Author's Note: I'm back from traveling, so I won't make you wait anymore for the next chapter. I should warn you, though, that I only have a few more pre-written chapters, so I won't be posting daily from now on. I'll try to keep posting a couple of times a week.

As a reminder if you're reading along as I post, it's still Monday after their first weekend together. They've just finished dealing with Sally Jacobson, and they're both still at work. They have a dinner/movie date night at Anastasia's apartment planned after work, but it's going to be a long afternoon before they get there.

Chapter 33: The Twins are in Danger, Part 1

Back at Grey House, Christian read Anastasia's latest text and smiled like an idiot. If his security team could have seen the grin on his face, they'd have been shocked once again, since he'd been pissed as hell that that bitch Sally Jacobson had outed him on Instagram. Barney was still working on cleaning up her mess, first by hacking her account and posting a message stating that she'd been fed a lie, none of it was true, and she was sincerely sorry for spreading misinformation. Welch had threatened her not to change the message or respond to any of the comments. Time would only tell how big a problem she'd continue to be.

But at the moment, Christian's attention was only on Anastasia, his perfect Princess. He'd been worried she'd feel he was interfering with her work life, but she'd welcomed his help in dealing with her wayward employee. And she was looking forward to submitting to him tonight. He could hardly wait to see her again.

He'd just finished responding to Anastasia when his door opened, and in walked his baby sister without knocking. He started to admonish her until he saw the distressed look on her face. Gabriela was usually a golden ray of sunshine, always smiling. She was the polar opposite of her twin brother Carson, who wore a perpetual scowl. Christian had been a teenager when their parents had adopted the twins, and his sister Mia had been 10 years old, while Elliot had been in college. It was love at first sight for him with both of the tiny four-year-olds. They reminded him very much of himself at the same age.

The five Grey siblings were very different both in appearance and in personalities. The eldest, Elliot, had become a Grey at the tender age of two and had no memory of his birth family. With sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes, he'd always been the most easy-going of all the Grey kids. He owned his own construction business, so he spent a lot of time outside. Even with Seattle's rainy weather, somehow, Elliot always managed to have a tan. Now thirty years old, he'd finally settled down with Kate, who would give birth to their daughter in July. Carrick and Grace Grey had no doubt that Ava Grace, their first grandchild, was going to be a beautiful blonde, just like both her parents.

Christian had come to live with the Greys when he was four and Elliot was eight. As a child, he was small for his age, but he grew into a tall man at 6'3". He had thick unruly copper hair and soft gray eyes that melted Grace Gray's heart from the moment she saw him. For two years, Christian didn't speak, until Mia came along. Adopted as a baby, Mia was fascinated by Christian, and he adored her. With straight dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a pale complexion, Mia was often called "Snow White," but she didn't mind. She had an inquisitive mind and talent for persuasion. Her siblings had often put her up to asking their parents for things because she was most likely to succeed. Mia and Christian both excelled in school, and Mia graduated from high school at the top of her class. She took community college courses during high school so that she could complete her undergraduate degree in three years. She was currently in her third year at Harvard Law, and she already had a job in Carrick Gray's law firm after she graduated in May.

Like Christian, the youngest two Greys came to live with their family when they were four, after a rough beginning with a drug-addicted single mother. Vanessa Cowley didn't die of an overdose as Christian's birth mother had, but she'd neglected her twins to such a degree that she lost custody of them, and then she was arrested and went to prison for drug-related charges. She died in prison when the twins were ten years old and already adopted by the Greys.

Vanessa had been an African American beauty before drugs destroyed her, and her children looked a lot like her. They never knew anything about their birth father, but an ancestry study showed that he'd probably had German roots. No doubt, he was where the twins got their greenish-blue eyes and lighter complexion. At any rate, they were both beautiful, as were all the Grey siblings. Gabriela was the most intuitive of all of the Greys, and Carson was her polar opposite. Gabriela seemed to always know what other people were thinking just by watching their body language, but Carson rarely gave other people's thoughts any consideration.

Over the years, Christian had grown more distant from all his siblings than he would have liked. He'd never felt good enough to fit into such a perfect family. Nevertheless, he supported all of his siblings as much as he could, especially the youngest two. Lately, Carson had made that difficult, but Gabriela was easy to love. She was always chipper and happy, and she had a way of lifting his spirits on any occasion. But today, Gabriela was crying.

"Gabby, what's wrong?" Christian asked concernedly.

"I need to talk to you," she told him. "It's important."

"What's going on, Angel?" he asked as he moved around his desk and side-hugged her. Until this past weekend, Gabriela had been one of only two people with whom he could tolerate this kind of touch. Mia was the other.

Gabriela cried on his shoulder for a minute before she mumbled the words, "Carson's in trouble. Serious fucking trouble. And... Unless I agree to do something... really horrible... Carson's going to get hurt even worse than he already has."

"What is it this time?" Christian asked her. He tried not to let his annoyance with his little brother show. It wasn't Gabby's fault that Carson was always pulling this shit.

"It's serious, Christian. At first, it was drugs again. That's how it started out anyway. He got caught with fentanyl at school, and Mom and Dad went berserk. More than usual. Dad threatened to send him to military school. But then, Mom remembered..." Gabriela stopped and shuddered. She looked in Christian's eyes again and hesitated.

"She remembered what, Gabby?" Christian prompted.

"She remembered Mrs. Lincoln... and you. She said you'd been out of control. Like Carson. And Mrs. Lincoln helped you. So... Mom went and talked to Mrs. Lincoln about Carson, and the next thing I knew, Carson was sent over to her house to do chores. Only... he wasn't doing chores, Christian. He refused to tell me everything, but... I saw the welts on his back. Really bad ones. Deep cuts, too. And bruises. So many bruises. She... Mrs. Lincoln hurt him, Christian. He was bleeding!"

"Oh my God," Christian muttered, feeling horrified, shocked beyond words, and sick to his stomach. Until this weekend, he'd truly thought she'd never do that to another minor. He'd thought he'd been the only one. Now he knew better, but seriously... his own brother? Was she really that callous?

Gabby stared at him, noticing how green he was getting. "Christian... Did she do the same thing to you that she did to Carson? Did she help you, like Mom and Dad think? Or did she hurt you like she hurt Carson?" Gabby continued to watch, waiting for an answer, and Christian knew that with her intuition, there was no way he'd get away with lying.

But how the hell was he supposed to answer? He couldn't admit... that... to his innocent sister. He knew she was smart enough that by now, she already knew. She could read it on his face. But how was he supposed to admit it out loud?

"What did Carson tell you?" Christian asked, avoiding answering.

"He said he agreed to it, but he made a mistake, and now he can't get out of it."

"Where is he? Is he at home?" Christian needed to talk to his brother urgently, before Elena had a chance to get her claws into him again.

"He was when I left, but Mom was going to send him back there. Carson told Mom he wasn't feeling well, but I don't know if she believed him. But he's not lying. She hurt him. But Carson doesn't want to show Mom his back. He's embarrassed. He didn't want to show me either, but I made him. He thinks he deserved it, but he's wrong. Nobody deserves that."

"Come on, Gabby, let's go," Christian told Gabriela. "You can tell me the rest on the way."

Christian knew there was more that she hadn't had a chance to tell him yet, but he needed to get there and talk to them before Carson had a chance to go back to Elena's. He wasn't sure yet what he would tell their parents, but he had to stop this, now.

"Andrea, cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day. I have a family emergency," Christian ordered his assistant. "Taylor... to my parents', as fast as possible!"

Gabby's security, Barrett, followed in the Range Rover that Christian had purchased for the twins. Gabby got into the backseat of his Mercedes with him as Taylor drove them.

As soon as Taylor started driving, Christian called his parents' house phone. Grace Grey picked up.

"Mom, is Carson still home?" he asked, sounding more urgent than he'd intended. It wouldn't do any good to cause their mom to panic. He needed to keep her calm.

"Yes, but I was about to send him over to Elena's. She has some boxes he's been helping her move from her attic. He's trying to convince me that he's sick, but you know how he can be."

Christian responded as calmly as he could, "Can you hold off until after I get there? I need to talk to him, and it's important. I'm on my way, with Gabby."

Grace asked, "What's this about, Christian? Not that I'm not happy to see you, but why the urgency?"

Christian wanted to tell her it was nothing just to keep her calm, but that wasn't true. It was imperative that Carson NOT go to Elena's house. "Just... keep him there until we arrive, OK? I'll explain when I get there," he promised. How the hell he was going to explain, he still didn't know, but he had to. He was determined that his brother not go through what he himself had gone through at the same age. Christian was going to put a stop to this, even if it meant telling their mother his darkest secrets.

After ending the call with their mother, Christian turned to Gabby. "Was there more, that you didn't tell me yet, Angel?" he asked.

Gabby glanced uncomfortably at Taylor.

"Gabby, our security needs to know if they're going to protect you," Christian reminded his tender-hearted sister.

"I don't want to get Carson in even more trouble," Gabby explained. "Or... Garcia," she added, referring to Carson's CPO. "I don't want Taylor to fire him."

"If Garcia's not doing his job, he needs to be replaced," Christian told Gabriela.

Gabriela snorted. "Garcia's cool, but you know how sneaky Carson can be. Garcia doesn't know half the shit Carson's been up to. He sure as hell doesn't know what's been happening at Mrs. Lincoln's. Neither does Barrett. She doesn't know how Mrs. Lincoln threatened me."

Now Gabriela had Taylor's full attention. Well, what wasn't directed to the road as he drove. As Gabriela looked at her beloved brother, her eyes filled with tears again. "Mrs. Lincoln said... she'll forgive Carson's debt if I... shit, I can't even say it, it's so awful."

Christian took her hand, rubbing her knuckles in what he hoped was a comforting way. "Wait, Gabby. Start from the beginning. When did you speak with Mrs. Lincoln?" he asked.

"Carson asked me to go with him yesterday, when Mom sent him over there again. Christian, there aren't any boxes in her attic that she needs Carson to move. That's a lie. She just wanted to get Carson over there so she could... hurt him. He was still covered in cuts and bruises, and he was afraid to be there alone with her. She was angry when she saw me, and even angrier when Carson told her he didn't want to... do whatever they were doing... anymore. She told him that he still owed her money, and he had to work it off."

"Why does Carson owe Elena money?" Christian asked.

Gabriela sighed. "Carson owed money to some bad people, and she paid them off."

"How much?" Christian asked, gritting his teeth. Gabriela didn't have to tell him; he already knew it was drug related. Christian didn't understand Carson. Both of their birth mothers had been drug addicts. Christian's response was to avoid drugs at all costs. He'd never even touched any illegal substances, and he was repulsed by them. Carson, on the other hand, seemed to be following his birth mother's footsteps.

Gabby answered, "It was $2,500. She said he still owed her two thousand, that he'd only worked off $500 so far. I'm not sure what she made him do. He wouldn't tell me, but I know it was awful. I was considering coming up with a story to get it from Mom and Dad. If Carson tried that, they'd be suspicious, but they wouldn't suspect me. But then... Mrs. Lincoln told me I could pay off Carson's debt... another way. It's awful, Christian. I can't do it. No way in hell can I do it."

"No, you can't," Christian agreed emphatically. His sister didn't have to tell him what Elena had said; he already knew. Elena fucking Lincoln was attempting to sell Christian Grey's own beloved little sister for sex. He knew it. Everything that bitch had been doing to exploit innocent children, which Welch and Barney had shown him proof of today, was affecting his own family right before his eyes. He didn't know how could he have been so fucking blind.

"She wants to enter me in a virgin auction," Gabriela whispered ashamedly. "I couldn't believe it. I didn't know something like that even existed in real life. I thought it was just fiction. But no, it's real. She wants to sell my virginity to the highest bidder, Christian. That sounds... crazy, right?"

Christian nodded as he counted backwards in his head, holding his breath to keep from screaming. "It is crazy," he finally managed to get out as he tried to control his anger. He didn't want Gabby to feel that he was angry with her. None of this was his innocent little sister's fault.

"And she said... She said if I refused... then she'd tell Mom that I was fucking some boy that she knows... and she'd get him to lie about it too... and she'd convince Mom that Carson borrowed that money to pay for an abortion for me."

What the fuck?

"That's ridiculous, Gabby. Mom would never believe that," Christian assured her. "Besides, she's a pediatrician. She can easily verify the facts. She'd never just take Elena's word for it."

"I don't know, Christian. Mom seems... When it comes to Mrs. Lincoln, Mom's a terrible judge of character. She always has been."

Well, Christian had to agree with that. Then again, he himself was usually a decent judge of character, but he'd totally failed when it came to that woman. "Elena's done a pretty good fucking job of fooling all of us," Christian admitted.

Gabby looked at her brother thoughtfully, as if she was attempting to solve a puzzle. "Now I know... She did something to you too. You can't convince me otherwise, because I saw your face, Christian. I'm not really sure how... but I'd like to understand better... how you allowed her to... do that. To fool you, as you say, while she was... hurting you the way she hurt Carson. And now, she wants to hurt me, too. She's... the devil."

Christian sighed and squeezed his sister's hand reassuringly. He thought he was trying to comfort her, but he himself needed to be comforted. He felt utterly and completely ashamed of himself. "I'm not sure I can explain, Gabby. I'm not sure I understand it myself."

"Just tell me this," Gabriela pressed. "Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

Christian sighed again. "I don't know, Gabby. It's... complicated."

Gabriela leaned over and lay her head on Christian's shoulder, as only she could. "I'm so sorry, Chris. I'm sorry she did that do you."

"It's not your fault, Angel. You have nothing to feel sorry about," Christian insisted. He couldn't stand pity, even coming from this sweet angel.

"You've got to tell them now, Christian," Gabriela whispered.

Christian shuddered because he knew she was right. There was no denying it, he needed to tell their parents, as much as he dreaded that idea. It would be necessary to protect both Carson and Gabriela.

"Don't worry," Christian assured her, "I'll take care of everything." He needed to take the attention off himself for a moment though. "Hey, I'm glad you're still... you know..."

Gabriela lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at his face. She was blushing. "You're NOT talking about my sexual status. I am NOT talking about sex with my older brother! Oh, my God!"

Christian chuckled, even though he didn't feel much like laughing at the moment. "Angel, as long as you promise to keep your current status until you're at least... thirty... I won't bring it up again."

Finally, the smile he'd been missing all this time broke through. She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. For some reason, Christian didn't have a problem with either of his sisters rolling their eyes.