A/N: Thank you all for your continued love and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 13: Secrets and Lies

Jack could only stare at the closed elevator doors as he was whisked back down to the main floor of the Escala building, his heart pounding as restrained anger and hatred simmered beneath his skin. He knew it had been fundamentally useless, and probably quite stupid, facing up against Christian Grey inside his own home like that. But Jack knew this fucker knew where Ana was even though her name hadn't come up at all. Grey needed to know who the fuck he was dealing with.

When he arrived, Jack had initially wondered if Ana was staying here at Escala, and a part of him thought he might see her once he went up to Grey's apartment. But after casually chatting with Margot, the receptionist, and asking if she had seen Ana at all lately, she said she hadn't, and Jack came to the conclusion she wasn't in the building. Margot had always been friendly with him and Ana back when they lived here, so he trusted her to be honest with him.

Even though Ana wasn't here, Jack knew that she was close – very close. That's what made this all so frustrating.

The elevator doors finally opened on the main floor, and Jack stepped out. Margot the receptionist glanced up, and Jack gave her a charming smile.

"Bye Margot – good seeing you again," he waved at her as he moved toward the exit. She smiled and waved back.

"You too, Jack. Don't be a stranger," she smiled at him, a flirty edge to her voice that Jack didn't miss.

Jack felt his muscles tighten at the thought of hooking up with the cute blonde receptionist, but he ignored the feeling as he made his way back to his car. He was painfully aware of the fact that it had been weeks since he'd last had sex – being on the road with the Congressman left very little room for downtime. Of course, he and some of the male staffers would usually spend their evenings 'indulging' in the escorts who would hang out at the hotel bars they stayed at during their travels, but it really was just a way to relieve stress. Jack was at least thankful Ana didn't have access to his credit card statements.

Thinking of Ana again put Jack right back into his present situation, and his stomach clenched. He knew this Christian Grey fucker knew where Ana was. Grey also knew exactly who he, Jack, was, but obviously didn't want to say. Jack refused to let him have the upper hand.

He had to know more about the Grey-Trevelyan family. They were his key to finding Ana, he just knew it. He was going to make sure these assholes knew they messed with the wrong guy.

He entered his car and sat down in the driver's seat just as his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket to check the caller ID, and his heart immediately sank upon seeing who it was.

Yet another problem I have to solve.

He sighed before finally answering. "Hey."

~The next morning~

"Do you think we should try calling him again?"

Ana had been pacing nervously around the Grey's kitchen for the past hour or so, her worry for Christian making it difficult for her to keep still. After Mrs. Grey had received that text from him last night about Jack following him to his office building, Ana hadn't been able to think about anything else. She had no idea how Jack had found out about the Grey's or her connection to Christian, but she was terrified Jack would do something to hurt him. While she trusted wholeheartedly that Christian wouldn't betray her trust and tell Jack where she was currently staying, not knowing what had happened yesterday was driving her crazy.

Mr. and Mrs. Grey were currently sitting together at the dining room table, Mr. Grey typing away at his laptop while Mrs. Grey sipped a mug of tea. The two of them were also clearly worried about their son, but didn't seem to be as visibly anxious as Ana was.

"I'm sure he's fine, darling," Mrs. Grey said to Ana reassuringly. "He called earlier to say he would come by later this morning once his security team could ensure Jack was no longer outside of Escala. I'm sure he's just being extra cautious."

"But what if Jack is still there?" Ana asked nervously, picking at her fingernails as she continued to pace around the kitchen. "What if he never leaves Christian alone? What if he's able to track me down through him…?"

"Ana, I promise you it'll be okay," Mr. Grey assured her. "Hyde can't do anything to you from a legal standpoint, and since we know he's worried about keeping his job and political power, he's likely going to go to great lengths to make sure he doesn't look bad in the eyes of the law. We know he's been physically abusive toward you in the past, but we promise you you'll never have to go around alone while he's still out there. Christian's security team is one of the best in the country, and if Hyde puts his hands on you ever again, it'll be game over for him."

Ana gave Mr. Grey a small, tentative smile as she finally stopped her pacing behind the breakfast bar. "Thank you Mr. Grey. I do know that I'm safe with you guys, but Jack has been such a huge presence in my life for so long. It's hard for me to remember that I'm safe now and he can't hurt me anymore."

"That's understandable, darling," Mrs. Grey said sadly. "Men like Jack don't like being told they've lost something – it hurts their ego, and as a result they tend to lash out. It's heartbreaking, but I've seen so many cases of abused women coming into the ER because their boyfriend or husband lost his temper and physically hurt them. It's horrible, but all we can do right now is hope that he'll eventually get the message and back off."

"Ana, I actually have been curious about something regarding you and Hyde," Mr. Grey got up from his chair and walked toward Ana in the kitchen. "I hope you don't mind me asking?"

"No, go ahead," Ana said to him.

"I was curious as to why you two aren't married," he said, tucking his hands in his pockets. "Has he ever proposed to you or brought up marriage to you in any way?"

Ana blinked before blushing. "Oh. No, he hasn't. I mean, I'm grateful we never got married since that would make leaving him ten times more difficult, but that wasn't something we ever discussed."

"I see," Mr. Grey frowned slightly. "I only wondered because, typically, in cases like yours, the abuser wants to exert as much control as possible over their partner, and marrying them is a common way of doing that. I find it interesting that Hyde never attempted that with you."

"Perhaps he was trying to protect his assets," Mrs. Grey suggested. "Ana would be entitled to half his money and property if they ended up getting divorced, depending on whether or not they had a prenup."

Ana nodded, her stomach clenching uncomfortably as unpleasant memories of the past few years came back to her. "That's true. Besides, he knew he had complete control over me despite us not being married. I don't have any family anymore, and I lost touch with my friends soon after college. For years, he was all I had – he made it so that I was completely isolated and I had to rely on him completely. Us being married wouldn't have made me any more trapped than I already was."

She avoided Mr. and Mrs. Grey's eyes as she said that, feeling them looking at her as she spoke. "Oh Ana," Mrs. Grey said sadly, gazing at Ana with compassion. "I'm so sorry. That must have been so lonely for you."

Ana finally looked up at Mrs. Grey and gave her a small, tentative smile. "It was, but I'm thankful I'm no longer in that situation. Mr. and Mrs. Trevelyan have been so kind to me over the past few months, and they allowed me to trust them enough to eventually ask them for help. I wouldn't be here if not for them – and Christian, of course."

"And we're very thankful for that," Mr. Grey smiled kindly at Ana before turning toward his wife. "Where are Margaret and Theo, by the way? I haven't seen them at all today."

"Oh, they went with Mia over to Kate and Elliot's new house," Mrs. Grey explained, brightening up at the mention of her son and daughter-in-law. "The newlyweds are apparently coming back home tomorrow, and they called us to ask if we could swing by their house to make sure everything was in order before they arrived. I was going to do it myself, but Mia offered to go instead, and my parents decided to join her since they haven't seen their new house yet."

"Really? Well it's good to hear Kate and Elliot are back," Mr. Grey smiled. "It'll be great to see them again. Ana, I don't believe you've met our son and his wife yet?"

"No I haven't," Ana said. "They recently got married, right?"

"Yes, and they're coming back from their honeymoon in the Bahamas," Mrs. Grey said, smiling. "Carrick and I actually went to the Bahamas a few years ago – it's such a beautiful vacation spot."

Ana suddenly had a vision of herself and Christian lying together on a white sand beach, him wearing tight swim trunks that left little to the imagination. His washboard abs tanned to perfection in the tropical sun…

Ana blinked and blushed at the little daydream she had, and at that moment the front door opened. The three of them looked over to see Christian and Taylor walk into the kitchen from the foyer.

"Hey guys," Christian greeted them before looking directly at Ana. He smiled at her. "Ana."

Ana could only stare at him, taking in his handsome features. Her intense worry for him from all of yesterday and this morning hit her all over again, and she realized how happy she was to see him again. Without thinking, she hurried over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

Christian seemed to freeze when Ana wrapped her arms around him, and for a split second Ana wondered if she'd done something wrong, but after a moment or two he slowly hugged her back.

"Are you alright?" she asked against his shoulder, her voice shaking slightly. "Did Jack hurt you at all?"

"No, he didn't," Christian said, pressing his lips against the top of her head as he gave her a comforting squeeze. "But thank you for worrying about me. I promise I'm fine."

Ana felt her heart clench with an emotion she didn't know how to verbalize, and she chose not to say anything as she finally pulled away to look up at Christian. "What did he want? Did he say anything to you?"

"About you? No," Christian shook his head. "I think he knows that I'm in contact with you, though. Otherwise he wouldn't have tracked me down like he did."

"What did he say to you, then?" Mr. Grey asked, frowning.

"He said he had received a notification from my IT department about the background check Welch ran on him," Christian explained. "I think that's how he found out who I was and why I was looking into him. Considering one of my last names is 'Trevelyan', it probably wasn't difficult for him to deduce that I'm related to his next door neighbors."

Ana covered her mouth with her hand, realizing with a sinking feeling that this whole situation was likely her fault. "Oh God. He found out who Mr. and Mrs. Trevelyan are? I put all of you in danger."

"Ana, this isn't your fault," Mr. Grey said firmly. "Hyde is clearly determined to find you, and he would have found out who we are one way or another."

"Yeah, and I don't regret him finding out about me, Ana," Christian reassured her. "If anything, I'm glad he knows who we are. He'll know that we won't back down and that we'll do everything in our power to keep you safe."

"We were actually just talking about Hyde when you walked in, Christian," Mr. Grey said. "I was curious as to why he and Ana weren't married, and I wondered if perhaps you had come across something in his background check."

Christian seemed to stiffen slightly as he gazed at his father with raised eyebrows. "You want to know if he had secretly married Ana without her even knowing about it? No, we didn't find anything about that."

Mr. Grey grimaced, looking thoughtful. "Actually, I was wondering if perhaps he has a secret wife that he never told Ana about."

Everyone was silent as he said that, and Ana felt like Mr. Grey had just shoved a dagger into her stomach. He thought Jack was married to another woman? No, that was impossible… wasn't it? Jack might have been a manipulative scumbag, but even he wouldn't go that far. Ana was sure of it.

"Of course not," Ana said immediately, shaking her head. "Jack isn't married to someone else. He and I lived together for years – I would've seen something suspicious."

"But he was away a lot on the campaign trail, wasn't he?" Mr. Grey pointed out. "There were many weeks throughout the year where neither of you saw each other and he didn't come home. How do you know what he was getting up to?"

Ana felt a burning feeling of shame fill her chest, though she wasn't really sure why. "I mean… I sort of suspected him of cheating while he was on the campaign trail. I didn't want to think that about him, though, so I never confronted him about it, but I feel like him having a secret wife is something else entirely. I don't think he would do that."

"Mr. Grey?" Taylor piped up, and the others looked over at him. He cleared his throat, clearly a bit uncomfortable having all the attention on him. "Sir, I don't mean to interrupt, but earlier today I was looking at all of the pictures Welch sent over with Hyde's background check. I didn't think much of it initially, but there was one particular woman he was photographed with several times."

Ana felt as if an icy cold fist had clenched around her heart. "What?"

"Show me," Christian said, moving over to Taylor's side. Taylor pulled out his phone and tapped a few times on the screen before showing Christian the picture.

"I don't know who she is, but the two of them have taken several pictures together at fundraising galas," Taylor said, swiping through several of the pictures. "Here."

He held out his phone, and Ana moved over to his side to see what they were looking at. It was a picture at a nice venue, and Jack was in a tuxedo smiling brightly at the camera. His arm was wrapped around the waist of a beautiful young woman…

A woman Ana actually recognized.

"I know her," she said suddenly, and the others all looked at her. "Her name's Leila. I forget her exact job, but I know she works for the Congressman. That's probably why she's pictured at some of the events. I briefly met her at one of Jack's dinners that I attended earlier this year."

Christian stared at Ana before turning back toward Taylor. The two men nodded at each other as Taylor dialed someone on his cell phone, bringing it up to his ear. "Ana, do you know Leila's last name?" Christian asked her.

Ana blinked. "Er… Williams, I think," she said, and Taylor repeated the name into the phone. "Guys, I don't think she's anyone important. I'm pretty sure she's just Jack's coworker."

Just saying that, though, Ana felt unconvinced by its veracity. What if she was still being a naive fool? The cold dread didn't leave her body as she watched Taylor speak to Welch over the phone, ordering a background check on this Leila Williams woman, and Christian had begun typing something in his phone.

"…Welch said he'll have something for us by the end of the day," Taylor said, finally hanging up. "And I told him to use encryption software just in case the background check traces back to us again."

Christian, who was still typing away on his own phone, suddenly stopped as he seemed to find something. "Thank you Taylor, but we may not need to wait that long," he said, glancing up at Ana. "I found her on Facebook."

Ana felt her heart catch in her throat as he held his phone out for her to look at. It was a Facebook profile with a beautiful airbrushed picture of Leila and Jack smiling at the camera. Leila's left hand showed off a large diamond ring on her fourth finger.

Underneath the photo was a life update from eight months ago:

Got Engaged

A/N: Were any of you expecting that? Let me know what you thought!

If you'd like to keep up with teasers and updates, be sure to follow me on Facebook – I go by the username Straw Paj. I'm also posting this story to AO3 if you prefer to read it there.