Chapter 24: Bad Apples

I Only Own The Plot

CPOV

"Thanks for meeting with me, Christian," Grace says while taking a seat in the chair opposite my desk.

"You know I'd do anything for you, Mother. We are just waiting on Ana. She should be here any second. In the meantime, how are you doing," I ask her gently.

"Numb. I never knew he was stealing from the charity. I never knew he was supporting his second family with my fucking income. He really thinks he's going to get away with this," she says, hanging her head.

"Not if we have anything to do with this," Ana says walking in. She leans over to kiss me and I pull her down into my lap. My hand automatically goes to her stomach. It has been a few weeks since she announced her pregnancy and she is showing more now. I love to rub her stomach.

"Well, that is why I am here. I am done with Seattle. I was able to access his accounts after he was arrested and I was able to recover about half of my money. I trusted him with our finances. He told me he was investing it in stocks. I had no idea he was supporting his other family on my money, Christian," she takes a deep breath and picks her head back up.

"I have decided to travel the world. Coping Together said they would still have me as the president of the board, but I don't think it's my place anymore. I feel as if my being there will do more harm than good. I am here to invite you both to a going away party I am having at the house. It is this Saturday. I have told your brother, but I have not spoken to Mia since everything with that piece of shit was revealed. I invited her, but I honestly want nothing to do with her. What kind of mother am I," Grace snorts.

"You're the kind of mother that takes three abandoned kids into her home. One child was so traumatized that they didn't sleep a full night without nightmares. You woke up every night to hold me and reassure me that I won't be hurt again. I was hurt again, but you didn't know. You tried so hard to protect me, but you had so many problems working against you that you couldn't prosper. I love you, Mom. Thank you for being my mom. I don't know where I would be without you," I say, wiping the tears out of my eyes. Ana is rubbing her hand through my hair to try to soothe me.

"I won't have you doubting yourself as my mother. We all took you for granted. I am sorry, Mom. I promise to be a better son to you. Whatever you need, Ana and I will be there for you. Don't forget to come back to Seattle to see your first grandchild," I say, sliding Ana into the chair and standing up. I walk over to my mom and I hug her. A real hug. One I should have always been giving her. She was my first angel. She starts to sob into my chest and I just hold her closer.

"Ana, get in here. I need a hug from my daughter," my mom says, waving my Beauty over.

"Grace, you have my number. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for some girl talk. I will tell you all about how my pregnancy is going and you can tell me about all of the hot dudes you meet across the world," Ana says, she giggles when I growl at her.

"I am the only hot one you need to know about, Mrs. Grey," I say, snuggling her neck and wrapping my arms around her and rubbing her stomach.

"Always keep this love. Never let it die out. Only let it grow. I will see you two on Saturday. Make sure you feed my grandbaby, Ana," Grace says, kissing us both on the cheek and walking out and closing the door behind her.

"I am happy for her. Come on, Mr. Grey. I am hungry and I am ready to go home. Andrea already rescheduled your meetings. I want a day with my husband in bed watching movies and making love," Ana says, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the door. I guess we are heading home for the day.

****NEM****

"Chris, your sister is out of control," Luke says as he bursts into my home office. I decided to work from home today. "She has been hanging out with Kate and cyber harassing my sister. Seattle Nooz contacted us and said that Mia is trying to offer them an exclusive scoop of what it was like growing up with you and about all the latest drama happening in your life. I came to you first to see how you want to handle this situation. My sister says to ignore her, but she's getting worse. She has linked up with Kate and made an appointment with Ana for today. I have no idea what they have planned and I'll be damned if they misplace a single strand of hair on her head. I'll hurt them before they hurt her," he says and I completely agree. No one will ever hurt her.

"Call her here to the penthouse. We only have about a week left until we can all move into our houses, so there is no issue with her being here. You and Taylor need to be here in case she's gone off the deep end. Ana will not be put in danger," I say, pulling out my phone to text Ana. I need her home as soon as possible. She replied saying she is on her way. I let out a relieved sigh.

"Mia is on the way. She's bringing Kate with her," Luke says after a moment. I groan because it's bad enough we gotta deal with Mia, but she's bringing that poor excuse of a lady with her.

15 minutes later, Jason and Ana walk in. I immediately pulled her into my arms, kissing her.

"Mia and Kate are on their way here. They should be here at any moment. Ana, I need you to promise me that if you see any danger, you will run to safety with Jason or Luke. Do not take chances with them. You know Mia blames you for her not having access to our money any longer," I say.

"And Kate has always been jealous of you. She has also been crazy all her life as well. Just remember to be safe, Banana. We can't have anything happen to you or baby," Luke says, his eyes pleading with her to be safe.

"I got it. I promise I won't do anything that will put us in danger," she says, rubbing her stomach.

I hear the phone in the kitchen ring and Gail's voice when she picks it up.

"Christian, the two troublemakers are in the elevator on the way up," Gail says, rubbing her hands on her tea towel.

The elevator dings and two sets of heels start clicking in the foyer. I let out a sigh and brought Ana down with me when I sat in the single recliner. I place my hands on her stomach and breathe her in. I am so lucky.

"Well, look at what we have here. Someone took my advice and got knocked up," Kate says glaring daggers at Ana. Ana just rolled her eyes and leaned her head back against my shoulder and started playing with her phone.

"Hi, Luke," both girls purr at Luke. He just looks disgusted. He pulls out his phone and I know he is texting Isa. I can't wait until she gets here to handle them. Maybe they will leave poor Luke alone.

"Mia, what is this all about? You're going around town spewing lies about my wife. About me. All because you can't mooch off of me any longer. Grow up, Mia. Get a job. Open a business. I don't care. If you keep going around town talking about Ana, me, or Ana and me together, I will sue the pants off of you for defamation of character. Even if we don't have a chance to win, I will keep it tied up in litigation until all of the money you have in that offshore account is gone. Especially since it's my money that you withdrew. I know all Mia. I didn't care because the million you stole is like ten dollars to me, but it's still mine. Keep it up," I say, in a bored tone. I truly am bored with her. I am bored with all of this.

"Don't listen to him MiMi. Daddy has lawyers," Kate says, patting Mia's shoulders.

"Your Daddy's lawyers couldn't compare to my lawyers on their worst day. Your dad wouldn't spit in the wind to help you Kate and definitely not to help Mia go against us. Try again," I say. I hear the elevator ding again and I know Isa is home.

"Hey! What's going on here," Isa says, walking in and kissing Luke on the lips. Luke wraps his arms around her waist and hums as she kisses him.

"Who is this whore?! Ana, you allow her to date your precious brother, but your best friend can't," Kate screams at Ana.

"This is my best friend. Kate, we were never friends really. What would make you think we were best friends? You just latched on to me thinking I would set you up with my brother. You also used my name for exposure. You don't think I knew about you going around town telling anyone who would listen that you knew me. You got guys to sleep with you because they thought they could use you to try to sleep with me," I interrupted her, giving a growl and pulling her even closer to me.

"Yours," she whispers with my lips against hers. She puckers her lips just a tad and kisses me softly.

"Back to you two," she says, pointing to the troublemakers. "If you continue to cyber stalk and harass me, I will have no choice, but to take out restraining orders on the both of you. It's weird and uncalled for. Christian and I are very public about our relationship. We already gave an interview about our relationship. We post pictures on social media of us and our little family all the time. The people can't get enough of us and rightfully so. We are an amazing couple who love each other fiercely. Nothing you try to sell to the tabloids will split this marriage up. It's us and our created family against the world. That's what it is like when you actually love someone for being themselves and not loving them for what they can do for you. Christian has more money than I do, but I am a complete daddy's girl. I could always ask my dad for anything I want and he would say yes, but I got everything I want and need. Christian doesn't even give me the opportunity to want anything. If I stare at something for too long, he will buy it just because he thinks I want it and vice versa. Leave us alone. Final warning," she says and picks her phone up again. She kept the same bored tone of voice throughout her speech.

"Well, my wife said it for all of us. Mia, I have a quick question for you. What are you trying to accomplish? If your goal is to get my wife and I's money, you're going about this the wrong way. You should've apologized and laid low for a week and you would've gotten your access back. Instead, you antagonized my wife. MY FUCKING WIFE MIA. You thought I was going to let that go? You click up with her and think that is the way to get my attention. Oh, you got my attention, but I can promise you that you don't want it. The two of you will be served papers for a restraining order on Sunday. The only reason why you aren't being served today is because of Mom's party tomorrow and she wants us all there for her announcement. Good riddance, Mia. I will always love you, but I love my wife and her safety more. I enabled you too much. Carrick was worse. He let you get away with murder. I can no longer sit back and allow your behavior to continue. I wish you nothing but success in your life and I hope you find real love as I have, baby sister," I slide Ana off of my lap and stand. I walk over to Mia and pull her into my arms for a brief hug. I kiss the top of her head and turn my back to her when she starts crying.

"Jason, escort them off of the premises and put them on the block list. They no longer have access to anything concerning me. That includes Ana and everyone else in this room. Elliott can decide for himself," I say, sitting back down with Ana. My heart is breaking at having to do this, but it's for the best. I can't keep throwing money at her to keep her in line. I hope one day we can reconcile and she can be an aunt to all of the children my Beauty decides to give me. I want to meet the man that will put up with her. She just needs to grow up first. Ana rubs circles on my back to comfort me and I am so grateful for her being by my side.

"I'm sorry," Mia says quietly. She gathers her purse and heads for the elevator.

"Well, I'm not," Kate says, shrugging her shoulders and walking over to Luke and Isa.

"Babe, when you get tired of this average-looking chick give me a call. I'm always ready if you get what I'm saying," she says, lifting her hand to try to caress Luke's face. Isa smacked her hand away and stood in front of Luke. Kate is holding her wrist as if Isa actually hurt her. Ana and I rolled our eyes at the same time which made us chuckle.

"Listen here. You touch him, look at him, think about him, and/or breathe the same air as him, I will beat your ass. Plain and simple. I have high friends in low places. Don't think I won't get away with it. Luke is mine. Get that through your overly processed blonde head. This is the one and only time I am going to remind you of that. I really hate repeating myself, it makes me even angrier," Isa says, growling at Kate. "While you're at it, go ahead and spread the word about how crazy I am. Maybe they will back off without me doing anything. I just got my nails done and would hate to mess them up. Luke loves the way they look wrapped around him," Isa says sweetly. Ana gags and Luke laughs. Luke pulls her closer and buries his head in her hair. I see him take a deep breath. Isa is his Ana. I can't wait for them to get married. It's going to be a beautiful thing.

"Now you may leave, little girl," Isa says, turning to face Luke. "Come on, Baby. Let's go look at my new nails," she says, giggling.

"That is so gross," Ana says, laughing.

"Don't be a hater, Stasia," Isa says, sticking her tongue out at my Beauty.

"You all will rue this day," Kate yells.

"You're still here," Ana and Isa question at the same time. Kate huffs and stomps her way to the elevator. Isa goes and pulls Luke away and Ana stops them.

"I just wanted to see if you guys were up for a family night. Movies and sour gummy worms," Ana says with a dreamy look on her face. We all laugh at her facial expression.

Ana has been craving gummy worms for the last week. I woke up in the middle of the night the other day and found her sitting on the floor in the kitchen eating from a tub of gummy worms. I laughed so loud that it woke Luke and Jason. Luke informed us that Ana dragged him to Costco earlier that week to buy said tub. He said she told him that it was for the movie room for everyone to eat from. That made us all laugh again. Even a blushing Ana.

"Sure, Stasia," Isa says, laughing and pulling Luke down the hall.

"Come on, Mrs. Grey. I missed you this morning. Let me take you to our room for a few hours," I say, leaning down to kiss her pouty lips.

"I didn't need to hear that," Luke shouts from the hall. I love this crazy family of mine.

AN: I know. Shame on me for the late update. I promise I will finish this story. I just had some writer's block and this chapter helped me get back into the flow of things. I have the next chapter mapped out and almost done so another update will come soon. I'm back and better than ever. I just needed to clear my mind.