Chapter Twenty-Five
~Anastasia~
I'm slipping one of Christian's sweaters over my head when he enters the bedroom. We stare at one another in silence. He's taken off his suit jacket and tie. He looks stressed and angry.
"Are you okay?" he asks. His forehead is crinkled like it always is when he's worried about me.
"More or less. I had a good cry in the shower. How are you?"
Christian crosses the room and kisses me on the forehead. "I've been better. I'm angry."
I pull back so I can look up at his face. "I can tell. I don't think that there's anything to be worried about. You heard Leigh Barker. Your father told you the same."
He nods and holds out a hand. "Come."
I look at his face before taking it. "Where are we going?"
"To my office."
I scrutinize his face for a clue as to what's going on. Taking his hand, I choose not to ask why, and allow him to lead me down the hall. Christian opens it and my eyes sweep around the room. Anxiety hits me while I take in the familiar faces. I hesitate at the threshold, uncertainty blanketing me like a thin film of sweat. I walk in, and hear Christian lock the door behind us.
Taylor and my entire security detail are around the small conference table, but they've moved the chairs so they're facing Christian's desk. Kate and Elliot are huddled on the small leather love seat that's against a ceiling height window. Kate's staring at me and Elliot's bent over, forearms on his thighs. He's looking down at the carpet. His head snaps up when Christian shuts the door. I can see that he took a shower and is wearing a pair of Christian's sweatpants and one of his t-shirts. Elliot's bigger than Christian and I just might laugh if the situation in front of me wasn't so serious.
I slide into an empty chair that's been moved next to Christian's behind his mammoth desk. His hand moves to the back of my neck and begins to massage it.
"Should we believe Barker and Dad when they say that Bellevue doesn't have a clue as to who bashed that bitch's brains in or what?" Elliot blurts out, eyes roaming around the room.
I thought I was the one who blurted shit out.
"Yes," Taylor answers. "They aren't they only ones with an ear to the door of that investigation. They're at a dead end road. They can squawk about motives, but a motive isn't required to convict someone for a crime. You have to be able to prove they did it. The reason why doesn't matter."
"It's a damn shame you guys didn't just toss her in the bay. I'll never understand why you didn't," Kate snaps. She's scowling at Parson.
"Kate, I've told you a million times. They couldn't take the risk of being spotted carrying a dead woman down the property and dropping her in fucking Lake Washington. Mom and Dad did have neighbors on both side of the house, if you don't recall," Elliot replies, sounding as angry as he appears. "Weren't you in the room when Dad said that?"
"Yes, I was. And I have two reasons for my opinion. Her body might have never been found. And if it had been, pieces of that damn vase would have washed out of her sick brain," Kate tells him. She stretches out her denim clad legs.
"Can you two stop before we start infighting?" I ask. "Elliot, I understand why you and Christian went off the deep end earlier, but I have faith in them," I tell him, pointing around the table where Taylor and my security detail sit. Not to mention, I also have faith in your father, as well as Leigh."
"I agree, but I don't want them getting their hands on your medical records, Ana," Christian mutters.
"That's not going to happen, and if it does, it's not going to reflect that I'm a murderer. If they want more information about the episodes I have, they'll be sorry they bothered getting my medical files," I continue. "because nothing in them says they cause me to lose touch with reality and start unknowingly wondering around places for God's sake."
"And what was it with them bringing up the stupid flower arrangements? Did they think we'd replanted them elsewhere?" Kate exclaims sarcastically.
"Kate, seriously calm down. The last thing that I need today is a full blown panic attack or to have to sit in a room arguing that makes me want to scratch blood out of my legs," I hiss at her.
She actually shuts up and digs her lower teeth into her upper lip. Her eyes have narrowed and I can tell she has much more to say. It seems like she's spiraling, and I know that feeling all too well.
"Miss Kavanagh, don't worry about that. Those flowers were ripped to shreds and littered around Medina. They're probably in someone's compost," Parson says.
"I'm not mad about what happened to that cunt, but my God, it feels like we're healing old wounds by opening new ones," Elliot moans.
Facing him, I lick my lips. "Elliot, just because something is illegal doesn't mean that it's wrong," I reply. "And you're family are survivors. Survivors have scars. Some think Elena is a victim, but victims have graves."
"Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it," Kate murmurs.
"What the hell does that mean?" Elliot asks her.
"It's Shakespeare, Elliot. Macbeth," I tell him."
"Fuck that. Like I said, I don't give a shit that Elena's dead, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if the four of you wouldn't have been helping my grandparents break up the party and escorting guests to their cars." Elliot runs a hand through his hair just like Christian does. And he gestures around the table. Sawyer would have been in the house and this clusterfuck wouldn't have went down."
"Don't blame them, El. They were following orders and Sawyer had no idea that Elena was still in the house. He's blameless. They all are," Christian tells him, his tone of voice a warning.
"I'm not blaming anyone. I'm thinking about what if. There's huge difference," Elliot replies.
"I can tell you exactly what would have happened if Sawyer or the rest of the guys had been in the house; that snake would have been caught slithering down the hall to the patio and she would have been kicked out on her ass," Kate says.
"Do you think Mia knows the truth?" I suddenly bring up the elephant that's been up in the air for two months. "Why has she been acting so weird?"
Her brothers shake their heads. "No. I think she suspects someone in the family killed Elena and is terrified to know the truth," Christian responds. "I think that's the same way Mom feels."
"We can't tell them the truth, though. Ever. Not because they can't be trusted to keep quiet, but because of how they threatened Elena, and I think they believe it spurred one of us to kill her," Elliot sounds dejected.
I drop my head into my hands. "I don't think either should have the truth placed on the shoulders. Especially if Elliot's theory is right," I whisper. Christian starts rubbing my neck again as silence envelopes us.
Kate begins to talk, her voice wavering, and I raise my head to look at her. She's pointing at me with tears in her eyes. I don't know if she's directing her words to Elliot or everyone in the room. "In case one of you have doubts or wishing that night never happened, let me remind you of who Ana is, and this is before and after her accident," she says, staring at me. "She'll bend over backwards and folds herself over if it helps people that she loves. Ana's walked around for months smiling, but only a few of us know that she's hurting."
Kate stops and I begin to cry. She doesn't stop talking though and her voice is rising. "She's fragile, and it doesn't take a lot to hurt her. She's cautious because she doesn't just let anyone into her life. Ever since she was hurt, I've seen demons in her and she's constantly fighting them. She's harder on herself than anyone else could be. These fucking months are eating at her and she says nothing about them because she doesn't believe anyone will care."
Kate stops talking and exhales. Elliot now has an arm around her. "Ask Christian if Ana is a woman that you'd expect her to be and I know that he'd laugh at you. Don't any of you condemn her. I know that you'd protect her to the very end and would risk your life for her, but never expect Ana to back down from a fight." Kate's gaze drops, and her words grow distant.
I get up, unsteady due to baby Grey and stand in front of her. I use an index finger to raise her face to meet mine. One of my thumbs stroke her cheek, and I watch her lips intently as they continue to move, soaking up our secrets like candy. Like the others who have found themselves existing in this dark and terrible reality, and doing their job to willingly protect our family, Kate has as well. Ours is a bond most don't understand and so intricate that no one bothers to figure out. We trust one another, and would lie for the other, no matter the reason – even under oath. However, our relationship has turned into one full of apologies. While we've spent two months apologizing to the other, our bound hasn't grown weaker. It's intensified ten-old.
The room is silent. Everyone is looking around, not wanting to watch our intimate moment. I love this woman, a who who is my chosen family. Soon, when she marries Elliot, we will share the same last name, and really be family. Family, as well as partners in crime.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, pulling her head close to me. I run my hand down her hair as we both cry. She wraps her arms around my hips and I feel her body shake as she weeps. My tears fall onto her black turtleneck.
The wind can be heard whirling around the building. It's raining so hard that you can only make out small dots of colors that are lights of the surrounding buildings. It isn't a foreshadowing of what may happen to those in this room. It's raw nature at it's worst. Inside, it's all of our raw emotions.
"Oh, Ana. I'm so sorry," she chokes out.
"Hush, so am I. It was my fault. But it's us, Kate. It's us. None one can break us," I whisper.
Elliot tries to pull her in his lap, but we refuse to let each other go. Kate looks up at me, her green eyes searching mine. I can perfectly see what she's looking at: the reflection of what happened the night Elena Lincoln was murdered.
Kate and Christian had calmed me down after I recalled the night he took that belt to me. The memory itself and what happened in the dining room had depleted me of energy. I couldn't be in the room while Christian explained what had happened and why it had to his father. I had to leave, and Kate recognized that.
We opened the living room doors, and as we'd been told, Sawyer was with the rest of the security detail and escorting the guests to their cars, as well as waiting for car services to pick up other guests. The entire detail was outside.
We shut the doors quietly behind us and Kate took off her skyscraper high heels.
"Bed?" she'd asked me.
"Yes, I feel badly for not staying with Christian, but he knows I'm worn out from it all."
"I can't stay either. Elliot will have to forgive me for not sticking around. I'm sure he's going to have a lot to say to me tomorrow. You know, about me being aware of everything."
I'd shaken my head. "No. If he does that, direct him to me. He should have known that I'd tell you."
Kate sat down on the second step of the stairway. Her designer gown wrinkled and bunched up her calves.
"Shit. Just what this family needs. More drama," she'd replied.
"I can't imagine what's going on in Christian's head right now. When morning comes, he's probably going to want to leave before anyone gets up. He feels so much guilt for something that isn't his fault," I'd told her.
"I wonder what the statute of limitations is for child abuse? I know that Christian wouldn't pursue it, but that woman really should pay for what she did to him. She fucked his life up for thirteen years. It's sad. It's so sad what she's done to this family," Kate had murmured. "She should have to pay for it."
I saw the platinum bob and back of a black dress from the corner of my eye. I knew exactly who it was. She was making her way down the hall on the back side of the house. I moved to my left and stared at her back. Why was she still here? She should have left when she'd been told to, long before the party was broken up.
Kate's head turned in the direction of mine. She looked at me curiously. "What is it?" she'd asked.
"Elena Lincoln is still here, and it looks like she's heading to the back hall."
Kate stood up and looked. "Are you sure it was her?"
"Yes." I felt an inordinate amount of anger coarse through me, and adrenaline wiped away the exhaustion that I'd felt. Without thinking, I'd picked up the bottom of my gown and headed in the direction that I'd seen the witch go.
Kate grabbed my arm. "What are you doing?" she'd asked.
I shrugged her off. "I'm going to find out why that pedophile is in this house."
"Then I'm going with you." She held her heels in one hand. "Take your shoes off," she'd told me.
We rounded a corner as we heard her heels click against the hard wood floors and rage began to fill my bones. This piece of trash had walked around this planet for far too long. She'd caused so much pain to this family, a family that I loved so much. The thought that Christian might not have been her only underage victim struck me like lightning and I stopped.
Kate stopped. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to confront her."
"Katherine, what if Christian isn't the only underage kid that woman has molested? Who says she'd not doing it now?" I'd asked.
My best friend's eyes widened. "Holy fuck. I'd never considered that. Shit, Ana. We can't very well walk up to her and ask. Let's keep following her and see what she's up to."
I'd closed my eyes and pictured a troubled fifteen year old kid being sexually and physically abused by a woman well into her thirties. A sick, sadistic human being that had wormed her way into the Grey family, and used every weakness she found out Christian had in order to draw him in to her web. He'd told us how she'd drawn blood and hit him on his chest knowing that he couldn't bear it. He'd said she'd beaten him so badly one time that he pissed blood for a week. Yet, he kept going back to her. Elena still had her claws in him and when he finally decided to not be her submissive and wanted to be a Dominant, the witch had subbed for him. She added gasoline to an already volatile young man who had the mindset of an adolescent, since she'd stolen that from him.
She'd procured him subs that looked like his birth mother. She'd told him to take out all the anger he had for his birth mother on those brunette women, and he did. She'd given him the money to start GEH, and he felt compelled to partner with her so she could start her own business. He'd never seen all of the ways she still controlled him. Christian is so intelligent, yet this rattlesnake was curled up and rested beside his feet, ready to strike if he did something that she didn't approve of, and Christian never saw it. Wait. Did Christian really not see what was going on around him, or was he too afraid to look?
I was something that she'd not approved of. Elena seemed to see straight through Christian's feelings at the time, long before he realized them. She recognized that he was beginning to have feelings for me during those few weeks I was his sub. His confusion over the feelings he'd developed for me were a perfect way for her to rid me out of his life. That's why she told him that I deserved to be punished for disrespecting her. He looked up to her so much that Christian would do anything to anyone who dared disrespected her. And that played a large part of what drove him to punish me so harshly with that belt.
I realized in that instant, standing in that hallway with Kate, that Elena Lincoln had been jealous of me. Whether it be because I took up more of Christian's time than any sub had before me, or she actually had feelings for him, and she was fucking jealous of me. And like nearly a year prior, she was going to try to break us up again. That was the reason she almost lost her composure when she saw that I was pregnant and that we'd married. Elena wasn't done with Christian. The words she'd said to him earlier tonight proved that. Her history with molesting Christian made the thought that she'd hurt other boys realistic. Too fucking realistic. It all rang like church bells on a Sunday morning.
It felt like the rage of a fire breathing dragon consumed me. The need for justice filled my head and made my body shake. I realized that Elena Lincoln being kicked out of the Grey's social circle would hurt her reputation, but that wasn't enough retribution. Oh, she deserved much more and just as violently as she'd treated Christian. No, I thought about the blood that Christian said she'd drawn across his back. The bruises that he had to hide from his family. I thought about how she tortured him by touching his chest. Being a social outcast wasn't good enough for that creature.
A primal scream began to leave my mouth before Kate slapped her hands over it. She looked at me like I was crazy, and I probably looked crazy. I was out of my mind and unless I was physically restrained, I was about to be Elena Lincoln's judge, jury, and executioner, I just didn't know how to do it. I looked around us and all I saw was pictures on the walls. Hardly a way to injure someone. I ignored Kate as she kept asking me what in the hell was wrong with me. I opened the doors nearest us. Nothing. Not a damn thing.
I finally took a deep breath and told Kate everything that I'd thought about. I reminded her of what Christian said Elena had put him through, and for how long she'd kept her scarlet fingernails deep in his mind. I told her what she already knew: pedophiles usually abuse more than one child. We knew that there wasn't a way to find out if Elena had fucked up more boys, but the more we whispered back and forth, the angrier we both became. Kate's rage came about like a thunderstorm when she realized what Elliot must have gone through. Elena hadn't just abused Christian, she'd also fucked with Elliot's head. We thought about Mia, who'd been a child around the Lincoln bitch and how she could have abused her. We talked about my child, an innocent soul that an evil child molester could prey on, and with the devil in both our eyes, we decided that we were going to kill Elena Lincoln.
"How the hell are we going to do it?" I'd asked.
Kate was silent for what seemed like forever. I could see her mind working. Her lips turned into a devious smile and her green eyes lit up. "Oh, I have the perfect solution. Follow me," she'd told me. "Just be quiet."
We crept through the hall we'd just exited and headed to the dining room where the party had been held. Kate peered in and grinned at me. She handed me her heels and walked to a table that was near the door. She picked up the heavy vase, made even heavier with the flowers in it. I watched a myriad of emotions cross her face. Her cheeks were red with anger.
"The vase?" I whispered.
Kate nodded. "Let's go find the bitch."
Elena Lincoln's Louboutins betrayed her. We quietly followed the sounds they made and we watched her determined walk down the hall. We just so happened to be on the hall where I'd used the restroom earlier in the evening. She went in and closed the door. I saw a dimmer switch on the wall. Once Elena stepped out of the restroom and took a few more steps, I reached out and turned it off. I was in the dark with Kate – so darkness we became.
We heard her steps stop momentarily when the light went out, but then she kept walking and we saw why. She was headed directly toward the patio area that was lit up. Despite the fact that I'd turned off the hall light, the outside lights guided her. It made no sense that the lights being turned off didn't alarm her, or at least cause her to stop and turn around. Elena wasn't aware danger was closing in on her.
Elena stopped on the threshold and pulled her cell phone out of her purse, but she didn't make a call. We assumed that she was checking the time. She put it back in the bag, and several things happened at once.
Elena opened the door to the patio and stepped closer into the fenced off area. Kate pulled the white roses and greenery out of the fucking vase and let them drop to the ground. Then, without looking at me, or making a noise, she raised the vase and swung it straight into the back of Elena's skull. Elena made some unintelligible noise and her body was jolted forward. She swayed closer to the pool, and her bag fell out of her hand. She was bent over at the waist, and her knees buckled. She remained on her feet.
Kate looked at me, her posture relaxed, and there was an expression on her face that I'd never seen. We never uttered a word. The vase had cracked, but thankfully, hadn't broken. There was only a little blood on it. The back of Elena's platinum blonde was taking on a reddish hue.
What we were doing wasn't for us. It was for the Grey family. It was for every child that a pedophile had groomed and brutally abused. Christian could have very well been Elena Lincoln's only victim, but that would have still sent her to prison. We knew that would never happen. So why not send her to hell?
We were quietly determined that Elena was going to die, even if it took dozens of fucking vases, or hours to kill her.
I gave Kate our shoes and she handed me the thick and heavy vase. I didn't look at my best friend before I raised it and used every bit of my strength to slam it in the back of her head. We heard a loud noise; Kate morbidly said it was more of her skull breaking. The force propelled Elena straight into the pool. Now we saw a great deal of blood. It was in the water around her head. However, we didn't see any bubbles to indicate that she was breathing, nor did she move.
The vase split apart after I brought it down on Elena's head. One part fell near the pool. The other half was in my hands and her blood matted hair was on it. My heart stopped hammering. Kate's ragged breathing began to slow. We didn't give each other a high five. There wasn't smiles or laughter. There wasn't remorse. There was just the aftermath.
There wasn't any blood on us or around the pool. I guess there is a god. We stepped further onto the patio deciding what to do with the part of the vase that was by Kate's feet while I held the bloody half of the vase in my hands. Then Kate looked around and groaned. Those damn interminable flowers seemed to be everywhere. We quietly bickered about what to do with them and the fucking remains of the vase.
We'd thought about killing her. We hadn't thought about what we'd do afterward.
And that's when we heard a man clear his throat. We froze in panic, staring at one another. We'd been caught and we didn't dare move a muscle. We slowly looked up and saw the man who'd garnered our attention. It was Parson. His usual impassive expression was gone. He actually appeared shocked as his eyes bounced between us and the body in the pool. He recovered quickly and held up an index finger to his lips. I was terrified that meant someone else was headed to where we'd just murdered a woman.
He walked into the patio area and surveyed what we'd done. His eyes went straight to the bloody remains of the vase in my hand. "Mrs. Grey, do you have blood on your body?" he'd asked me quietly.
"Parson, you've just found me after I've killed someone. I think you can call me Ana from here on out," I told him.
"Ana, do you have blood on your person?" he'd asked again.
"If I do, don't worry. It isn't my blood," I replied, and Parson actually smiled.
Kate turned me around and inspected me head to toe. She shook her head. "She's got a bit of blood on her fingers where she's holding the vase," she'd answered him. "Obviously it's not hers."
"Do you have any blood on you?" he questioned Kate.
I checked out her front and made her turn around. "No, she doesn't," I'd replied.
"Was this self-defense?" he'd asked. He looked at Elena's Chanel bag. He damn well knew it wasn't self-defense.
We'd answered "No." at the same time. Parson cocked an eyebrow and pulled out his handkerchief. What is it with Christian's goon squad always having handkerchiefs? Well, this time we needed one and I was grateful.
Parson calmly used it to take both pieces of the vase and put them in Elena's bag. Along with the handkerchief. Then he told us he was going to have to call Sawyer, Ryan and Reynolds, and we both freaked out. Then the thought that Carrick was done talking to Christian and Elliot sent us into a panic. We just knew they'd found that we weren't in bed and were strolling this big ass house looking for us. Just like Parson read our minds, he told us that the all three of them were still in the living room.
Before we knew it, the head of my security detail was standing next to Parson, along with Ryan and Reynolds. Sawyer was staring at us incredulously, but it didn't stop him from directing perfectly controlled chaos. He looked me up and down. He looked Kate up and down. Sawyer looked around us, and then, he told Ryan to jump in the pool and get Elena. Reynolds also jumped in to help Ryan pull her out.
We were confused. "Why are getting her out of the pool?" Kate asked.
Sawyer looked at her impassively. "Don't you want to know if she's dead?" he asked her.
Ryan and Reynolds laid Elena's very dead body next to the pool. They all looked at one another and we eyeballed them. What in the hell were they thinking. Then, Sawyer shocked the hell out of us when he said to Ryan, "Put her back in the pool."
"What?" I'd asked him. That made zero sense.
They all ignored me.
"We've got to get you two ladies into your beds, where you belong, and then work this shit out," Sawyer had said.
"I understand that. But why'd you pull her out only to toss her back in?" Kate hissed.
"Timeline, Miss Kavanagh. Timeline. Her death needs to look later than now. Meaning that Ryan and Reynolds here are going to have to sit in wet suits for several hours before they pretend to find her." Sawyer was long past irritated at both of us.
Well, I did understand why. We had just murdered someone and they were going to have to protect our asses. We were then questioned about why we'd bludgeoned a woman to death, but all of the men knew why. They were aware of what occurred with Christian and his family. Plus, Sawyer was in the dining room and saw it happen.
Kate began to wring her hands. "How are you going to get rid of all this shit? Why can't you just toss her and everything else in the fucking bay?" she'd exclaimed.
They ignored her.
Sawyer said a few quiet words to the other guys and then held out an arm for us to go back into the house. "Make sure nothing's on your feet," he'd told us. And once you're in your bedrooms, wash your hands. Scrub under your fingernails. I hate to be crass, but scrub them like you've got shit on them," he'd instructed us. "No, take a quick shower."
Sawyer made his way towards the front of his house to find out if there would be problem with us running into anyone in the family on our way upstairs. Again, there must be a god, because the coast was clear. He led both of us to our rooms with strict instructions not to get on our phones for any reason, or text each other. Then he ordered us to get in bed, and if we were awake when Christian and Elliot came in, we were to pretend to be asleep. Sawyer was standing by Christian's bedroom door when he finally came to bed.
Kate didn't sleep at all. I dozed off and on until four in the morning when Christian's phone rang. I knew the call meant that Taylor and his security team had spent the night working out how to handle the situation that was at the bottom of the Grey's swimming pool. I also knew it had been taken care of.. All that was left was telling the Grey men.
I'd expected Christian to go insane on me. He didn't. I'd expected Elliot to crazy on Kate. He didn't. We all expected Carrick to lose his mind. He didn't.
Once Taylor told Christian to bring his dad and Elliot downstairs and filled them in on what had happened, the cover up had long since been prepped. The only thing left to do was Elliot bringing Kate down to face everyone. Not long later, Christian brought me down. Christian, Elliot, and Carrick stepped back and let Taylor school us on how to behave when the police arrived. He told us what we had to say and the lies we were going to have to tell. We had to memorize the fake timeline. There was no room to deviate.
When it came time to privately face and fess up to Christian and Elliot, I thought that they'd want to break our necks. They patiently listened to what had happened with their mouths hanging wide open. We both vehemently refused to apologize for what we'd done. All we had to do was stay on point with our story and alibis.
By the time the police were called, Taylor, Welch, and Taylor's men had everything as they wanted it. There wasn't a scratch of proof as to how Elena Lincoln ended up in the bottom of the Grey's pool with the back of her head smashed in. That wasn't a concern for anyone on our camp.
The concern was the police, and directed on the Grey women, minus Kate. We all knew who the primary concern was: me.
I drag my tired body into our bed and sprawl out like a starfish. Christian is sitting up on his side of the bed with his laptop. He looks utterly absorbed in whatever he's doing. I turn off the light on my bedside table and turn away from him.
"What's wrong?" he asks. I hear him close his laptop.
"Nothing I'm just tired. I also ate too much and baby Grey seems to enjoy giving me heartburn."
"Maybe that's because baby Grey wants their mommy to find out if they're a boy or a girl so they can have name, and stop being called baby Grey."
I turn and look at him. He's shirtless and in a pair of pajamas pants. I'm in one of his old Harvard t-shirts and have never felt so comfortable.
"Isn't there the tiniest part of you that wants to wait? I think it'll be the best thing ever. Watching Dr. Greene hold our baby up and we'll finally know who gives me heartburn every night," I reply.
Christian places his laptop on his bedside table and cuddles up behind me. He wraps his arm around our unnamed baby.
"I know. I hate that I'm so impatient. Have you thought of any more names?"
"Yeah, but nothing that I like more than what we agreed on."
"Theodore?"
I nod. "Yep, and I'd like for his middle name to be Raymond, after Dad. Theodore is your grandfather's name, so we can keep it in the family if he's Theodore Raymond," I tell him.
Christian looks thoughtful. "Theodore Raymond Grey. I like that. Let's agree that if the baby is a boy he'll be Theodore Raymond."
"Deal." I hold out my hand and he shakes it. "Don't ask what girls names I'm thinking about. It's so much harder to choose one than it is with boys."
"That's true. I've searched online so many times that it makes my eyes blurry."
"So, I thought Mia seemed better tonight. Ethan being here probably played a big part of it, though," I murmur.
"She always acts better when he's here. I'm beginning to wonder if I should ask him to move in with us," Christian says.
I laugh.
"Don't laugh, Ana. I'm serious. She acts like she's been given a nerve pill when he's around."
"Has it ever occurred to you that keeping a social butterfly like Mia trapped in this penthouse is what has her on edge? There's more than enough security to come along with us while we shop for things we need at the new house," I say. I lower my voice. "And you know that we don't need protection from that woman's killer."
"Anastasia, think about what you just said. We can't let security drop or have you all out and about because it will draw the attention of the police. They expect us to have security crawling all over us."
Christian pulls the duvet over us and I groan. "I know. I keep forgetting. But Christian, sometime soon, we're going to have to go pick out furniture. I can order all the bedding and dishes that I want, but not furniture. I'd like to sit on a mattress before I buy it."
"We can always keep this one in the master," he tells me.
I shake my head. "No, I don't want to. This bedroom suit and bed is going in a guest room. The rest, except for your office and the piano, will be donated. I thought we'd agreed?"
"You're right, I'm not reneging."
"Thank you. My main concern at the moment is the house not being finished before the baby is born. That will mean we'll have to set up a nursery here. And I haven't got anything in place in case that happens."
"Baby, Elliot isn't positive the house won't be ready."
"Christian, it's rained for over a week. They can't do any work on the outside. It's not looking promising."
"Have a little faith. He's got a few more months and luckily, it's the summer." He yawns, and buries his face in my hair. Soon his breathing has evened out and I know he's asleep.
I lay there feeling my baby squirm around and gently prodding me. I roll onto the large body pillow and hug it close to my body. So much has happened today and it's all running around my mind at full speed. I'm surprised that Christian went to sleep so early and so easily considering what happened. I feel so guilty how my actions have caused so many people added stress and increased their workload, although I don't feel guilty over what happened. I do feel guilty that Kate took part in what happened, regardless of what she says. The ferocious expression she has when we're able to discuss that night eases the guilt, but the ideal situation would have been Kate tucked in bed sound asleep while I killed that evil woman. Kate says she did it for the all the same reasons that I did. I do believe her. I just don't particularly like the fact.
We've both talked about if it's coincidental that Parson found us that night and began to help us, and that months ago, he found me nearly dead and helped me then as well. Back then he got fired, this time, Christian gave him a 20K bonus. Well, he gave everyone of them a 20K bonus.
I slowly relax and slip into sleep as baby Grey stops moving. I assume they're asleep in their cozy and warm environment. Christian's breathing lulls me into darkness.
No matter the rain, driving Kate's Mercedes makes the miles to Seattle slip by.
The twenty story building is all glass and steel.
Jose is quizzing me on questions that will be on my final English exam.
Christian is standing at the register inside of Clayton's. He's handing me his Amex Black Card.
The finale of The Bachelor was awful. Kate swears that she'll never watch it again.
The apartment the Kavanagh's have bought for Kate is a dream. We can't wait until we move in.
I'm sitting in front of Christian's desk in his home office and I'm signing something.
There's a delivery man setting up a Mac Book Pro for me.
Christian's giving the commencement address at my graduation ceremony.
Elliot's installed our flat screen on the brickwork of our new apartment.
I interview at a few publishing houses. One man, at the smaller business, unnerves me.
Kate's dropping me outside the departures area at Sea-Tac.
I'm eating dinner with Mom and Bob.
I thrash in Christian's grip in a red room.
I argue with Christian in a room with an antique green sofa. His psychiatrist's office.
Christian's family are in his living room crying. The television is blaring. I can't cry. Kate's rubbing my hair.
Elena Lincoln is standing in Christian's kitchen. I send a wine glass against a wall.
A tall red-haired man has me cornered in a room with florescent lightning. It's humming. He has me cornered and is holding my arms behind my back. I spit in his face and he slaps me. I taste blood in my mouth. He rips my blouse open and bites one of my nipples. I rake my fingernails across his face and he punches me in the stomach. I scream for help. I scream. I can hear voices calling my name. The red-haired man leers at me. "Looks like you got lucky, you fucking slut. I'm not done with you, though. I'll fuck you one way or the other." The door to the small room opens, and the man punches me in the face so hard that I fly backwards. I fall. I fall again.
I instantly wake. Adrenaline is coursing through my body. Was I having a panic attack in my sleep? Is that possible?
I'm afraid. Christian is sleeping soundly beside me but I still don't feel safe.
What was I dreaming?
I try so hard to remember.
I just can't remember.
I can never remember.
Dear reader, I once again say that I know nothing about what happens when someone bashes your skull in. I don't know about blood splatter or cleaning up a crime scene and I don't care to look it up. This is make believe. I'd suggest you not waste your time leaving a review that tells me what I already know.
Thank you for all the new readers and those that leave reviews.
The story is nearing its end.