Chapter Ten:

Christian all but dragged me out of the graduation hall…where the hell are we going? He hadn't spoken a word to me since we left Ethan, maybe that was his problem, probably not, we are just friends, that's it, he doesn't feel anything more than friendship towards me, unlike my feelings towards him which were growing stronger each day. We got to his car and again without saying a word he opened up the passenger door for me to get in, I did and he shut it again. I only waited a few more seconds before he opened up the driver's side and he slid in himself, I was becoming more impatient by the minute, why wasn't he talking to me?

"What's with the silent treatment Christian?" I asked him, he didn't answer. Great…silent treatment it is. I continued to stare out the window and watched the outdoors pass us by, it wasn't a short while later that I realised we are leaving Portland behind us, it looked like we were heading for Seattle.

"Christian, where are we going? If you are planning on kidnapping me and then killing me at least give me some kind of warning, this silent treatment is beginning to piss me off!" I huffed at him, I looked over at him and I finally saw a small smirk playing on his lips.

"Well…" I demanded, finally he took a deep breath and started talking.

"I realised something, you've never seen my apartment, that's where we are going, and plus your surprise is there waiting for you".

"What surprise?"

"It's a surprise for a reason Ana, you have to wait and see..."

"But..." I started to protest but he interrupted me.

"And as for the silent treatment, I will let you figure that out on your own"

"What does that mean? I haven't done anything, in fact I know I haven't, so this must be your problem, not mine Grey!"

"Don't I know it..." he all but muttered to himself probably hoping I didn't hear, but I did.

We didn't talk for the rest of our journey, it had begun to rain quite heavily outside so I just and stared outside the window watching the rain fall hard against the windows of the car thinking about what he'd said to me. As we reached the outskirts of Seattle, it looked like a storm was coming, the rain had picked up aggressively and was bouncing off the rooftop of the car, I could also hear the howling of the wind around us. Christian drove us through the streets of Seattle, I should probably ask him if he could show me around at some point in the near future as I was moving here with Kate soon to join the real world, we just had to wait first for her Dad to find us an apartment to live in. I was so busy thinking inside my own head that I hadn't realised we had slowed down and turned into an underground parking lot. I waited for Christian to pull up and turn the engine off before turning to face him, he turned to face me and smiled slightly, but even I knew that smile was off. He then proceeded to get out of the car and I did the same. I looked around me, Audi's everywhere. I hadn't noticed Christian had come to stand at the side of me, he followed my vision until he realised what I was looking at.

"All mine..." he whispered softly.

"All of them? Why?"

"Because I can…" I rolled my eyes at him, that's not an answer, he once again glared at me for rolling my eyes. I looked around again until I spotted a car that could only be described as 'every boys dream'. I looked up at him and I saw him smirking proudly.

"It's an Audi R8 Spyder" he answered my question even though I hadn't actually asked him anything.

"Let me guess, because you can?" I said mocking his last words to me, before he could reply, I spoke again.

"Why didn't you drive that today instead?"

"I wanted to blend in" he said simply.

"Blend in? Christian, you're a billionaire, you are known all across the US, you can't blend in" I said sarcastically.

"I can at least try..." he responded sharply. Without saying a word, he took hold of my hand and dragged me through the parking lot towards the elevators. We stood in silence and waited for the elevator to arrive, it felt like hours but even though in reality we only waited a few seconds, the elevator arrived and we both stepped in, him typing in a code and then the button to the penthouse, another 'because I can….' I'm guessing. Still not saying a word, we stood in silence as the elevator door closed behind us and we started our journey up to his penthouse. All of a sudden, completely out of nowhere a feeling spread through my entire body, a feeling of anticipation, an electrical charged, exhilarating feeling of anticipation. I shuffled back on my feet, out of sight of Christian who just stood there as though nothing was happening, I needed to get over these feelings I had for Christian, and they were driving me crazy. Finally, the elevator stopped and opened, we had arrived at his penthouse.

"Wow…" was all I could say. This place was spectacular, and huge, seriously huge.

"Christian, this place is incredible, how come you didn't bring me here sooner?" I asked excitedly, he chuckled slightly at my excitement. I notice the grand piano sitting in a very wide open space.

"You never told me you could play the piano..." I skipped over to it, he followed me.

"I started playing when I was six years old"

"Can you play something for me?" I asked.

"Later, first we have dinner then your surprise..." he winked at me and took hold of my hand as we turned our backs on the piano and towards the kitchen. As I sat on a bar stool, he went to the fridge and took out a bottle of champagne.

"Celebrating?" I asked.

"Yes, your graduation Miss Steele, I believe that deserves champagne" I grinned at him.

"Thank you again for today Christian, you helped me a lot"

"Ana I would do anything for you just to see that smile and hear that giggle" he said simply as he reached for two champagne flutes, I just stared at him without saying a word. He popped open the champagne, filled up my champagne flute and passed it over to me.

"Congratulations on your degree Miss Steele…"

"Thank you Mr. Grey…" we stared at each other whilst we both took a sip. Before either of us could say or do anything, Taylor appeared behind Christian, Christian noticed my eyes move to look behind him and he too tuned to look.

"Sir, Mrs. Lincoln is on her way up" I hadn't a clue who she was but I saw Christian instantly freeze at the sound of that name.

"Thank you Taylor" was all he said, Taylor nodded and left us both.

"Christian, what's wrong?" he was still completely frozen to the spot. Before I could carry on speaking to him, I heard the elevator ping open and the sound of heels coming towards us.

"Just, please…stay with me" Christian whispered to me quickly, almost pleading with me, I looked up at him confused, his eyes were dark, almost black, before I could answer him, a voice I then recognised spoke. Elena, Elena was Mrs. Lincoln, now Christian's reaction made sense.

"I didn't realise you had company Christian…" she said coldly, looking right at me.

"What are you doing here Elena?"

"I want to talk Christian, we have a lot to discuss, wouldn't you agree?" she replied without taking her eyes off me.

"You can call me..."

"You ignore my calls Christian, I decided to show up unannounced so we could talk face-to-face"

"I've been busy…"

"I can see that darling…" the way she said 'darling' to him made my skin crawl, I was beginning to think they both had a past with each other, but she was probably twice his age, that surely can't be right. I watched as she walked over to our champagne.

"Celebrating are we?" she asked, looking at me again, I answered her this time, Christian's silence was beginning to frustrate me.

"Yes we are" I told her coldly, Christian stiffened at the side of me, she however just glared at me, and apparently me answering wasn't the best idea.

"You do not speak to me unless I tell you otherwise" she told me. What?

"Elena…" Christian began.

"Christian, surely she knows not to speak to me, surely she knows the rules?" What rules? When Christian doesn't answer her, she gasps.

"Christian, surely you've explained our lifestyle to her, if she's to become one of your…"

"DON'T! Elena, don't you dare finish that sentence!" Christian shouted, making me jump.

"She doesn't know?" Elena gasps.

"Know what?" I speak up, this was really confusing. Elena glares at me again for speaking, but I didn't care, I wanted to know what they were talking about. Christian turns to me and whispers quietly...

"Don't leave Ana, please…" why would I leave, what's he trying to tell me, or not tell me by the sounds of it.

"Is precious Ana here not your submissive Christian?" Elena speaks out. Submissive? What? Christian freezes at the side of me. I look at her Elena's face, I can tell she looks pleased with herself.

"What…what does she mean Christian?" I ask him quietly.

"And she calls you Christian…" Elena continues on, well why wouldn't I?

"You do not call him Christian, you call him Sir…" she tells me, I've had enough of this.

"I don't think so! I don't know what the hell you are talking about and to be honest I really don't care, but you've interrupted our evening and I…"

"How dare you speak to me like that? Christian, you better talk to this one here and pull her in line or she'll suffer the consequences…"

"Are you threatening me?" I glare at her. Christian grabs hold of me and turns me to face him.

"Ana, please…don't, just let me handle it"

"I don't see you handling it very well Christian, I won't leave but I would like an explanation" I shout at him, once again, Elena speaks.

"You do not talk to your Dominant like that Miss Steele" she shouts at me. Dominant?

"Elena, that's enough, you've said enough and you've done enough, please get the fuck out of my apartment before I throw you out!" Christian finally speaks up.

"She deserves to know the truth Christian, she deserves to know how truly fucked up you are, does she know that you like to fuck, whip, cane, torture pretty brown haired girls like her for your own pleasure and enjoyment…" my stomach drops, and I suddenly feel physically sick. Please no…

"ENOUGH!" Christian screams at her. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY APARTMENT ELENA!" She looks at me with a satisfied smile on her face, hearing the screaming, Taylor has appeared behind her, without another word she turns around and leaves, Taylor follows her out. Christian just stands there, watching her leave, and even after she's gone, he still stands and stares at the exact same spot, I can see that's he shaking with rag. I try to talk but I can't find the words I want to say, he eventually turns around and looks at me, immediately I back away from him.

"Is it true?" I croak! Please say no, please say no!...