CHAPTER 62

"Is Christian still at the Crossfire with Gideon?" I ask as we leave the hotel.

Taylor nods, "Yes Mrs Grey" he replies.

I know that Taylor has been keeping Christian informed of everything that has been happening and so by default Gideon is probably also aware of what went down with Corrine.

When we arrive, I make my way up to the Crossfire offices and I am quickly buzzed in. I pause at the reception desk, "Is Gideon in his office with my husband?" I ask and the receptionist nods.

"Yes Mrs Grey, he is expecting you if you'd like to make your way down" she says.

I thank her and make my way to Gideon's office. I pause as I see my husband and Gideon sitting inside chatting. The glass in the walls is clear and I can see them clearly talking, they both look relaxed and happy and I smile as I see them occasionally laughing as they chat. As I walk closer Gideon looks up and smiles before turning to Christian and saying something, I assume he is informing him of my presence because immediately Christian stands and walks towards the door.

I pause and smile at Scott who also stands up when he sees me but sits down again as he sees Christian walking towards us and opening the door. I step inside and straight into Christian's waiting arms.

"Hey baby, are you ok?" he asks with obvious concern and I nod as I give him a reassuring squeeze.

"Yes it's all good" I say and I look up and turn towards Gideon who has joined us and shut the door and I give him a smile as he stands watching us. "I think Corrine got the message and hopefully she won't be causing any more problems for you" I say confidently.

Gideon smiles and steps closer, I leave Christian's arms and as I do so Gideon immediately encircles me in his embrace.

"Thank you, Ana," he says quietly.

I pat his arm affectionately, "You are more than welcome" I reply with a grin. I look up at him and lick my lips nervously, "I also may've had words with Chris as I was leaving the Crossfire. He was leaving at the same time and I may've told him exactly what I thought of him". I wait and watch Gideon's reaction to that and I am relieved when he just smiles indulgently at me.

"We are aware of the… interaction you had with Chris, and once again thank you. I am getting used to Eva standing in my corner and fighting for me, but it is still quite a novelty when someone else does it" he says.

I hold him tighter and I feel his grip increase on me as I do so. "You are more than welcome, Chris is a complete asshole" I say bluntly.

I feel Gideons amusement as his chest moves with silent laughter at my comment. I turn back towards Christian who is watching us closely and I ease myself away from Gideon.

"So, tell me everything that happened with your mole. Do you think your plan worked?" I ask.

Before Christian can reply his attention is taken with movement outside Gideon's office. I turn and see a man hovering outside, speaking urgently to Scott and gesturing towards Gideon. I turn and see Gideon has frozen and is watching the exchange without a word.

"Who is that?" I ask and Gideon looks at me with a bleak expression.

"My brother Christopher" he mutters quietly.

"And that is a bad thing?" I ask wondering if his appearance here has something to do with the fact that Ireland now knows about Gideon's past.

"We don't get along. He takes sibling rivalry to epic levels, and sees me as a competitor who he always has to try and destroy" he replies.

We watch as Scott lifts the phone on his desk and immediately the phone on Gideon's desk starts to ring. Gideon sighs and picks it up, "Just show him in Scott" he says before Scott can even ask what he is to do.

A moment later the door opens and Christopher Vidal Junior steps into the room. I take a moment to look at him. He clearly and uncannily resembles his father and is quite simply a younger version of him. I just hope he isn't as big an asshole as his father, but after what Gideon has just said I fear that he probably is.

Christopher glances at Christian and I as we move closer to Gideon, flanking him and silently offering him our support, our actions have clearly been noted by him and he swallows hard and licks his lips nervously.

"I…" Christopher begins and then stops. He seems to realise the door is open and he reaches for the handle and closes it before taking a small step forward.

"What do you want Christopher?" Gideon asks, clearly on the defensive with his abrupt tone.

Almost immediately, Christopher lifts his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not here to cause any trouble" he begins and stops and Gideon lets out a loud snort at that.

"Well, that would be a first" he says with obvious sarcasm.

I reach for Gideon and squeeze his arm, "Let him speak" I say carefully, and Gideon looks down at me before returning his attention back to Christopher and gesturing for him to continue.

Christopher looks at me and then at Christian and seems to hesitate and Christian steps in and speaks.

"Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of us. I am fairly certain I know what you want to discuss and I can assure you that my wife and I are fully aware of the situation" he says with deliberate vagueness.

Christopher nods and licks his lips again. "Look, this is hard… I have no idea what to say or how to begin… I heard… I overheard an argument between dad and Ireland… stuff was said… let's just say it has made me re-evaluate everything I took as read when we were younger…" he pauses and looks helplessly towards Gideon. I look up and Gideon is breathing quickly and if he isn't careful, he is going to hyperventilate.

"Hey, calm down Gideon" I say gently and I squeeze his arm again.

Christopher watches and I am encouraged when I see a hint of compassion in his eyes as he steps closer, "Look man, I didn't come here to make things worse… I came here because I had to speak to you, what I heard… what was said… it's… I realise I have got everything wrong… everything I ever thought and believed… I realise now that I need to apologise. You have to understand the way I saw how mom and dad treated you, how they always said you were just an attention seeker and a liar, it coloured my opinion of you, I believed what they said and so I grew up thinking it was ok to treat you like the enemy as well. I had no idea and then you left home and stuff kind of escalated and twisted in my head as we grew up and you became more and more successful. Although it's no excuse for how I have behaved all these years but when you started to make a name for yourself and became powerful and influential people tried to use me to get to you. It pissed me off and it made me hate you even more. But I realise now that animosity I held towards you… it was planted there by the way mom and dad treated you… and from what I heard Ireland say… well… it seems they were the ones in the wrong. I had no idea that happened to you… well, no that's not totally true… I heard you screaming out sometimes when you were in your therapy session, but I just assumed you were throwing one of your tantrums… I had no idea and I am so sorry". Christopher stops and shakes his head; the guilt is coming off him in waves. I glance at Christian and we remain silent as it isn't our place to intervene. This is down to Gideon to deal with.

We watch him as he processes everything that Christopher has just said, "I accept your apology" he says after a long silence and we see Christopher almost sag with relief.

"Thank you, you should know that Ireland has packed her bags and left home". Gideon's eyebrows rise in surprise.

"Where is she? Is she ok?" he asks immediately the concern evident.

Christopher holds up his hand to stop him "It's ok, she's fine. She's safe and she's staying with me at my apartment. You also need to know that she hasn't betrayed you, I tried to get her to tell me what had happened but she refused to tell me anything saying that you had trusted her with the information and that there was no way she was betraying that trust. She didn't realise I had been there at the time and heard everything that went on between her and our parents. I thought you should know that," Christopher stops and watches Gideon's reaction closely.

"Thank you for telling me, but is Ireland ok?" Gideon asks.

Christopher smiles and nods, "She's fine, she's steaming angry and she is vowing to make mom and dad pay for what they did to you and knowing Ireland I'm fairly sure it won't be subtle but apart from that she's fine. I tried to calm her down and she said that I don't understand. I guess that's true. I also realise that this gesture… me coming here today and apologising can't wipe away all the years I've been an asshole to you… but… I was hoping it could be a start? The start of us getting along… a bit better… or something?" Christopher looks at Gideon hopefully as he says this and waits for a response.

Slowly Gideon nods, "Alright" he says warily. "It will take time but I am prepared to give it a shot if you are" he adds and Christopher nods enthusiastically and gives Gideon a bright genuine smile.

"You bet" he says firmly. With that he steps forward. Christian and I step back out of the way giving the two brothers space. Christopher moves closer and nods in a gesture of thanks to us, then looks up at Gideon hesitantly. Gideon thrusts out his hand which Christopher accepts and then he awkwardly pulls Gideon into a hug.

"I'm so sorry bro" he mumbles.

Gideon momentarily freezes but slowly his arm moves around his younger brother's shoulder and he awkwardly pats it.

"Stop apologising, and let's move on" Gideon says firmly.

oooOOOooo

"Well, that was an interesting development" I say after Christopher has left.

"Wasn't it just!" Gideon replies as he looks towards the door his younger brother has just walked through.

"What do you think Ireland is going to do?" I ask as I go over everything Christopher said.

Gideon shrugs, "I'm not sure, she is determined not to betray me so I don't think she will go public with the details. However, I'm fairly certain a public humiliation of some description of our mother is on the cards. Ireland knows that is what will hurt our mother the most, as she likes to keep up appearances and make out everything is perfect. After what happened with my father, she totally rebooted her life and distanced herself from Geoffrey Cross and everything he did. She played the ignorance card well and ended up getting the sympathy and support of the media and public as a whole as the wife who had no idea her husband was a crook".

"But she knew?" I ask and Gideon laughs bitterly.

"Oh she knew, the money he embezzled helped her to maintain a certain level of comfort in her lifestyle and I discovered later she was fully aware of what he was doing and she encouraged it. The wealth was too much of an incentive for her. However, when it all went tits up and he was arrested she flipped completely and became the outraged moralistic puritan who had no idea what her husband had been doing. Now with hindsight I am certain that is why my father ended his life, it wasn't just because he didn't want to face the music for what he had done but because she had turned on him so completely. To begin with she was vilified in the media and it was pretty brutal for a while but she played her part well and slowly she fooled everyone and her image and reputation were restored".

Christian shakes his head, "Does Chris realise any of this?" he asks and Gideon shrugs.

"I have no idea, but she comprehensively managed to convince him of my guilt and painted me as the lying attention seeker, so it isn't a stretch to think he was fooled by her act as the clueless innocent wife unwittingly caught up in her husband's crime".

I see Christian thinking carefully, "Do you have any evidence which could link her with the crimes your father committed?"

Gideon looks at Christian and thinks, "I have a number of documents in my possession which implicate her" he says carefully.

"Then, maybe it is time you informed her of that fact" Christian says as he gives Gideon a knowing look.

Gideon looks down at his hands and hesitates, "She is still my mother" he says eventually.

I wrap my arm around him, I know only too well that absurd feeling of loyalty towards a person who should mean everything to you but doesn't deserve it.

"Gideon, believe me when I say I know exactly how you feel. I don't have a good relationship with my mom. You remember that phone call when Frank first reappeared? I don't know your mom, but going on what I have seen and heard in the relatively short time I have known you. I would say that, you owe her nothing. Yes, she gave birth to you and gave you life but… from what I have seen that is the only maternal thing she did for you. She hasn't been a mother to you Gideon".

Christian nods, "What was it you said to me? 'My mother didn't love me enough'. There should be no limit to a mother's love, it should be unconditional and infinite" he says with an emphatic sweep of his hand.

Gideon nods sadly, "I get that" he says and then stops as a smile fills his face as he looks towards the door.

I turn and see Eva walking towards us and I glance at my watch. I am shocked to note it has gone 5pm and Eva has clearly left work.

She walks in and makes a beeline straight for Gideon.

"Hey Ace" she says affectionately as she reaches him.

"Angel" Gideon responds and he wraps her in his arms and holds her tightly.

"So?" Eva says, turning her attention towards me and then Christian.

I wave my hand, "It was Corrine, I sorted it" I say simply and Eva grins at me.

Then she looks at Christian questioningly, "And your ruse?" she asks.

Christian nods, "Seed planted, and is growing nicely - Landon is going down" he says. He hesitates a moment and glances at Gideon before he continues.

"Chris Vidal wasn't the only visitor Gideon has had today" he says and I watch as Eva's eyes harden and she spins on the spot, her head whipping upwards and she looks at Gideon questioningly.

"Christopher knows" Gideon says simply and I see Eva's mouth drop open in surprise.

"He didn't come to gloat, did he? What did he say to you?" she says and the look on her face and her entire demeanour scream that she is ready to rip Christopher apart.

"Relax sis, he came to apologise" I say and Eva turns towards me, the shock at what I just said registering on her face.

"Apologise?" she replies.

I nod, "Apparently he overheard Ireland having a go at Chris and Elizabeth and he now knows the reason why. It made him re-evaluate his entire life and the way he thought about Gideon. Let's just say he's had a kind of epiphany and he apologised and from what he said, he wants a relationship with Gideon" I say.

"Are you going to give him one?" Eva asks carefully and Gideon nods.

"It will take time, trust needs to be built and it will take a long time to overcome everything that he has done over the years, but as he said he was influenced by his parents' attitude towards me and it coloured the way he behaved so I am prepared to give him a chance and see if he is genuine".

"Do you think he was genuine?" Eva asks as she looks at each of us in turn.

Christian and I both nod, "I think so" I say and Christian echoes that comment.

"Ok" Eva says clearly satisfied with that response.

"Ireland has left home, she has moved out and she is living with Christopher now as a result of this" Gideon says.

"Really? Has she told him?" Eva asks and Gideon shakes his head.

"No, she refused to tell him why, but that was fairly redundant as he has overheard and already knew. Ireland doesn't know that though. Christopher is convinced that Ireland is going to humiliate our mother in some way though as a form of retribution for what she did".

Eva smiles, "Well, its no more than she deserves" she says coldly.

I nod, "We were saying much the same thing just before you arrived. Gideon explained his mother was complicit in everything that happened with his father, even though she made out she was ignorant of his dealings. Gideon has evidence which implicates his mother in the fraud. We were just saying perhaps its time for him to get his own revenge" I say looking at Eva meaningfully.

Eva's eyes widen and I know that she is now working out a plan of revenge in her head. She looks up at Gideon, "Why am I only hearing about this now?" she asks sharply.

Gideon shuffles uncomfortably, "As I said to Ana and Christian, she is still my mother" he says.

Eva's eyes soften as she hears this, "She needs to begin to behave like one then" she says simply, and she reaches for Gideon's hand. "Ace, you need to let go of this misplaced loyalty towards her, yes she is your biological mother who gave birth to you… but she's not your mom" she says gently.

"We pretty much said that to him" Christian says as he nods in agreement.

"I need time to think about this" Gideon says after a moment and we all nod, we can't force this. Gideon has to come to his own conclusions about this.

I hear a buzzing sound and Gideon reaches into his pocket for his phone, he glances at the screen and smiles.

"It appears the plan worked perfectly" he says, and he quickly dials a number, "Yes, all systems go – you know what to do, launch the GenTen" he says.

He ends the call and looks at us. "Landon won't know what's fucking hit him" he says with a sense of grim satisfaction.

I look at Christian and he meets my gaze with a smile. I can almost see what he is thinking, one down two more to go but the revenge and destruction of Landon is one thing, avenging himself and destroying his own mother is something else entirely but whatever Gideon decides to do, he will be certain of my support and also Christians.