Ana stumbled out of the bar and onto the sidewalk. She and Mia had had a few too many to drink, but Kate, still trying to redeem herself, had offered to sip on a diet coke and keep an eye out for Christian while they checked out the sights of Las Vegas. So far, he had not been to any of the casinos they had visited.
The drinking had not been the best idea. Seeing as how Christian had intended for her to stay with Sawyer Ana knew she would be gambling with his twitching palm if they did catch up with him. Damn Mia and her persuasive ways. Ana frowned as she remembered how many drinks she had consumed. For some reason, she felt less drunk than the night with Ethan. Maybe she was finally building up her tolerance and becoming less of a lightweight.
Beside her, Kate sighed. "Maybe we should go back to Mia's room. We can't keep you out all night, what with the wedding being tomorrow. I don't think even you could pull off a good hung over bride, Ana."
Mia shook her head enthusiastically at the suggestion. "That is exactly why we need to stay out. Come six tonight, Ana is going to be married to boring Christian who will never let her out like this again. Come on and let's hit up some of these shops!"
Kate glanced at Ana, obviously balancing the draw of shopping in Vegas with her friend's loathe of making clothing purchases. Ana shrugged, establishing her reluctant consent and the three of them began walking towards their next destination.
It was Ana's turn to sigh. It was worse than she would have thought. They were going to take her purse shopping, as though each of them did not have a lifetime supply of purses and wallets at home. Wanting to be a good sport, Ana forced a smile and followed her bridesmaids inside.
After admiring a few items, Kate frowned and reached for her phone. When she looked at the screen her face turned a sick color of white. God, what is it now?
Ana held her breath, hoping that Christian had sent the text. Kate looked up and met her eye before closing the distance between them. "Mia, I am taking Ana outside to get some air," she called from across the room. Mia was too busy scrutinizing a leather handbag to do anything but nod in response.
"What is it, Kate?" Ana could tell that her otherwise confident friend was riled. Seeing it happen twice in the same night was like getting struck by two lightning bolts back to back.
"Um... okay don't kill me but this whole thing just got worse." Kate had enough sense to look ashamed, but Ana just wanted answers. She gestured for Kate to continue. "I never told Ethan about the pictures, but I thought that he should know that you were getting married in Vegas, since, you know, you guys were a thing." She gulped. "Or so I thought..."
Ana went numb. "What are you saying, Kate?"
"What I am saying is that I invited him to your wedding since he was driving back to Washington and this wasn't too out-of-the-way. I thought if Christian was forcing you to get married maybe Ethan could help you out of it. After all, he was the only one who could help you after the break up."
Fuck, fuck, fuck! "Kate, call him and tell him not to come right now. If Christian were to see him before we can talk I don't know what would happen." If Christian had been drinking, there was no telling what would go down.
Kate bit her lip. "Ana, he is already here. He texted me that he just checked into his hotel room and that he is going to take a shower before he goes out. What do you want me to do?"
Ana groaned. Could this night get any worse? She hadn't planned on telling Ethan about the misunderstanding because he would never let her live it down. Plus, if Kate still had the pictures he would insist on seeing them. Talk about an embarrassing situation.
Suddenly, Ana had an idea. "Kate text him and find out what room he is in. We can meet him there and keep him from going out tonight. Plus, security doesn't know where he is staying, or that he is even in Las Vegas, so we won't have to worry about them." If security got a hold of them, they would have to go back to Christian's room and then Ethan would be wandering the streets of the city unaware.
Kate pondered the idea and slowly nodded before typing the text to Ethan. Once they got the room number, Ana and Kate went in to find Mia. The girl was surrounded by sales people who obviously worked on commission and could smell a good client a mile away.
With a minimal amount of protest, they were able to drag Mia away from the counter and fill her in on what was happening. Not surprisingly, she was all for preventing Ethan from coming in contact with Christian. She had grown up with the Control Freak and knew more about his fighting days than any of them.
Thanks to Kate, Ethan had booked a room in the same hotel, so walking in was nothing short of a panic attack. Ana thought she saw Taylor a few times, but it turned out just to be upper level casino security. Amazingly, they made it to Ethan's floor without anyone being the wiser.
The night out with Elliot made Christian feel a little better. Getting to spend time with his brother was important and he should find more time to do it. The booze had helped a little too, so instead of heading back to Elliot's hotel room like he had planned, Christian decided that he needed to go back and see Ana.
Forcing her to stay in the hotel with Sawyer had been stupid. As much as he hated to admit it, if he would have let her go out with Kate and Mia it was unlikely that she would have acted out. Kate had a good head on her shoulders, though he would never give her credit for it out loud.
He made it back to the room at around 9 am, fully anticipating to wake Ana up with a kiss and maybe some wedding morning sex. He inserted his key card and opened the door to find Sawyer and Taylor on their phones. He frowned at the papers lying around and the open laptops.
"What is going on in here?" he stepped over the printer that was putting through a fax.
Sawyer looked at Taylor to respond. "Mr. Grey, we have been trying to call you all night. There have been several unanticipated developments." He paused, so Christian scowled until he continued. "Mr. Kavanagh left California last night and has been traced by the team to this hotel. We are currently trying to determine which room he is in."
Christian's blood went cold. The fucker is here? The look of Jason's face said there was more to be told. "Ms. Steele alluded Sawyer last night. She turned off her phone, but we sent men down to Ms. Kavanagh's room and Ms. Grey's room and there was no sign of her. She called me from Ms. Grey's phone at around midnight, but we were unable to get an exact location on her cellular since you do not have it wired."
Christian slammed his fist onto the nearest table, causing it to dent and buckle. "Sir, when I spoke to Ana, she said that she would meet you at the ceremony at six tonight. She still wants to go through with the wedding, though she did ask if you intended to. I assured her that you did."
I told her that I would always love her. Why does she keep doubting me? It was true; even though that fucker was in town, all he wanted to do was throw Ana over his shoulders and march her to the chapel. Make no mistake, he would punish her for her antics, for the pain she was causing him, but he still wanted her.
"Find out what room he is in and I will pay him a visit. Send the rest of the team out to search for Ana." Christian ran his hand through his hair and felt his hand twitch with impatience. Besides this movement the room was still. Taylor quietly gave the orders over his phone and watched his email for an update about Ethan's room.
He hung up and glanced at Christian. "Sir, he is in room 487."
That was all the information Christian needed. He exited as quickly as he came, this time with Taylor hot on his trail. He considered taking the stairs to help with his anxiety, but admitted to himself that the elevator would be quicker, given they were staying in the penthouse of the hotel.
The doors opened and both men entered in a hurry. Thankfully, within minutes they were on the fourth floor. Christian ran down the hallway and stopped in front of room 487. He thought about trying to break in, but decided against it given the fact that it was likely reinforced with steel.
He gave several solid bangs on the barrier, effectively alerting his presence to everyone in the surrounding rooms. After a minute, he heard Ana's voice on the other side. "Who is it?"
Christian saw red. "Ana, open the God damned door or I am going do it!"
He heard her speaking to someone and then the lock clicked. Christian slammed against the door, creating a wide means of entrance for himself and Jason. Christian was in a different state of mind. All he would think about was killing Ethan, to make him pay for what he had done. He scanned the room and relaxed only a fraction when Ethan was nowhere in sight.
Instead, Mia and Kate stood next to the bed and Ana remained by the door, eyes wide. "Where is he?" Christian rumbled at her.
Ana took a small breath. "Christian, we need to talk. Don't get too worked up until you know what is going on."
That tipped Christian back into a rage. "Until I know what? That you were fucking Ethan on our wedding day? Jesus, this is the reason you were supposed to stay in the room." Christian slammed the door shut and glared down at her, not caring that Mia and Kate were protesting his angry display of force. The only thing he cared about stood in front of him.
"I was willing to do it, Ana. I can keep you under security so you won't be tempted to cheat again. I'll forgive what happened before. If that is what it takes I will do it, but how could you be with him today?" His gut was twisting. Suddenly, he heard the shower turn off. He had not realised that it was running until then.
"Is he fucking in here?" Not waiting for an answer, Christian bolted for the bathroom door, failing to make contact with it just as Ethan stepped out, drying off his hair with a towel.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Apparently, Christian's voice had reached past the four walls of the living area. Christian made a growling noise and punched Ethan in the stomach. He beat him to the ground before Ethan had a chance to react.
Ana screamed and rushed to pull Christian off of Ethan, but Taylor beat her to it. Ethan was in pretty good shape and, under normal circumstances, could have likely given Christian a run for his money, but he had been taken by complete surprise.
Taylor managed to pin Christian to the wall, but it did not stop him from continuing to threaten Kate's bother. The look in his eyes spoke volumes for what he thought had been going on. How did I let this happen?
Ana tentatively walked up to Christian. She watched as his eyes darted from her to Ethan, who was slowly getting up with the help of Kate and Mia. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Christian, there is nothing going on between me and Ethan, period. We have only ever been friends. The pictures were taken during the week that we were broken up, but even then we were just friends."
Christian narrowed his eyes at her. "One of them was of the night you told me he was going to be gone. That was the only way I'd let you stay at that fucking apartment and you know it," he spat.
Ana shook her head. "I thought he was going to be gone, but he came back early. All we did was watch a movie and play cards. I'll admit some of the photos look bad, but the worst ones were of the morning at the fraternity house. If you had doubts then, you should have asked me about it."
Ethan groaned from the bed. "This is about the fraternity house? Fuck, Christian, I told you nothing happened." Seeing Ethan scowl was a first, but if anyone had a reason to be mad it was him. Ana gave him a sympathetic look before turning back to Christian.
Taylor had released him, so Christian now stood on his own. For once, he seemed to be at a loss for words. It was Ana's turn to scowl at him. "How could you think that I would cheat on you? You should know by now how much I love you."
Christian gave her a sheepish look and shrugged. "Sorry," he said.
"Well, sorry is not going to help Ethan. We need to take him to get checked out."
Taylor cleared his throat. "I have already called the paramedics and they are on their way." The look he gave Ana was pure gold. Obviously, Christian was not the only one who suspected her of infidelity.
"Um... sorry, Ethan," Christian muttered. Ethan rolled his eyes before laughing and then wincing.
"Congratulations. If I don't make it to the wedding. I hope you understand." He attempted to stand up, but decided not to. "For your gift I am getting you marriage counseling to work on communication because you guys are this close to ending up on Jerry Springer."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Ethan you can't be that hurt if you are back to making awful jokes."
Christian took a step forward and tilted Ana's chin so that their eyes met. "What do you say, baby? Do you want more adventures like this with me?"
"Forever," she said. "Only minus the last half hour. Let's never do this again." The room resounded with agreement.
Christian laughed and kissed her. "Then I guess we have a wedding to prepare for."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There were a few people who wanted to see this cheating issue resolved and I agree that it needed to happen in this chapter, although with Ana and Christian there is always some kind of drama, so more conflict is to come (along with some sweet moments). Please let me know if you liked it and I hope to update soon.