CPOV
"Thank you, Andrea. I appreciate you doing this late on a Friday but I'm sure you can see the urgency."
"Yes, Sir. I'll be in touch with any issues but I expect none now that you've sent over the sale orders to Burt. Tony Lain left a message for you about an hour ago. He said that while it's not urgent he speak with you that he has an item of interest for you and would like for you to call him."
"Thank you. Forward me the trade and sale confirmations as they come in."
Sometimes I can be a real smug son of a bitch. Right now would be a good example of that. Weeks ago I had Andrea and a few key members of my team compile a portfolio on every dollar Liam Halen owns including stocks, bonds, annuities, shares, cash and properties. For weeks I've been purchasing stocks in waves to keep the prices down and also to fly under the radar. As of today, I own a majority share of four of Halen's most lucrative investments. If negative press about the spill in Japan were to be released all I have to do is disclose to the public my ownership of these four companies and they will all take a nose dive within the hour.
Do I care about the personal loss I'll take? Not at all. Will it put a serious dent in his personal net worth? Hell yeah it will and that is exactly what he is about to find out.
Other stocks I've already begun to sell off, the loss to Halen immediate and profound. I'm confident that he's already received notification of these sells since he's on the board for many of the companies and there will no doubt be questions as to why so much stock is being sold so quickly.
The coup de grace though? I own close to 19% of his company. The very same one I and fellow business men counseled him not to go public with two years ago. We'd met over steaks and 30 year old whiskey after a particularly competitive round of golf. He'd wanted advise. He got it and chose not to take it, more interested in the immediate payday than the headache and loss of control having to answer to shareholders and a board brings.
Three months later when word of the IPO leaked I shook my head and bought up shares at the discounted rate. My broker had been happy with the initial returns but Halen Industries wasn't a stock he had paid particular attention to so when I told him to start buying up shares in waves a few months ago he had been surprised. When I told him to sell them all twenty minutes ago he lost his shit.
If I'm going to keep Halen from going to the press about Japan, then I need the chips in place and the mere threat of my withdrawal as majority stockholder will do that.
But his mistreatment of Ana? The disrespect he showed her and by extension me? Well that's going to cost him hundreds of millions of dollars and the control of his own company. Shmuck.
Within minutes the confirmations begin to trickle in, an updated portfolio of Enemy Number One on a split screen. I watch with unparalleled gratification as his net worth takes a direct hit from every angle.
If he had pulled this stunt earlier in the day he'd be worth half his fortune but as it is, I can only hit him so hard right now. So I do what I do best and change my game plan, focusing on the long term demise of his company and the decimation of his personal investments. When my phone rings, Andrea's name pops up but I already know why she's calling. I smell blood and I love it.
"Grey."
"Mr. Grey, I have Mr. Halen on the line for you." I'm sure you do.
"Put him through and send the last six sell orders over to Brian." She connects the call, his breathing heavy and labored on the other line. Just to fuck with him I remain quiet for five seconds, shredding his last bit of resolve.
"Grey."
"What the fuck are you doing? Are you fucking crazy?" My intention had been to remain calm but when I hear his voice, the very same voice that sat across from Ana not two hours ago I lose it.
"You want to come at me? Threaten my future wife and try to blackmail her? Did you think I'd lie down and let it happen? Do you not know who the fuck you're dealing with?" His arrogance was all about him puffing up his chest in an attempt to make me look like a fool. As delectable as Ana is, getting in her panties was secondary to him. Halen has always played second fiddle to me in the business world and this was his attempt at rattling me, besting me, taking what is so obviously mine. What he didn't count on was my fiancée being the one to dismiss him first.
He scoffs. "So you're willing to lose millions of dollars over a woman? You're an asshole but nobody's that stupid, Grey, not even you."
"A woman? A woman? My wife. You go near her again, you so much as call her office or contact her employees and you will find yourself selling hot dogs at CenturyLink Field to pay your rent. You say one negative word about her company and I will meet you head on in every acquisition you attempt until what's left of your company is run into the ground. You were delusional to think you could go up against me and come out on top. I own you, Halen. Take a look at your companies balance sheet you piece of shit."
He's silent, no doubt pulling up the very same screen that I'm looking at.
"You see that? You see what fucking with me or my future wife will do to you?" I'm seething, hissing into the phone between deep breaths in a futile attempt to remain calm. "Now take a look at your personal portfolio. You see those top four investments of yours? You so much as smile at the press, you so much as mention Japan and I will make a public statement that I'm the majority shareholder in every single one of them."
"You son of a bitch." Well, he got that part right. "You are crazy."
"I'm also one smart son of a bitch. On Monday you will resign from your position on the boards of Durkin & Coates and Premier Ventures. If you refuse, I will offer my own resignation unless you are voted out." I can't help but chuckle. "You know having Christian Grey on the board is worth a dozen of you as do they. I repeat, I own you. I will own you until I choose to not own you. We will not speak again. You will decline any invitation to any social engagement that I or my wife will be at. Am I clear?"
I think, I can't be sure, but I think I hear him choke back a gasp. "That's…that's blackmail!"
"No, it's business. And I run this shit." It would have been much more satisfying to slam a phone down into his ear but instead I end the call and reach for the pull up bar I require in every hotel room I stay at. I lift my own weight over and over until my arms feel like spaghetti and then flatten myself on the floor, doing crunches and jackknifes for as long as I can.
Twenty minutes later, panting, sweaty and still filled with rage and need I call Ana. On the table the bottle of scotch calls to me. Two more calls and I'll indulge. Without fighting or fucking, the only way I'm going to ever fall asleep tonight is by taking the edge off with some aged Brora. Fuck it, I need a drink right now.
"Hi," she sniffs, my heart immediately hurting for her, rage taking a backseat to concern.
"Are you crying? What's wrong? Is Sawyer there?"
"I'm fine, I'm just so upset that this happened. I feel responsible somehow." She blows her nose and then starts to whine incoherently into the phone.
"Ana." More blowing, a gasp and then a heavy sigh. "Ana."
"Please forgive me, I'm so sorry." I roll my eyes and flop onto the bed, pinching my nose and thumbing off my socks.
"Ana, stop talking and listen. He's not going to the press. He's not going to bother you or stir up shit about Japan. It's all taken care of."
"Huh? All…taken…care of? How?" She makes a very unladylike sound and blows her nose again. I bet she looks cute as hell right now.
"Because I cover my bases and I think twenty steps ahead of every fucker out there. Everything is fine, baby." I sit, take a sip of my scotch and grin. "I'm Christian Grey, baby. I win. Period. The end."
"Oh. Well, I'm glad to hear that." She sniffles into the phone, the sound of a wrapper in the background catching my attention.
"Reeces?"
"Mmmhmm. I feel terrible."
As smug as I could be, as much as I could spout off to her about listening to my advice and waving it around in her face that I was right, I don't do it. I'm in this world, I see firsthand how hard it is to be a female business owner. I'm privy to the good ole' boy talk and the dismissive eye rolls that men offer women even when they're more qualified and better suited for the job. This just highlights that fact. The chances of this happening had she been a man are slim to none.
"Ana, you are going to come up against men like Halen and even some women like him. Manipulative liars who will do anything to get ahead in business and will do anything to tear you down. The bigger you get, the higher up you go, the sharper the fangs, the dirtier the mud. All I ask is that you trust me next time. I've been where you are. I've built a business from the ground up; I've had to learn the hard way that sometimes walking away from money is the best thing to do. It's a tough lesson to learn but it's over now so let's move on."
"Alright. Thank you for wanting to help me. What are you doing right now?" I hear another wrapper and smile.
"I'm sitting on the bed drinking a scotch. I've got to make a few phone calls and then I'm going to drink a bit more, go to sleep, wake up, and have Skype sex with you." Which reminds me, "Speaking of sex, Jacqueline told me that she's pregnant."
"Oh, right! I had forgotten! She told you?"
"Only after she almost threw up on me." Involuntarily I shiver at the thought. Vomit is not my thing.
"How did she almost throw up on you?" I detect the amusement in her voice and run with it, using it as a distraction against the crap going on in her head right now.
"We were leaving for dinner with the team and out of nowhere she grabbed my arm so I couldn't get away and stood there, all sweaty and clammy and nasty. I swear to god I thought I was going to puke. When she finally pulled her shit together she had no choice but to tell me what was going on." That and I could see that she was pregnant, something I can't stop thinking about. I must have imagined Ana with a little belly a hundred times today.
"You let her touch you? Did it bother you?" I cock my head to the side and push my pants down, kicking them to the corner.
"At the time I didn't even think about it. She was sick, I doubt she even realized she had done it." No shit. She had touched me and I hadn't freaked out, hadn't even realized it. "It wasn't just that one time either, I helped her in and out of the limo and in and out of the restaurant."
"And it didn't hurt you? You weren't upset by the contact?" I smile.
"No. It wasn't even an issue. I hadn't even thought of it until just now."
"That's so great, Christian! You're doing so well!" I laugh at her praise and shuck off my shirt, tossing it on top of the socks and pants on the floor.
"Yeah, well shrugging off a pregnant woman would be a new low even for me."
"Don't do that. Don't diminish your accomplishments, self depreciation does not look good on you." Damn she does not let me hide from anything. "I didn't realize she was still feeling ill, poor thing. We should do something for her when she's closer to her due date. Maybe throw her a baby shower or something at the office."
"Um, no. You and Andrea can do something but the chances of me attending a baby shower are zero." The alert for an incoming call from Welch pops up. "I've got to run, baby. I'll call you in the morning. Love you." Once she says goodbye, a breathless 'love you too' that warms me up more than the scotch ever could, I answer Welch, standing to pour myself another drink.
"Grey."
"Mr. Grey, I trust your trip is going well. I've received some news on Lincoln that I'm sure you would want to hear about now and not in the morning." My hands still and wait, the ring of the doorbell breaking my stupor. "That would be Taylor, Sir."
I quickly redress and open the door. He walks in, nods once and stands next to the bar where I place my phone and put the speaker on.
"The FTC has opened an official investigation into Elena Lincoln's use of stolen security numbers. The bank manager has already been put on leave as has the assistant manager while an investigation is held into their involvement. I expect that they'll fold under pressure quickly since they aren't exactly seasoned pros and are undoubtedly being questioned by the authorities."
Of all the news I thought I'd get here in London, this was not it. I'm caught off guard, completely blindsided by this new bit of news.
"What are you expecting?" My back twitches, the muscles so tight and tense I'm afraid I'll hurt myself if I move.
"I expect Lincoln to be arrested and charged with identity theft which will lead to tax evasion and most likely money laundering charges. Her use of those fake numbers is blatant so I expect an arrest on the identity theft by Wednesday, possibly Thursday. The rest of the charges will require a lot more investigation but the ball is rolling so they say."
Yes it is, and I'm the one who pushed it.
"We need to get in that safe in her office at Esclava. Once an investigation is launched into the money laundering and quite possibly prostitution since we're pretty sure she was supplying women to the managers, the Feds are going to obtain a search warrant for that property and those fuckers don't miss a thing. Where are we with that?"
"Nowhere. I wasn't expecting to have to jump on that so quickly. I can have Ana speak to Rachel Graham tonight, she'll be at the apartment but as far as who will ultimately be used as bait, we've got some ideas but need to speak to Rachel first." I pause long enough to pull on my hair in frustration. "I trust you've done a thorough back ground check on her?"
"A week ago. Sir, I must underline the urgency of timing right now. We've got five, maybe six days until she's arrested. She'll most likely make bail the same day and then at that point we have no idea what she'll do." I roll my head, my neck cracking. I've drunk my third and fourth scotch and poured one for Taylor who declined at first and then knocked one back without so much as a grimace.
"I'll speak to Ms. Steele and touch base with you shortly." Disconnecting the call, I pour one more and turn to Taylor, motioning for him to have another. He does.
"I'll call Ana right now. Has there been any communication between Elena and Lillian?" He shakes his head.
"Ms. Lincoln has left three messages since Lillian's departure from the salon on Monday. Two were about the website being down and one was following up on the 'friend' Lillian may have. She seems to have taken the bait." Stupid bitch. "According to our records, Lillian has not responded."
"Can we get a plan in place for Monday?" I ask even as I hit the number to Ana's cell. He raises his brows quickly shrugging.
"I'm confident that we can. The question is if we can get someone inside by then." If this screws up my all day Sunday fuck fest I am going to be royally pissed off.
In what is now becoming a familiar struggle I find myself pushing all thoughts of inadequacy at having to depend on her to help me, out of my mind. She claims to want to be a part of this, well, I have no choice but to believe her because right now, I need her help.
"Ana, do you think it would be possible for you to speak to Rachel tonight at your little party?"
"I…I'm sure I can pull her away from everyone but what am I asking her to do? Do we have a plan? Has something happened?" Her tone drops to serious. My girl is putting on her ass kicking pants.
"The FTC is investigating those bogus social security numbers which means two things for sure. That investigation will lead to more investigations and Elena Lincoln is going to go into panic mode. I need someone inside asap so that we can get any shit she has on me. Fuck! I cannot let that shit out, Ana." The reality of what information like that in a public arena can do to me and to my family hits me deep and hard. It's not just my reputation that could be compromised, it's Ana's too. It's not just my family I'd have to answer to, it's hers as well. "If you dad found out...we have got to get into that safe."
"Alright, calm down. I'll pull her aside tonight and ask her what steps we can take."
"Ms. Steele?" Taylor interrupts. "Our focus has shifted in light of these recent developments. We don't need someone to infiltrate and take her down at this point, that seems to be happening the old fashioned way. What we need is someone to find video tapes, documents and any paper trails leading to Mr. Grey. That's it."
"I understand, Taylor. Christian, I'll need to call Lillian then." Such bull shit that this is happening while I'm away. Such fucking bull shit that she has to deal with this at all.
"Are you alright with that?"
"Of course. I'll talk to Rachel tonight, see what she says and schedule something with Lillian for tomorrow. I'm dying to know how Elena took our engagement news anyway!" My face breaks out into a grin at the thought. God I love this woman. Sweet, smart, stunning and spiteful. But she's not meeting Lillian with me here.
"Call Lillian after you speak to Rachel; Taylor and Welch will sit in on the call, and schedule a time for them to meet. I would prefer for their interaction to be kept to a minimum and to be as professional as possible. The less Rachel knows, the better."
"OK, baby. Get some sleep and call me when you wake up." Sleep. Right.
Taylor and I get back on the phone with Welch, he'll be the one to set up security with Sawyer for any interactions Ana may have while I'm gone. I'm pleased to learn that he's found someone we can use at the FTC though the information will be minimal and somewhat delayed. It's better than nothing though.
I'm even more pleased when I call Tony Lain and learn that his contact at the IRS has informed him that while Esclava's books were clean, they were contacted by the FTC to investigate a possible connection between unreported cash in accounts with bogus social security numbers and Elena Lincoln. Months of work is finally coming to fruition.
Taylor dismisses himself after one last scotch. I've seen him drink a beer twice in the five or so years he's been with me but outside of my birthday dinner in June, I've never had a social drink with the man. So tonight we knocked a few back, a silent salute to each other on the last one.
I know the scotch has done it's job when I fall into bed tired and heavy. I'm still a bit sticky from my impromptu workout but I'm too tired to give a shit.
My last thoughts before I fall asleep are almost always of Ana's body. I will never take for granted that soft feminine warmth that radiates against my own skin when she's in my arms or the way her heart beat slows under my hand as she drifts off. I treasure those moments because I can just love her. I stare at her collarbone, or the way her hip swells or the way her toes curl as she sleeps. I will never get over the disbelief that this woman not only is mine but that she wants to be mine forever.
But tonight I don't envision my fiancée in our bed, hair tousled with a small pout on her face. I see Elena Lincoln. In shackles, in an orange jumpsuit, behind bars. I sleep like a baby.
In the morning I wake from another nightmare less night and a hard on that could double as a light sabre. I've gone months at a time without having sex and while it's not ideal, it's not ever been a problem either. But now that my cock has taken up permanent residency with one Anastasia Steele, even one day is unbearable. So I call her. It is, after all, her fault that I'm in a constant state of arousal.
The phone rings four times before I get her voicemail which is unusual. When I try again and she still doesn't pick up I begin to panic that something is wrong, calling Taylor who calls Sawyer. I've already activated the software that pinpoints her phone whereabouts and I'm somewhat placated when it shows her at the apartment but after this whole mess with Halen, I admit my first thought was that he'd gotten to her somehow.
Sawyer picks up on the first ring and I bark, "Anastasia, now!" He doesn't answer but I hear the sound of his footsteps and then the raucous noise of people yelling and laughing.
Shit, her game night. I'd totally forgotten. It's only ten thirty in Seattle right now. I'm still bent that she didn't answer her phone though, outside of not being able to get a hold of her, I can't remember the last time a call of mine was ignored.
"Hello?" She answers questioningly, obviously confused as to why Sawyer is handing her his phone.
"Anastasia?"
"Christian? Why are you calling me on Sawyer's phone?" In the background I hear a male voice, I think it's Ethan Kavanagh, shouting something unintelligible.
"Where is your phone, Anastasia?"
"On the counter in the kitchen charging."
"And where are you, Anastasia?"
"In the great room with our friends."
"Did you know I'd be calling?"
"Yes. I thought I'd hear it, the ringer is on as loud as it goes."
"Why would you not bring the phone in with you, Anastasia? Especially if you knew I'd be calling?"
"Stop saying my name like that. I'm not your child. I thought I'd hear the phone, I'm not ignoring you, I'm busy entertaining our friends and keeping myself busy while I wait for you to get back and make love to me." She gives me a tiny groan and I know, just know she's biting that damn bottom lip. "I can't wait for Sunday."
Oh she's good. Too good. My dick, momentarily softened in my panic springs back to life with a vengeance.
"Well played, Ana, well played." She giggles and walks further away from the melee behind her.
"I miss you so much. I knew the distance would suck but I didn't expect it to be this bad." Her voice cracks at the end, all the anger I felt seconds ago dissipating in an instant. "I just want you home."
"I just want to be home." I cringe at my voice, soft and desperate. She does this to me, makes me forget who I'm supposed to be and introduces me to parts of myself I didn't know existed. Shifting the blankets off and rising, fully aware at this point that phone sex while there's a party going on is not going to happen I switch gears, taking command of the part of me I'm most comfortable with. Controlling Christian.
"Did you speak with Rachel?"
"Um, I was just about to, we're between games and..." she stammers, no doubt trying to find her bearings since I just went from melancholy to demanding in a nanosecond. "Are you peeing and brushing your teeth at the same time?"
APOV
He laughs, spits and flushes.
"Yes."
"That is so gross."
"It's a guy thing."
"It's a gross thing. Anyway, as I was saying, I was going to talk to her right now while the guys make more pizza." He exhales heavily, spits again and then turns on the shower.
"I'm sorry I'm not there. You shouldn't have to deal with this at all let alone by yourself."
"I'm not by myself. I have Sawyer, Prescott and Dottie here and I want to do this." And I do. More than anything right now I want to get rid of that troll once and for all. I should be happy that the law is on to her and that she'll more than likely go to jail without the involvement of Christian but I admit it was a bit of a blow. I wanted her to suffer and I wanted her to know it was at his hands.
A few minutes later, after we've hung up I motion for Rachel to follow me which she does, giving Jose a kiss on the top of his head. I've enjoyed having everyone here but it's strange being without Christian.
"What's up?" She asks, sipping her beer and settling on the leather couch. I've thought about how best to do this but the truth is, what we're asking her to do is illegal. If she were to agree to this, it would be for no other reason than as a favor to me.
"I need to speak to you about something very personal, very private, and very important to Christian and me." She puts the beer on the table and sits back, her face morphing into something serious.
"I'm all ears."
"This is never to get back to Jose." She holds up her palm and swears to stay quiet about everything.
"There is a woman, a friend of the Grey family, Elena Lincoln, who is currently being investigated by the FTC and eventually will be investigated by the IRS as well. In all likelihood her properties and assets will be seized." She nods, not at all following where I'm going with this.
"In the safe at her place of business are documents and videos that could be damaging to Christian and by extension to me and his family." Her head cocks to the side but she says nothing so I press on. "He's done nothing illegal or harmful to anyone but the information she has on him is something that is extremely private and something he, and I, would rather keep from the public."
"OK?"
"Part of what she does, outside of running these salons of hers, is act as a matchmaker of sorts." Her brows raise in question. "For men and women in an alternative sexual lifestyle." They raise a bit more.
"A lifestyle that Christian is involved in." She phrases it as a statement and not a question. I shrug and sit next to her, twisting my hands in my lap.
"Was involved in. He never hurt anyone or did anything that wasn't consensual but he'd still rather keep his name separate from it and her. His public image could be unfairly damaged which is a very serious problem to his forty thousand employees around the world." The magnitude of that statement sits squarely on my shoulders.
"Where do I fit in?"
"Well, we have someone, a liaison if you will, who can get into the office that this safe is in. What we need is someone who can get into the actual safe to remove it's contents without getting caught." She leans back and blows out a long breath.
"Without a warrant that's illegal." Shit. I was hoping she wouldn't care about that. I need to up the ante and appeal to her sense of justice.
"We realize that but it's more than just Christian's reputation we're concerned about. In all likelihood there is a great possibility that she's also matching up underage boys with adults." At this she sits up straight and pins me to the couch with a stare that scares me.
"Is this something Christian was involved with?"
"No! Oh my god, no! No of course not." I hadn't even thought she'd ask that question. Momentarily I'm speechless. Her reaction would be the same as the publics. Holy shit, the fact that any evidence they find of pedophilia will forever be linked with Christian if we don't completely eradicate any trace of him wasn't something I had even considered.
I had wanted to take down Elena because of what she did and how much I hated her. But now I want to take her down to protect my future husband. My resolve strengthens even as my body weakens with fear.
"No, he's absolutely never been involved with anything like that. He's been trying, unsuccessfully, for a few months to find tangible evidence that she was using underage children. He wants to stop her and he's the reason these outside sources are now investigating her."
For the next few minutes I explain in the most benign terms possible his relationship with Elena and the recent destruction of it based on what he believes is happening behind closed doors. She sits silently and nods every few seconds so that I know she's listening. When I tell her the part about the picture of the boy she stops me and stands, walking to the window with a hand on her hip deep in thought.
"He's sure this is a kid and not just a scrawny adult? There are 18 year olds who look like 14 year olds. I can't risk doing something like this for nothing. How can you be sure? How can he be sure?" And here it is. The crossroads. One more person who knows Christian's secret. I stand and brace myself up on the back of the couch.
"Because Christian knows for a fact that Elena Lincoln likes young boys. She was a family friend of the Grey's since he was a young child." At that her head falls back and her eyes close. Her white Irish skin turns a shade darker before she turns and sits back down.
"Got it." I sit heavily, my hands twisting again. "Ana, it stays with me." Such small words that bring such huge comfort. "So this is personal as well. OK, well, I can tell you this, I can't break into a safe, especially one I know nothing about. I can break down a door or pick a basic lock but safe cracking? Not my thing. I also am unwilling to cross the boundary between friendship and work." My heart sinks. I've told her his deepest secret for nothing.
"So let me talk to my partner Wendy and see what she's got to say about all of this. She's been itching to get back to work but with this mandatory sabbatical she's had to suffer through it."
"You'll...you'll talk to your partner?" She nods, deep in thought, her finger pressed up to her bottom lip.
"This person you've got, on the inside, can she be trusted? Because there is no way I'm putting Wendy in harms way. If this woman is in fact into pedophilia and...matchmaking...as you call it, then she's involved in trafficking as well no doubt and that is a very very dangerous world. I need to know we're not being set up."
"You're not. Lillian, the insider, is very trustworthy and we've had her followed for weeks now along with monitoring her calls and emails." Sawyer's voice startles me. He winks and sits on the table across from us, elbows bent on his knees as he explains a rough draft of a plan. I'm stunned. In the few minutes since I spoke to Christian not only has a plan been put in place but Welch has arranged for Lillian to meet with me on Monday morning at the coffee shop again.
"You spoke to Lillian?"
"No. Welch did."
"In order to keep the lines from blurring, once Wendy agrees to do this, I'm out. I want nothing to do with this outside of introducing you and giving her the basic information. If she finds evidence of trafficking or pedophilia, she'll leave it behind for the Feds to find but more often than not, once this chick is arrested she'll get rid of anything before they have that chance."
"We can't let that happen." Rachel snorts and rolls her neck.
"You don't have a choice. If you want help then you take what you can. I get that you want this done privately and I get that this is a priority. But if Wendy decides she wants to help you, it's going to be on her terms. You're going to have to trust that she knows what she's doing. This blows up in her face and it will cost her her job and her freedom."
Sawyer stands, stretches out his hand and shakes hers firmly. "And that is why she will be compensated well for the risk."
"Annie Steele! Even Eyeore can't pull of this look. For Cher's sake, you have one more day until he's back. My god, I can't take one more second of you moping around, it's harshing my mellow."
"Are you now driving in a Volkswagon Bus smoking ganga and throwing out peace signs? Harshing your mellow?" Devin looks up from his pizza and raises his brows.
"Harshing. My. Mellow." Kate plops down in the chair next to him and rolls her eyes, spearing a tomato that she waves around on her fork.
"Oh leave her alone, she just discovered sex like, yesterday and now it's halfway around the world." Oh how I hate drunk Kate. Elliot's head snaps back and his eyes widen in disbelief.
"You were a virgin when you met my brother?" He looks horrified and it takes me a minute to understand why. A virgin in the bed of a man who was into BDSM and contractual relationships. Kate watches carefully, her eyes flitting from mine to his but I smile and roll the dice, dismissing the embarrassing question as if it were nothing.
"Sorry," she mumbles before smacking Elliot in the chest. He snaps his jaw shut and shakes his head, picking up a card to ask me the first question of the game. We've split into two teams for the game Mia brought over, Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit, and since Elliot and I were the only real competition during Scrabble, we've been made the captains. I'll hand it to him, he's far more erudite when it come to vocabulary than I could have ever believed but I'm learning that Elliot is full of surprises.
I'd known he was competitive but when he stood up, smacked down the word qi for 36 points and then leaned down to yell, actually yell in my face, "Boom!" I knew it was going to be a fight to the end. And it was. For close to an hour we went back and forth until we ran out of tiles on the word clobber of all things. I won by three points. Elliot was not happy.
Mia called her parents to tell them and I was going to text Christian but my phone was in the other room and then Ethan and Casey started arguing about the plot line to the last episode of Criminal Minds and well, I forgot. Which is apparently a cardinal sin around here. I grin when I look down and see my phone next to my wine glass. Only Sawyer would have put it there, no doubt under the instruction of his boss.
Elliot pulls the first card, shoving the last bite of his olive and pineapple pizza in his mouth. "OK team losers, your first question is, 'What are the first names of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young?'" Devin sits back with a huff and rolls his eyes.
"What? That is not pop culture. That's ancient history. Who cares? Ask me the name of the Kardashians in order and birth day and I can recite it backwards with middle names. Nobody cares about...whoever it was you just asked about." Ethan laughs and answers.
"David, Stephen, Graham and Neil." I say nothing because, well, I know nothing about pop culture despite having Kate, Devin, Casey and Missy as my best friends. Elliot begrudgingly hands over the purple pie piece and settles back, pulling Kate onto his lap.
"What city is the 'Jerry Springer Show' taped in?" Kate bounces up and down, clapping her hands together.
"Chicago! I used to watch that all the time!" Elliot grins and tips his beer to her.
"Something to be proud of Katie girl. Reaching for the stars on that one."
Jose takes a card. "What 80's rapper popularized low-crotched genie pants?"
"Ugh," Devin groans, "MC Hammer and I still say he should be shot and fined for that tragedy. And can we take a minute and forever ban the word crotch?"
Rachel plays along and smiles, drinking her beer and cuddling with Jose but I catch her watching me a few times, no doubt rattled a bit by our conversation as she tries to process it. When sex crimes are your job, I imagine the scenarios that play out in your head are one hell of a mind fuck. To find out that a friend was victimized, that's got to really wreak some havoc.
As if on cue she sits up and looks at Casey as he reads the next question. "Who did the press nickname the 'Hollywood Madam?'" Well shit. Of all questions. Rachel doesn't skip a beat though and instead high fives Elliot, Kate and Jose when they get the answer right. Who knew the name Heidi Fleiss would cause my insides to burn.
Christian used a madam. He solicited sex from virtual strangers for years. STOP! The old Christian did, not my Christian. Not the man I'm going to marry and have children with. That was a lonely, confused, beat down man. Not the warm, engaging powerhouse I know.
Rachel reaches forward to ask my team the next question, her eyes only briefly locking with mine. I don't see pity or judgment though. I see anger and confusion and if I'm not mistaken, resolve. And I know, without having to ask, that she'll make sure Wendy helps us.
"What is the name of the magical, rainbow-filled homeland of the Care Bears?"
Devin throws his hands up and falls backwards onto the couch, "YAWN! Who cares? Let's play strip poker."
Three hours later everyone but Devin and Casey have gone home. They'll stay in the guest room tonight since they're both shitfaced and we've got spa appointments in the morning. We never did play poker but that didn't stop Elliot and Ethan from taking off their shirts for a drunken arm wrestling competition. I'm not sure what Ethan was thinking because even drunk Elliot bested him all three times in less than a minute but the real show was Devin, hovering just in the background taking pictures on his phone and fanning himself.
In the bedroom I call Christian, hoping for a bit of relief from the tension that's taken up residency in my chest and even though I've interrupted a meeting and I know he'd skip out on it if I asked him to, I say goodnight and crawl in bed, curling up on his side.
When I wake it's to the alarm on the bedside table. Since Christian gets up so early and almost always wakes me with morning sex, the sound is foreign to me. It makes me miss him even more, the hole in my chest gnawing like an ache that won't go away. Outside the door I hear the sounds of someone moving around and greet Casey, following him to the balcony where he's laid out coffee and pastries.
"I'll tell you what, Annie, you could've done worse." I smile and study him, the stubble on his chin, the blond hair so messed up on his head it looks professionally done. He's one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen and watching him in the sunlight, face upturned and peaceful I take it all in.
"Casey?"
"Hmm?" I glance over at the glass doors but Devin is nowhere in sight.
"When are you getting married?" He sits upright, turns to look for Devin and then lowers his glasses to me.
"What?" I take a bite of my Danish and wait. "Ugh. You suck at subtlety, girl."
"Yes," I answer between bites, "I've been told." After a beat he settles himself back down and sighs.
"I was going to ask when"
"Anastasia Steele who the hell is this man with your to be husband and why am I not there to meet him?" Devin bursts onto the balcony and shoves his phone at me, a picture of Christian in a navy pinstripe suit and Prince Carl Philip adorning the screen. Hotness abounds.
"Prince Carl Philip of Sweden." He snorts and rolls his eyes, a habit I had never noticed until Christian.
"My god, I know who he is, it was a figure of speech. Like he hasn't been on my radar for years. What is your fiancé doing with him?"
"I have no idea, I didn't know they were meeting up." He reads the accompanying article and sighs.
"This, this beautiful matchup is happening right now as we speak." Huh? "They're having dinner together somewhere in London. It's nighttime there sweetie."
"I know that, let me see that again."
It's strange, this world I now live in. Here I am in Seattle with two of my best friends in a seven million dollar apartment wearing $300 dollar pajamas. Across the world my fiancé is having dinner with a prince and I find out about it in real time from a gossip columnist. Damn he looks good.
"How did you find this so quickly? This picture was just taken an hour ago!" Casey laughs and pulls his sunglasses down over his eyes.
"Because he's got anything that has to do with you, Christian, me or him on Google alerts." Devin walks to the door and leans back, tossing his arm out dramatically.
"I have people, Casey. People. There is a demand for me!"
CPOV
"Mr. Grey, so good to see you again so soon." The Prince extends his hand and smiles, our faces turning towards the cameras that we will use to broadcast our alliance. It wasn't my idea for him to join us at the dinner party being thrown in honor of GEH's latest acquisition of Fairfield Actuarial but I'm man enough to admit it was a brilliant PR move by Kristin Howard, the new director of Feed the Nations. She had ideas that were far too grand for a CFO so I promoted her and so far, it's been one of the best decisions I've made as far as hiring goes.
Vain as it may sound, beauty gets attention. Put two good looking men together and you get a lot of attention. His presence at this party and the subsequent press that the charity will get because of it will probably net close to at least a quarter million dollars. So I smile and shake his hand, thankful that Ana's not here for him to ogle.
Inside we're separated as we mingle amongst the crowd to further our individual agendas. There are close to 40 people in this room and all of them want my attention. I'm surrounded by humans, men and women who talk to me and brush up against me, who call my name and do their best to engage me but I'm miles away. 4800 miles away to be exact.
I've been alone my entire life. Even when I was with family or had a sub or found myself in a setting like this one, I was alone. My thoughts were my own, my interactions were clinical, my soul kept at a safe distance from anything and everyone around me. And I was fine with that. It was empty and predictable. Safe.
But now, being alone means being away from Ana and that is simply becoming unbearable. To have floated through life without feelings or emotions for so long that you thought that was how life was and then to find out you were wrong? It's jarring. She anchors me to life in every way imaginable. Instead of floating around, she's nailed me down and injected life into me. To be without that for a day is hard. Five days is never happening again. I have hit my limit.
"I'm sorry Anastasia isn't here with you tonight." I'm sure you are fucker. "She is such a joy to talk to and spend time with."
"Yes, she is."
"She did not want to come?" He questions, lifting his drink, a gin and tonic from what I can see. I get you buddy, I can read between the lines.
"She wanted to be here just as much as I wanted her to come but she owns a business and has our wedding to plan." So fuck off.
"Ah, your wedding, how could I have forgotten?" His arm extends again. "Congratulations. She is a beautiful woman, I wish you both all the happiness in the world." His words are kind but I see the flicker of animosity in his eyes. She's mine. Always was, always will be.
"Thank you."
"You are planning a big ceremony then?" Is he fishing for an invite? Because I'd sooner invite Paul Clayton before I let him see her in a wedding dress. My heart skips and aches. Ana in a wedding dress. For me. I motion for Taylor.
"No, a small one actually. On our boat in late fall." Taylor leans in, "I want to fly out of here tonight. I'm not waiting until morning. Call Regina and have her get the jet ready, if she needs rest arrange for a stand in pilot for the first leg of the flight. Have Jacqueline let everyone else know. We'll leave at midnight." 17 hours.
"You miss her." He grins, a knowing little smirk on his face.
"Yes. When you have a woman like her waiting at home for you, five days may as well be an eternity." Got it your highness?
Business completed I'll head straight to the airport when I'm finished here. The rest of the team left a little while ago to pack but the hotel will have someone do that for me. Taylor will take care of the more valuable items like my watches, cufflinks and that video camera I've used so frequently. Curiosity will kill him but he knows better than to ask.
I've spent my time focused on a few networking possibilities. In the last four years I've secured a firm foothold in the Asian and PanPacific markets but I'd like to extend GEH into Western Europe in a big way. So despite my anxiety to be home, I temper it down and focus on the big picture, mingling with potential future business opportunities until it's time to go. The biggest surprise of the night is when Prince Carl Philip corners me and starts talking about the Mariners. When Taylor motions for us to go I'm as surprised as ever that I've spoken to the man for close to 20 minutes and haven't fantasized about knocking his teeth out once.
Ros bitches the second she steps on the jet, her pink velour jump suit as bright as the sun. When I look away and pick up my phone she sits across from me, asks Nanette for a bourbon and pulls out her ear buds.
"Midnight. We're going to get to Seattle at four in the morning."
"You could always fly commercial in the morning." She scoffs and throws her arms up.
"And miss out on the opportunity to offend you with this brighter than fuck track suit? Hellstotheno as my niece says."
Around me everyone has fallen asleep. I should have offered Jacqueline the bedroom but she's already out cold on the couch, a protective hand lying across her midsection. When is Ana due for her next birth control shot?
Despite the bourbon and the lulling hum of the engine my mind races with the things I want to do to Ana when I get home. Mixed in are the things I have to do to prepare for what is sure to be a hell of a week. I'm not at all surprised when Taylor pulls me into the office to jump on a call with Welch who informs me that Rachel Graham has reached out and has convinced her partner to help us with, well, with theft.
"When I mentioned compensation she dismissed me entirely. I've met some tough women in my day, Sir. This Wendy chick, she may just be the toughest. She's agreed to meet with Ms. Steele and Lillian on Monday morning with the intention of going to Esclava afterwards. Lillian will call Elena today to set up a time but so far, the plan is in forward motion."
It's almost impossible but I manage to fall asleep in the bedroom after a quick call with Ana. I'm not thrilled that she's out at a spa all day but since we've rented the entire place out, have run back ground checks on anyone that will be working today and have had each employee sign an NDA I'm not going out of my mind. When I called she was going in for a wax...shit I need to get home to that smooth supple skin.
At approximately four am Seattle time I'm woken by Regina's voice over the speaker system. We're getting ready to land. How I managed to sleep for eight hours is a mystery to me but I'm grateful for it. I've got some serious fucking to do and I'm going to need my energy. There's no time to shower but I brush my teeth and change into jeans and a t-shirt before taking my seat.
"I'm taking Monday off," Ros grumbles while she drinks her coffee and stares out the window at the pitch black sky. She could tell me she was becoming a nun. So long as I can get home in the next few minutes, I don't give a damn what anyone does.
In the car my leg begins to tap with anticipation. Her phone rings four times before she picks up with a sleepy, "Hello."
"I'll be there in 10 minutes, Ana. I wasn't kidding about being naked when I got home. Be ready because I am in the mood to do some serious fucking."
"When are you not?" She giggles, the sound of it smoothing out my jagged edges. The closer we get the harder my dick gets. She's like a homing device. In the garage I open my door and all but jog to the elevator, hitting my floor and banging the code in so fast I mess it up twice before I get it right.
My shoes are the first to go, unceremoniously tossed somewhere along the way from the elevator the bedroom, my socks following in their wake. Inwardly I curse the distance but I cross it quickly, my strides long and purposeful. My heart is pounding in my chest, emotions I'd been pushing down for close to a week bubbling right at the surface. Need. What I feel is need. I open the door to a moonlit room. Need.
For her.
She smiles, as big as I've ever seen her do and then she comes to me, naked and soft and sweet, her hair tumbling down her back and over her breasts like a waterfall. I want to cherish her body, love it and take my time with it but I can't. Instead I pick her up and press her to me, the heat between her legs pressing against the cotton covering my belly in a way that has me gasping for air.
If I could speak, I wouldn't know what to say. I just have to be with her right now. It hurts, my body hurts for hers. Where her skin touches mine there's a burn that has nothing to do with the temperature of the room. Feminine softness melds to me, soft skin, soft hair, soft breasts, soft moans. God how I've missed her moans.
Where my fingers are still underneath her body, my lips are frantic. Over and over my tongue dives into her mouth, swiping and licking, seeking out her taste, her touch, her essence. I'm vaguely aware of her hands in my hair but it's that damp heat against my t-shirt that's killing me slowly.
With a frustrated groan I part from her, tossing her onto our bed before stripping myself of the annoying clothes I'm wearing. My hands slide quickly from her ankles to her shoulders and back down again before lifting her feet to the headboard so that she's bent, her sex totally available to me. I need this, I need this connection like nothing I've ever needed before.
"You first, I'm not going to make it once I'm inside you." Just the thought has my dick jumping around, precum dripping from it's tip onto the clean sheets. One look down at her spread and open for me and all rational thought leaves my head. Ana, pussy, clit, suck, come, fuck. Nothing else matters.
The second her taste hits my tongue my heart slams against my ribcage. I want. I need. I crave.
"Christian!" She pants above me while her nails dig into my shoulders. I can't even try to be slow or gentle. I feel like I'm drowning and I act accordingly. My movements are like those of a novice but I do my best, sucking that tiny knot until she wraps her hand around the back of my head, pushing my mouth onto her so that I can't leave.
"Right there, oh my god, yes, oh oh oh oh yes yes yes..." I love this part, the silence before she gasps and says my name or on rare occasion a curse. "Fuck! Christian! Oh god yes yes yes!" My lips release her and suck, open mouthed up her belly to latch onto a nipple. I'm desperate to be inside her.
"Please, please," she whimpers until I crush my mouth to hers and thrust in, my groan echoing off the walls. Home. Perfection. Absolute belonging. If I could spend the rest of my life here, in this moment, I would do it.
We kiss as I thrust, each long stroke responsible for a bit more pressure on my lower spine, the tingle in my balls becoming all consuming. I'm going to come like a teenager. "Shit, Ana...I...I can't hold off...I'm gonna come..."
"Yes," she moans in my ear. And then she swipes her tongue up my neck to flick my lobe and bites it. I totally and utterly come apart, shooting stream after stream of desire into her tight little body while the rest of me jerks uncontrollably above her.
"Never...again," I stammer between aftershocks, "five days is too long. Never again. I can't do it." Her arms tighten around my neck, drawing me closer. "I mean it," my breath is hot on her neck, her hair sticking to my face, "you'll come with me next time. I can't handle it."
She nods, her legs lifting to wrap around my waist. "OK."
We lie there, bodies entwined and slick with sweat. With each pass of her fingertips down my back, each breath of hers that caresses my cheek the tension slips. The sharp edge has been blunted but we're nowhere near finished. I want to ravage her until she begs me to stop. I want her to scream until her voice is hoarse. I want her to break her nails on the skin of my back but more than all of that, I want to hold her. Feel her body against mine. Count the beats of her heart.
"I'm not meant to be without you. I felt off the entire time you were gone."
I refuse to pull out of her but I lean up onto my elbows and trace the lines of her face with my finger. So beautiful.
"That is exactly how I felt too. The whole time it was like I was just going through the motions." Her hands rise to my face and she cradles it, the gesture so tender it hurts.
"You've become everything to me, Christian. My entire world hinges on you and I find that terrifying and exhilarating and exciting." Underneath me she shifts, the walls of her sex squeezing me. I harden instantly but it's not because of the amazing feeling around my cock, it's the feeling in my heart.
I move a bit, push in further and stretch myself out. "And we're back," she teases. Her back arches, her breast finding my mouth.
"Damn I missed these girls." She giggles, I groan and suckle, relishing in the taste of her skin. My mouth alternates sucking, flicking, licking and biting first one nipple and then the next until she rocks beneath me, her pussy pulsing around me with each beat of her heart.
"Please, Christian...I want you...I want...hard...yes," she hisses with the first slam. Her breast bounces between my lips. "More, I need more..."
"More?" I want this one to be long and drawn out, a good, long, sweet fuck. But then she grabs my ass and pulls me in hard, that little bite of pain from her nails blurring my vision. "Fuck, baby."
"Yes...hard...I want it hard. Please...too long...fast...faster...oh god just like that, yes..."
And damn it to hell I give her what she wants; hard, fast and brutal. Afterwards, when I finally withdraw from her body she winces and stands, her hand flying between her legs.
"Oh my god, look at the sheets. Let me go clean up and we'll change them."
I snicker and follow her into the shower. "No point, sweet cheeks. By the time we're finished with those sheets today, you'll need to throw them away. Now get in here and put your hands against the wall."