HI EVERYONE, HAPPY THURSDAY
I STILL CANT BELIEVE HOW MANY REVIEWS AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK I HAVE FROM THIS STORY SO THANK YOU TO EVERY PERSON WHO HAS REVIEWED
I HAVE POSTED ANOTHER SHORT STORY CALLED "From Seattle to New York and back again" IT WILL ONLY BE LIKE 6 OR SO CHAPTERS BUT SO FAR PEOPLE SEEM TO LIKE IT.
ALSO I HAVE BEEN MADLY UPDATING THE GREY CROSS GENERATION SO CHECK THAT OUT BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT OF DRAMA IN IT LOL
ON WITH THIS STORY, ONCE AGAIN THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS
CHEERS
LORNA X
P.S...HERE COMES THE DRAMA ;)
ANAS POV
We arrive back at Escala 7am on Saturday morning.
I have just had one of the best weeks of my life. Getting engaged to Christian was the second best day of my life, topped only by the day Phoebe was born. I am truly touched that he had my mothers ring copied, he told me that on our first night in the Caribbean he had a call from his jeweller saying the ring was finished and so Christian had it shipped over night.
I can't wait to start planning the wedding. I know it's only going to be small but still, I am excited. Before Christian Grey came into my life I never thought I would ever get married and to be honest, I didn't want to, but Christian was a game changer.
When we walk back into the penthouse Christian carries a sleeping Phoebe to her room, Gail heads to the kitchen and Taylor goes to disappear to, well where ever he disappears too but I stop him
"Jason can I talk to you about something please?"
"Sure, what's on your mind?" He stands with his hands clasped behind his back and it reminds me of how my father used to stand. You can take the man out of the military but you can't take the military out of the man.
"Well I've been thinking of something...as you know Christian and I are getting married next month and I know he's asked you to be one of his groomsmen...but I want to steal you away from him if I can"
"I don't understand?"
"Well...I'll be needing someone to walk me down the aisle and you have been like an uncle to me so I was wondering if you...would give me away" he swallows several times and when he answers me his voice is a bit croaky.
"It would be my honour, no, my privilege to walk you down the aisle Annie" I pull him into a hug which he returns just as Christian walks into the room
"Should I be worried?" He smirks at both of us
"I just asked Jason to walk me down the aisle and he said yes, so you are going to need another groomsman" his eyes soften when I tell him I have someone to walk me down the aisle
"Not a problem, I'm such a fucking charming guy I'm sure someone will stand up with me... Elliott will be my best man of course and then I was going to have Luke and Taylor but with Taylor out I can just ask...ummm..." God bless him. My heart bleeds for him that he doesn't really have any friends. Almost 30 years old and all he has for male bonding time is his brother, long time security chief and his future brother in law. It's sad.
"May I make a suggestion Christian?" Taylor pipes up. I can see that he is moved by watching Christian try in vain to think of someone else that he trusts to stand by him. Christian gives him a nod of the head and I walk over and wrap my arm around him. He looks so lost right now
"Well it's a little unconventional seeing as normally it's groomsMEN but there is another person who has always had your back, always treated you like a normal person and who I'm pretty sure, if asked, would walk into the gates of hell themselves for you"
"Who?" We both say at the same time.
"Ros...and I mean come on let's face it, Ros has bigger balls than most men in the country" I look up at Christian to gauge his reaction and I see that he's smiling.
"She does have my back doesn't she. Well ok then that's settled, Taylor will give you away, and Elliott, Ros and Luke will stand by me" he seems chuffed at the idea that he has another person who he can count as a friend to his growing collection.
An hour later we have finished breakfast and Christian and I are sat down at the breakfast bar, both of us have note pads taking down wedding ideas. We will tell the rest of his family tonight at the fundraiser for the hospital because they should all be there.
Just as I am joking with him that we should give out floggers and handcuffs as wedding favours a very angry looking Taylor walks in
"Sir, Mark the doorman just buzzed me in my apartment, it seems Mrs Lincoln is downstairs causing quite a scene because the codes have been changed and Mark won't let her up without your permission" I fucking knew that bitch would show up sooner or later. Christian looks at me and I can see he is angry that Elena is causing a scene.
"It's your call Ana, what should we do?"
We need to find out what she has on us and now is the perfect time.
"Send her up. I'll hide in the hallway with Taylor and you try to see what she has on us. If she sees me she won't say anything but we both know she is going to try and make you see sense and get rid of me. If at any time I feel like I should walk out I will...but I'm warning you both, if she insults Phoebe, in any way shape or form, I can't be held responsible for what I may do"
I follow Taylor into the hallway and only about 2 minutes pass before we hear the ping of the elevator and the clicking of high heels across the marble. When I hear her voice I get the same feeling of dread I always do.
"Christian darling, you need to get that doorman fired he said that my access was no longer granted to the penthouse, can you believe that?" She must go to touch him because judging by what he says next he's not happy
"Don't come any closer, Elena. What do you want?"
"I came to talk about your grasp on control, or more like the utter lack of it. Really Christian, having your tongue down a subs throat while the press took pictures, have you lost your mind?"
"It's none of your fucking business what I do or whom I do it with Elena"
"That girl is no good for you Christian, I told you before she is nothing but a gold digging whore"
"DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE MOTHER OF MY CHILD LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!" Taylor and I both flinch because he has shouted so loud. Thank god Phoebes room is in the other side of the apartment or he might have woken her up.
"How can you be sure the child is even yours? You need to let this infatuation you have with this girl go Christian. You need order and control and that girl and her child will only hinder your life! You are the master of your universe and you will lose everything if you continue on this pathetic path! Get rid of her and I can have a sub who can attend to your every need by this evening"
"Anastasia and my daughter are my world and with out them I have nothing. I suggest you leave now Mrs Lincoln before I throw you out by your black roots" Christian growls at her and I can tell just by the tone of his voice that he is at breaking point. I go to walk out to him but Taylor tells me to wait another minute.
We hear Elena sigh dramatically and then a little bit of rustling
"I didn't want to have to stoop this low Christian but you are giving me no choice" the apartment goes eerily silent and when Christians broken voice speaks through the silence I can actually feel the fear in it.
"How...I...I don't understand...how is this even possible? I didn't...that can't be me...I...that's photoshopped Elena"
"Oh darling you and I both know that it is not...I always knew that night would pay off for me at some point...you have three days to pack little Miss Steele up and send her off to parts unknown...the child as well. Did you really think you can be a father? The mere thought of it turns my stomach, you would fuck up a child even more than you are fucked up. Liked daddy, like daughter I suppose"
"Get out...get out now Elena" it's almost a whisper but I hear him
"I have to be going anyway I'm meeting your mother for lunch. Goodbye darling and remember, three days or that photo will be all over the internet...or maybe I will just send a copy to Grace...I'm sure she would be proud...bye for now darling"
We hear the clicking of her heels and then the ping of the elevator letting us know that the witch has gone.
When Taylor and I walk back into the great room the look on Christians face stops me in my tracks.
His face is ashen and he has silent tears streaming out if his eyes. I bolt across the room and wrap my arms around him where he breaks down in full on sobs.
I pull him back to me so his head is cradled in my chest and I try everything I know to try and calm him but it's no good. I've never seen a man make such heart wrenching sounds. What the fuck happened? Taylor discretely leaves the room so I can focus on Christian.
It takes another ten minutes for him to stop crying and for him to finally sit back up. He looks so defeated. He grabs my hand and places it over his heart. When he talks it comes out in juddering breaths
"P...p..please forgive me...I...I..didn't know...I swe swear to you baby...please Don't leave me..,, oh god I'm so sorry"
"Christian please just tell me what's wrong? I'm not going to leave you baby I love you. Now please just tell me, you're scaring me"
He gives me a kiss on the forehead and then leans down and picks up a picture that had fallen on the floor. He hands it to me and then turns his back, hanging his head.
When I see what is on the picture I feel like passing out. I have to fight down the bile that rises and it takes everything in me to not bolt out the door, not to get away from Christian,but to get away from my past that has reared it's ugly head.
The picture is of me. I am face down on a bed with my hands and ankles tied to the frame. A ball gag is strapped around my face and even on the picture you can see the tears that are running down my face.
Stood at my side, with the cane in his hand ready to strike, is Christian.
He's wearing a blind fold and around his neck is a collar. Attached to that collar is a chain and that chain is attached to what I assume is the person taking the pictures wrist.
I know when this picture was taken. The night my feet were burned by Elena, who I would bet my life, is the person who has taken the picture.
"Christian come here please" I ask him but he doesn't budge from his spot where he is leaning against the wall with his head in his hands.
"Christian! Sit down now!" The force of my voice snaps him out of where ever he was and he walks over and sites next to me. I notice that he won't make eye contact and he hasn't touched me. I move over and sit on his lap with my arms around him. He very gingerly wraps his arms around me and then he relaxes and squeezes me tight.
"Christian...I'm not going to insult you by asking if you knew you were hitting me...but how did you end up there that night? That was the night Elena burned my feet" he sucks in a gallon of air when I say this and starts saying no no no over and over again. He try's to get me of his lap but I sit firm.
"Christian Grey sit still for fucks sake! I am not going anywhere and I'll be damned if I let you leave either...now..start from the beginning and tell me what you remember of that night"
He closes his eyes and gets a look on his face like he's thinking of something nasty, which thinking about, he is.
"I was 19 and I came home from college for summer break...Elena called me and said that I had to meet her at her house on Friday instead of Saturday which was what we normally did...it was late when I got there...like 9 or 10pm...she met me at the door which was not normally what she did, I used to have to go to her dungeon, strip and kneel but she met me at the door... I had already shown an interest in wanting to be a Dom so she said that as a treat because I had passed my mid terms with flying colours that she was going to teach me the art of the cane...she said that I had to trust my instincts and that she was going to blindfold me and make me listen to music on her iPod...she said if I could not see and couldn't hear that I had to rely on my instincts...I asked her if she was subbing and she said no, a friend had volunteered to help her"
"It was not unusual for her to bring a third person into our scenes and more often than not it was a woman called Veronica...Elena once tried to bring another man into her dungeon but I said no men and that it was a hard limit so she called Veronica and she must have told her that I didn't want to do anything with a man but Veronica was a nasty piece of work so she...she...I would rather not tell you but let's just say that after what she did to me I may as well have been with a man"
"Elena collard me and then blind folded me. She led me down to her dungeon by a chain on my neck. She put earbuds in me and it was so loud I jumped a little. It was some heaven metal song and all it sounded like was screaming. She guided me into the room And arranged me next to the bed...she placed a cane in my hand and with the other one I tried to reach out to where, what I though was Veronica, was laying on the bed but Elena yanked my hand away and then slapped me around the face. She didn't say anything but she guided my hand that had the cane in it down...down...your body."
"I felt your head and then your back and when I got to your behind she stopped...I thought it was Veronica and I had so much anger at that bitch that I didn't hold back...I remember bringing the cane down six times and then Elena grabbed my hand. She led me out the room and removed my blindfold and earbuds. She said I had done really well and that I was to go home and come back tomorrow."
"I didn't know it was you Ana I swear to god and if I had there is no way on earth I would have hit you...I thought it was Veronica and the week before she...she had" I put my fingers on his lips to stop him. I don't want to know the details of what I am guessing was him being raped.
"This changes nothing between us Christian. I love you, always have and always will. Elena had her claws in you so deep and this just proves what a sick and twisted bitch she really is" I kiss him softly and I feel the tension leave his shoulders
"You're so strong Ana, after what I just told you and you're still here...I love you so much and I'm so very sorry baby"
"Christian, don't apologise for other peoples crimes. At least we know what we are working against now, so we can plan on what we need to do. We have three days, with the resources you have at you're disposal it will be a piece of cake"
"I will get Barney to hack into her computers to see if she has any files and Welsh must know someone who can break into her house and search through it without her knowing" he tells me with a determined look in his face.
"I'm going to call my lawyers tomorrow and start proceedings to take control of Esclava out of Elena's hands. Can you get your lawyer to start the paperwork dealing with your portion of the business"
"Sure baby...I can't wait to make you Mrs Grey" he kisses me passionately but I pull away. Something he said is bothering me and it needs to be addressed.
"Christian, what happened to Veronica?"
"I don't know...she was never part of our scenes again because after that weekend I told Elena I wanted to be a Dom and she started training me"
"I want her found and brought to justice Christian...you are helping me deal with my past demons, meaning Nathan Brown, let me deal with yours" he nods his head slowly and kisses me again.
Three days.
We have three days to destroy the bitch.
We just have to get through tonight first and then operation destroy the bitch troll begins.