My dear little broccolis💚💚💚
💚 So, this story is dedicated to two particular authors with whom I have briefly touched on those issues, and who make amazing stories. paleseptember10 & Krooela. Go check them out, you won't regret it.
💚 Fallen Angel💚
How would have Christian Grey's life turned out if the Greys had intervened when Elena tried to sink her claws into him? Would he still be the same man as we know, or someone completely different ...
‼️Rated M - {Out Of Characters/All Human/Alternate Universe}‼️
‼️Romance/Angst/Drama/Lemons‼️
‼️AS/CG/The Greys/The Steeles/Jack Hyde/Elena Lincoln‼️
💚 READ & REVIEW, DON'T BE A SILENT READER 💚
Chapter 13: Temptation (3,0K)
Christian's Pov
"Oh, wrong Grey," Ana says with surprise. I quickly check her out, to make sure she's not injured and then look at Taylor. In his seven years of loyal services, I have never seen Taylor bleed. He knows how to prevent any threats before they happen. Did someone try to attack Ana and he jumped in to save her? Because if that's the case, he deserves a fucking raise.
"What happened?" I ask them both. Ana grimaces, pulling Taylor in and I take a large step back to avoid any contact. Taylor looks at me, ashamed as she explains,
"I may or may not have assaulted someone in the streets. Now, where does Elliott keep his towels, because Mr Taylor wants to play tough and pretend that everything is fine when I think that I may have actually broken his nose."
I turn my head to Taylor, to see if he can make any sense of what she just said. The last time I checked, my CPO was meant to protect me, not have his ass handed to him by a 110lbs little woman.
"I'm sorry, Mr Grey. It was bad judgement on my part. I saw your friend walking in the rain and thought I'd lend her your umbrella to shield her from it. But she didn't see me coming."
Ana comes back to him with a wet towel, her narrowed eyes going from him to me, connecting the dots between us. "You know, maybe next time you shouldn't accost a lone woman from behind at twilight," She suggests, gently tapping Taylor's face to wipe off the blood.
He looks beyond embarrassed and I roll my eyes, leaning against the wall and putting my hands in my pockets as I accuse her, "What is it with you and gallantry?"
She grins, "We obviously live in two different worlds. You know who else was considered a gentleman?" Her fingers gently touch Taylor's nose and he doesn't wince, which means, hopefully, she didn't break his nose. That will be hard to explain if my head of security had a broken nose for trying to give an umbrella to that ridiculously small girl …
"Ted Bundy … and Jack the Ripper. And Ed Gein. I told you already, Grey, I like the idea of living." She smugly tells me and I exchange a look with Taylor.
I know he saw Ana at the graduation and since she hugged Elliott there, it is fair to assume that he knows we are friends. I wonder if Taylor recognised the military man in the Colonel when he blatantly ignored the fact that I almost died at the hands of Ana's father. But right now, I can tell he is thinking like me, there is much too much talk about serial killers.
Ana doesn't catch up on our glance, still inspecting Taylor's nose, despite his protests, and once his face is no longer bloody, she grimaces and proposes "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital? You should check if it's broken or not."
"I'll be fine Miss Steele. I've seen worse."
"I can tell," She wisely says and I try to look at Taylor from an objective point of view. I know he has been in the army for a few years and that what he did is classified, but does he give off that vibe if you don't know that about him?
I notice that she still has her hands on him, probably debating if she should listen to him or not, and it makes me think that it's something I wouldn't tolerate. No matter my state, I wouldn't want her hands on me. She looks deep in his eyes, and gently taps his chest in retreat before turning to me with a mocking smile,
"What are you doing here, Grey? Can't afford your own place so you're squatting at your brother's?"
"I do this thing that is called visiting a family member. It's really beneficial for one's mental health. Obviously, it's not beneficial for my CPO's physical health."
She snickers, though she spares another apologetic glance at Taylor who simply waves it off. I can tell he is starting to get uncomfortable. She puts her hand on her heart and exclaims with faux indignation,
"And you leave poor Mr Taylor to wait in your car so he can pick you up drunk out of your mind." She then turns to Taylor and tells him in confidence, loud enough for me to hear, "You should look for another job. He doesn't need a babysitter."
Taylor represses a laugh in a not so convincing cough and I roll my eyes. Taylor isn't my babysitter, he just keeps me alive … Isn't it what a babysitter do when you break it down to the basics?
I clear my throat and let my CPO know, "You should go home, Taylor. Have Gail check that for you."
"It's nothing, Mr Grey. I'll just wait in the car."
"Go home," I insist, and he nods, opening the door of the apartment. I'm sure he's glad to no longer be the centre of attention.
"I am so sorry again. I'll send you flowers," Ana chirps and this makes him chuckle. I can see why, usually, it's the other way around and the man who sends flowers to the woman.
"It's really okay, Miss Steele. I should have had my guard up."
"Or, just a thought, try not to startle women in the middle of the night in big cities with a high level of crime?" She jokes though it does sound like she is actually serious. He smiles and nods before dashing away as Ana apologises yet again.
Once it's just the two of us, she picks up the bloodied towel and puts it in the sink as she lightly says, "You need better security, Grey."
"And you need to stop assaulting people in your life. My CPO, my brother … should I get a restraining order?"
"Well you haven't been too creepy yet, so there is hope for you. It's not easy being a woman in this day and age."
She's smiling at me, sitting on a stool in Elliott's kitchen and I do the same as I remind her of something crucial,
"Coffee and umbrellas are hardly lethal weapons."
"In your hands maybe, in my hands … everything is a lethal weapon. Even air," She jokes and I laugh with her. Though I am pretty sure that she thinks that way because her father has probably brainwashed her into attacking any male coming her way in a hundred yards radius.
"So? I didn't know you'd be here, not that I'm complaining. As I said, third-wheeling is no fun. How was your day?" She asks and I mindlessly sip on my non-alcoholic beer, appreciating the ease I have with her. She is far enough to not be tempted to touch me, and it's nice to talk to her in person.
"Boring CEO day doing boring CEO things to take over the world. The usual."
"I don't believe for a second you think your position is boring," she challenges and I have to give her that. I love my job. But usually, when I start to talk about it, people get bored. Usually, because I get too passionate and start rambling and go into too many details.
"It's boring to you, not to me," I tell her.
"Oh? How do you know that? Maybe I want to know all about … what it is you do."
I chuckle, because she doesn't even know what I specialise in, and I think that's cute.
"Are you a corporate spy, trying to steal my secrets? Because I doubt a literature major would be interested in anything we do at GEH."
"Christian, Christian, Christian … I just want to point out that a degree does not define one's interests. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had the presidents that we had."
"You have an answer for everything, don't you?"
She shrugs, looking at me with big blue innocent eyes, "Or you could just say you don't want to talk about work whilst squatting at your brother's and drinking his beer."
"Shit, do you want one?" I say. I just realised that she doesn't have a drink. I'm so used to being at Elliott's as if I was home that I didn't even think that it's not the case for her.
I give her a real beer and ask about her day. It was full of interviews, but I knew that already. She's booked interviews on top of interviews for the next week. And I thought she would be mostly focused on anything book related, she surprises me. She applied everywhere, including ...
"Police?"
She shrugs, bringing the bottle to her luscious lips as she says matter-of-factly, "Yeah, it's always good on a resume. It shows discipline, morals and a sense of justice. Tell me you don't like your employees to have all of that."
"Those are good qualities but … police is a bit of … Not everyone likes to see that on a resume."
"Well, I know it will be a boost for my dream job, so I'm good."
"Oh yeah, your plans to take over the United States of America. How is that going for you?" I tease.
"Marvellously well."
I wait for her to expand on what her actual dream job is, but she just sips on her drink, "Are you really not going to tell me? I thought we were friends."
"We are, but I'm pretty sure a cute little thing like you is going to freak out."
"Did you … just call me cute?" I muse and she grins,
"Adorable even."
I frown and get up to go to the living room where I know there is a mirror. I check myself out, and when she is next to me, I let her know, "No. That's what I thought, I'm still a grown-ass man. Grown ass men aren't cute or adorable."
She bursts in laughter, bringing her hand to her lips before she states, remaining in her position, "You're right. You're neither of those. You're just adorably cute."
I roll my eyes at her and her incessant chuckle and I am saved by Elliott coming back home, Chinese takeaway in hands. Ana forgets all about me as soon as her friend is in, and as we eat, I can see that I am the odd one. Not that I feel excluded, but the three of them have private jokes and it's obvious that they already had many nights like this one.
Kate and Ana do break into songs from time to time, when comes a song they like. They really go all out when TaTu starts, and for a brief second, it looks like they're going to kiss. Elliott seems unmoved by this, so I'm assuming this is normal behaviour for them, and that's when I learn that Ana and Kate actually already kissed!
"So … you're playing for the other team?" I ask Ana and she shrugs, reaching for the stir-fried broccoli,
"Not really. Girls are nice to look at, but let's be honest, we're complicated. If I were a dude, I think I'd be so gay. But … nothing to thwart off unwanted attention at a party than to pretend you don't play in the same team."
I glance at Elliott who simply shakes his head for me to let it go. I've never been a fan of the girl on girl action, at the club, I always go for heterosexuals scenes. But I know that many guys find the whole lesbian thing something very appealing. In fact, I know that Elliott has already had a couple of threesomes with bisexual women.
Kate snickers, recalling the one time when a guy tried, even more, to get with them after they kissed, and they had to use their 'tampon tactic' and I suddenly wonder if Ana even has an actual boyfriend. Kate is with my brother and has been for the past three months, and yet, she still used that tactic with Ana.
Does Ana have a boyfriend back in Portland? Or back in Olympia where her father lives? Or here, in Seattle. it's hard to believe that no one ever asked her out after passing her father's defences. She's beautiful, funny and smart. Isn't that the perfect combo?
We play Uno after eating, and as per usual, I win (Elliott has never beaten me at any card game). I get to know Kate a bit more, though we made a point to not talk about work. And now, I am pretty sure that Ana's unhealthy obsession with criminals is a running joke with her close friends.
After losing for the billionth time, Elliott declares that he no longer wants to play, and so we talk about Wednesday night when we are going climbing. He is quite excited to see Ana fall and promises that he will film and laugh as I glare at him. This guy does not have the slightest ounce of gallantry in him. How is someone like Kate, who looks refined, with him, is beyond my understanding?
When 10 pm strikes, Ana says she'll head home, and I take it as my cue to leave. I am pretty sure Elliott wants to give a detailed tour of his apartment (and bedroom) to Kate. As we ride the elevator down, I think that I will have to cab it home tonight, as much as I dislike it. I should have asked Taylor to send Sawyer to replace him.
"So, you're not as stuck up as you look like," Ana tells me, referring to my boasting of being the Uno king. I grin, smug and proud, and tease her back,
"Well, as my CPO can tell, you're not just a pretty face either. We both learned something tonight."
This makes her smile drop and her face cloud for a brief moment. I feel some sort of cold between us, and I am left wondering what the fuck did I say?
The elevator doors open, and she shakes her head, taking a deep breath before letting me know, "I should go. I don't want to keep Mr CEO from his beauty sleep."
"Where is your car?"
"I walked here, remember? Hence your henchman coming after me. Hence me breaking his face. Hence you having to have to find an excuse to explain his beautiful face for the next couple of weeks."
I roll my eyes and spot my car, with Taylor in the front seat, looking at us. This man is more stubborn than a mule, but I'm glad I don't have to cab home.
"I'll drop you home," I let her know, and she raises an eyebrow at me.
"Is this your way to find out where I live Mr Stalker?"
"Were you not planning on inviting me to your housewarming party?" I retort, pretending to be offended. She giggles and we walk side by side to my car as I add for the sake of the joke,
"I can't decently let you roam the streets in the middle of the night when so many serial killers can come after you."
.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.
Now that you know where I live, I fully expect a housewarming gift. 😎😎😎 ~ Ana
This is the first text I see the next morning. And it puts a fucking smile on my lips. I have been working on that gift all weekend, though, to me, it was more a delayed graduation present. Let's hope she likes it because I have no fucking clue what to get her otherwise. Maybe I should ask Mia what she likes to get from friends.
My routine is the same as usual, though I give the day to Taylor, to his displeasure. He and Ana had a few jabs as he drove us to her apartment complex yesterday night, and it ended with Ana asking him if he wanted self-defence lessons from her, whilst he promised to sneak up on her one day.
Yeah, over my dead body. But let them have their ridiculous fantasies.
As I get to my office, Andrea informs me that Ros will be late, something about an emergency at home and I just wave it off. Ros has always been reliable and I know that if she's late, it's because she doesn't have a choice.
"Debrief in five, Andrea. With coffee. Triple expresso, please. Or whatever is stronger than that."
I didn't sleep much last night. After dropping Ana home, I went to the boxing room and boxed for most of the night. I didn't want to go to bed with the image of Ana in her form-fitting suit and see-through blouse. In fact, I don't want to think about it now, or it will be a very hard day.
So I get inside my office, longing to sit in my chair and wait for that perfect coffee Andrea is going to bring me, but my brain suddenly become very alert when the chair I usually sit in turns on its own and reveals Colonel Steele looking at me with a smug smile,
"You need better security, Grey."
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.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.
💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚
💚 So, the Colonel decided to pay a visit to Christian ... I know that some people have some issues with him, BUT he is that way about Ana for a reason. She gave the tiniest of hints in this chapter, but if you catch it, you are Sherlock Holmes!
💚 And Taylor just surprised her, and yes, Ana does feel bad about it, but as she said, it was dark, and night and she didn't expect it. (I, personally have gutted quite a few friends like this, sorry, not sorry, I want to live)
💚 And we had a nice moment, just enjoying life ...
💚Well, let me know what you thought of this chapter. What was your favourite part? What do you think will happen next?
💚 E L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, Everything else is mine (including the mistakes and grammar errors).
Love, Mina 💚💚💚