Chapter 40: Sunday Brunch at Grey Manor

Sunday,March 17, 2019

"Damn, she's really hot. You sure she's not bi?"

Christian's eyes popped. Glancing at the rest of the table, he noted gratefully that nobody else had heard the obnoxious comment that his annoying little sister had whispered in his ear about his beautiful girlfriend. Trying hard to keep his composure, he whisper-yelled back at Mia, "Hell no, she's not bi!" How dare his bratty sister even make such a suggestion!

Mia smirked. "How do you know for sure? Have you asked her? We could share, you know."

Christian had just taken a sip of wine, which went up his nose. Anastasia had been chatting with the rest of the Grey family, but her attention turned to Christian as he coughed and tried to breathe again. She patted his back, shocking everyone at the table when Christian didn't react as they'd expected him to. Little did they all know that Anastasia had been touching Christian's chest and back intimately for the past week.

Mia lost her smirk as she worried that Christian was strangled, and then felt shocked that Anastasia was able to touch Christian's back. But as soon as he had recovered, Mia smiled in satisfaction. She'd wanted to find out just how serious her beloved brother was about his new girlfriend, and he'd shown her right away. The fact that Ana could touch him was amazing. This was really good. Oh, Mia was determined to tease him about Ana some more just for fun, but now that she'd confirmed what Elliot and Gabby had already told her, she was thrilled for Christian.

They'd spent the morning catching up. Christian and Anastasia hadn't planned to arrive at Grey Manor until midday for Sunday brunch, but when Christian had learned that Mia had caught a red-eye flight instead of waiting as planned until Monday to take his jet for her trip home during her Spring Break from law school, he came right away.

Mia had come home as soon as she could get away after hearing about Carson's week. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with both of her younger siblings, and the older ones too now that she was here. As usual, Carson was sleeping in this morning while Mia and Christian caught up, and she got to know Anastasia. But now, Carson had joined his family at the table, where most of his favorite foods were spread out, along with corned beef and cabbage in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Carson smiled for the first time in a long time as he chatted with his siblings about a trip they were planning to take to Aspen in a couple of weeks during their own Spring Break. Then they moved on to talk about another trip they were planning later this summer to Disney World in Florida.

"You should come, too," Carson told Christian with more enthusiasm than he'd had for anything in a long time. "We can go to Harry Potter World." Carson had been a huge Harry Potter fan since he was little, mainly because Christian had read all the books to him and Gabby when they were growing up. Grace had first thought the twins were too young for the dark themes, but she'd caved when she saw how they'd bonded with Christian over it.

Could Christian Grey take the time out of his busy schedule to go on vacation to Disney or Harry Potter World? Surprisingly, he was actually considering it, but only if Ana came, too. He'd discuss it with her later. Damn, he was becoming a softie now that he'd discovered that he had a heart. Was BB right? Was he in love with Ana? If that was what it was, he wasn't fighting it. It felt too damn good.

Christian did want to spend time with Carson and Gabby. They'd already talked him into going with them to Aspen, but only because Ana was going too, and the two of them would only be there for the weekend. The twins, Grace, and Carrick would stay for the full week. But if he went to Florida, he'd have to take time off from work, which he hadn't done in… well, ever. He'd have to discuss it with Ros and make sure she could cover him for a week. He'd also need to be sure Ana could take the time off, too.

Grace and Carrick were both happy to have all of their children under one roof for the day. With Carrick's Irish roots, its happening on St. Patrick's Day made it even sweeter. He and Grace both noticed things about all five of their kids that made them smile. Elliot never stopped touching Kate's stomach, and he talked almost constantly about his unborn daughter and what they'd do together when she was old enough. As always, Elliot and Mia dominated the conversation. Grace and Carrick were thrilled to have their older daughter home for the week. They were so proud of Mia's accomplishments at Harvard Law, and they were extremely happy that she was coming home after graduation to work with Carrick. He'd make her work for it, but Carrick was confident that Mia would make partner by the time he retired. She'd always been smart like Christian, so Carrick knew she'd do just as well in practice as she'd done at Harvard.

Sweet Gabriela was their angel as always, her attention almost constantly on her two troubled brothers, who were quieter than their siblings as usual, but more content than they'd been in a long while. Both Christian and Carson were smiling more today than they had in ages. Grace and Carrick were both still worried about Carson, but they were so proud of him for talking to the police and for going to his doctor's appointment. Now, if he'd just keep the appointments with the therapist they'd hired, who specialized in sexually abused adolescents, they'd feel more hopeful that Carson was going to be OK. One thing was certain today if the smile on his face was any indication: spending time with his family was in itself therapeutic.

"Why don't we play a board game like old times?" Grace suggested later that afternoon. It had actually been many years since they'd done anything like that as a family.

"Monopoly?" Christian suggested.

"No!" shouted all four of his siblings at once.

"Christian cheats," Elliot explained to Anastasia, who was laughing at them.

"I don't cheat," Christian insisted. "I'm just better than you."

"The last time we played, Christian bankrupted everybody else," Elliot told Anastasia.

Christian shrugged. "Isn't that the point? All I did was buy as many properties as I could and then put houses on them. It wasn't my fault that you were holding out for Park Place and Boardwalk, or that I landed on Park Place first."

"How about Pictionary?" Gabby suggested quickly, before her big brothers could get into an argument.

"Ooh, yeah, I'm great at drawing," Elliot agreed. He flexed his fingers at Kate and told her, "I didn't become an architect for nothing. Wait until you see these hands at work, baby."

Kate raised an eyebrow suggestively but didn't speak. Oh, she knew all about her husband's magic fingers, but she wasn't going to say so in front of his entire family.

An hour later, as Christian stared at the thing he'd just drawn on the Pictionary board, he decided it was official. He was a shit artist.

"A dick on a beach ball?" Elliot asked confusedly, making everyone except Grace laugh. Even she was trying hard to keep a straight face. She secretly agreed that Christian's drawing looked suspiciously phallic.

Christian groaned. "It's not a dick, dipshit," he said. "Sorry, Mom, he quickly apologized before she even had a chance to chastise him for his language.

"That's a dick," Mia insisted, taking Elliot's side for a change. "See, it even has a mushroom head. You just need to draw the balls."

Christian gave Mia a look that silently said, "And how would you know what a dick looks like? You don't even like dicks." He knew better than to say anything like that in front of their parents. Everyone had accepted Mia's sexuality long ago, but sex wasn't something they openly joked about in their family.

"Is it a Martian?" Anastasia asked Christian, but not without a giggle at everyone's silliness. She agreed that it looked like a dick, but she knew it was supposed to be something else.

Christian smiled at Ana. "Yes! You got it!"

"How the heck is that thing a Martian?" Elliot asked. "And how did she…? Are you cheating in Pictionary now, too?"

"No, we didn't cheat, I promise. It was just a lucky guess," Anastasia assured Elliot. "The thing sticking up is a little man, and the beach ball looking thing is the red planet. Mars."

After that, everybody was fed up with Pictionary, so they sat around chatting. Grace warmed up leftovers, and they snacked. It really had been an awesome day of family fun, which hadn't happened in years.

Later that night as Christian and Anastasia were leaving, Mia walked them out, and they ended up talking for another half hour or so. At first, Mia just wanted to tease Christian some more now that she had him and Anastasia alone. This time, she decided to annoy Christian by asking Anastasia directly.

"Tell me honestly, Ana, have you ever given pussy a try?"

After spending the entire day with Mia, Anastasia had figured out her dry witty personality, so she knew Mia was asking her this really blunt question to annoy Christian. And being more devoted to Christian than ever, Anastasia only needed a moment to collect her thoughts. In fact, she was quite proud of herself for not reacting and for answering Mia matter-of-factly. But before she replied, she stopped Christian by giving his hand a squeeze, as she knew he was about to go off on Mia.

Anastasia responded as if Mia's question was perfectly normal. "I have actually. What about you, Mia? Have you ever given cock a try?"

Mia had clearly expected a different answer. "What? You have? Did you like it?"

"Answer my question, and then maybe I'll answer yours," Anastasia replied with a smirk.

Mia answered, "Um, yeah. I've fucked guys before. I didn't like it."

"You sure it wasn't just the wrong guy?" Anastasia asked with an innocent tone. She gave Christian's hand another squeeze, silently conveying that she was teasing Mia, just as Mia had been trying to tease Christian.

"I'm sure," Mia insisted. "I'm very secure in my sexuality. Now, give it up, Ana. Did you like pussy?"

"Not at all," Anastasia answered with a grimace. "Granted, we were teenagers, and really… sloppy." She turned to Christian and explained, "Jose wanted a threesome, so I indulged him with a friend. I didn't mind so much when she went down on me, but I wasn't thrilled to return the favor. No, that's an understatement. I didn't like it at all. I felt sorry for the girl because she'd been into me, and it was obvious the feeling wasn't mutual when I didn't reciprocate. I mean, I tried, but… it wasn't good for her. I'd much rather give a blowjob."

"Wait, you mean Jose, as in BB's husband?" Mia asked surprisedly.

Anastasia nodded. "We discovered and explored sex with each other when we were in our early teens. Our friendship has been completely platonic for many years now, though."

This entire conversation had surprised Christian so much that at first, he didn't have a clue how to respond, not that he needed to. Was his little sister really having an open discussion about sex with his girlfriend? He and Mia had always been close, but not close enough to talk about their sex lives. She'd known absolutely nothing about his up to now, and that was just how he wanted it.

Christian was somehow able to respond calmly, albeit through gritted teeth, "Um, Mia? Now that Ana's shown you your ass in whatever game you're playing here, how about we talk about something other than fucking? I mean… I could have done without hearing about my girlfriend's threesome with Jose. Next thing you know, you're going to be telling her about your experience with cock, and I really don't want to hear it. At all."

Mia shrugged. "It's not really worth talking about anyway. There is something I want to ask you, though, while we're still on the subject of fucking. You're the other co-owner in the BDSM club that BB and Beatrice co-own, aren't you?"

Christian's eyes popped. "How the hell do you know anything about a BDSM club that BB and Beatrice co-own?" Christian asked her. He REALLY didn't want to answer her question.

"Duh, who are my best friends?" Mia asked rhetorically. Bethany and Beverly were the younger sisters of BB and Beatrice, and Mia had been best friends with them since they'd all been in middle school together.

When Christian didn't answer, Mia continued, "Look, I'm asking for a reason. I've been exploring the lifestyle in Boston, but I'm moving home this summer, and I need a safe place to get connected to the scene here. Not only that, but I'd really like to find a good Dominatrix to train me."

If Christian's eyes could have gotten any wider, they would have, he was so shocked at what he was hearing. "You're a sub?" he asked confusedly. No way. Mia didn't have a submissive bone in her body.

"Hell no, I'm not a sub. I'm as Dominant as they come, and I know you are too, now that the truth is out about Elena Lincoln. Mom told me everything you told her. And I connected the dots. That's why I'm asking you. I said I want to be trained, not that I want to be a submissive. I've played around, but I know I could learn a lot from an experienced Dominatrix."

Christian had a mental image of his sister dressed in a black corset with a whip in her hand. It wasn't a pleasant thought. Shit. He definitely wasn't going back to Down Under if Mia joined. But what if she ended up at Beatrice's play parties, too? And if she pursued the lifestyle in Seattle, she almost certainly would.

It was Ana who responded to Mia. "Why don't you talk to Beatrice?" she suggested. "If you already know she co-owns a club that you're interested in, then you must also know that she… is knowledgeable about the lifestyle." Ana stopped before she revealed too much. It wasn't her place to tell Mia that Beatrice was the best Dominatrix she knew.

"Are you going to admit it or not?" Mia asked Christian. "I already know you're a Dom. I just want to know if you co-own the club. I want a safe place to learn more and grow as a Domme, and this club that Bev told me about might be it. You would know."

"I'm not talking about this with you," Christian answered definitively.

Mia wasn't discouraged. She simply changed tactics. "I had no idea what was going on, Christian. If I'd known what that bitch was doing to you, I would have kicked her ass. No matter what she claimed to be, I know enough about the lifestyle to know that a good Dominatrix would never have done what she did to you and Carson."

Christian sighed. "Mia, you were eight years old when it first started. Elena was thirty-two. You wouldn't have even understood, much less kicked her ass over it. Even I didn't understand that what she was doing was illegal. It took Carson for me to see the truth. But she's behind bars now, where she belongs, so all's well that ends well."

"I had no idea what she was into, even when she tried to recruit me," Mia said quietly.

Christian's eyes popped again. "She… what?"

"Yeah, you heard me," Mia answered. "I was sixteen, and she must have thought I was still a virgin. I wasn't. By then, I knew I preferred girls, so when she tried to get me drunk and alone with her ex-husband, I thought she was just trying to pay him back for her infidelity with some hot fresh meat. In hindsight, now that I know what she tried to do to Gabby, she might have been trying to groom me for the same fucking thing, a virgin auction. Ha, they would have been sorely disappointed. Anyway, I didn't have any idea at the time that she was a pedophile or that she liked to tie up and beat young boys. I just knew I didn't want to be her ex-husband's fuck toy. Don't tell Mom, OK? She already wants to murder Elena as it is. If she knew that Elena tried to recruit me, too, it would be even worse. I told her Elena never touched me, which is true. I didn't tell her she tried to recruit me. She doesn't need to know."

Christian was seriously considering murdering Elena himself. Mia, too? Good God!

Mia continued talking when Christian didn't speak. "You do realize, don't you, that you pretty much confirmed it. Not answering is pretty much the same as affirmation. You're the other owner. I know you are. You're a Dominant. That means Ana's your submissive."

"Mia… Shit." Christian had never been more uncomfortable in a conversation with Mia in his entire life, not even when she'd started her period and told him all about it.

"I mean, it's obvious that she's your submissive if you know what to look for. Her body language has screamed submissive the whole day. She's sweet." She turned to Anastasia and added, "I'm serious, I really like you, Ana, even if you don't like pussy. You're good for Christian."

"Um, thanks, Mia," Anastasia responded. "Can we change the subject?"

"See, you're a good submissive. You know that your Dom's uncomfortable, so you're trying to meet his needs by changing the subject. Good girl. But no, I'm not done yet." Mia turned back to Christian and continued, "I get that you're worried about what it'll be like if we're both at the club together. You're going to see me naked. I'm going to see you and Ana in a scene. Yeah, that'll be weird, I agree. But BB and Beatrice are there together. They're twins, and they're close, but I'm pretty sure even they had to figure that out."

"That's different. BB's gay." Christian snapped.

Mia shrugged. "So am I. So what? You think he'd feel attracted to Beatrice if he were straight? No, I don't think so. And you're not going to feel attracted to me either. But if it bothers you that much, just watch a different scene instead of mine. And if you don't want me to watch you and Ana… Well, I honestly would enjoy watching you and Ana. What can I say, Ana's hot, and I'm a shameless voyeur."

"Mia, good God!" Christian shouted in exasperation.

Mia warned him, "I'm going to find my way into the lifestyle here in Seattle whether you help me or not. I'm a Domme, Christian. It's who I am. Deal with it."

Christian sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. As much as this topic made him uncomfortable, he knew she was right. He hated that she was right. "OK, yes, I'm the third owner of Miles Down Under. But Ana and I won't be going back anytime soon because I was outed by none other than Elena fucking Lincoln there last week. Everybody wears masks, and I wear a disguise on top of that, but she used my name. My real name, not my Dom name. So we're keeping our distance for now. We're more likely to go to private play parties at Beatrice's. I hate the idea of watching you perform as a Domme, but… Talk to Beatrice. She's got the best reputation in Seattle. If you want somebody to learn from, she's the best."

Mia looked pensive. "I'm confused," she finally said. "One of the most important rules in the lifestyle is discretion. People are fucking serious about it. Surely you can trust the members of your own club to keep your identity a secret, can't you?"

Christian sighed. "I don't trust anyone. And being who I am, some asshole will likely sell the story. It's not a question of if but when. I'm just waiting for it to happen, and then I'll deal with the fall-out."

Christian didn't have long to wait. He'd chosen not to tell Mia about Leila Williams or that horrendous memoir that she'd written, but it was at the forefront of his mind. He and Anastasia even discussed it on their way back to Escala. Anastasia assured him that she was mentally prepared for whatever fall-out they'd face as a couple already in the public eye.

He hated dropping her off at her apartment, but they'd agreed that they needed to pace themselves, not spend every night together like they'd both prefer. Christian had barely gotten inside his penthouse when his phone blew up. First it was Barney, then Welch, then BB, then Mia, then Ros, then Felicity Winters, then he stopped answering his phone. He'd instructed Felicity to go ahead and draft a publicity statement for him to review first thing in the morning.

Leila fucking Williams had self-published her memoir on Amazon and posted the link on Facebook, along with a video that she had to have taken from inside his playroom because he wasn't wearing his disguise. Christian hadn't known the video even existed until now.

Barney had tried to contain the story by disabling the video link, but the damage had already been done. The link had been reposted before Barney had seen it, and the video was already going viral. Not only that, but the book was selling fast, and it was an e-book, so people had instant access. Barney was currently working on hacking Amazon, but even if he succeeded, he knew he wouldn't be able to delete the book. His only hope was to hide it, but it was going to take time. Time that they didn't really have, because with every minute that passed, more people bought it. They'd probably do better to get Amazon to remove it due to malicious content, but that, too, would take time.

This was a nightmare of epic proportions, and the only thing Christian could think of was Anastasia. As he made his way down to her apartment, he only hoped that she'd meant it when she'd told him only an hour ago that she was ready for this very thing.