Ana stepped out of the steam and curled her toes into the plush bathroom rug. The hotel room had reeked of extravagance, but Christian had not seemed to notice. She smiled as she thought about the way he had swipped a bottle of wine from the mini bar, only to look up and give her a satisfied grin. It should be taken as a sign: only the most luxurious of hotels would carry wine that would meet that maniac's standards.
She ran her hand over the mirror to clear the fog away, but before she could finish the job she felt her stomach complete a full flip-flop motion. Panicking, she rushed to the toilet just in time to lose her lunch and, most likely, a majority of her breakfast.
What is going on with me? I just started to feel like I kicked this thing and now I'm back to puking? Ana flushed the toilet and reached for the toothbrush she had kept next to the sink. This was defiantly not going to help her tempt Christian back into bed.
She choked on some toothpaste as a morbid thought occurred to her. Could she possibly be pregnant? All of the kinky fuckery could have caused several pregnancies by now. She held her hand against her stomach and looked down at the flat surface. No, she had gotten that birth control shot at the hotel when Leila was still on the loose.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she went back to brushing her teeth and contemplating what could be wrong. After tossing out several other options, Ana determined that the stress of the past few weeks must taken their toll on her physically.
She slipped into the cute outfit that Christian (or more likely, Taylor) had picked out for her and gave herself one final assessment in the mirror. It was a black dress that clung to all of her curves and the right side of the material had a slit that showed off way more than she would have normally dared. The matching shoes had several layers of thin straps that wrapped around her ankles. Hopefully, Christian would find her attire as pleasing as she did.
As she exited the bathroom she could hear Christian talking on the phone in the living room. He was speaking in a loud, even tone and given the fact the connecting door was left open she could not help but overhear his portion of the conversation.
"Yes, I want to know everything. Find that fucker and keep tabs on him." There was a small pause in the conversation and Ana held her breath, hoping to find out what was going on. Christian gave an exasperated sigh and she knew he had begun pacing.
"Do not light up on the security back home, either. I know him and I don't think he sent the email, so that means that we could be dealing with two people." A few more paces and Ana could hear the sound of a wine bottle being opened.
Ana remained still, unsure of whether she should reveal herself or try to find out more. It seemed so out of character for Christian to turn to alcohol when things went badly, but maybe that was something he did that she had never known about. How well could she really know him? After all, they had only been dating a few months. Her concerns were interrupted by Christian's menacing growl.
"I am not telling her anything. I love her. We are going to get married and put all of this shit behind us, understand Jason? Now go do the job that I pay you for."
Crap! He is coming in here! Ana knew that there was no time to play innocent; it would be obvious that she had heard every word of the conversation, so instead she made the first move. Christian had almost reached the threshold when she called to him from where she stood.
"Baby, what was that about?" Ana hoped that she sounded nonchalant as he met her in the room. It was dark, so she could not make out Christian's expression. He put his hand on the small of her back and brought her closer to him.
"Forget about it, Ana. All of that shit just makes me glad that you are here with me and that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together." His words could have melted her heart, but his body remained stiff and his tone sounded so formal and distant.
She switched on the lights so she could look him in the eyes. Not expecting to see him in such a state, she gasped. His tie was askew, his hair looked wild and his eyes held a haunted expression. He looked utterly lost.
"What is going on, Christian? If we are going to get married we need to tell each other everything, remember?" Apparently, her words struck a chord with him because he snapped out of his stance long enough to give her a glare.
"Since when are you telling me the truth, Ana? You can get off of that high horse of yours any time now," he spat at her. Taken aback at his cruel words, she did not know who to respond. What the hell is he talking about?
"You are still made about me lying about the pictures? If we can't move past something like that, then how will this marriage ever work, Christian? I love you and you need to have some faith in me." The room filled with silence and Christian gave her the most unnerving, unwavering gaze.
"Those pictures speak a thousand words, baby. I did trust you, Ana, and look what happened," he choked. "You lied to me so that you could spend time with that fucker. Well, I'm not letting that happen again, so you better be prepared for this marriage with that in mind."
Ana's head was spinning as she watched him take one last swig of wine and walk out of the room. "Where are you going, Christian?" she asked, following him into the living room and watching in horror as he opened the hotel room door. Without answering, he slipped outside and within seconds Sawyer appeared.
Ana did not wait for Sawyer to give her an apologetic look. She grabbed her purse and tried to run after Christian. She had almost made it past the guard dog when he grabbed her gently by the elbow.
"Ms. Steele, I must request that you remain in the room until Mr. Grey returns. He has instructed me to wait with you here." If looks could kill, Ana would have done Sawyer in with her glare. Surprised by the intensity of her reaction, he allowed her to wrench free from his grasp.
"Don't give me that shit again, Sawyer. You might be good company but no way am I waiting around for Mr. Grey again. The last time this happened I was trapped in an apartment for an eternity, if you remember correctly." Though unsure of how to respond, Sawyer gave her a glance that held some form of empathy.
Ana put her hand to her head and leaned against the wall. "Could you get me some water? I think that I am feeling a little dizzy." Sawyer nodded and retreated to the full on-suite kitchen to get a glass for her. It hadn't been a lie; Ana felt like hell. But it did give her a chance to slip out of the room and catch the elevator that had appeared most conveniently to aid in her escape.
Christian sat at the bar and threw back his fourth martini. "Damn, so much for a crazy bachelor party. You are making my job as the best man way too easy," Elliot said from one seat over. "Soon you will be so smashed that you won't even remember tonight."
As part of the surprise wedding for Ana, Christian had arranged for both of their families to come to Vegas to be a part of the ceremony. His parents and her mother would be landing at the airport in the morning and Ray was driving and due to meet them tomorrow afternoon.
As it stood, Mia, Kate and Elliot had caught flights this morning and had intended on taking the bride and groom out for one last night of "freedom," although this bachelor party had been planned against Christian's will. It was only after Mia's insistence that he agreed to spend the night with Elliot and leave Ana to the ladies.
Unfortunately, the night was not going as planned. He was supposed to bring Ana down to dinner over an hour ago and hand her over to the girls there, but he couldn't stand being alone with her that long with all of these issues between them. He was thankful that he had thought to instruct Sawyer to remain in the room with Ana rather than letting her go wild with Kate and Mia because at this point there was no way he would trust her alone.
He felt his phone vibrate again in his pocket as he ordered another round for him and Elliot. It had been going off nonstop for the past hour, but Christian was not in the mood to talk about feelings with Ana. Nope, tonight was going to be about him drinking away the pain.
Christian smirked at Elliot. The guy was great to have around in a time of crisis, that was for sure. He was funny, and getting funnier with every drink, and he didn't ask too many questions about what was going on with him and Ana.
He groaned as his mind wandered back to Ana. What the hell am I going to do about that? He chewed his olive garnish and thought about his options once more. He had told Jason that he was going to play it cool, but that was pretty much out the window. When Ana had started laying into him about honesty he had totally lost it.
And she deserved it. She is the one who cheated.The alcohol helped to keep his rage under control, but just barely. Unlike some, alcohol never made him an angrier person. Instead it had a calming effect that he craved right now.
He had order Jason to have someone locate and follow Ethan, though he was not entirely sure why. Christian was convinced that the email was not sent by Ethan because it was too much of a change in character. Ethan might be a back-staber and a liar, but it didn't seem likely that he would flaunt his sleeping with Ana. If he wanted to rub it in he could have just fessed up that morning at the fraternity house.
No, the person who had sent the emails was more cynical, but trying to wrap his mind around the issue was making his head hurt. The liquor was making it harder to think clearly, so Christian abandoned trying to figure the mess out and just reached for his next cocktail. Elliot was watching him closely and smiled as their eyes met. Taking his own drink in hand, he raised it to meet Christian's, though since he had been drinking just as much it took a few times before the glasses clinked together.
"To Christian Grey!" he announced loudly, catching the attention of several people nearby. "And to making this a night to remember!"
A few onlookers raised their glasses to the toast. Christian had to smile and let out a barking laugh. What had he gotten himself into?