NOTE FROM RIOTTORI: THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS, SUPPORT AND IDEAS. I'M SO PLEASED YOU GUYS LIKED THE TWIST. THANK YOU ALSO FOR THE MESSAGES AND COMMENTS THAT MAKE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD. I REALLY NEED THEM AFTER WRITING THIS STORY! I THOUGHT I'D INJECT SOME ACTION IN, SEEING AS MOST OF THE STORY HAS BEEN SLOW-BURNING PAIN! LOL! THANKS FOR ENJOYING THE RIDE WITH ME.
THIS WILL BE MY LAST POST TODAY (AND I THINK IT'S MY 3RD BUT HEY, WHO'S COUNTING?) I'M FEELING A LITTLE DRAINED BUT I WILL WRITE MORE TOMORROW. ;)
Christian:
I race home, speeding the entire way. I almost had Taylor drive me, scared that the anger that was coursing through my veins would blur my vision. This must be what a blind rage feels like.
I pull up to the house, the gravel scattering under the wheels. I jump out of the car and run to the house, where my wife is standing, leaning against the doorway, waiting for me.
"Ana." She turns before I can read her expression and she leads me through to the living room. I see the manuscript on the table, waiting for us. The enemy has infiltrated the home.
I rake both hands through my hair and begin pacing. How had I allowed myself to be played like this? God, I really thought she was just like Ana. How wrong I had been!
"We're going to have to act fast," Ana says, her voice calm and clear. I look at her, feel gratitude flood through me. She said 'we'. "I contacted Laura. She's the only other person who has read the manuscript at our company but we don't know if other people have got their hands on it."
"Is it bad?" I ask. She looks at me.
"It's...detailed. She has changed the names – you are now Mr Sebastian Green. She's got a sense of humor, that one!" I can tell she's furious, but controlling it. "And I'm Hannah."
I blink. "You're in it?"
She nods. "I'm so sorry, Ana." This must be utterly devastating for her, humiliating to have to read about my infidelity in black and white. What would this do to the family? Had I single-handedly sullied the Grey name? I hit my head with the flat of my hand.
Ana crosses in front of me and picks up the offending pages that have caused so much damage.
"Here," she says, thrusting it at me. "Read it."
Warily, I take the manuscript, my thumb obscuring Alice's name in bold.
My wife is sitting, watching me. I have been silent this entire time, reading, while the flames of hatred licked through me, smoldering. She tricked me. It was all a ploy, an act to get me. To catch her king, as the novel is called.
It's written from the perspective of a girl called Alicia, a waitress at a restaurant. She sees Sebastian Green, a wealthy businessman and his wife, Hannah, having dinner and decides to take him from her.
I shake my head in disbelief. How had I ever thought Alice was anything like Ana? She is descriptive in her pursuit of me, how she had acted like Ana in order to rip me away from her. I close my eyes and hold my head. I'd put Ana in danger with my actions.
"Read it," she commands.
I continue, turning each page. It's all in there – our first kiss, our date, her reaction to the room. Oh, God. If this ever got out, the damage this would do.
I start to feel physically sick when I read on, read about their first visit to The Room. Ana has just been exposed to this, hate on a page.
"This didn't happen." I say.
"Didn't it?" Her voice snaps at me, bites at me.
"No, Ana. None of this happened. It's all lies."
"Why should I believe you Christian? Why should I believe anything you say? The first bit's accurate. It's just like you described it."
"She's lying about The Room. We never went in there, I promise."
"You're just full to the brim with promises and apologies, aren't you, Christian?"
I don't respond.
"How does it feel?" she pokes at me with her words. "How does it feel to know it was all a charade? All an act?"
No words will express how I feel so I keep silent.
"READ!" she shouts. And I obey.
When I finish, when I have turned the last page, I look up. Her expression is unreadable but she's still watching me.
"What do you think? Quite the little story teller, our Alice! I especially like the ending – when Hannah has her break-down. That was fun to read!"
"Ana..."
"Just don't." She sounds tired again, drained. She takes a deep breath and begins, in a new voice, officious and strong. "We only have one option. I'm going to have to buy the book."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I shout, my fury spilling out.
"Listen, Christian. Please. I'm never going to publish it but I need to have the rights so that no-one else can publish it. This could be huge, especially as she can claim that it's based on real people, real events. Lots of editors will want to publish it. Sex sells, believe me. Don't you see? We can't ever let this get out. And because she didn't...sign the NDA, she can change the names to our names and we can't do anything about it. She's warning me Christian, and getting wonderful revenge all at once. You really underestimated her."
"No, I overestimated her. I thought she was good like you. But there's no-one like you." She doesn't respond to that.
"Now, this doesn't stop her going to the gossip mags." She sighs, heavily. I immediately think of Teddy and Phoebe, them reading about their parents' sex lives spilled over the news, uncovered for all to see. The Sub/Dom aspect, they'd never understand. The betrayal of their mother, they'd never forgive. "We need to get her to sign the NDA."
"How do we do that?" I ask, my mind whirring.
"We have two options. I think that she's motivated by money. What do you know about her for sure? How similar are Alice and Alicia?"
"I don't know."
"What?"
"I don't know much about her."
Her mouth drops open in shock. "Don't tell me you didn't do a background check."
I shake my head and she copies me, hers showing incredulity. She sighs again. "In the book, she writes that Alicia lived with her mother in a cramped house and craved the luxurious lifestyle. You could probably pay her off."
"NO! I'm not crawling to her, begging her to sign."
"We don't have much choice. Our aim is damage limitation. Christian, we can't let this get out. There's another option but...I don't think you're going to like it..."