Chapter 15

Christian PoV

Once everyone was gone, I had a moment to myself to think. A lot had happened over the past twenty four hours, and I needed to decompress, like Ana said. She had gone to chat with her siblings, and left me to my own devices. I went down to her gym, with her permission of course, and began running on her treadmill.

Ana told me she loved me. She thought of the most romantic and cute way to tell me and then she said it out loud. I was the happiest man in the world at that moment. I was on a mountain top all day. Then the avalanche happened when Reynolds called. I wanted to be angry with him, but I couldn't fault him for only doing what his boss would have wanted.

As I ran, I fantasized about how I would kill Hyde. Ana and I might have to flip for that honor. I wanted him tortured, beaten to a pulp, within an inch of his life. Then brought back to healthy standards only to have to endure the torture again. I never said I wasn't a sadist. And this man did the unthinkable to my Anastasia. He hurt her in one of the worst ways possible, and now he was after revenge due to some twisted idea that she was to blame for him getting thrown in prison.

I did have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that the other prisoners didn't kill him while he was locked up. There are even morals among the thieves and murderers. Arbitrary lines that you do not cross. Raping children is one of them. Perhaps that was why he had his sentence extended by six years. Ana had mentioned he'd gotten into fights. Perhaps he killed prisoners that tried to beat him up for what he did. Perhaps he was tougher than we all thought he was.

Either way, the man was going to die a slow and excruciating death by my and Ana's hands. I'd rot in prison for the rest of time and it wouldn't matter. As long as that fucker was dead. But I wasn't worried about prison time. Given he was already breaking his parole, he was a fugitive, if he attacked, anything I did to him would be considered self-defense. Even more so in Ana's case. She could shoot him in the head point blank and it would still rule in her favor.

I sped up a bit on the treadmill, my thoughts traveling to the other huge topic of the day. Elena was Ana's biological Grandmother. If that wasn't several kinds of fucked up, I didn't know what was. I felt like there were cameras all around me just waiting for the right moment to jump out and tell us we were being punked. A very small part of me wondered if Hyde knew somehow, and put Elena up to that call. But that was just too big a stretch. I knew she'd given up her daughter when she was fifteen. I remember her telling me that when she and I first met.

"You're the same age I was when I got pregnant and gave up a baby. All because I was too excited about drinking and gave it up for some free booze. Nine months later, bam, a baby. You will use condoms always, pet, do you understand?" she'd yelled at me. Her story was meant to scare me into never having kids, and it worked. I still didn't really want them, and Ana couldn't have them anyway, so it was moot to even think about it.

Then the realization hit me. I fucked Ana's grandmother. Ew. She was in her forties when she seduced me, and she was super-hot then, looked like she was in her early thirties. And now, she could easily pull off forty, even though she'd just turned fifty-six. I had known all along that what we did was dangerous. She could have gotten into serious trouble with the law if anyone ever found out.

Her own husband had found out years later, after I was eighteen. He had no idea that it had been going for so many years before. And I remember well what he did to her. It was amazing that she still looked as good as she did after suffering the beatings from her horrid husband.

I owed the woman a lot, but now that I looked at it, she was wrong to do what she did. She preyed on an unsuspecting teenage boy with raging hormones. I didn't know any better, she was so hot, and it was such a relief to release some of my anger. To learn a way to deal with my emotions aside from drinking and getting into fights. My life really turned around at that point.

But now all I could think about was that she was already a grandma when she and I were together. Ana was only a year younger than me, so she'd have been fourteen when Elena first seduced me. I felt dirty, I felt abused and violated. More than I ever had before. Now I understood fully why Elena always kept our tryst a secret. It wasn't for my protection, but her own. She'd be ruined if it got out that she seduced a fifteen year old boy.

I hopped in the shower that was in Ana's gym and rinsed off the sweat quickly. Once I was upstairs, I found Ana in her bedroom, getting ready for bed. She popped a sleeping pill and offered me one before crawling under the covers. "I hope that keeps the nightmares away," she said. I quickly donned my flannel pants and crawled in behind her. I pulled her close and promised I would do all that I could to keep the nightmares at bay. In the morning, I'd have to tell her about Elena.

Hyde PoV (a flashback)

Finally free from that wretched place. Prisons were not built to rehabilitate criminals, they were built to make us more lethal, hate the world, and want nothing but revenge against the people who put us there. I spent the past twenty one years building up my connections on the outside. I had a new identity all ready for me. And that little bitch was gonna pay.

She'd have no idea, but I'd kept up on her over the years. It looked like some unsuspecting über rich couple adopted her, and her siblings. She was living in the lap of luxury while I rotted away in a six by eight prison cell. She wanted it. She wanted what I gave her, and she liked it. I remembered her cries of ecstasy.

She'd walk around in skimpy clothes taunting me all the time. If I hadn't been fucking her mother and half a dozen women at the time, I would have had her way sooner. But that day, the anger got the best of me. The little bitch was jealous that her mother gave birth to another girl, that the baby was gonna take her fire, so she took a pair of scissors and killed her mom! That drugged out whore was my meal ticket. She was high as a kite all the time, but she was pretty and she brought in a lot of money.

I remember she'd have four or five tricks a day. Each of them paying a hundred bucks for a sample of her sweet pussy. Then when she was six or seven months pregnant, the prices increased. It was amazing how many sick fucks would pay hundreds of dollars to fuck a pregnant chick. Up until the day she pushed the baby out, she was making me bank.

Then the little bitch had to go and kill her. I almost killed her myself, but then thought about how much money she'd make me too. I had to sample her for myself.

She was so damn tight. My cock still aches for it now, even twenty years later. I wondered if she would still be so tight now. Only if she wasn't a whore like her mother, but usually, like mother like daughter. If the cops hadn't responded to a noise disturbance call, I'd still have the little whore under my wing, answering to me, and doing as I say. Hell, I could have her lips wrapped around my cock right now if things had gone differently.

I found out she owned a company in Seattle. A big one that had architects and interior designers alike working there. Even her little brother and sister had jobs there. A real family outfit. Well, it was all about to come crashing down around her. I was gonna ruin her, physically, emotionally, and monetarily. She was gonna be working the streets begging for even a five dollar bill for a blow job.

When I arrived in Seattle, I had my new ID and quickly got a job at a sleazy tabloid magazine company. They threw a camera at me and told me to find some rich people to take pictures of, and they'd pay me if the pictures were any good. Simple enough.

I thought I had her when I was at that stupid benefit and she put herself up for auction. Still taking money for favors, I noticed. Then some other red-headed prick had to go and outbid me. Who paid a hundred grand for a dance? He was fucked up. I never was able to get close to her again that night. On to plan B I went.

I tracked the little whore to her office and followed her out one day when she was on lunch break. Her skirt kept catching the wind and giving me a glimpse of those milky thighs. Perhaps I needed a change of plans. She was hot stuff. I could get her addicted to drugs, just like I did her mother, and then turn her out. Hell, she could bring in five hundred bucks a john with that sweet little ass.

Then she met up with some young CEO. They kissed and laughed and were very flirty with each other while they had lunch. I found out later that he was some big billionaire, most eligible bachelor in Seattle, and now he'd been seen with her. Hell, I bet I could get him to pay me a nice big sum to not hurt a hair on little Anastasia's head.

Yeah, I just had to bide my time. She'd pay, he'd pay and I'd win. I always won.

Ana PoV

Christian spent the night at my house after everyone else but Kate and Ethan left. We hadn't heard anything new about Hyde other than the photographer job he got somehow. Apparently Newsie didn't do background checks or fingerprint their new employees.

"Now I'm glad I bankrupted that company," Christian said at breakfast. "Hyde lost his income, though I'll bet they paid him a lump sum for those pictures, so he'll probably be in money for at least a few weeks. I hope we catch him before he runs out."

"He's an alcoholic," I said. "Even if he wasn't given a drop of whiskey while in prison, I'm sure he quickly found himself at the bottom of a bottle when he got out, and has been there ever since. Probably on drugs, too."

"I'll have Welch ask as many dealers as he can find if any of them have sold to Hyde."

"Why would they give up that information?" I asked. "They clam up when cops talk to them."

"Welch isn't a cop for one thing; he's ex-Navy Seal and FBI. And he can be very persuasive when he needs to be." His words were cut off by his phone ringing. "Mother?" he answered. What's going on?"

I waited while he spoke with his mother, trying to cram more food down my throat, though my appetite vanished as of yesterday afternoon when Reynolds called me. He hung up the phone and cursed at the air.

"What is it?" I asked.

"When I mentioned Hyde's false name last night, my mother thought it sounded familiar. When she got home, she went through all her emails and contacts trying to find where the name came from. It was on the guest list from Coping Together. And he'd signed in. He was at the benefit. The one where we met. Apparently he was the other man who was bidding on you for the dance. I was so angry that I wasn't the only one who wanted you, but I never did get to confront the stranger. And now I know that he must have dipped out as soon as the dance started. That fucker!"

My blood ran cold. Again. I wondered if I would ever get warm again. If Christian hadn't been so interested in me, Hyde would have won the auction. Then his hands would have been on me, and I'd have had no clue who he was. Unless he removed the mask of course. "He was there? He knew who I was even then? How the hell did he know all this? There's no way he could have known that I was adopted, name changed to Anastasia Steele, moved to Seattle, and went to that benefit. I had a mask on for god's sake."

"I think his connections go way deeper than we anticipated," Christian replied. I merely nodded in agreement. "Welch is digging, but Hyde has found a way to hide his tracks fairly well." With that, his phone rang again; it was Welch on the line. He put it on speaker for my benefit.

"Welch, you're on speaker. Ana is with me."

"Oh, hello Miss Steele," he greeted. "I have some information on Hyde, sir, ma'am." We waited for him to continue. "The prison was able to divulge to me that when they cleaned out his cell after he was released, they found all kinds of photos of you, Miss Steele. From when you were a kid to just a few months ago. On the back, he'd written lewd phrases like, "die little bitch," or "let a real man show you what it's like," the list goes on, and I'd rather not say them all out loud. It appears that he'd been planning to come after you for some time.

"I was able to speak with a few inmates that knew him and said that he was, and I quote, 'one fucked up son of a bitch.' He'd sing a song that he called little Annie baby, and that's about all he'd do all day when not in his cell, is sing that song and rock back and forth." My stomach rolled. I barely made it to the sink before my breakfast came back up. Christian was right behind me holding back my hair as I retched into the basin.

After several dry heaves, I finally stopped. Christian handed me a glass of water, which I downed, thankfully. "I'm sorry ma'am," Welch said. I hadn't realized he was still on the phone. "I didn't mean to make you ill." Oh god. I blushed beet red. Why didn't Christian hang up before I started vomiting?

"It's alright, Welch. Please continue," I said.

"Well, once he got out, he procured a new ID, as we know. He used it to make his way across the country, picking up odd jobs here and there to make money. But his goal was Seattle. He got hired at Newsie fairly quickly and those photos were taken within a week of him being hired there."

"He was at the benefit, too," Christian told him. "My mother found his name on the guest list."

"Oh, well that explains the tux rental then. This fucker has been all over the damn place. Now that we know, though, it'll be easier to spot him. Easier to keep him from getting close to either one of you."

"Thank you for the update Welch. Keep me posted," Christian said as he disconnected the call.

"I'm not sure how much more of this I can take," I said.

Christian grimaced, looking away from me as if there was something else that I needed to know. "What is it, Christian."

"Listen Ana, there's something you should know. And I'd rather you found out now instead of hearing about it some other way."

"Okay," I replied, confused.

"There's something I have to tell you about Elena."

"Okay," I replied, sitting on the stool again. I didn't like where this was going. What did she have to do with anything?

"You remember how I told you that a family friend introduced me into the BDSM lifestyle?" he began. My mouth dropped open.

"It was her? Elena is the women who… oh my god!" I exclaimed. He nodded solemnly. "I thought it was a friend who was around the same age as you, Christian, not some tramp in her forties. Dear god!"

"I'm sorry I wasn't more forthcoming. I didn't think that her age mattered. What mattered is that she got me to channel my anger differently and really helped turn my life around. If it wasn't for her, I'd probably have gone the same way as the crack-whore. I've told you this, Ana."

"Yes, and that was before I knew that this woman was a pedophile. Before I knew that this woman is my fucking grandmother. Jesus Christ! I can't deal with this right now. I'm going to the office. Do not even think about following me." I hopped off the stool, grabbed my purse and dashed out the door before Christian could follow me. All I could see was red. I was so angry, and hurt and scared, I could hardly see straight.

I jumped in my car and drove to Steele Designs, parking in my private garage and taking the elevator up to my office. Once there, I told my assistant to have any calls from Christian go directly to voicemail and do not under any circumstances let him into my office. She was confused, but agreed.

An hour later, my cell phone had twenty nine missed calls and seventeen text messages. All from Christian, begging me to call him back, begging for my forgiveness. Silly man. He wasn't the one that needed forgiveness. Sure I was pissed that he withheld that bit of information from me, but he wasn't the one I was truly angry at. It was her. The child molesting troll.

A light knock on the door pulled me out of my doldrums. "Miss Steele? There's a woman here to see you. She says her name is Elena Lincoln."