. It's only my first drink, yet my head is already fuzzy. Of course it was that way when I arrived here. The reason, the vandalism at Rawlings Motors. Although I was feeling a little better after the talk Ana and I had I still needed to get out and clear my head. She was understanding, and I promised I wouldn't be gone long.
The culprit of the vandalism remains loose, but my number one suspect is Samual Donovan. The possibility that he's the person responsible makes me feel guilty, a fact that I didn't disclose to Ana. I told Tom Rawling about Samual Donovan, and in doing so I finally revealed that ruining Donovan was one of the reasons I bought Rawlings Motors. To my dismay Tom was understanding and said he probably would've done the same thing if Donovan had messed with his wife.
"Let me know when you're ready.", Taylor says from his seat. I nod and take one more drink.
"Here you go." I glance up at the waitress who's just set another scotch in front of me.
"I didn't order this.", I murmur.
"It's from the lady at the end of the bar." Fending off advances of women isn't what I want to be doing. I look in the direction of the bar and see her. She's dressed in a silver sleeveless knee dress. Her hair is pulled into a high ponytail which sways along with her body as she makes her way to my table. I guess I could make an exception for this woman.
"Hi.", she says softly. "I asked what you were drinking so I could send another over."
"That's very kind of you. I was actually still on my first round though." She picks up the first glass and downs it. "Well, I guess I can move on to the second now." I get the attention of the waitress. "The lady here will have a..."
"An apple martini.", Ana replies as she sits down in the chair across from me. "I know you said you needed to get out and clear your head, but I also thought you shouldn't be alone."
"It's ok, but how did you know where I was?", I ask. She nods towards Taylor. "Ah. I just needed to try and sort my head. I told you about the vandalism, but I didn't tell you that I told Tom Rawlings why I bought his dealership. I truly wanted and still want to make the dealership the once profitable business that it once was, however, my hatred of Samual Donovan played a part. It's very likely the vandalism wouldn't have happened if I hadn't mixed my personal and professional feelings." The waitress arrives with Ana's drink which Ana wastes no time in starting on. "Slow down."
"If we're playing the blame game then I should be in there as well. It was me who Donovan made the moves on." I scoot forward in my chair.
"You're not about to blame yourself." Her mouth breaks into a smile.
"Just like you're not. What did Tom Rawlings say when you told him about Donovan?"
"That he would've probably done the same if Donovan had tried something with his wife. He also said that he'd beat the shit out of Donovan." I trace the rim of my glass and nod. The feeling of Ana's heel caressing my calf startles me. "I hope you're not already tipsy."
"No." She stands and walks over to my chair, leaning into my ear. "But I am very, very horny." I practically come right there at her confession.
"We can't do anything.", I remind her. "You haven't gotten the clear from your doctor."
"What's a few days? I want you, and I know you want me too." She holds her hand out, and it only takes me a few seconds to take her up on the request. I get to my feet and let her guide us. Taylor merely smiles as we walk past him. We get to a hallway, and Ana knocks on the ladies room door. She peeks inside and then pulls me in the room with her. She quickly locks the door. I press her against the wall and kiss her. Our tongues are swirling together as I rub my crotch against the front of her body.
"You're being a little minx.", I whisper. She smirks and starts working on my belt. I lift her dress up and hook a finger in her panties, pulling them down. "You're soaked."
"Only for you.", she breathes while pulling my pants and boxers down. I kick off the garments and wrap her leg around me. We're hungry for each other as I slide inside her.
"Fuck, you feel so good." I thrust as hard and deep as possible. She smiles and kisses me again. Having to restrain from sex has made it difficult to last long, and it seems Ana's the same.
"I'm close." Her body stills with her orgasm hitting.
"Fuck.", I mutter while coming. I gently ease out of Ana and help her clean herself before doing the same.
"I don't regret what we did in that restroom.", Ana says when we're back at the apartment. She takes her heels off and sits on the edge of the bed. "But you've been acting as if you regret it."
"It's not that I regret it. It was incredible, but it wasn't how I thought our first time post green light from the doctor would go. I actually had this vision us being in a candle lit hotel room in London."
"We can still do that. We can also join the mile high club." Guilt hits me, and Ana instantly knows the reason. "You've already joined.", she murmurs. I kneel in front of her and brush a loose strand of hair from her face.
"I'm sorry. It was back when I was the old me."
"You don't have to apologize. It's fine. Besides, we'll just have to make our time in the air even more memorable." She wraps her arms around my neck.
"I hope the vandalism is cleared up before we leave."
"I hope so too, but I'm still determined to make sure you have a nice and relaxing getaway."
"Even though someone in dark clothes is all that's seen at the time of the incident I went through the video footage of the twenty four hours prior to the vandalism. I wanted to see if there were any clues.", Barney, my tech guy, tells Tom Rawlings and me as we stand in Barney's office. Barney presses a button on the keyboard and points to the screen. "At around six that evening there's a red vehicle which appears to be a BMW."
"It could've been someone wanting to look at a car.", Tom says.
"That's what I thought until the same vehicle returned at two forty-five, only fifteen minutes prior to the cars being vandalized. It's just parked in front of the dealership." Tom and I stare at the screen where thanks to the lot's lighting we see the red car. "The car pulled away around ten minutes before we see the mystery person."
"And we still can't see who that mystery person is.", I sigh.
"The ski mask makes it difficult.", Barney nods. "It would've been better if there had been more cameras at the dealership."
"I know.", I say. "We're currently in the process of fixing that issue."
"Good. What's also good is my ability to zoom in super close on the car. I can't get a license plate number, but I can get a somewhat visual of the driver. He must've put the mask on after parking the car. Bam." Although the visual isn't the best I immediately recognize the person.
"That fucker.", I growl as Tom's brows raise. "It's Samual Donovan."
"Are you sure?", Tom asks me. I fold my arms and nod.
"I can see his signature arrogance. Tom, I'm sorry. If I hadn't let my personal vendetta against Donovan get in the way..."
"You've been a life saver, coming in and helping the dealership. Like I said I would've retaliated against him if he had came on to my wife. You were looking out for your girlfriend. When you love someone you'll do anything to protect them."
"Now it's time I continue protecting people.", I murmur as I walk towards the door.
"You're going after him?"
"I'd like to think of it as paying him a visit."
"Sir, maybe you should've called the police ahead of time."
"I want you to wait ten minutes and then call them.", I say. We've arrived at Samual Donovan's dealership where I plan on confronting the bastard. With Taylor behind me, I stomp across the pavement and into the building. I swing open the glass door and scan for Donovan. A young dirty blonde haired guy saunters my way.
"Hello and welcome. You look like a man who's on a mission to buy a car.", he says.
"I'm on a mission, but it's not to buy a car. I'm here to see Samual Donovan."
"I can see if he's available." He heads towards a closed door and knocks. Seconds later the door opens, and Donovan appears. The salesman says something, and Donovan's eyes fleet to mine. He wiggles his finger, motioning for me to follow him. Taylor walks behind me yet stays outside the room.
"Mr. Grey, it's a pleasure.", Donovan smirks. He closes the door. "I'm sorry if my office isn't as fancy as yours, but I plan on changing that. Would you like something to drink?" He opens a small fridge that's placed behind his desk. "I've got water and juice. There's also a nice little coffee machine in the break room."
"No.", I answer. "This isn't a social call." I continue standing while he sits in the large desk chair.
"Aww. Damn. Here I was hoping you and I could be buds. We could talk about our mutual attraction for a certain woman." I ball my hand into a fist, trying my best not to beat this mother fucker's ass.
"Don't talk about her.", I hiss.
"I heard about her being shot, and I'm glad she's ok. Of course she'd be more ok if she were with a real man."
"I'm going to warn you one last time not to talk about her. If you value the use of your hands, I suggest you shut the fuck up and listen to me." He laughs and props his hand on his chin.
"Fine. I'll listen.", he sighs as I sit in the chair in front of his desk. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Someone vandalized some cars at Rawlings Motors."
"How unfortunate, but what does that have to do with me? Surely you don't think I had anything to do with it."
"I know you were the one. On the way here I got a call from one of my guys who did some digging on the type of vehicle you drive. It seems a red BMW is registered to you. The funny thing a red vehicle was seen at Rawlings Motors twice before the vandalism. One of those times was only fifteen minutes before."
"Do you have any idea how many red cars there are in this city?", he laughs. "For a man who has a billion dollar company you're not very bright."
"I'm aware the color of the vehicle might be a stretch, but I also saw the face of the driver. My tech guy zoomed in and caught the bastard on camera. It was your smug face. You just couldn't stand that Rawlings Motors was chosen to provide the new police cars so you took all your anger out on those cars." He scratches his chin and shakes his head. "Don't deny it."
"You want the truth? Fine. I did it, and I'd do it all over again. Sure I was pissed about not getting the police department contract, but that's only a small part of the reason. You think you're better than me, walking around all high and mighty with your fancy office and lavish way of living. Let's not forget that little girlfriend of yours. She seems like a wildcat in the sack." I jump to my feet and grab hold his collar, pulling him from his chair. "I heard an ex of yours was behind Ana being shot. You must have a huge amount of guilt." He smirks, but I refuse to let him get the upper hand. "She'd be safe if she were with me. She'd also be a very satisfied woman."
"Do you have a fucking death wish?", I snarl. "I told you not to talk about her." Managing to loosen my grip, he stalks over to a closet, opening it and grabbing a baseball bat. "Is that the bat you used on the cars?"
"You already know the answer to that." He waves the bat back and forth. "You want to know what I was thinking when I was doing it? I was pretending each of those cars was your head. I smashed and smashed and smashed. I imagined the sound of glass cracking was the sound of your skull being beaten in." I knew the guy had issues, but hearing this confession is unnerving. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
"You're even worse than I thought."
"I suppose I am.", he shrugs. "Oh well. There's nothing you can do about it. Try all you want to prove I'm the one who hit your cars, and I'll just deny it." I pad to the door and open it to a waiting Taylor. I then pull my phone from my pocket.
"Ana's taught me a lot during our time together, and one of those things is to press record any time I'm trying to get a confession from you." Donovan swings the bat, but I move as Taylor's able to pry it from his hands.
"The police are on their way.", Taylor says while placing a pair of cuffs on Donovan.
"I would say it's been a pleasure, but I'm not in the mood for jokes.", I tell Donovan.
A POV
"Christian told me he had some big news to share.", I say after being greeted in the foyer by Taylor. On the way home from shopping with my mom Christian called and said he had something big to tell me. "Any idea what it could be?"
"I'll let him tell you.", Taylor replies. He disappears the second we're in the living room. On the floor I see rose petals that have been made into an arrow which is pointing towards the kitchen. I follow the trail and stop in my tracks in the kitchen doorway. The room is lit with candles and covered with roses.
"What's going on?", I say outloud to myself.
"I'll tell you." I spin around and see Christian standing there. "I thought we'd have a nice, romantic dinner."
"Is that what you were going to tell me?"
"No. Although you and I have talked today, I neglected to tell you that I got proof of Samual Donovan being responsible for the vandalism. I also paid him a visit. The fucker's crazy, but I got his confession. I used the Ana Steele method of recording him." I shake my head. "I'm sorry for not telling you."
"You knew I'd be against you going after him. That's why you kept it from me.", I sigh. "Christian, I'm torn between being upset and being relieved. What if Donovan had tried to hurt you?" He takes me in his arms and kisses me.
"Shh.", he whispers against my lips. "I'm ok."
"Did you do the romantic dinner so I wouldn't be as upset?"
"That's not why I did it. I've come to realize lately how life can change in an instant. You can't just stand by and let things slip past you. You've got to take control. Last night though...I had a moment of doubt about things, but you were there for me."
"You've been there for me many times.", I remind him. "So, what did you prepare for this romantic dinner?" I point to the table where two covered dishes are placed.
"I thought I'd replicate our first date meal.", he smiles.
"Crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and barbecue chips."
"With a little twist. Go ahead and lift the lids while I get our drinks." I lift the lid on one of the plates and then the other. Only the second plate doesn't contain food. On the plate is an oval shaped diamond ring. I gasp and turn back to Christian who's on one knee. "I was going to do this in London, but I couldn't wait any longer. Ana, you bewilder and challenge me like no one else. You've brought me to life and shown me how to love. I know we still have growing to do, yet I want us to do that growing together...as husband and wife." I wipe away a tear as he stands and picks up the ring. "Will you marry me?" When I first met Christian I was sure nothing would ever happen between us, but that before getting to know him and most importantly falling in love with him. I love this man standing before me, and there's only one answer I'm prepared to give him.
"Yes.", I say.