NOTE FROM RIOTTORI: THIS WILL PROBABLY BE MY LAST POST TONIGHT. I'LL TRY TO WRITE MORE THIS WEEK BUT I'M BACK AT WORK SO CAN'T PROMISE ANYTHING. THANKS FOR THE MESSAGES, REVIEWS AND SUPPORT. BEFORE WE BEGIN JUST A RECAP THAT ALICE SIGNED 2 DOCUMENTS - A CONTRACT FOR THE RIGHTS OF HER NOVEL AND THE AGREED NDA. JUST WANTED TO CLEAR UP ANY CONFUSION.

Ana:

"No! That can't be. You can't..." She's battling for words, her confidence dissipating, leaving her alone and vulnerable. Her armor drops. She is naked before me.

It's everything I wanted, or thought I wanted, but seeing her so scared just makes me feel sad. She's like a lost little girl. She is right – I can't be cruel. It's just not me, not the Ana I am comfortable being, not the Ana my husband fell in love with. Alice is truly tainted, ugly all the way through, poisoned with jealousy and hate. I don't want to be like that. I just want her out of our lives.

"What you signed, buried in the 'rights' to your work, allows me to use one piece of equipment on you."

She looks nervously at me, her eyes filling with tears. "I don't want to. Please. Don't hurt me." My sad, hollow laugh at her ironic words echoes around my office.

"I am allowed to use a gag."

Her eyes widen.

"It's a gagging order. You have just signed a legally binding document which my lawyer drew up, preventing you from mentioning our names – mine, Christian's, my children's – indefinitely. That's just in case you reneged on the NDA, which is also legally binding. I have added a clause that prevents you from contacting any one of us."

"You can't...can you?" She looks so unnerved, so unsure.

"I can and I did. It's surprising the power being Mrs Grey wields, Miss Thomas. Oh, and now that I own the rights to "To Catch a King" and have no intention of publishing it, it will never be published."

She opens her mouth to say something but closes it again. Impotent. Powerless. The fight sucked from her.

"Yes, consider yourself gagged. Now get the fuck out of my office and out of our lives."

She obeys, standing on weak legs, looking like a child in her ridiculous trouser suit.

We both look up as my husband bursts through the door.

"Christian," I gasp, a ripple of annoyance passing through me. He must have me or her under surveillance. "What are you doing here?" He's with me in two strides, on my side of the desk, facing her.

"Christian!" She's leaning forward, clutching for him, hoping he'll save her. "She's banned me from seeing you. She forced me to sign a contract."

I can see the path his rage makes, coursing through his veins, clenching his jaw and fists and I'm suddenly frightened for this girl.

"I've got it under control," I say calmly, pulling his wrists to me and unfurling the fists. I grab his head and turn it to mine so I am all he can see. I need him to block everything else out. I need to fill him with reason. "It's under control. She signed the NDA and a gagging order."

I hear his breathing begin to slow, to imitate mine. Soon we are breathing as one.

He leans forward and brushes his lips gently across mine. I don't pull away. I need her to see this, this love my husband feels for me. The love found in great books. Love that lasts a lifetime.

I hear her sharp intake of breath. I will her to stay quiet. My husband could obliterate her in a way that I couldn't.

"Tell her you want a divorce. Tell her you want to be with me." She sounds whiny, nagging. I worry my bottom lip with my teeth. He breaks away from me/

His low laugh is a warning. I brace myself for the wall of words that will follow.

"My biggest regret was meeting you, falling for your tricks. How dare you even stand in the same room as my wife? How dare you compare yourself to her? I can't believe I almost lost her for some cheap imitation. You don't have half the heart, half the grace, half the good of my Ana. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to her. She's the only one for me, always was and always will be. I could destroy you, Alice. You and your mother. But I won't. Just make sure I never lay eyes on you again. Do you understand?" I watch her nod, I watch her pride take a hit, I watch her stumble out of the room. And it's over.

Christian:

No words will express my love for my wife. No words will express what a fool I've been. When I ran into the room, I saw them standing there, both faces turned toward me. My wife, flushed with emotion, radiant. Her, pale and wan – a poor imitation of my wife.

I thought I would do damage to her. She addressed me, told me my wife had banned me from seeing her. I felt the red rage creep in again. If Ana had not restrained me, I don't know what I would have done.

I tell her how I really feel, that she is nothing compared to my wife. I warn her that I can ruin her and tell her I never want to see her again. She runs from the room and I hold my wife to me, breathe her name against her hair, thank her for being strong, for solving the hideous problem I had caused. I never should have doubted her capabilities. She didn't need me here, she had it all under control. Would my wife never fail to surprise me? I swore I would never let that happen again.