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 44: Unfaithful (5,0K)

The next morning goes as per usual when we sleep together. We already have our little routine about getting ready for work, and I love it. It's just so amazing to know that we so easily get around one another. Though this morning, with the recent development of our relationship, I discovered one big inconvenience. Resisting the urge to release my morning boner with Ana.

Especially when she looks as hot as she does right now.

She's wearing a white sleeveless blouse that goes all the way up her neck to hide the massive hickey that I've made on her neck last night. Along with that, she's wearing a skirt alongside thigh-high boots and even though I would love nothing more than to strip her out of those clothes and show her what they do to me, I still scowl at the idea that so many people are going to see her like that.

I mean, she's my woman. No one but me should look at her the way I do. I know how men think. And with what they think. I'm pretty sure that more than one man will cream their pants today seeing her so hot. Starting with me. If Ana wasn't so always serious about work, I would have totally made her skip work and shown her a better way to spend the day.

Right now, we're in the middle of breakfast, enjoying the French toasts that Gail has made us, and Ana is trying to say some stupid shit about walking to work. From where I live, it's a good half an hour, forty-five minutes. Who does she think I am?! I'd never let her walk alone like that. Especially not in those clothes.

"Of course, I'm dropping you off, babe. Don't insult me."

"I'm not insulting you, I just don't want you to make a deto—"

"I'm dropping you off," I cut her off, not even taking the time to look away from my phone as Ros is sending me panicked emails about my desire to buy SIP. "And I'm picking you up tonight. So don't even think of trying to walk to or from work. I'll give you a workout tonight if you absolutely want to burn calories."

"Perv," she laughs and I simply smirk at her, not the slightest ashamed by it. But then, she kills all my plans of making love to her tonight by telling me,

"But tonight I'm going back home."

"This can be your home, Ana."

"You know what I mean."

I grimace, putting my phone down and bringing my coffee to my lips as I ask in what I hope to not be a petulant voice, "What? Is Kate saying that she misses you already?"

"Of course she misses. I'm amazing like that, haha. But no. Jose has his opening tonight, and I promised him that I would go support him."

"Oh," is all I find to say. Because really, I would have been perfectly fine never hearing from this fucker again. Of course, that means that at least I will be able to buy the pictures he made of Ana. And hopefully, they will be 'grandeur nature'.

"Don't worry, Christian. You don't have to come. I know how you feel about Jose, and it's been too short of a time for you to have already changed your mind about him. Maybe we can try some other time."

Right. As if I'm going to let her go see that idiot unaccompanied! Especially dressed like that! He's definitely going to cream his pants. And he'll think that since I'm not there, he can try to woo her or whatever with his love letter in form of photographs.

"No, you're right. I need to get to know him," I tell her, keeping to myself that I'd rather be dead than let her meet that idiot alone. Especially when they will both be the star of the night. She by being the centrepiece of his show, and him by being the artist.

She raises her eyebrow at me, and I feel my soul on fucking trial, but then she kisses my cheek and takes a route I did not expect, "Anything to sleep with me tonight. You really are a pervert, Christian Grey."

I don't deny her claim because it is also true. It is not the main reason as to why I want to be with her tonight, but it's not a negligible reason either. So I just smirk, not even trying to look guilty. She knows full well that I am attracted to her body.

"But what about therapy? Isn't it usually on Mondays?"

"I'll reschedule Martha. It's not the first time and it won't be the last time. She knows my schedule is flexible and unpredictable."

"Okay," she smiles with her heart before she lets me know, "But just so you know, Dad will be there." I nod, not backing off. A freaking T-rex could be attending that I would still go.

"And you'll get to meet my Mom as well," she grins, getting up and bringing her plate to the sink. I've told her countless times to just leave things as they are, but she keeps on insisting that it's the least she can do.

I'm finishing up with my last toast when what she said fully hits me and so I voice the trail of my thoughts, "Your Mom is going to Rodriguez's show?"

"Yup. She's actually quite excited about it. She's quite an art freak," she beams and I clear my throat, gulping down my glass of water before getting up.

She frowns and stops me, forcing me to look at her as she inquires, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I … I just thought that I would have met your Mom at some other time. Like something important for you. Like your graduation. Or your birthday."

This makes her chuckle before she pecks my lips and sways away from the kitchen, taking her bag with her. I follow her and she explains, "Mom is actually taking me out for lunch today because someone kidnapped me on my actual birthday. So if you wanted a lunch quickie today, forget it. As for my graduation, she was actually in the hospital. So yeah, she missed it, but I think her excuse is pretty decent."

Well, I feel like an idiot now. Here I am accusing her Mom of basically being a terrible mother when she was sick enough to be hospitalised. I apologise and Ana, being the perfect person that she is, simply brushes it off by kissing me and she starts talking about something else as we get to the elevator.

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

As soon as I get to work, Ros is on my ass about SIP. She can't understand why I am going toward this 'money-pit' as she says. She even rants several times about how the publishing industry is a dying industry because people read less and less and they prefer digital copies. I let her vent for a moment, not really paying attention as I look at the SIP file.

There is a more pressing issue to me concerning it. I don't think I will be able to buy it as discreetly as I had hoped. Another publishing company was hoping to buy it in order to steal the few good authors SIP have, and if I want to keep those authors with us, I will have to make a public announcement. So they know that they are in good hands.

I guess Grey Publishing will happen faster than anticipated. I'm going to have to tell Ana soon. Or I can maybe just let it slide and see if she notices herself. After all, I'm not the only Grey in the world, and she knows that what I do has nothing to do with publishing. There is a slim chance that she doesn't make the correlation … as long as she doesn't ask me directly about it.

When Ros mentions the possibility that we can still sell it back to the rivalling company, I cut her short,

"This is a passion project, Ros. I don't intend on selling any time soon."

"But Christian … since when do you have passion projects that cost more than they bring you?"

"I don't care. I can afford that gamble."

"It's not just the money. It's your reputation. What if it still goes bankrupt after you buy it? Your perfect record will be no more."

"It won't," I confidently say. "I won't let it go down. I have a couple of thoughts on how to rebrand and restart this business."

"Rebrand? Please don't tell me you're going to stick the name Grey on it!"

I glare at her and make it clear, "My name, my company, my money. I'll do as I damn well please."

She looks at me, slightly taken aback. Though I have often played this 'my game my rules' quite often, I never did it with her. We've been together in this from the start, and Ros is the second in command in every way, shape or form. She knows it, and she knows how I trust her to always have GEH's best interest at heart.

But as Ros usually does, she doesn't let me deter her from her initial thought or put her down, "Why do you want to buy it so much then? You'll have to explain this to me because right now I don't understand."

I sigh, putting the papers down and getting up to look at the skyline as it downs on me. This is the first time I am mixing professional with business. Even when I hired Elliott and Eric in the past, it was mostly a business decision, to begin with. I didn't hire them because they were family, but because they were the bests at what they did. And as I sigh, Ros seems to understand part of the problem,

"Is Mia represented by SIP? Is that why you don't want this company to sink?"

"No." Though maybe I should have future Grey Publishing prospect her, so she can stop being ripped off by her publisher. I take in a deep sigh again, and let her know,

"I know someone who works there. I don't want them out of a job."

"So you're buying an entire company to keep one person's job?" She muses and when I nod she looks at me with new eyes, a hint of amusement gleaming in her eyes,

"Must be some pretty good sex you're getting. I'm not judging, I've done some pretty dumb shit for Gwen, and I still do, but damn, Grey. You're definitely outshining dumb shit people in love do, here."

"It's not —" I start but she rolls her eyes, getting up herself as she cuts me off,

"Yeah, yeah. It's just someone. Well, now that I know that you're not thinking with your brain, there is no use for me to try and keep talking sense into you. Though since you're doing this for someone there is hope that you will do everything in your power to make it work."

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

Other than that, work went pretty much as usual. I would have loved to have lunch with Ana, but as she said, she was having lunch with her mother and father and since she never invited me to join, I didn't feel like crashing their small committee.

I wonder what Carla Steele looks like. I know she kept her ex-husband's name (to wonder why they divorced in the first place). Since Ana looks nothing like her dad, I imagine that she must look exactly like Carla. They probably have the same beautifully haunting eyes, the same long dark locks, and the same bone structure that makes Ana's face so strikingly beautiful. Basically, I'm picturing what Ana would look like in a few years.

I stay longer than I planned at work because of some issues with the legal department. Jack says that there is some tension between GEH and a company abroad that is trying to stir shit with us. I'm definitely going to have to go there and settle this myself. Maybe next week. It's in London, so maybe I'll be able to convince Ana to come with me.

So it's past seven when I get to the show. The location is very good, at least the idiot is represented by someone who knows what they are doing. And I have to say, I am impressed. There are far more people than I expected. It's a full house. Rodriguez's agent definitely knows what they are doing.

I grab an orange juice, looking at the different pictures and once again, I am struck by how good that idiot is. There are even a couple of shots that I know I would have bought if they hadn't been made by him. Like the one he made of a dolphin jumping out of the water in the middle of the night. The sky is full of stars reflecting in the water and with the moon behind the dolphin, it looks like the animal is actually flying.

How long did he stay on a boat to capture that one short moment of beauty?

But the only pictures I'm actually interested in buying are the photoshoot of Ana. And it's what brings the most people. Nymph out of the water he called it. Many people are there, commenting on it, on how the colours are beautiful, on how they can see the story unfolding, and on how my girlfriend is breathtaking.

Yeah, right. Well, those pictures are mine too. I take note of the title so I can ask Andrea to buy them for me tomorrow, making sure that it is anonymous. Too bad for him if he doesn't get any publicity out of it. He should have taken my offer when I gave it to him.

I find Ana next to the picture of a butterfly with hundreds of colours on its wings. She's talking with her father and a woman I assume to be her mother, given how the Colonel has his arm lovingly wrapped around her waist. But she looks nothing like what I pictured. She looks nothing like Ana.

The first difference one notice is their eyes. Carla has green eyes instead of the beautiful sapphires that her daughter has. She also has long light brown hair while Ana is a dark brunette. And even their faces are completely different. In all fairness, Carla looks very good. She's definitely a MILF. She has … an Ancient Greek Goddess kind of beauty. But that beauty isn't the same as Ana's. It's not a striking beauty that makes you look twice when you see her. I wouldn't have known she was her mother if it hadn't been for the way the Colonel acts with her.

I understand now why Ana kept insisting that her parents love each other despite the divorce. A blind man could see it. The way the Colonel looks at her, the way he touches her, the way he seems to be able to anticipate what she wants or needs. This man is deeply in love. For the first time, I am seeing the marshmallow Ana has been talking about for so long.

But the thing remains that Ana looks nothing like either of her parents. And I know she's not adopted. She would have told me otherwise when I told her about my own adoption. I try to look at the Colonel again, trying to see a single thing in common between Ana and him, but nothing. And it starts to down on me that there is a very slim possibility that she is actually his biological daughter.

I don't doubt for a second that the Colonel loves Ana like she's his kid. And that he will always be her daddy. But … it seems that Carla was not as faithful as one can hope when you're marrying the love of your life. This is probably why they divorced. The Colonel found out and asked for a divorce, but since he had grown fond of Ana, he fought to have her custody.

But … what kind of example does that set for Ana? Because right now, the Colonel is clearly showing love to the woman who betrayed him. Does Ana expect the same from me? For me to forgive her and still care for her if she cheats on me? With Rodriguez, nonetheless? To raise another man's child as my own?!

That will certainly never happen. I love Ana more than anything, but I am a vindictive person. If you betray my trust, there is nothing you can do or say to gain it back. I'll have to make that clear to her. She has to understand that what her parents have, is not something I condone and not something I will repeat in our relationship.

Ana must have felt my eyes on her because she looks in my direction and gives me a smile that can definitely melt the ice cap. Who needs climate change when you have a smile like that to irradiate us? She comes to me after saying something to her parents, her smile still plastered on her face and I have no other will than to respond to it.

She changed since this morning, though she passed from hot worker to sinful angel. She's wearing a red dress with a small collar like her blouse from this morning to hide my hickey. The dress stops a little bit before her knees, and she's paired that simple dress with cream-coloured accessories, all the way down to her clutch.

When she is at my level, I kiss her temple, though I want nothing more than to kiss the shit out of her. But her Dad is here, just a mere meter from us. Let's not give him more reason to hate me. She chuckles, putting her hand on my face to make me look at her before her bold red lips end up on mine,

"Stop overthinking, Christian."

I politely smile at her, keeping to myself that it's easy for her to say so when she's not the one on her father's blacklist. She looks deep into my eyes, a slight frown creasing her eyes before she asks,

"Is everything okay?"

No! But I can't tell her that. I can't lie either because she only asked to be polite. She can tell that something is wrong. So I tell her part of the truth, "I'm not really a social butterfly. I'm never comfortable in those kinds of events."

"Do you want to leave?"

Yes! But once again I can't tell her that. I can tell that she's enjoying herself, happy for the idiot that this has so much success. And she's also enjoying the presence of her parents. So I just smile and peck her lips as I ask her in return,

"What do you want to drink?"

"Christian …" she insists and I shake my head, letting her know where my priority lies right now,

"Enjoy your night. I'll get you something to drink before I meet your Mom."

I go to the bar and ask for her favourite soda and when I turn, I am face to face with her mother. Well … that wasn't planned. I was hoping Ana would be with me when I would meet her Mom. Imagine she's as … intense as the Colonel. She smiles at me, taking a glass of orange juice as she says,

"Christian Grey … I have heard a lot about you."

I swallow with a bit of difficulty. I guess I can't delay this moment anymore. From up close, she's even more beautiful. The Colonel definitely lucked out on her. I mean, he's no Quasimodo, for sure, but she's way out of his league. He's definitely a lucky bastard … if we put aside the cheating.

I give her a polite smile, wishing I could say the same about her. But Ana never talks about her mother. Then again, I understand. It must not be an easy topic to talk about how one of your parents cheated on the other and you are the result of that.

"All good things, I hope," I say, putting on my best charming smile. I wouldn't want to put the wrong impression the first time I meet Ana's Mom, no matter how I feel about her and her indiscretion.

Carla's eyes go to Ana who is laughing with her father and another man in front of a photograph of a woman in a wedding dress. The particularity of that picture is that the hem of the dress looks like it's turning into the ocean's foam. She's about to say something when I pale as a guy snoops behind Ana and picks her up in his arms, making her twirl in the air and making Ana and the two men laugh. She chastises him to put her down and when he does so, I recognise the kneeling man of her graduation.

All I want is to go there and make it clear to him that she is taken, but I stand where I am when she looks my way with a small reassuring smile. If I make a scene, she'll say it's my fault again and I don't want to have yet another argument over her friends. We'll talk about this later.

"Ana talks a lot about you," Carla says, breaking me out of my murderous thoughts and I look back at her. "She's very fond of you."

"And I of her."

She looks back in direction of her daughter before her eyes settle once again on me. She looks at me from head to toe, as if she is assessing me before she lets me know with a soft smile,

"Just a word for the wise, Ray gave her a very strong role model. He took pride in his role not only as a father but as a male figure to follow and thrive for. Those are very big shoes to fill. Whether she is aware of it or not, Ana expects a lot from the person who will share her life. So …

Don't disappoint her. She doesn't deserve this kind of heartbreak. Not after all that she's been through."

That is the second warning I am getting about not disappointing Ana. What's up with that? Is it written on my face "professional disappointer"? Or maybe she's had a bad breakup in the past? After all, it's not because she was a virgin that it means she was never with anyone else. For fuck's sake! Why is everyone in her circle assuming I will let her down!? She's the love of my life, can't they get that?!

I look straight ahead of me, and I am met with Ana's haunting blue eyes, staring back at me from the picture of her emerging from the water. Her Mom follow my gaze, and for a slight moment, a chill fills the air. I look at Carla but she has averted her eyes from the picture and is looking down before she gulps on her orange juice and tells me,

"And Christian? Don't let her fool you. She might fuss but she loves that you care so much about her and that you want to take care of everything there is about her."

With that, she leaves me to stand where I am and goes back to the Colonel who frowns the moment he sees her. But as he wraps his arms around her, lovingly kissing her hair, he looks at me and understanding lightens his eyes.

I don't have time to analyse anything of what just happened, that Ana is by my side and taking my hand,

"Everything okay, Christian?"

I reassuringly smile all the while nodding, "Your Mom loves you."

"I know. She's an amazing woman. Much stronger than I'll ever be," she grins with pride and admiration and I raise my eyebrow at her. How can she think that she is not strong?

"I want to introduce you to Miguel. Is that okay with you?"

"The guy who had his paws all over you?"

This makes her smile flatter a little before she shakes her head and tells me, "I'm sorry you have so little faith in me, Christian."

This is turning into yet again the same conversation as last time. She's twisting my words and my intent. She should know that I trust her, more than anyone. But the guy literally was all over her not even five minutes ago and I'm supposed to cheer for that?

Still, I don't want to have an argument here. So I sigh and before I can say a word, the idiot comes to us and says, "Carla just gave me the best compliment ever. I think I'm even more in love with your Mom, now."

"Haha, what did she say?" Ana asks, keeping her hands in mine, though I can tell that the conversation is not over for her.

"She said, and I quote, 'I wish you could time travel so you could be the one who took our wedding pictures.' Even Ma didn't have something as touching to say! I'll tell her I'm trading moms."

The two of them laugh at his lame joke and I just stand there, doing my best to not glare at the idiot. He put on a suit, though the way he's wearing screams casual as well. No tie, the top buttons undone, his sleeves slightly up. Is this man ever going to dress properly?

"Okay, you two stay here. I'm going to hunt down Miguel," Ana says, putting me on the spot. How dare she?! She knows how I feel about the idiot. She said so herself this morning. And yet, here she is, leaving me alone with him.

I take another sip of my drink, feeling his eyes on me before he tells me,

"I didn't expect to see you, to be honest."

"Why not? Why shouldn't I accompany my girlfriend to something important to her?"

He rolls his eyes, unimpressed. "I get it, Grey. I get it. Ana is your girlfriend and you two are madly in love. You don't have to hammer it in every time I see you. Whether it is you showing up at her place because I'm here, or you sneaking behind her back to try and buy pictures that make her uncomfortable."

I swear, if I could beat up this man, my life would be so much better. Here he is, trying to depict me as the bad guy when he's the one who was shirtless in presence of my girlfriend and he's the one pining over her.

He smirks at me as I remain stubbornly silent and he asks as if nothing, "So? What pictures did you like at the expo? I mean, besides the obvious ones."

"You're good with a camera, Rodriguez," I simply tell him and he shrugs, untouched by the compliment,

"I know that."

We fall silent for a few more seconds before he looks up to Ana and the guy I'm assuming to be Miguel, letting me know with a taunting smile, "Just a fair warning, Miguel was Ana's first crush. And not long ago, he swore to her a lifetime of servitude."

And it's exactly how Ana presents him. The last part that is, "Christian, meet Miguel, my forever slave who doubted my intelligence and dedication."

The two men laugh at that and I shake the man's hand, a little harder than necessary. He looks at his hand, before glancing at Jose and smirking with mirth in his eyes.

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

Throughout the rest of the evening, I learned a little bit more from Ana's group of friends. Miguel is Jose's cousin from his Dad's side. And they all grew up together in the barracks. Apparently, Jose's father is the Colonel's oldest friend and they were both in the military and their two families are extremely close. And it's true that I saw Miguel at the graduation, as well as Jose's mother. Probably Jose and his father were there as well, but I didn't pay attention.

And that Miguel character … well, he let out that he proposed to Ana when she turned 18! How is that supposed to make me feel? Everyone in their little comity laughed at that memory, I didn't. And when you come to think of it, it's creepy, to begin with. The dude is a whole decade older than her. she was 18 and h was 28. That screams grooming all over the place.

When we finally leave the show, Ana proposes for me to come to her place. And of course, I accept. We don't talk about Jose or Miguel, or her mother. I don't want to think about any of that. I just want to enjoy being with my girlfriend.

And so as soon as she closes the door behind us, I kiss her and take her to her bedroom, just so I can lose myself inside of her.

❌PLEASE DO NOT COPY, DOWNLOAD OR SHARE THIS ANYWHERE OTHER THAN HERE❌

.~°~. .~°~. .~°~.

💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

💚 So we finally met Carla, and we know her story ... She cheated on Ray. Did you see that coming?

💚 Do you agree with Christian? Has Miguel tried to grom Ana when she was a teen?

💚 How do you think Ana will react when she will learn that Christian is buying SIP?

💚 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 💚💚💚