Moving Forward

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, for once I actually want to spend my Sunday at my parents. In fact, I am desperate.

Last night Ana run out of here, she was late for a double date with my brother and Kate. A date, a fucking date. She was just about to tell me about Hyde, when her phone rang, then she was gone. I know I should concentrate on the positives, Ana is talking to me, SIP is back in play. Ana sent me a message last night saying if I still wanted SIP she wouldn't stand in my way. Yes, concentrate on the positives, but I can't, all I can think about is the fact that she went on a date.

Hence the need to be at my parents because Kate and Elliot would be there. I need to know how the date went, even though Kate is longer out for my blood since I broke down in front of everybody. I know she will not miss the opportunity to rub it in my face if the date went well.

Now that plan is shot to hell, all because my mother has decided that this is the day operation ruin Elena Lincoln starts, therefore she's having brunch at the Fairmount with the necessary people. Couldn't she have started this last week, fuck?

I have a pressing matter to attend to at Grey House, as important as it is; I was prepared to put it on hold just to go my parents. God, I was tempted to have her followed except Taylor made it clear when I confronted him about Ana working at SIP, that when it came to her he didn't give a fuck that I signed his pay cheques. This is what happens when fuckers realize they've become indispensable to you. Now my only hope is Elliot. I will invite him over tonight for a few beers; hopefully I can get some information out of him.

I've been here for four hours and the only thing I've done is read the report on Hyde. Hyde's background check raised a few eyebrows, eight assistants in twelve months and none of them were retained by SIP. Welch called three of his former assistants, they all told him Hyde was brilliant to work for, the only problem was all three had given him the same glowing recommendation, word for word.

Welch believed Hyde had told them what to say, why agree unless he had something on them. When Barney sent Taylor an email late Friday night informing him that SIP had offered Ana a job and she'd accepted, he knew he had to speak to her.

Just as Taylor was making his way there Ana called asking him to come to her apartment. When he got there Ana was talking to a distraught Elizabeth Morgan, the head of HR at SIP.

Morgan had begun dating Hyde soon after he joined SIP two years ago. A year into the relationship Morgan had returned home early from visiting her mother in Chicago, when she decided to surprise Hyde only to find him raping is then assistant. When Morgan started dialing for the cops. Hyde calmly showed Morgan videos of the two of them having sex on his laptop. Hyde told Morgan he had nothing to loose if arrested, the implication was clear. Morgan to her eternal shame had given in and Hyde continued to rape assistant after assistant.

Morgan had tried turning Ana down for the job, but Hyde had insisted. Morgan had hoped with the low pay that Ana would turn down the job. She didn't, hence the reason she was at Ana apartment that Saturday morning to warn her not to take the job.

Ana and Morgan had confirmed the teams' suspicions. The plan was simple, find the blackmail material and hope the former assistants would press charges.

Taylor, Welch, and Barney had two weeks before Hyde and Ana went to New York as apparently that was where Hyde planned to have his way with Ana. Hyde in his confidence had told Morgan his plan believing she would say nothing after all she'd said nothing for a year.

The plan looked to be failing as the team could not find the blackmail material, Hyde's apartment had been searched twice while was at work and nothing was found. Then Barney realized that Hyde had access to SIPs' servers from his home laptop. It took Barney less than hour to find the videos. Welch contacted the assistants with the good news, without the videos they saw no reason to keep quiet. The three former assistants had taken it upon themselves to read Hyde's script word for word hoping that someone would realize something was wrong, even though he'd told them to use their own words.

On Wednesday night Hyde received an email asking him if he was missing something, realizing he longer had access to the videos, he soon wrote asking what they wanted, he was asked to meet outside a bar on the outskirts of Seattle. Hyde turned up with a gun but realizing it was 4 against 1 he gave the gun up and was given the beating of his life, nothing life threatening, but the cops still needed ID to identify him after receiving an anonymous tip on where to find him. Unfortunately for Hyde his misery is not over as the warden of the prison he's currently in, is Reynolds older brother. The DA has decided not to charge Morgan as she has decided to become a witness for the prosecution if the case goes to court, which I highly doubt. Whether she will keep her job at SIP is something I've yet to decide.

"What are you daydreaming about?" God, I must have been, if I didn't hear her come in.

"Ana, what a surprise." It takes everything I have to act cool.

"It was either come here or stay at the apartment and plot my revenge against your brother."

"Why what did he do?"

"Setting me up with that God awful friend of his." Well, now I want to kill him.

"I can help you hide the body," she smirks at me.

"I didn't say I want to kill him, killing him just ends the suffering too early."

"That bad?"

"Where do I began. Yes, I was late but so was the idiot. According to Kate, I got there 10 minutes after the idiot and he was already drunk. When I apologized for being late, he said it would all be forgiven as long as we swapped bodily fluids at the end of the night. I left 5 minutes after I arrived. Your brother thought it was funny." It takes my thinking about an acquisition I lost 2 years ago to the tune of 7 million dollars not to crack up laughing, as I have the distinct feeling Ana would not appreciate it. She promptly changes the subject by informing me she brought lunch.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I called Taylor." Of course. "Where is your kitchen?"

"Just past Taylor's office"

"I'll be right back." Elliot Grey is a dead man, he set up the date. But then again it was clearly awful. I shouldn't be happy about that, who am I kidding, that's the best news I've heard all day.

I'm looking at the Seattle skyline when I hear the door open. "You back already."

Christian darling, the voice purrs. She is the last person I want to see. "Elena, what the fuck do you want and how the hell did you get in here." "Darling that's no way to talk to someone that helped you get where you are."

"You loaned me money I paid you back with interest that's as far as your help went."

"What's gotten into you, I find it hard to believe this is really about you hurting some girl."

"How the hell?"

"Your mother darling." God her voice grates on my nerves. "You didn't have to tell your family, I mean who is the girl going to tell, she signed the NDA."

"There was no NDA."

"So you could have paid her off."

"She didn't want money."

"Oh please everybody has a price; you just have to find hers."

"Christian you have the resources to ruin her even if it wasn't about the money." I'm shocked by what I'm hearing.

"So let me get this straight. Even though I hurt a young woman badly enough to need surgery. I should have added to that and ruined her, that's what you are saying."

"Christian you do what is needed to keep her mouth shut. You didn't have to go blubbering to your family and now my salons are taking a hit as everyone noticed your mother and sister don't use my services anymore." Hell, my mother hasn't even started and she's already taken a hit.

"Here I thought you were here worrying about me. Elena what happens to your saloons is longer my concern."

"You own 60 percent, it should concern you."

"If you had read the contract I sent you dissolving our partnership, you would have realized I gave you my percentage. Paid off your loans and also gifted you the building the salons occupy. If they are taking a hit, you could have sold them, if you had signed the contract.

"Well you should have told me that and I wouldn't have shredded the contract." She actually looks contrite. That's a first. "Do you have a copy here I can sign?" Now she's thinking about money, the quicker she signs, the quicker she can sell up.

"Elena you need to get legal representation to help you understand what you are signing before you sign it."

"You just explained, just give it to me."

"Then you have to sign a waiver."

"Sure whatever." I pick up the phone and call my lawyer to bring up the contract.

Elena only reads the first few pages and begins to sign despite warnings from Edwards my lawyer. Edwards informs Elena that the moment she receives the paperwork, everything officially belongs to her. She is beaming as Edwards leaves my office.

"Darling it appears I thought you well after all." Something she said early still bugs me.

"Elena when you said you do what you have to do to keep them quiet. What did you do to keep me quiet?" She thinks about it for a while and knowing she has nothing to loose decides to tell me.

"You were 15, jail was not an option, so I needed you to believe your family would hate you instead of me if you told them. I was not worried about losing my friendship with your mother; in fact I could care less. But after the divorce I realized your mother's friendship kept me in with the elite, even though I no longer had their type of money. Then you made it, who would have thought? Hell, the only reason I gave you the $100,000 was to tie you to me, keep you loyal as I now needed your mother, by this point things with Linc was already difficult, even if he'd never caught us, I knew the divorce was imminent. But then you went and made something of yourself, that's when I realized keeping you in my life meant I could continue to live the life Linc had made me accustomed to. I wasn't sure how I was going to do that at first. Meetings to discuss the saloons weren't good enough, I needed you, it had to be the other way round. But then you panicked at the restaurant when you recognized the waitress as a sub from the club. That's when I saw my opportunity."

I am reeling from what she just revealed, she about to continue when Ana and Taylor walk in. Ana doesn't acknowledge Elena. But Taylor looks murderous. "Mrs. Lincoln, OUT."

"Bye Darling, you know where to find me when you come to your senses," she smirks. Years of keeping my family at a distance, just so Elena could continue to use me.

I Look at Ana and she is furious. "Have you lost your mind?" I smirk at her; she turns to look at Taylor, only to find him smiling from ear to ear. "Did I miss something?"