Chapter 30:

Thanksgiving and Christmas was celebrated with the traditional Grey fanfare of parties, dinners, and a New Year's Eve ball. Ana was showered with gifts from her husband, his family, the Kavanaghs, and of course, her Dad. She was now relaxing in the Aspen ski lodge with all thoughts of Elena Lincoln, Morgan, and Hyde put on the shelf. She was going into her seventh month. Since skiing was out of the question, she spent her time enjoying the solitude of the lodge, relaxing, reading and of course, making love to her handsome husband. He had been correct that clothing would be optional. Many times, she had found him roaming about without a stitch of clothes on. It was good that he gave the household staff time off while they were in residence.

Ana was cuddled up in a little window nook in the library with pillows for her back and a warm comforter wrapped around her legs. She was drinking hot tea as she watched the snow gently fall. The roaring fire in the massive log fireplace cast dancing shadows over the room.

"You look comfy." A deep voice whispered in her ear. His breath was hot against her neck.

"I love it here. It's so peaceful." She turned to him.

"Usually, the family is here for skiing and it's never peaceful." Christian laughed thinking of the handful times that he invited his family for a weekend of skiing. Elliot and Mia kept the party going with their antics. He sat next to her. "Are you warm enough?"

"I am perfect." She gushed in joy. "What more does a girl need? I have a good book, a fine cup of tea, a view to die for and the most handsome husband that sees to my every need and desire." She leaned into him and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips. "I am blessed."

"I am the one who is blessed." His big hand covered the bump of their child. "Is he sleeping now?"

"SHE is sleeping away." Ana giggled as she egged him on. They had decided to wait until birth to find out what they were having, which surprised Ana. She thought he would demand to know the sex of their baby as soon as possible. Once again, Christian Grey kept his wife guessing. Truthfully, Ana thought she was having a boy, but every now and then she like to get her husband a little crazy. She was just like that! "I was thinking of names this morning."

"Girls or boys?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Both."

"And what do you propose, Mrs. Grey?"

She smiled at him. "I adore your grandfather. He is precious to all of us, so I propose, Theodore."

"I like that. Gramps is my favorite person … well, besides you." He added quickly.

"Of course." She replied with a smirk. "And for a girl there is only one choice. Grace."

Emotions raced across the billionaire's face as he heard her declaration. He felt tears forming in his eyes. "Mom would love that."

"For middle names, I was thinking Raymond for the boy, and Agnes for the girl." She offered then waited for his reply.

"Theodore Raymond or Grace Agnes." He tried on the names repeating them aloud. He nodded agreement. "I like them all." He wrapped his arms about his wife and pulled her close. "I love you, Ana. You have given my life such meaning. And now this, a child. How do I deserve to be so happy?" She shrugged as she laid her head on his chest and listened to his big heart thump strongly. The man had no idea how wonderful he truly was. He still saw the darkness that had enveloped him for so long.

"I love you, also, Christian, with all my heart and soul."

Taylor and the rest of the security team were still busy running down leads on that tabloid story. They were also investigating all fifteen of Grey's former subs, looking into finances and personal and business relationships. For good measure, Taylor checked up on Elena Lincoln and the old bat was still talking to a crack in her cell wall. She had slid further into her madness and most of the time didn't even know what day it was. When questioned about her relationship with a Christian Grey, she would deny ever knowing such a person. It was the doctors' opinion that Elena would probably never recover, and the rest of her days would be spent in the asylum in protective custody.

Frustration was at the core of most of Taylor's days. He could not find the single common thread between whomever paid for the chaos in the billionaire's life and Carla and Bob Adams. The money had to come from somewhere. The team was once again scanning over the bank accounts of those two while Taylor was in Aspen covering the Greys.

Taylor was watching the outside monitors when his phone rang.

"Talk." He gruffly said. His inner bear had been released with the frustration he felt.

"Hello, to you also." A bemused voice replied.

"Ryan don't start any shit with me. Just tell me that you found something."

"Does the name Suzanna Cumberling ring a bell?"

"No, should it?"

"She was number 15." Ryan replied. "Cumberling is her married name. From what we can find, she married very well right after Grey dumped her to her then Dom, Gary Cumberling."

Silence.

"Okay, go on." Taylor almost broke the pencil that he held. His team was pushing his buttons today.

"He's a rich old bastard, worth millions. Loves to beat on women." Ryan offered. "He's considered hard-core in the lifestyle. Has a record for domestic abuse on his three former wives."

"Go on." Taylor urged.

"Suzanna Cumberling is the ultimate trophy wife, beautiful, obedient, and very submissive. She does, however, have another trait. She is vengeful. She isn't happy that Grey found happiness with Ana. According to her friends, she is always going on that she should have been Mrs. Grey not some babe in the woods. We might want to investigate her deeper. She sounds like she may want her pound of flesh."

"Does she have access to her husband's funds?" Taylor asked, getting excited that they may have stumbled on to something.

"He is very generous to her. From what we have found, she gets a monthly allowance of a hundred thousand dollars. That's not counting her clothing, cars, and jewels. Like I said, he pays her well to be his punching bag."

"Keep digging and get back to me as soon as you can."

"There is something else you should know. The authorities have released the autopsy report on Morgan. She was beaten to death with a blunt object then thrown into the Sound. They didn't find any water in her lungs, so she was dead before she hit the water."

"Anything else?"

"She was pregnant. Just."

"Shit." Taylor breathed. He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer for the child. "Any clue who the father was?"

"Jack Hyde."

"Well, if that isn't a piss storm in a cup." Taylor lowly replied. "Any sightings of Hyde?"

"None. If he's still in Seattle he is doing one hell of a job staying hidden."

Taylor gave his last order before hanging up. "Find his sorry ass."

Kavanaugh Media was inundated with congratulations for the series of articles that Agnes Kavanaugh had presented about alternative lifestyles in the Seattle area. Every week she highlighted a different lifestyle from the LGBT to Swingers, and the final taboo subject: the BDSM community. She wrote with compassion and with no judgement but gave information and testimonials from those in each alternative lifestyle. Once again Agnes Kavanaugh was on track for more awards and accolades from the industry and her fans.

Grey Publishing was also seeing growth in sales especially with three new authors who wrote about the BDSM lifestyle. One author was a sociologist who offered a clinical examination of the lifestyle and the two other authors used BDSM in their fictional manuscripts. In the Seattle area and the State of Washington, these books were selling like hotcakes off the bookstands. Grey Publishing would have to wait and see if the books would be accepted nationwide and internationally.

Ana and Agnes congratulated each other for jobs well done!