CHRISTIAN’S POV

“Ana?” I ask, unsure if she’s really standing in front of me.

“Christian, did you hear what I said? You were right. You were always right, it was Linc.” I hand Teddy to Kate and cross the foyer in two steps, wrapping my arms around her and inhaling the intoxicating scent of her hair.

“Oh, Ana,” I moan, feeling the loss melt away with her in my arms. She pushes back slightly to look up at me and I lean down to kiss her.

“Christian!” She shouts. Her hands presses against my chest and she shoves me away.

“Ana,” I say again, her rejection washing over me. “It’s not Linc. Everything checks out. We have the guy. Ryan is out finding him now, bringing him to me.”

“But Elena…” she says confused. My head snaps up at the name and I feel the familiar sense of anger starting to burn in my chest.

“Elena?” I snap. “When did you speak with Elena?”

She flushes and I know she doesn’t want to tell me.

“Ana?” the anger is slipping into my voice.

“I’ve just been to see her, Christian. She said that she told Linc to keep me longer. That if he had, you would have fu….” her voice breaks and her eyes shoot to Elliot, but I don’t need to hear the rest of her sentence to know what she was going to say. I round on Kate.

“You told me she was at your house!” I snarl.

“Christian, did you hear what she just told you. Elena admitted that it was Lincoln behind the kidnapping.”

I growl and grab Ana by the wrist, dragging her towards my study. Kate and Elliot follow in my wake. When I round my desk, I throw open the top left drawer and pull out a manila folder that is labeled: Joseph Walker.

“Joseph Walker,” I begin. “Former US Marine, dishonorably discharged. Became a detective for Seattle Police but was fired there too for disorderly conduct. Financial records show a flight to Sydney on July 7th but no return flight, there is however a liquor store charge on his credit card in Seattle for July 9th. And a week ago, he received a transfer of $5 million in his personal bank account, which, until that day, had never had more than $3,000 dollars in it.”

“But you gave him $25 million?” Anastasia protests.

“He’s not likely to transfer the entire sum at once, Anastasia.”

“Buy why would Elena say..?”

“Because she’s a liar, Ana. And a manipulator. She’s playing a game with us.”

Anastasia nods her head as my blackberry rings. I look at the number and answer it.

“Ryan!” I snap.

“I have him, sir. Pier 66 just like you requested.”

“Good, I’ll be there within half an hour,” I tell him and hang up the phone. I look down at Anastasia with pained eyes. If I leave, will she be gone when I get back? I don’t know if she’s still mad at me, or if she believes me or not.

“Ana, will you… will you wait for me?”

“Where are you going?” She asks.

“Ryan has him. He’s waiting for me.”

“I want to go, too.”

“No!” I say, horrified. “Ana, I don’t want you anywhere near him! And I… I don’t want you to be a part of this.”

“What are you going to do to him, Christian?” She asks, and I can hear fear in her voice.

“I’m going to do what is necessary,” I tell her simply, the only thing I can tell her.

“Christian!” She pleads.

“Just wait. Please? Wait for me to get back.”

She stares back at me imploringly but after a few moments she nods her head. I want to lean down and kiss her but she hasn’t given me any indication she wants me to do that. I return her nod and walk out the door, leaving the three of them staring after me with worry. Taylor is in the hallway waiting for me when I emerge from the study.

“Has Ryan called you?” I ask him.

“Yes, sir,” He responds.

“Then you know where we’re going.”

He nods and opens the front door for me.

We fly down the highway and I’m flooded with an unwelcome sense of deja-vu as we pull up to the curb in front of pier 66. We can see Ryan and Sawyer’s car. Sawyer is standing outside the passenger door keeping watch on the deserted sidewalk. He nods at me as I approach the pier.

The memories of that nightmare flood over me as I walk up the dock and to the fish warehouse. She’s not in there, Grey. Get a fucking grip.

Taylor opens the door and I walk into the dark room. He’s sitting, tied to the same chair I pulled Ana off of, in the middle of the room, flooded by the light of a single hanging lamp.

“Who are you?” he demands and I recognize the voice immediately. It’s been haunting me for weeks. The cold, harsh voice of my mysterious phone calls. My muscles tense with fury as I approach him. He squints through the darkness, struggling against the ropes that bind him and I smile with satisfaction.

“Oh, you know who it is,” I tell him.

“Grey?” He asks, panic flooding into his voice now. The panic drives me on in a sadistic way, allowing me to push aside my own humanity and do what needs to be done here. I’m going to avenge Anastasia.

“You said you were an interesting person to talk to,” I sneer. “I’ve missed our conversations.”

Taylor approaches him from the side and punches him across the left cheek, he yells and spits across the floor.

“This is my security team. They’ve been looking for you for some time.”

“Look, it was a job alright? I was in some bad shit and I was promised it would all go away if I took your wife. I didn’t want to hurt her.”

Ryan hits him this time, from the opposite side so he’s taken by surprise. I stand in front of him, glaring malevolently down at him.

“Job?” I ask. “Were you working for Andrew Lincoln?”

“I don’t know, I was hired by some woman named Elena and she never told me the guy’s name, the guy who wanted the job done. Lincoln though, yeah. Her last name. Her name was Elena Lincoln.”

Taylor hits him again and even through the darkness I can see the satisfaction it gives him. The pathetic excuse for a human in front of me groans with pain.

“Look man,” He pleads. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice. I needed the money or I’d be on the bottom of the sound now. I didn’t even know you, or your wife.”

“So you think because it wasn’t personal everything is just okay?” I sneer, and he cringes from Ryan’s side so Taylor hits him again, and he curses as the blow knocks a tooth across the floor.

“Unfortunately, this wasn’t your way out, Mr. Walker. You should have done your research a little better because if you had, you would have known that if those other people didn’t get to you, I would.”

“Please,” He begs. “Please, I’ll do anything.” I raise my arm back and with all my might thrust my fist square into his face. I feel a sharp pain in my knuckles and have to shake them out when I pull my arm back I see a satisfying stream of blood pour from his already broken mouth and I don’t care about the pain.

“I don’t want anything from you, you son of a bitch.” I spit down at him. I turn to leave but stop and look at Taylor.

“Tell me, what were the injuries we found Mrs. Grey with?” I ask.

“Three broken ribs, a bleeding kidney, a ruptured spleen, and a fractured ankle, sir.”

I give him a purposeful nod. “Return the favor. Let’s see how long it takes someone to find him.”

I exit the room to the sound of his screams. I walk up to Sawyer and he opens the passenger door for me.

“Do you need something for your hand, sir?” He asks as we drive down the road towards my house. I shake my head. I want the reminder of my revenge.

I’m relieved to see both Ana and Kate’s car still in the driveway when I get home. Good, she’s still here. I open the front door and barely make it through the foyer before Ana comes around the corner.

“What happened?” She asks and she looks down to my hand. “Jesus, Christian!” She shouts and she disappears back down the hall towards the kitchen. I walk after her, seeing Kate and Elliot on the couch in the living room, Teddy in Kate’s arms.

Ana returns with ice that she’s wrapped in a towel. Gently, she pushes it against my knuckles and it hurts but I don’t wince, I stare into her face. Her beautiful face.

“You were right,” I tell her. “It was Linc.”

“You should call the police, Christian.” She says, looking up into my eyes.

“I’ll take care of it,” I tell her and I brush my non-injured hand against her hair. Her eyes close and she pushes her head into my hand. I feel the joy of her acceptance. She still wants me. She’s probably still mad at me, and I know she should be, but she still wants me. She still loves me. As long as she still loves me, we can get past this.

“Maybe we should go,” Kate says from the living room and she stands. “Why don’t we keep Teddy for the night so you two can talk.”

I look down at Ana and she nods. She’s going to stay. She’s going to talk this out with me.

“Thank- you, Kate,” I say. She walks forward and hugs Ana tightly. She looks at me and nods. Elliot claps me on the back and they disappear through the hallway. When I hear the front door open and close, I lunge forward. My hand cup each side of Ana’s face and I push her back into the wall of the hallway, kissing her deeply. She lets me. Her hands don’t fly up into my hair like they normally do, but she allows me to kiss her. I pull away, panting, desperate for more but she shifts out of my reach and walks back towards the kitchen.

“Ana?” I call after her. “What can I do?”

“I don’t know, Christian,” she says, lifting herself to sit on the kitchen island.

“Do you still doubt me?” I ask.

“I believe you,” She says softly. “I don’t think you had sex with that girl, but you were going to. You may have had a change of heart, you may have come to your senses… but you still went over there.”

My hands shoot up into my hair as I feel the guilt and the pain and the anger at myself rage through me.

“Ana, I was lost,” I say at last. “I know what I did was wrong, and I understand why you feel the way you feel. I fucked up. I fucked up bad and all I can do is tell you how truly very sorry I am and promise you I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that I will never fuck up like that again.”

“I just don’t know what to do with these feelings, Christian. Part of me wants to let all the hurt and betrayal go and make love to you, and the other part wants to storm out of here and never see you again.”

“Ana, please don’t go. I can’t live without you.”

“Christian…” She begs. I walk towards her until I’m standing between her legs, my nose against hers.

“I’ll do anything. Anything you need,” I whisper. “Anything you want, it’s yours. Just tell me, Ana. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

“I need time,” she says. “I need time to process this, and to know if I can ever get past the fact that while I was being held hostage, you went over there.”

I nod my head. “I can give you that. Whatever you need. I’m so sorry, Ana.”

She looks at me, there’s something in her eyes that tells me she’s battling with herself and then she leans forward and kisses me, hard. Her arms wrap around me and she pushes herself against me, her tongue exploring my mouth while her fingers tug at my hair. I wrap my own arms around her, pulling her into me as close as I can, desperate for her touch.

When we’re both out of breath she reaches for the hem of my t-shirt and I help her pull it over my head. Once I’m free, I take her mouth again, relishing her taste. I reach around her, ready to carry her with me to our bed but the doorbell rings. Our kiss stops and I lean my forehead against hers.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell her and she tilts her head up to sweetly kiss me on the tip of my nose. I storm down the hall, through the foyer, and open the door. There is a delivery man standing before me. What the fuck? Did Kate and Elliot leave the gate open. Or is Taylor back? Maybe he let him in?

“Mr. Grey?” the FedEx man says.

“Yes?” I respond.

“I need you to sign for this,” He hands me an electronic pad that I scroll my signature on and hands me a large white box. For a moment my heart stops as I think about the little brown package that had been delivered to me, the towel covered in Ana’s blood. Relax, Grey. She’s in your kitchen. You got the son of a bitch. And you’ll get Linc next.

“Thank you,” I say and I close the door. When I emerge in the kitchen, Anastasia looks at me curiously. Part of me wants to save the package for later, to pick up where we left off and carry her to my bed, but I’ve promised to try and regain her trust. I don’t want her to think I’m hiding something from her.

I rip open the package and a whip, a set of bondage cuffs, a ball gag, and a set of nipple clamps fall onto the counter. Anastasia looks down at the items and her look of curiosity turns to anger.

“What the fuck is this?” She demands. I look up at her, panicked. “Real nice, Christian. Real fucking nice,” she says, and she slides off the counter and storms down the hallway towards the door, grabbing her purse and keys of the table in the foyer.

“Anastasia, wait. I don’t know what these are.. I didn’t order these,” I call after her but the front door slams shut. Fuck!

I stare furiously down at the items in front of me and then look into the half ripped box. There is a note inside. I swear to god, if these are from Elena, I’m going to drive over there and beat the shit out of her tonight. I’ve already had to stop myself from doing it once, when that lunatic told me she had hired him. Oh yes, Elena, you’re going to get yours too.

I pull the paper out and read it and my brow furrows as I realize it’s not from Elena. I have no idea who it’s from.

For your pleasure and mine. -S

 

ANA’S POV

I watch Kate, dressed in a brown wig and my clothes, pull away through the living room window and, once I see my security detail following after her, I run for Kate’s purse and find my goal: her car keys.

When I slide into the car, I ease out of the garage and down the street. I only have one shot at this. Kate is only giving me an hour of time. I remember the distant memory of Christian telling me that Mrs. Robinson is usually based at the Bravern Shopping center in Bellevue. I want to pull out my phone a google an address, but I’ve left it in my car, which is good I suppose. Christian won’t be able to track me once he finds out that it’s Kate taking Teddy to the house. There’s a button on the steering wheel that has a picture of a mouth with three lines coming out of it. I press it and here a musical ping and a robotic voice says “Say a command.”

“Er…. Directions?” I ask hesitantly

“Okay, Directions. Where would you like to go?” the voice asks again.

“Bravern Shopping Center, Bellevue Washington,” I say and there is another musical ping. I look down and see a GPS map pop up on the small screen set into the consul.

“Location acquired,” the voice tells me. “To start navigation, say start navigation.”

“Start navigation,” I say and I’m given directions to my location. Very convenient, Kate.

Kate and Elliot live in Bellevue, not too far from Grace and Carrick, so I’m at the shopping center in less than 10 minutes. I park the car on the curb in front of a building with a modern looking sign that reads Esclava. I have to take a deep breath to brace myself for what I’m about to do but I need answers. The only way I’ll know if Christian is telling the truth, is if I hear the same story from Elena. She’s more likely to lie and tell me Christian did cheat on me than cover for him. At least, I hope so.

I walk through the doors of the salon and am greeted by a pretty blonde receptionist.

“Good afternoon. Do you have an appointment?” She asks brightly.

“Not exactly,” I reply. “I’m here to see Mrs. Lincoln.”

The receptionist frowns but she picks up her receiver and dials an extension number. Oh good, she’s here.

“Mrs. Lincoln, you have a visitor,” The receptionist says she turns to me and asks for my name. Oh no. Do I tell her my real name? Will she come out if I do? She’s wanted to meet with me before… Well, Mrs. Robinson, here I am.

“Anastasia Grey,” I say and the receptionist says my name into the phone. She hangs up the phone and looks up at me.

“Mrs. Lincoln will be right out.”

“Thank you.” I say and hear a door open at the back of the empty salon. I turn and see her, her perfect blond hair rolled up in an elegant chignon, her makeup flawlessly done. She’s dressed in her usual head to toe black. She smiles at me and motions me towards her. I march forward with determination.

“Have a seat, Ana,” She purrs as she closes her office door behind me. “What can I do for you, dear?” The fake pleasantry in her voice ignites a fire in me and I glare at her.

“Did you fuck my husband?” I blurt out and her eyes narrow.

“Several times,” She says flatly. “Over a period of many happy years.”

“I know about the past, Elena. I’m asking about when I was… away. Did you fuck my husband while I was missing?”

“No,” Her eyes are cold and impassive. I’m reminded of Christian.

“Did you bring a submissive to my apartment for him to fuck?” I continue and she smiles a wolfish smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.

“He told you,” she says.

“Is it true?”

“Yes, Anastasia. I delivered a girl I thought would be suitable to Escala while you were missing.”

“And he fucked her right? He took her into the playroom and he fucked her?”

She presses her glossy lips together before she answers. “Why are you asking me? I’m sure Christian has told you exactly what happened.”

“Because he went to meet you, so he’s already lost my trust.”

“And you trust me?”

“No,” I say simply, though I keep my voice firm and resolute. “But I know you’ll be dying to tell me that he cheated on me. You want the win, Elena. Convincing him to cheat on me will be the win. You think that if you could convince him to fuck a submissive, you could convince him to fuck you. You tried last year and he turned you down, so if I’m out of the picture what’s to stop him for moving on to you?”

Her wicked smile returns. “So why would you trust me to tell you the truth. If that’s what you think, if Christian is what I’m really after, wouldn’t it make more sense for me to lie to you and tell you he cheated?”

“No, because if you do that, he’ll never forgive you and you’ll lose.”

“But what if it’s true. What if he did cheat on you and I tell you. What’s to stop him from hating me then, from rejecting me then?”

“Because if he’s really guilty, if he really did cheat on me and I leave him for it, there are any number of ways I could have found out. He always thinks the worst of himself. If I leave him and he’s guilty, he’ll just assume I saw through him to the liar he really is and left. But if he’s innocent and he knows I’ve been to see you, he’ll know you told me.”

“That’s quite the logical gymnastics you’ve worked your way through, Anastasia.”

“I just want to know the truth.”

“We all have things we want to know… But then again, maybe there are things we think we want to know but in reality, we don’t.”

“So you’re telling me he did it then? You’re not denying it.”

She stares back at me with unmoving eyes.

“This is the part where you speak,” I remind her

Elena crosses her arms and leaves over the desk, her cleavage is protruding out at me.

“Anastasia…” she begins, but I don’t want her run-around. I just want answers.

“Did he, or didn’t he Elena?” I snap. Her gaze darkens.

“Look here you little tramp. Don’t come into my office and make demands of me. You’ve ruined him. The strong, powerful man I created is now a weak, spineless boy who controls nothing. I brought him a submissive because it’s what he needed. He needs someone to satisfy his needs so that he can control his universe. He needed to get his balls back, but he’s too far gone to realize what he’s actually lost. No, he didn’t fuck her, because you’re in his head, making him ashamed of what he needs. I told Linc if he’d just kept you longer, he would have taken the submissive, but he didn’t listen to me. People who don’t listen to me, ruin themselves. Just like Christian.”

“What did you just say?” I asked, so shocked I wonder if I heard her correctly.

“I’m telling you no, Anastasia. Your weak husband didn’t fuck the girl I hand delivered to him.”

“No… you told Linc? It was Linc? Your ex-husband. He kidnapped me. He was the one holding me hostage…”

Her eyes widen as she realizes what she’s given away. I stand quickly and bolt for the door but her long fingers clasp around my arm.

“Let me go!” I yell, but she doesn’t release me.

“Ana!” She yells as she tries to subdue my struggles. I feel a harsh yank and I’m forced across the room, slamming into her desk. She turns on me but before she can get her arms on me I punch her, closed fist punch her, straight in the face. She doubles back, cursing with pain but I don’t give her time to recover. I push past her and run through the salon towards Kate’s car.

When I’m inside, I lock all of the doors, turn on the car and floor it. I look in my rear view mirror and see Elena standing on the curb, her nose bloody, glaring after me. I need to get home, now. For the first time, I wish I hadn’t shaken off my security. I know these people are capable of crazy things and now every stop sign, every red light, every traffic jam is a terrifying trap.

I fly across the Lake Washington, remembering the last time I was chased over this bridge. Christian had been with me then, and security wasn’t far behind. I’m alone now. All alone. Calm down, Ana. I tell myself. I don’t know that I’m being followed.

When I pull onto my street I feel a little better. I sit in front of the gate, looking around quickly before I roll my window down to punch in the code. When the gate opens in front of me, I speed down the driveway towards my house. Sawyer and Taylor both rush out to me as I jump out of the car.

“Mrs. Grey!” Taylor yells, but I ignore him and run as fast as I can to the front door. When I reach the top of the steps, I throw open the front door and see Kate, Christian, and Elliot grouped together in the foyer.

“Ana?” Christian asks, a plea, as if he doesn’t really believe I’m here.

“Christian,” I respond, determined. “Christian, you were right. It was Linc. Linc was the one who kidnapped me.”

 

CHRISTIAN’S POV

 

After a long week of work and waiting, the weekend has arrived and Anastasia and I are taking Teddy over to my parents house for a barbecue this afternoon. That is if she ever leaves her office.

“Anastasia, we’re going to be late,” I call, and a few moments later she walks out into the kitchen.

“Sorry, I’ve got a mountain of work. You wouldn’t believe how many manuscripts get sent into my office in a two week period. I might have to go into the office later tonight so I can get some work done. Everything takes me too long here, what with Teddy and my husband distracting me with his sexpertice.”

“It’s a Saturday. Manuscript reading can wait until Monday, when you’re supposed to be in the office.”

She smiles at me coyly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Grey, but my boss’s boss’s boss is a real slave driver.”

“He’s probably trying to get you in the office after hours so he can get into your panties,” I say as she winds her arms around my waist.

“Oh, I hope so, Mr. Grey. He’s a very attractive man.”

I bend down and kiss her, feeling my body begin to crave more as her fingers comb through my hair.

“Anastasia,” I say. “If you continue to do that, I’m going to want to fuck you and we’ll miss my parents’ barbecue.”

She sighs and pulls away. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be ready in twenty minutes, I promise.”

I finish making the bottle I’ve started and Teddy has almost completely finished it by the time Anastasia gets back downstairs.

“Ok, I’m ready,” She says. “Oh shit, do you have the contract from the designer that we wanted your dad to look over?”

“It’s in my desk,” I say, nodding towards my office. She disappears down the hallway and I finish feeding Teddy while she looks for the document. I dump the bottle into the sink and look down the hall after her. What’s taking so long? It’s in the top drawer, clearly labeled.

“Ana?” I call and walk out of the kitchen towards my office. She’s standing over the desk, looking at something like she’s horrified.

“What is it, baby?” I ask and I freeze as I realize what it is she’s holding.

“What the fuck is this?” she asks, holding Elena’s phone up for me to see.

“Anastasia…” I hesitate. What do I say? Fuck, what do I say?

“Don’t lie to me, Christian. I already looked through it. I know who’s fucking phone this is.”

“Ana, you have to believe me. She came here, I didn’t ask for her to come. She just showed up.”

“Really, Christian? Because I opened her email and there is one here from you that says, ‘9am. Escala.'”

I gulp. Fuck. This is it, I’m going to have to tell her. God damn it, why didn’t I take the phone to GEH?

She’s there too, Grey.

“So you fucked her in our apartment while I was being held hostage? While I was being beaten you were beating her in your playroom, is that it?” She screams at me.

“Ana, no. Jesus, no.”

She hurls the phone at me and I shift so that it hits me in the shoulder instead of hitting Teddy.

“Fuck Ana, I’ve got the baby. Will you calm down?” She looks down and her eyes widen with panic as she sees Teddy. Shit, is she that mad at me that she didn’t even notice? She starts towards me and at first I think she’s going to hit me but she storms past me, leaving me in the wake of her anger.

“Anastasia!” I yell after her but she doesn’t stop. I follow her up to our bedroom but she slams the door in my face. I hear the sound of the lock drop and I bang on the door.

“Anastasia, open the fucking door!” I scream. She doesn’t answer. “God damn it, Ana. I’ll wait here all day, open the fucking door.”

I stand there for five minutes but she doesn’t open it. I turn around, taking Teddy to his crib in the nursery and then head down the stairs. If she doesn’t want to open the door, I’ll open it for her. There’s a key in the utility room. I get to the room across the hall from Ana’s office and throw open the metal box where Mrs. Jones keeps spare keys. It takes me a few minutes to find the right key and when I do, I storm back across the house and up to the bedroom, but the door is open.

“Anastasia?” I call, but I don’t see her in the bedroom. Where did she go? Suddenly, I hear the garage door opening. Fuck. I run out of the room and look through the windows that overlook the driveway. Ana’s car is pulling out. No, Anastasia!

I reach in my pocket for my blackberry to call her but I realize I left it on my desk. I move quickly to my office and retrieve the blackberry and dial her number.

“What?” She snaps.

“Anastasia, please come back. Let’s talk about this.”

“Tell me what you did, Christian.”

“I didn’t do anything, Ana. I swear to you. Nothing happened.”

“So you just met up with her and what? Had breakfast alone in our apartment?” she asks sarcastically. “I know that’s not what fucking happened, Christian, and even if it did. I’d still be fucking pissed.”

“Ana, please come home.”

“Tell me what you did!” she yells.

“Ana, I didn’t know what to do. I was crazy with worry and I wasn’t thinking straight. I was out of control, everything was out of control. I didn’t know where you were and I knew you were hurt and everything I was doing to try and find you was failing…”

“Did you fuck her?” she asks, her voice low and cold.

“No,” I say. “No, god no, Anastasia. I swear to you, I didn’t touch her.”

“Then what happened?”

“She…” I take a deep breath to steady myself. “She brought a submissive to the apartment.”

Ana is silent on the other end of the phone. I hold my breath, waiting.

“You son of a bitch,” She says so deadly quiet I feel as though my blood freezes.

“Ana, I swear to you. I didn’t do it. She got to me. She told me it would feel good and I just wanted something, anything, to take the pain away. When I got there, my senses came to me and I kicked them both out of the apartment. I swear, Anastasia, I swear, on everything, I didn’t do it.”

“I spent days, Christian, fucking days being tortured and you’re telling me you couldn’t handle the pain? Someone kidnaps me and you run off to that fucking bitch, have her bring you some poor little girl that you can beat and fuck? Ana’s gone so maybe I can get my kicks in while I can, is that it?”

“No, Anastasia. I swear, I didn’t touch her….” My voice cuts off as I hear the sound of Teddy crying in the background.

“You took my son?” I yell.

“I took my son, Christian. I don’t want him anywhere near you.”

My anger builds to a threatening level. “Anastasia,” I say coldly, trying to keep my voice even. “Turn around and come home now.”

“No,” She says. “I’m not coming home, Christian. I can’t even stand the thought of being around you right now.”

“God damn it, Anastasia, bring my son back here, now!” I yell.

“Good-bye, Christian.”

“Anasta-!” But my voice stops as I hear her hang up the phone. Fuck! I call back, again and again, but she doesn’t answer. I dial a new number and Sawyer answers on the second ring.

“Are you on her?” I demand.

“Yes, sir, ” He says. “She’s driving up the I-5 now.”

“Don’t let her out of your sight. I want to know where she goes.”

“Yes, sir.”

ANA’S POV

 

I’m so furious right now I can’t even see straight. How could he do this to me? Can I even believe him? I can see Sawyer in my rear view mirror and I contemplate trying to lose him, but I don’t want to get into evasive driving with Teddy in the car. Christian is going to know where I am, no matter where I go.

Twenty minutes later, I pull up outside of Kate’s place, praying they haven’t left for Grace and Carrick’s yet. I take Teddy’s car seat out of the back seat and storm across her yard. I ring the doorbell and luckily, Kate is the one who opens the door.

“Ana?” She asks. She looks down at Teddy and sees the the duffle bag thrown over my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Kate!” I wail as I dissolve into tears.

“Fuck, Ana!” She says, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me in through the door. She leads me into the living room where Elliot is sitting, watching a college football game.

“Ana?” He asks, but I look away from him.

“What’s wrong?” Kate asks again and I shoot a pointed glare at Elliot.

“Elliot, can we have a few moments?”

He nods and gets up to leave the room. I collapse on the couch and sob uncontrollably, feeling like my whole world is collapsing in on itself.

“Talk to me, Ana.”

“When I was gone, when that psycho kidnapped me. Christian saw that bitch Elena Lincoln.” I sob. Kate looks at me sympathetically.

“Ana, it’s not what you think. She just showed up out of nowhere. Mia was the one who let her in and she practically forced her way into Christian’s office. He tried to kick her out but the fucker who took you called Christian on her phone so he had to keep the phone to give to Welch. I was there for the whole thing. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

I glare at her. “Did you know about the part where she got him a submissive and he went to the apartment to meet her?”

“What?” Kate gasps. “No, Ana. Oh my god! When?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. Before they found me.”

“Did he…?” she whispers. I shrug.

“He says he didn’t, but I can’t imagine that he went over there to meet them and didn’t fuck her.”

“Oh god, Ana,” She says sympathetically, reaching out to rub my back. I hear her phone ring from the kitchen and I know it’s going to be Christian.

“Just a second,” She tells me and she gets up to get the phone. “What the fuck do you want?” she snaps a moment later. “Yes, she is. No, you can’t fucking talk to her. No, I’m not going to give her the phone. Don’t you yell at me, Christian Grey. I have half a mind to drive over there and beat the ever living shit out of you. Or you’ll what? Fuck you, Christian.” I hear the phone slam down on the counter and then immediately start ringing again. She turns it off and comes back into the living room, wrapping her arms around me.

“What do you want to do?” She asks after a minute.

“I don’t know,” I say. “I…” but I don’t know how to finish that sentence.

“Um, Kate?” Elliot’s voice comes from the stairs. “Christian is on the phone for Ana.”

“Tell him to fuck off,” She yells. He comes around the corner, holding his cell phone in his hand.

“He seems like he really needs to talk to her,” he says.

“I’m sure he feels that way, but he can just deal with the fact that he’s a cheating piece of shit and Ana wants nothing to do with him!” Kate yells.

“What?” Elliot says, looking from me to Kate.

“Give me the damn phone, Elliot,” Kate demands and he gives it to her. “Christian, you can call everyone in the family, call everyone in the whole damn city of Seattle for all I care, you’re not going to talk to her. You think after what you did you… Yeah, like we’re really going to believe… No, Christian. I’m not going to give her the phone.” She hangs up and hands it back to Elliot.

“He’s going to come over here,” Elliot tells her, putting the phone in his pocket. She gets off the couch and walks with purpose to the garage, and, a few moments later, she returns with a baseball bat in her hands.

“Let him come,” She says, radiating anger.

Elliot’s prediction turns out to be right. I run up the stairs with Teddy and lock myself in her room.

“Get the fuck out of here!” I hear Kate yell from downstairs.

“Where is she, Kavanagh? I’m not fucking around.”

“She’s not here,” Kate says.

“I can see her fucking car outside, Kate. Where the fuck is my wife?”

“Oh, so you do remember you’re married? Do I need to go over your vows with you Christian, you cheating son of a bitch?”

“I didn’t cheat on her!” He yells. “This is none of your fucking business, Kate. Where is she?”

“Get the fuck out of my house, Christian.”

“Anastasia!” I hear him yell. “Get your ass down here and bring me my son.”

“Teddy is just fine here,” Kate says again. “And so is Ana. She doesn’t want to see you.”

“Ana, please come talk to me. Please, I just want to talk. I want to see my son. Ana!” He cries again, and I can hear desperation in his voice.

“Christian, if you don’t leave right now. I’m going to call the cops,” Kate threatens.

“Kate,” he moans. “Please. This is all, this is all so fucked up. I didn’t. I didn’t touch her, I swear. I went, yes, and I’ve felt like shit about it for fucking weeks. I’m disgusted with myself, but I didn’t betray her. I was crazy, crazy with worry and fear and I didn’t know what I was doing until I was already there. I sent them away. I kicked them both out of my apartment and that was it. I swear to god, I didn’t touch her.”

“You need to leave, Christian,” Kate’s hisses. “If she wants to talk to you, she’ll call.”

“Come on, bro. I’ll go home with you,” Elliot suggests and I hear footsteps and the front door closes.

There is a soft knock on the bedroom door. “Ana, he’s gone. Can I come in?”

I open the door and she slumps down on the floor next to me.

“Can I stay here for a while?” I ask. Kate smiles.

“You can stay here as long as you want.”

“Thanks, Kate.”

Christian doesn’t leave. When we get downstairs I can see his car outside on the curb, waiting for me to come out. I feel trapped. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to talk to him. I’m not ready for that yet. Kate makes me some tea and I sit down at the dining room table with her. We talk for hours, cry together for hours. It’s 3 o’clock in the morning before we hear his car pull away.

“Do you believe him?” I ask. “Do you believe that he didn’t cheat on me?”

“I don’t know, but even if he didn’t fuck her that doesn’t mean he didn’t betray your trust. That’s why you feel the way you feel. If you trusted him, you wouldn’t question whether or not he was telling the truth.”

“I need to know. If I’m going to be able to talk to him, I need to know if he’s telling the truth first.”

“Well, how are you going to be able to tell if he’s lying or not?”

I look up at her. “I’m going to have to talk to Elena.”

Rachel’s POV

 

I arrive at GEH at 6:30AM. Everyone always says you should arrive for your first day of work at least 15 minutes before you’re supposed to be there, but now I wish I hadn’t. Everything is locked. I peer through the glass and I don’t see anyone. Not even the cleaning crew.

“Rachel?” I hear someone shout behind me and I see the blonde girl who interviewed me coming up the steps behind me. What was her name? Fuck, oh Andrea. That’s right, Andrea.

“Hi,” I say shyly as she comes up on me.

“Glad you could make it this early, and on such short notice,” She says, smiling. She unlocks the door and motions to me to walk through first. Once we’re through the immaculately clean glass door, she re-locks it, reaches into her pocket, and pulls out another set of keys, which she hands to me.

“This won’t be the first time you open the building, trust me,” she says. I nod and take the keys from her.

She walks behind the desk in the huge foyer and starts up the computer. I look around for another chair but I don’t see anything. I guess I’ll just stand here until she tells me what to do. I watch as she pulls out a digital camera. She points it at me.

“Smile,” she says brightly and I’m blinded by the flash.

“What…” I begin but she interrupts me.

“It’s for your security badge. You won’t be able to get into a lot of areas around the building without one.”

While she uploads the photo into the computer, she unlocks the bottom right drawer of the desk and pulls out a plastic badge. She places it in a machine and a minute later hands me a newly laminated badge with my picture on it. Ugh, its not a great picture.

I follow her away from the desk and to the elevator.

“Oh,” I say surprised. “This isn’t your desk?”

“No,” she laughs. “Christina works down here. We are up on the 20th floor.” I follow her into the elevator that takes us up twenty floors and releases us into a modern, clean lobby. She turns to me as we exit the elevator.

“I’m not going to have a lot of time to train you, so I need you to pay close attention,” she says. I nod and she leads me to the desk in front of the large, light wood double doors.

“This is where we work. You can keep your purse in here,” she opens a drawer, places her bag inside and I do the same.

“I’ll need you to sign this before we get started.”

“What is it?” I ask, staring hesitantly at the paper she picks up off the desk.

“It’s a non-disclosure agreement.”

“Why?”

“It’s standard for everyone in the company. You’ll be dealing with a lot of confidential information.”

I shrug and sign the document.

“Now, the first thing we do every morning is start a pot of coffee,” She leads me down a short hallway, pointing out the bathrooms on the right, and into a small break room. She shows me how to work the coffee maker, which is fancier than anything I’ve ever seen outside of a Starbucks, and shows me around the break room.

“There are snacks in here if you get hungry and we keep the fridge stocked with water bottles and juice. Don’t touch the Perrier, or the lemon wedges. Those are for Mr. Grey only,” she says and then leads me back into the foyer.

“Mr. Grey usually gets here sometime between 7AM and 9AM. You need to be here every morning by 6:45 at the latest to make sure there is coffee ready. We make a new pot of coffee every thirty minutes until he gets here so its fresh when and if he asks for some.”

“You mean, he may not even want coffee? That seems wasteful.”

“Oh don’t worry,” She laughs. “There are plenty of people around here willing to take it off your hands. Especially security. Their suite is down there.”

For the next hour she shows me around, shows me which keys open which drawers and shows me how to work the phone.

“This will be the majority of your job,” she says. “Fielding phone calls. Mr. Grey is a very busy man and he gets a lot of phone calls. Very few of them actually get through. I have a tier system that seems to work very well. The bottom tier is clients, department heads, basically anyone not in his family or security. The only way the bottom tier gets to Mr. Grey is by appointment. No exceptions. If they don’t have an appointment, you take a detailed message of their name, when they called, where they’re calling from, what they’re calling about, and a number to reach them on. Then you type the message into an email and send it to him with the subject ‘phone message from’ and whoever it is.”

“Okay,” I say, and she continues.

“The next “tier” are security, his parents, and brother and sister. They get through automatically unless Mr. Grey is in a meeting or is not taking any phone calls. If you need to take a message, you’ll type an email the same as everyone else. If he’s not in a meeting, you’ll page him over the intercom and ask him if he is available to take the call and who its from.”

“And how will I know if it’s his family?” I ask.

“Oh, sorry. They’ll tell you. Carrick, Grace, Elliot, or Mia. I guess Kate now too. They know the drill so you don’t have to worry about it too much. If they tell you it’s an emergency, you don’t have to page Mr. Grey, just transfer it into his office.”

“Okay, so family gets through, everyone else by appointment,” I say.

“Not quite. The exception to all these rules is Mrs. Grey. If Mrs. Grey calls she gets through, no matter what. If he’s in a meeting, you interrupt him. If he’s on the phone, you walk into his office and tell him she’s on the phone. If you can’t find him, you politely put her on hold and you go and find him. Mrs. Grey always gets through.”

“Wow. His wife is pretty controlling, huh?” I giggle. Andrea doesn’t look amused.

“It’s not his wife,” she says.

“Oh.”

The elevator door, pings and Andrea whirls around and stands. A man walks out of the elevator and my breath catches. He’s the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen in my life. All this time, I thought Andrea was describing someone old, in their 40s or 50s. This man probably isn’t 30 yet and he looks like he just walked off a GQ photo shoot in his dark gray suit, white shirt, and black tie.

“Good-Morning, Mr. Grey,” Andrea says brightly.

“Andrea,” He says, shortly. “I need you to get ahold of Roach and tell him to call you when he arrives. I want to know the moment Mrs. Grey gets here.

“Absolutely, sir. Can I get you anything?”

“Coffee,” he replies in the same clipped tone. “What is this?” He gestures to me and I gulp under his hard, gray gaze.

“This is Rachel, sir. She’s Jessica’s replacement.”

“Hm,” He says, looking down at the mail he picked up out of the basket on the corner of Andrea’s desk. “Meeting in twenty.”

He walks through the wooden double doors and disappears. I take a deep breath, realizing I had been holding my breath. Oh. My. God. My boss is gorgeous.

“You’ll get over that,” Andrea says, correctly guessing my expression. I blush.

“I don’t know. You don’t think he’s attractive?” I ask.

“Oh he’s attractive, but he’s an asshole,” she replies as she begins gathering up her things.

“What?” I gasp, shocked she would make such an open statement about our boss with him only just behind the door.

“Look,” she says. “I’m not going to sugar coat it for you. Mr. Grey is a very difficult man to work for. He demands perfection and anything less is unacceptable. You’re going to get yelled at. There are going to be days, when you cry in your car after you get off work. He’s going to make you feel about an inch tall a lot of the time.”

I gulp. “Then why do you work for him?”

“Two years ago,” she says. “There was a fire in my house and I lost everything. Three days later, my Dad died. I asked Mr. Grey if I could have the day of his funeral off and when he asked me why I didn’t want more time off, I told him I couldn’t afford to and told him about my house. He gave me the week off with pay, hired someone to arrange everything for my father and my family and paid for the entire funeral. When I returned to work, I had a message from a realtor asking me to make an appointment to look at houses. Mr. Grey gave an upfront down payment of $120,000. Not a loan, he just gave it to me. And when I found a house I liked that cost $275,000. He doubled my salary to help me pay my mortgage off in a year.”

“What? Why would he do that?” I gape.

“He’s an asshole, but he’s also the most generous, good hearted man I’ve ever met. That’s why I work for him.”

“Wow,” I respond, blown away by her story.

“Keep that in mind later when he’s screaming and cussing at you,” She says. She disappears and returns with a cup of coffee and then picks up two folders and a notebook and turns to me again.

“Just a couple of things before we go in. Never, and I mean never, ask him a question. If he asks you a question, you have an answer, no exceptions. And don’t stutter.” She begins to walk towards the doors, but rounds on me again.

“You might want to bring something to take notes.”

Andrea doesn’t knock before she goes in. Mr. Grey is sitting at his desk, staring at his computer.

“Your coffee, Mr. Grey,” She says as she sets it down in front of him. She takes a seat across from his desk and I sit down next to her, trying to control my breathing as I stare at the man before me. He really is too damn good looking.

“Andrea, my wife is going to be here in a couple hours and she’s not going to be happy,” he begins. Oh shit, I almost forgot he was married. I feel myself begin to sulk.

“Make sure she has everything she needs when she gets here,” he continues. “I’ll have Taylor show her where to park but I’ll need you to send some people downstairs to help her move her things inside. She still hasn’t healed all the way and I don’t want her lifting anything. She will object to this, but she is not to carry her things inside. Understood?”

“Yes, Mr. Grey,” Andrea responds and she makes a note on her notepad, I do the same.

They go over his schedule for the day and he tells her that he won’t be taking any phone calls today. I think back to what Andrea told me about phone calls and I wonder if he ever takes them.

“Is that all, Mr. Grey?” Andrea asks, finally.

“I need you to go into the file room and make a copy of the Taiwan contract and send it down to the lawyers,” He says. “Make sure it gets there before this afternoon.”

“Yes, Mr. Grey,” she says and she stands and leaves the office. I follow after her, intimidated by his tone and his stare.

The rest of the morning is fairly uneventful. I mostly just tell people Mr. Grey is unavailable and send him phone messages by email. Two scary looking men do go into Mr. Grey’s office around 10:30 but they’re the only people I see until around eleven when the elevator door opens and an angry looking brunette woman storms out.

Andrea jumps to her feet, an anxious look on her eyes. “Can I help you, Mrs. Grey?”

Oh, so this is his wife. She’s beautiful, but I knew she would be. Jealousy rocks through me as I watch her stride across the lobby.

“Is he in there?” she shouts and Andrea tries to tell her he’s in a meeting but she storms through the doors.

“Do we do anything?” I ask, and she shakes her head. “I’m going to head to lunch. Do you think you can manage the phones for an hour?” She asks. I nod and she grabs her purse and heads to the elevator. A few moments later the two scary looking men that had been in a meeting with Mr. Grey exit the room and join Andrea as the elevator doors open. I’m alone, it’s nerve racking. No, I’m fine. I can do this.

A couple minutes pass and a woman in a powersuit exits the elevator and hands me a manilla envelope.

“These are the notes on the Taiwan contract Mr. Grey asked for,” She says. “Make sure he gets them right away.” I nod and take the envelope from her. When she disappears in the elevator, I push away from my desk and cross the room to the double doors.

Shit do I knock? Andrea didn’t earlier. I remember what she told me about not asking questions. I was told to get these to him right away. I sigh, and ease open the door, and then freeze.

Mrs. Grey is laying naked across Mr. Grey’s desk and his head is buried in between her legs.

“You taste so good, baby,” I hear him say and it takes everything in me not to make a sound. I ease back out of the room, close the door as silently as possible and creep back to my desk. Fuck, I hope they didn’t see me. Please say the didn’t see me.

Another ten minutes pass and a now fully dressed Mrs. Grey hurries out of the office and towards the elevator. She doesn’t look at me and I wonder if she’s embarrassed. I’m embarrassed, this is the most uncomfortable situation I think I’ve ever been in, at work at least. When she’s gone, Mr. Grey comes out of his office and hands me his blackberry.

“This is dying,” he says. “Charge it.”

“Yes, sir,” I say and look down and feel relief wash over me as I see a phone charger plugged in next to my computer monitor.”

“Have you gotten your blackberry yet, miss…..?

“Carrington, sir. And no, Andrea hasn’t given me one yet.”

“See that she does,” He says. “Where is she?”

“Lunch, sir,” I say and he nods.

“I’m going to be on a conference call for about an hour. I’ll need you to order lunch for me and Mrs. Grey. Two Caesar salads, from that place on the corner.”

“Yes, sir,” I say and he goes back into his office.

I collapse in my chair. Whew, I survived my first solo encounter with Mr. Grey. His phone buzzes and I reach out to check what it is, it might be Mrs. Grey and Andrea said Mrs. Grey always gets through.

It’s an email.

 

From: Anastasia Grey

Subject: First time for everything

Date: September 3rd 2012 Time: 11:27 AM

To: Christian Grey

Mr. Grey, your oral presentation was most intriguing this morning. I do hope I shall be able to present one myself this evening.

xxx

Ana

Anastasia Grey, Commissioning Editor, Grey Publishing.

 

I gulp as I read the email. I can’t believe I walked in on that. Guiltily, I flip through the other emails from on the phone. There are hundreds. Does this man ever delete an email? Most of them are GEH domains or from Mrs. Grey. I scroll and scroll and scroll until I see a new name. Anastasia Steele? Oh Mrs. Grey before she was Mrs. Grey. Hmm… they haven’t been married that long.

I see an email with the subject “Issues.” I click on it and read:

 

From: Anastasia Steele

Subject: Issues

Date: May 24 2011 00:02

To: Christian Grey

Dear Mr. Grey

Here is my list of issues. I look forward to discussing them more fully at dinner on Wednesday.

The numbers refer to clauses:

2: Not sure why this is solely for MY benefit – ie to explore MY sensuality and limits. I’m sure I wouldn’t need a ten-page contract to do that! Surely this is for YOUR benefit.

4: As you are aware you are my only sexual partner. I don’t take drugs, and I’ve not had any blood transfusions. I’m probably safe. What about you?

8: I can terminate at any time if I don’t think you’re sticking to the agreed limits. Okay – I like this.

9: Obey you in all things? Accept without hesitation your discipline? We need to talk about this.

11: One month trial period. Not three.

12: I cannot commit every weekend. I do have a life, or will have. Perhaps three out of four?

15.2: Using my body as you see fit sexually or otherwise – please define “or otherwise.”

15.5: This whole discipline clause. I’m not sure I want to be whipped, flogged, or corporally punished. I am sure this would be in breach of clauses 2-5. And also “for any other reason”. That’s just mean – and you told me you weren’t a sadist.

15.10: Like loaning me out to someone else would ever be an option. But I’m glad it’s here in black and white.

15.14: The Rules. More on those later.

15.19: Touching myself without your permission. What’s the problem with this? You know I don’t do it anyway.

15.21: Discipline – Please see clause 15.5 above.

15.22: I can’t look into your eyes? Why?

15.24: Why can’t I touch you?

Rules:

Sleep – I’ll agree to 6 hours. Food – I am not eating food from a prescribed list. The food list goes or I do – Deal breaker. Clothes – as long as I only have to wear your clothes when I’m with you… okay. Exercise – We agreed 3 hours, this still says 4.

Soft Limits:

Can we go through all of these?No fisting of any kind. What is suspension? Genital clamps – you have got to be kidding me.

Can you please let me know the arrangements for Wednesday? I am working until 5pm that day.

Goof night.

Ana

 

What the hell? What did I just open? My eyes flick around the room and I go into his sent folder and look for the one on the same date.

 

From: Christian Grey

Subject: This evening

Date: May 23 2011 23:16

To: Anastasia Steele

Miss Steele,

I look forward to receiving your notes on the contract.

Until then, sleep well, baby.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc.

 

Contract? What contract. The phone buzzes as another email comes it makes me jump. I exit out of the email program, losing my nerve and put the phone down. It’s only been about 30 minutes since Andrea left and the phone hasn’t been ringing. I call the deli on the corner and order two caesar salads and am now left with nothing to do.

I decide to make a personal folder in the computer so I can leave notes for myself about all the ridiculous things I need to remember and decided to see if there are is anything on the hard drive that would help me out. There are a ton of documents in here and I flip through them. There’s the NDA I signed this morning…. And then my eyes fall on a document called Contract. I click on it but it is password protected. I search around the desk and find a sticky note under the keyboard with a list of passwords on it. I see, Grace5011 (CG) and type it in the computer. The document opens and I’m immediately floored. Fuck, I want to read this, but I don’t want to do it here. What if Grey comes out? I open the email program and send it to my personal email, deleting the sent document from Andrea’s email.

As I do, the elevator pings and Andrea appears.

“Sorry,” she says. “Did I miss anything?”

“No,” I respond. “You’re just in time. I need to run down to the corner and get the lunch I ordered for Mr. Grey,” She eyes me suspiciously.

“What did you order?”

“Two caesar salads, one for Mr. and Mrs. Grey.” I hope she doesn’t notice my blush as I say Mrs. Grey’s name.

“How did you order it?” I shrug and she walks to the phone, quickly dialing a number. “Is it under your name or his?”

“Mine,” I say, confused.

“Hi, I need to cancel an order for Rachel Carrington. Yes I need a new order. Two Caesar Salads, but I want them deconstructed. Make sure the chicken is hot and the cheese and the dressing are on the side. Oh, and we want the house butter and garlic croutons, not the seasoned ones. We’ll also take two of the grilled flat bread, but with olive oil instead of butter. Put the order under Rachel, she’ll be there in seven minutes to pick it up. Yes I understand, the order is for Christian Grey. Yes, thank you.”

She hangs up the phone and shoos me out of the office. Fifteen minutes later, I’m back with the food. Andrea takes the salad out of the plastic container and puts it together on a plate. She hands it to me and tells me to take it to Mr. Grey.

“Do I knock?” I ask, remembering the last time I went into his office. She nods and I mentally kick myself.

“What?” He shouts after I tap on the door and I hurry in. I set the food on my desk and he looks up at me.

“Has my wife eaten?” He asks.

“I’ll take hers down to her right now, sir.” He nods his head, a dismissal, and I hurry out of the office.

Andrea doesn’t put nearly as much effort into Mrs. Grey’s lunch. She hands me the plastic container and tells me to go to the 19th floor. Her office is easy to find and when I knock on her door, her response is sweet.

“Come in,” she says.

“Mrs. Grey? I’ve brought you some lunch,” I say. She rolls her eyes and motions me forward.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.”

“No ma’am. Today is my first day. My name is Rachel. Rachel Carrington.”

“Hello, Rachel. Please don’t call me ma’am. Call me Ana.”

“Sorry, Ana,” I say and she smiles.

“Don’t let him get to you,” she says with a wink. “I know it must be very stressful up there for it being your first day.”

Crap. I like her.

“Yes, Mrs…. Ana.”

She laughs again. “Why don’t you give your number to my PA outside the door? Hannah. It’s probably a good idea for you two to be in touch. I’d like to have my calendar synced with Mr. Grey’s.”

“Right away, Ma’am… I mean Ana.” I blush and hurry out of her office, giving my information to Hannah, who also seems really nice. Damn, why didn’t I get put into this office?

The rest of the afternoon drags on and Mr. Grey doesn’t reappear until he leaves. I spend the rest of the afternoon anxious to get home so I can read the email sitting in my mailbox but Grey doesn’t leave until after 6. When he does, Andrea tells me I can go and I thank her for her help and practically run out the door.

 

ANA’S POV

“I’m going to work tomorrow, Christian,” I say as we finish our dinner Sunday night. He doesn’t answer, he continues to look down at Teddy, who is cradled in his arms suckling from a bottle.

“Did you hear me?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says, not looking up at me.

“And you don’t have anything to say?”

“No, I don’t.”

My brow furrows and my lips mash together. This isn’t like Fifty. I was expecting a fight.

“So, you’re okay with it?” I ask hesitantly. Finally he looks up at me.

“No, I just don’t want to argue with you, Anastasia. You won’t be going.”

“Christian…”

“No, Ana. I want you to quit. None of this would have happened if you hadn’t gone to the writer’s summit. I’m not going to let anything like that ever happen again.”

“So what?” I snap. “You’re planning on just locking me in the house. Keeping me here, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen?”

He smiles. “As much as I love the thought of you barefoot and pregnant in my kitchen, baby, I don’t plan on holding you prisoner here. Just think of the things we could do if you didn’t work. We could travel, show Theodore the world. You can do charity work. You can be active in Teddy’s school.”

“I want to work, Christian. I love my job.”

“I don’t want you to work, Anastasia.”

“Well that’s just tough shit, Christian!” I snap and I storm away from the table. He’s not going to force me into quitting my job. I want to show my children that it’s okay for a mom to be proud of her success. That their dad isn’t the only one who wins the bacon in this family. I push my way into the bedroom and pick up the blackberry charging on the nightstand.

“Hello, Ana. How are you?” Roach asks when he answers.

“I’m doing great, thank you. I’m ready to return to work tomorrow,” I say.

“Great, glad to hear it!” He says. “We, uh, have a special project to complete tomorrow, so if you’re coming in you’ll need to probably wear jeans and some tennis shoes or flats.”

“Sure,” I say. What is going on that I need to wear jeans for?

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ana,” he says.

“Bye, Roach.” I hang up the phone, satisfied. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Grey.

Twenty minutes later, Christian bursts into the room, furious. I’m pretty sure Roach has called him.

The fight that ensues isn’t pretty. He’s pretty fucking pissed at me and he’s locked himself in his study. Normally that wouldn’t bother me too much, space usually helps him calm down in situations like these, but he’s taken Teddy with him. I walk downstairs and knock on his study door.

“What!” he snaps. I open it and step inside. He’s leaning over his computer, holding the sleeping baby in his arms as he works. He looks up at me and glares.

“Not now, Anastasia.”

“I want the baby, Christian,” I say softly. He looks angry and I’m afraid he’s going to tell me no, but his face softens and he motions me forward. I reach into his arms and take Teddy from him, smiling as I cradle him.

“I don’t want you to go,” Christian mutters.

“I know. I’ll be careful,” I promise. “No more business trips and if I do, I’ll take your plane and I won’t go without you.”

“Or security,” He adds darkly. I sigh.

“Or security.”

“I don’t want to fight with you.”

“I don’t either, Christian,” I grab his hand and pull him away from his desk. We take Teddy upstairs together and then I lead him into the bedroom, effectively ending our fight.

Christian leaves early in the morning. I wake up and he’s gone. I suspect he doesn’t want to see me leave for work. Jeez, I hope he’s not still gone by the time I get back.

I grab a pair of jeans from my side of the dresser and wrinkle my nose at them. I haven’t tried jeans yet, but when I slip them on I am able to buckle them without difficulty. Ha! Four months and I’m already back in my pre-pregnancy jeans.

When I get downstairs, Mrs. Jones is in the kitchen cleaning up Christian’s breakfast.

“Hi, Gail,” I greet her. “How early did he leave this morning?”

“Around, seven,” She says. “He went to drop off Teddy with Mia today since he fired the nanny.”

“Oh,” I respond. Shit, I forgot about that. Was I really just planning on leaving my baby here all day? Fuck, maybe I’m not ready to go back to work. Thank god Christian remembered.

“I guess I’ll need to start looking for new nannies today,” I say. Gail smiles at me.

“What can I make you for breakfast Mrs. Grey?” she asks.

“Nothing, Gail. I want to get to work early this morning.”

She frowns. “Mrs. Grey… Mr. Grey was rather insistent that you eat a good breakfast this morning.”

I sigh, ever controlling Fifty. “I’ll have some granola, I suppose,” I say, and Mrs. Jones smiles.

When I’m ready to leave, I walk out to my R8 and find a man there waiting for me. It’s Sawyer.

“Sawyer!” I say, waving at him.

“Mrs. Grey,” He greets me. I smile. I’m glad that if I have to have security with me now, at least it’s someone I know. We drive in silence down the highway to GP. When I arrive, I notice there are two trucks parked on the curb that look like U-hauls. That’s strange.

I walk in through the front door and Claire’s face lights up like christmas.

“Ana!” She cries, “Welcome back! We were so worried about you!”

“Thanks, Claire. I’m really happy to be back. I was going crazy cooped up in the house like that.” It’s then that I notice she’s packing all of her things into a brown box, like the kind they give you when you’ve been fired. Oh no!

“Claire!” I start. “Are you leaving us?”

“Oh no, Ana. Haven’t you heard? We’re moving offices today.”

Moving offices? No, I hadn’t heard anything about that. The door opens behind me and Roach enters pushing a dolly in front of him.

“Oh, Ana, you made it. Great to have you back!” He says.

“Roach. What’s going on? Why are we moving offices?

“It’s coming from the top, Ana. GEH is selling this building,” he frowns as he shoves the dolly under a filing cabinet.

Of course he is. That’s his plan. He thinks if he puts me in a small office that’s impossible to work in and that I hate, I’ll quit. He’s going to make this as unpleasant for me as possible until he gets what he wants. Well, sorry, Mr. Grey. I’m not giving in that easily.

“I’d get your things together, Ana. We’re supposed to be out of the building before 10.”

Shit! It’s nine already. I dash to my office and open the door. Hannah is there packing things away for me.

“Hannah!” I say and she looks up and beams. I cross the room and hug her tightly, feeling a slight but easily ignorable pain in my ribs.

“When I heard about what had happened, I was so sick, Hannah,” I say. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone.”

“It was hard,” She admits, “But I was happy you weren’t there. I didn’t want you to go through that with me. But what happened to you…” her eyes start to water. “When Mr. Grey showed up looking for you at the recovery center I knew something was really wrong, but I never imagined…”

I hug her again, feeling tears come to my own eyes.

“Let’s get packing, or we’ll never get out of here in time,” I say with a smile, wiping tears away from my eyes.

With Hannah’s help and Roach’s dolly, it only takes me half an hour to pack up my entire office. I’ve loaded what I can into my own car, which isn’t much as I’m carrying a security detail around with me, and Hannah has graciously offered to take the rest of my things.

I still have no idea where we are going. I didn’t think to ask for an address before we left. Shit, I hope I don’t lose Roach in traffic. We drive for about 5 minutes and my heart drops as we begin taking a familiar route. He wouldn’t have… would he?

Ten minutes later, I’m standing outside of my car staring infuriated at the building before me. GEH. He’s moving me into his own fucking building. I’m mad. Really mad. This is just too controlling. He can’t sell my office just so he feels like he can keep a better eye on me.

“Exciting isn’t it?” Hannah says as she comes up beside me. “It’s such a beautiful building, and we get to work in the middle of downtown!”

“Exciting isn’t the word I would chose,” I say. I see Taylor running up the sidewalk to me and I roll my eyes. Am I going to be escorted in and out of the building too? And then I realize, I have my own security. I already am going to be escorted in and out of the building. Why is Taylor coming to meet me?

“Mrs. Grey,” He says as he approaches.

“Taylor,” I reply cautiously.

“I have a parking permit for you ma’am. You’re not to park on the street or in the main garage with the other employees. If you’ll take your car around to the underground garage, your parking space is number two.

I sigh and reach out to take the pass from him. Sawyer and I climb back into the car and pull into the garage. I drive past a line of really expensive looking cars and pull into the empty space that is mine, not surprised that the car parked next to it, belongs to Christian.

When I get out of the car, more men approach the car and let me know they’ll be taking my boxes upstairs.

“I think I can manage,” I tell them. “It really isn’t much.”

“No ma’am,” the man closest to me says. “Mr. Grey says you’re not to carry anything.”

I roll my eyes and stomp after them. This is ridiculous. My anger grows as we take the elevator up to the 19th floor, not the 20th floor where Christian’s office is. Oh good, for a moment I wondered if he was going to make me work with him in his office.

I step out of the elevator and I’m in a large square lobby with warm dark brown walls. On the left, there is a single door with a metal handle. The right wall is made entirely out of glass with two glass double doors. I step through them and see Claire setting up her desk at the front of the empty looking office. Behind her, there is a giant, silver, shiny placard on the wall that says “Grey Publishing”. It’s nearly identical to the one downstairs that says “Grey House.”

I follow the men carrying my boxes through the open space that is huge in comparison to the building we had before, and into my office. It’s nearly three times the size of my previous office and it has huge floor to ceiling windows that give me a fantastic view of the Seattle skyline. The office has white marble flooring and light gray painted walls. It’s all a little too clinical for me, but I’m sure I can warm it up a bit. I take another look at the view, which is a little too familiar, and then look up. Am I directly under him? I shake my head as I sit at the desk, which has been all set up for me and begin to unpack my things.

Over the next hour, IT has come in to add my email to the GEH network and to set up extra security precautions on my email. I want to laugh as I wonder if that was supposed to be tongue and cheek, but I don’t. I’m too angry to be entertained by playful Fifty right now. I need to give controlling Fifty a piece of my mind.

When I’m finished unpacking my things and I’ve made sure Hannah has settled into her desk outside my office, I storm out of the office space and jab the elevator button furiously. When the elevator doors open to the 20th floor, I march out and see Andrea’s surprised face.

“Can I help you, Mrs. Grey?” She asks.

“Is he in there?” I demand. There is a new girl sitting at the desk with her, but I’m too mad to acknowledge her right now.

“Yes, Mrs. Grey. He’s in a meeting…” She begins but I storm away from her and throw the door to his office open before she can finish her sentence.

 

CHRISTIAN’S POV

 

I remember the last time I was here. The last time Anastasia was in the hospital. I thought that had been excruciating. How wrong I had been. I would trade that 1000 times over for what I’m going through now. What had been wrong then? Some bruised ribs, a clean gunshot wound, and a hairline fracture? Child’s play compared to now. Ana is in surgery, having a bleed in her right kidney repaired while they simultaneously repair her ruptured spleen. She has three broken ribs, a ruptured eardrum, and a fractured ankle. Not to mention the general battered state of her entire body. Her lips were split, her eyes were black… I try to shake the image out of my mind and look down at the baby in my arms. His wide, blue eyes are open and I shake a plastic key ring for him. He laughs and the sound is cathartic.

The double doors to the surgery floor open.

“Grey?” the doctor calls and my head snaps up.

“Here, Grey,” I say incoherently. “I’m Christian Grey.”

“Mr. Grey, we were able to stop the bleeding from her kidney and repair the rupture in her spleen. She’s being moved into recovery as we speak.”

“She’s okay?” I ask, shifting the baby as I stand.

“We’re going to monitor her overnight, and she’s got a long road of recovery in front of her, but her vitals are strong.”

“Can I see her?” I ask.

“Of course, Mr. Grey, but you shouldn’t take the baby into the ICU.”

I turn and hand Teddy to my mother and follow the doctor onto the surgery floor. They have me put a gown and hair cover on before I’m allowed to enter her room. When I see her, I barely recognize her. There are tubes coming out of every part of her.

“The tubes?” I ask.

“She’s intubated for now. It was a rough surgery and the tube in her mouth is helping her breathe.”

I nod and sit next to her bedside, taking her cold hand in mine. I can barely stand to look at the bruises that cover her skin. Her face is so swollen, she doesn’t even look like herself. But it’s her. She’s here. She’s really here. How many times have I thought I’d lost her over the past week? But I didn’t. She’s going to be fine. She may be hurt, but she will heal. I will help her heal and she will be my perfect Anastasia again.

I reach up and brush her hair out of her face. I want to touch her, all of her. I want to hold her in my arms. Protect her from the world. I lean over and kiss her on the forehead while she sleeps.

“Christian,” someone whispers over me. I lift my head off the side of the bed and see Kate standing over me.

“How is she?” She asks.

“The same. She’s having trouble coming out from under the anesthesia but the doctors said we shouldn’t worry. She’s hurt and her body needs time to heal,” I say. I already know these things. I’ve had them told to me before. Ana didn’t wake up for almost two days last time.

 

“I need to do an examination, Mr. Grey,” the doctor says as she enters. It’s been two hours since anyone has come into this room and I’m startled by the interruption. I stand and back three steps away to allow the doctor to get around the bed. This is as far as I’m going away from Anastasia’s side and I give the doctor a look that tells her I’m not to be trifled with. She listens to her breathing, checks her pupils, and takes all of her vitals. I watch as she stands and removes the stethoscope from her ears.

“I think we can take the intubation tube out now,” the doctor says.

“And that’s good, right?” I ask.

“That’s very good,” She smiles. “I’ll have an intern come in and remove it once I’m done here, if you’ll step out, Mr. Grey.”

“I’m not leaving,” I say sternly.

“Mr. Grey, I need to perform a vaginal exam on your wife, for privacy reasons, I need to ask you to please step outside.”

“Why do you need to do a vaginal exam?” I ask, suddenly cautious.

“It’s standard procedure in these situations, Mr. Grey. I need to do a rape kit.” The door opens and another doctor in blue scrubs enters pushing a tray of sterile instruments.

“I’m not going to leave,” I say again. The doctor frowns but accepts my position.

“Alright, Mr. Grey.”

They put Ana’s legs up in the stirrups and cover her with a blue paper blanket. I watch them probe her with cotton swabs and examine her. When they’re finished, one doctor collects and labels the samples, while the other doctor throws away the paper blanket and puts Ana back into a resting position. I take my place next to her bed and grab her hand again, desperately trying not to think of what a rape kit means.

“Is she any better?” My mother asks as she enters the room a little while later. I shake my head.

“The doctor, the doctor came and did a… a rape kit,” I say with difficulty.

“Oh, Christian. That’s just standard procedure. It’s more to rule out the possibility than anything. Don’t worry until there is something to worry about,” She says.

“I just… I just can’t stop thinking about it. What if he…”

“Then it will have been a horrible trauma that Ana has faced and she’ll need all our love and support to move on. For you too, Christian. We’re all here for you too.”

“Where’s Teddy?” I ask.

“He’s with Kate. They’ve gone home for the night. I’d just thought I’d check in on Ana and you before I headed home too. Can I get you anything?”

I shake my head.

“Why don’t you come home with me? You could use a good night’s rest after this horrific week and they’ll call us if anything changes in Ana’s condition.”

“I’m not leaving. I’m going to be here when she wakes up.”

My mother’s brow furrows with worry, but she doesn’t push me any further.

“Ok darling, I love you. Try and get some sleep,” She says. She kisses my hair and quietly exits the room.

I’m awoken the next morning by my blackberry buzzing in my pocket. Shit, what time is it? I look up to Ana, but she’s still asleep. I wonder when it will be time to worry? I pull out my phone and walk to the window.

“Grey,” I answer.

“How is she doing?” Ros asks.

“She’s going to be okay,” I say. “She’s not good now, but she’s going to be okay.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I just wanted to call and tell you how sorry I am for this ordeal you’ve been through and to give you an update on GEH.”

Fuck, I haven’t even thought about work in days. What the fuck has been going on in my company?

“I’ve smoothed over the South Sudan deal and we’ll begin breaking ground there early next month. Our lawyers are negotiating a settlement deal with the Taiwanese but they’re trying to lowball us. They’re pretty damn pissed about that protection of assets clause in our contract.”

“I don’t give a fuck what they’re pissed about. I’m pissed about the millions of dollars in cargo and damaged vessels we’ve lost do to their inability to protect their own harbors from fucking pirates,” I say.

I can feel the CEO returning and it feels good. I feel in control. God I’ve missed this. I’ve needed this. I need to get back to work as soon as possible. I look down at Anastasia. Once I can get her out of here, I’ll start working from home until she’s fully healed.

“CC me on the emails for the Taiwanese situation, Ros. I’m not going to let them fuck us over on this deal.”

“Sure thing, Christian,” Ros says. “And give Ana my best.”

“I will,” I say and I hang up the phone, but instead of putting it away, I begin dialing another number.

“Christian, is she okay?” Kate’s panicked voice asks.

“She’s fine. She still hasn’t woken up. I just wanted to call and ask how my son is doing.”

“Oh,” Kate breathes, relieved. “Teddy is great! Elliot has him on the playmat and they’ve been playing peek-a-boo for about twenty minutes.”

I feel a wave of jealousy rip through me. I miss him, my son. He’s been the only real comfort to me over this hellish week and a half and I’m never going to forget that. I yearn to have him near me now and I’m sure I always will. He is my talisman against the pain of loss and loneliness and I will cherish him forever.

“I miss him,” I admit. “I wish he could sit here with me and his mom.”

“The ICU is no place for babies, Christian. He could get really sick.”

“I know.”

“Ana will be up and around in no time and you three will have all the time in the world.” Kate promises.

“Thanks, Kate. Call me if you need me.”

“You too. I want to know the moment she wakes up.”

“I will,” I promise.

“Bye, Christian,” She says.

I hang up the phone. I’ve always had a difficult relationship with Kate. She’s bossy, and pushy, and too much like me. And she knows.. about my past. I’ve never been able to get over that. How easy it would be for her to let it slip to my brother and then my family would know. I hate that she knows. But now… I mean, she’s been so helpful with Teddy and the whole situation really. And she loves Ana. She really loves Ana. Can I really dislike someone who loves Ana so unconditionally? It seems wrong, unnatural. I’m going to have to let it go. I don’t know how, but I’m going to have to move past it and not worry about her knowing anymore.

There is a knock on the door and the doctor enters.

“Mr. Grey, I need to give you the test results,” She says.

“What test results?” I ask, panic returning. “Is everything okay? Is there a reason why she hasn’t woken up yet?”

“No, Mr. Grey. Mrs. Grey is improving every time we examine her. She’s faced a lot of trauma over the last few days and her brain needs time to rest and process. It’s a defense mechanism. She’ll wake, when she’s ready to wake.”

“So what’s the matter?”

“Mr. Grey, we’ve gotten the analysis back on the rape kit,” she says. Everything stops. The whole world fucking stops. My body freezes and time slows down as the weight of what’s coming hits me. Fuck. No! NO!

“Oh, no, Mr. Grey. I’m sorry if I frightened you. The results were negative. My only concern left for her is facing the trauma of what happened to her when she wakes up. I wanted to leave information for you about recovery. We have counselling services available as well as support groups that meet weekly, if she needs to talk.” She hands me a stack of pamphlets that I take automatically as I nod.

“I’m sorry your family is facing this horrible ordeal, Mr. Grey. Please, don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions or need anything. Anything at all, we’re right outside the door.”

I can’t reply. I can’t say or do anything. I want to drop to my knees, to thank god he didn’t… but it’s not enough to be thankful for. Why would I be thankful? My Anastasia, my beautiful Anastasia, is broken. In the hospital. I should be furious, hell I am furious.

I’m going to fucking kill him. I’m going to hunt him down and fucking kill him with my bare hands. I’m going to beat the shit out of him, beat him to fucking death.

The rage is building and I think the doctor senses that I need privacy because she backs quickly out of the room.

It’s all flooding over me again. I’m re-living the horror of finding her again. So he didn’t rape her, he still touched her. He still hit her. He still broke her. What am I going to do? I’m so fucking furious right now, I could break something, someone. I wish I hadn’t already destroyed Escala because I could do it again. I want to do it again. No, no that’s not what I want. I want to find the mother fucker who touched my wife and rip him apart. I pull out my blackberry and pound on the keys as I dial.

“Welch!” I growl furiously. “You need to find that fucker! I need you to do whatever you can to find out who the fuck he is and where the fuck he is! I don’t care what you have to do, I need you to fucking find him!”

“Yes sir, Mr. Grey. I’m working on it now. He’s a slippery son of a bitch and he knows what he’s doing to be able to avoid us so well, but I’ll find him, sir.”

I hang up the phone and collapse into the chair, my hands running furiously through my hair as I try to reign in the anger. By the time, I’ve calmed myself enough to focus, I’m distracted again by a high pitched sound. There are two quick beeps, like a cell phone tone, but my phone is on vibrate. I look around the room, trying to find the sound and my eyes fall on the clear plastic bag that hold Anastasia’s torn, bloody clothes the police haven’t picked up yet. I cross the room in two quick steps, tear open the bag, and pull out a stained olive green jacket. I probe the pockets and freeze again as my fingers clasp over something small and hard. I pull out another pre-paid cell phone and open it, there is one unread text message.

Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Grey. I’ll see you again very soon.

I close and grip the phone tightly and hurl it against the far wall. It shatters and the pieces skitter across the linoleum floor.

Yes, you’ll see me soon, you motherfucker. You’ll see me really fucking soon.

I turn back to the window but I’m distracted when I hear a low groan behind me. I turn and see Anastasia, wincing with pain but moving.

“Christian?” she murmurs.

 

CHRISTIAN’S POV

7 weeks later

 

I have her, beneath me. She’s pinned, her knees held apart by mine and her hands tied to the bed post. We’re fucking, hard. I dive into her again and again. Fuck, she feels good.

“Ah!” she cries.

That’s it baby, feel me. I want to make her come. I want her to come so hard she loses herself, loses all coherency. I pound harder knowing her orgasm is coming.

“Fuck, ah!” she cries again and I feel her insides start to quiver. Oh yes, baby. That’s it, give it to me.

“Come for me Ana, I want to feel you come for me,” I command, and she screams my name as her orgasm rips through her. Jesus christ, I love feeling her squeeze around me as she succumbs to the ecstasy. I thrust so hard, part of my mind wonders if I’m going to bruise her pelvic bone. I don’t care, I detonate and pour myself into her.

 

Shit! I sit up in bed and throw the duvet back, feeling around the sheets. Oh thank fuck, I didn’t come. Since Ana’s been home, my nightmares have disappeared but they’ve been replaced by graphic, erotic dreams where I wake up a sticky fucking mess. It’s humiliating. The first time Ana had been understanding, the second time, she laughed at me for the entire morning. After that she didn’t laugh anymore.

“Jesus, Christian!” She yelled at me when I told her I needed to help her out of the bed so Mrs. Jones could change the sheets again. “If you want sex this badly, make love to me!”

She was frustrated, she still is. I haven’t touched her yet. She’s too fragile. I’m afraid I’ll break her. It’s been three weeks since she got home from the hospital and she’s doing much better. Her bruises have faded away and the scars from her surgery are no longer pink. Her ribs are still painful though and she’s having a difficult time walking with the pain in her barely healed ankle.

I move out of the bed, careful not to wake her, and head for the bathroom, grateful once again that my dreams remained dry. It’s not that I don’t want to make love to her. Fuck, I’d give anything to take her. It’s been four months now. Four fucking months since I’ve been inside my wife. It’s so fucking depressing. But she’s hurt. I don’t want to hurt her. I see her wince every time she moves, hear the gasp of pain escape her lips when she takes too deep of a breath. Rage starts to build in me again. It’s been seven weeks since I found Ana in that fish storage warehouse and neither the police, nor my team still hasn’t been able to track down, who I suspect is going to end up being John Lincoln. I’m considering approaching Elena, that bitch abetted whoever it is afterall, but I don’t want Ana to know I’ve seen her. I don’t want her to know what I almost did. What the fuck was I thinking? A wave of revulsion sweeps over me and I cringe.

I didn’t do it. I didn’t even touch her. I never really wanted it, it was all the grief driving me mad. I didn’t do it. I repeat the mantra as I stare disgustedly at myself in the mirror.

I take a shower and when I’m finished, I wrap a towel around myself and walk back into the bedroom.

“Jesus!” I yell, grasping the towel as I see Mrs. Jones sitting on the bed with Ana. She’s holding Teddy and she has her breast out, trying to coax him to latch. I look away as the sight of her breast brings back my erotic dream.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Grey. I think he was on a bottle too long. He not going to back to breast feeding.”

Ana stares down at our son, frustrated. “I’m not ready to give this up yet,” she says.

“Gail!” I interrupt, wondering why they both seem to be oblivious to the fact I’m standing here in a fucking towel.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Grey,” she says as she climbs off my bed. She turns back to Ana and reaches out for the baby. “I’ll give him a bottle.”

“Bring it up to me. I want to feed him,” she says.

“Yes, Mrs. Grey,” Gail replies and disappears from the room. I shake my head and pull a pair of boxer briefs out of my dresser and head into the closet. I’m dressed in a charcoal colored suit, a white shirt, and a blue silver tie when I return to the bedroom. Ana looks up at me and frowns.

“Where are you going?” she asks. She’s got a bottle in her hands and she’s feeding Teddy.

I sit on the edge of the bed and reach out to brush our son’s hair, smiling to have him back in his mother’s arms.

“I’ve got a deposition downtown. The Taiwan thing,” I say distractedly.

“It’s a Saturday,” Ana replies, her tone reflecting her displeasure.

“Which is why I’m extremely irritated to be leaving you, Mrs. Grey,” I say, leaning over to kiss her. She stops me by raising her hand in front of my face.

“I don’t want you to go,” she whispers. “I want you to stay home and make love to me.” My face falls and I run my hands through my hair while I try to form a response.

“Please, Christian,” she begs, her voice so soft its barely a whisper. I reach out and take the hand she holds up in front of my face and softly kiss each one of her fingertips.

“I’ve got to go, baby. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Her face falls as I climb out of the bed and close the bedroom door behind me.

The deposition takes longer than I thought and it pisses me off. The Taiwanese government is attempting to counter-sue us for breach of contract. There is a responsibility of title party provision in the protection of assets clause that mandates the Taiwan government not be responsible for damaged or lost property if my company had been careless in protecting our own assets. I’m here to make a court documented statement recounting all of GEH’s protection measures put in place in Taiwan. The whole process takes three fucking hours and when I get home, I need a glass of wine. Gail pours one for me and I drink it gratefully. I turn and see the nanny sitting on the couch with Teddy so I walk over to her and reach out for him.

“There he is,” I say as I scoop him into my arms, but as I do he begins to cry.

“What’s wrong with him?” I ask, my fierce gaze turning down to the nanny. He feels very warm and his face is flushed.

“I think he’s getting sick, Mr. Grey,” she says.

“Have you called a doctor?” I demand.

“No, its just a cold. He’ll be fine in a few days.”

“Are you a doctor?” I ask incredulously, my irritation growing.

“No, Mr. Grey.”

“You’re fired,” I snap and turn towards the kitchen. “Gail, will you take Teddy and put him down? And call my mother and have her come look at him.”

“Yes, Mr. Grey,” She says, taking him from me. I watch after them, wondering if I should go sit with my sick baby until my mother gets here. I will, but I need to go check on Ana first. Make sure she doesn’t need anything. I follow Gail up the stairs but turn into my own bedroom instead of the nursery. When I open the door, Ana isn’t there. I walk to Teddy’s bedroom.

“Gail, have you seen Ana?”

“She’s in her office, Mr. Grey.”

“What the fuck is she doing in there? Why is she out of bed?” I demand.

“I believe she’s working, sir,” Gail replies as she lays Teddy in his crib.

“Stay here with him until I get back,” I say and run back down the stairs to the back of the house where Ana’s office is.

“What are you doing in here?” I ask when I burst through the door.

“Come in, Mr. Grey,” she says flatly, not taking her eyes off the laptop in front of her. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun. She’s wearing one of my t-shirts and a pair of leggings.

“You need to be in bed.”

She looks up and smiles at me wickedly. “I’d be willing to let you take me to bed.”

“You need your rest.”

Her face crinkles and she looks back down at her computer. “Sorry, Mr. Grey. I simply have too much work to do.”

“For the love of god, Anastasia!” I yell in frustration, my hands combing through my hair.

“Is it because of what he did to me?” She asks suddenly. “Do you think I’m defiled now? He didn’t touch me, Christian, I swear! Not like that. I’m still yours. I’m still only yours!”

My heart stops and I look back at her, incredulity and pain color my face.

“No, Anastasia! God no! You’re not defiled, you’re perfect! I don’t care about that– No.. No, I do care… I want you, Anastasia. I want you so bad, I come all over myself when I fucking sleep next to you! Jesus!” I lean over her placing my hands on each one of the armrests of her chair. “I will never not want you. You are my everything. I’m just afraid, if I touch you, I’ll hurt you.”

She grabs my tie and pulls my mouth down to hers. Her fingers reach into my hair and hold me in place while her tongue explores my mouth. I groan as I allow myself to kiss her, really kiss her for the first time since she’s been home. My cock hardens as she deepens the kiss, taking me ruthlessly.

“Please,” She gasps when she pulls away and I can no longer resist her. She sees it in my eyes and she reaches for my belt. I grasp her hands, stopping her as I look down at her with blazing eyes.

“No,” I say. “Not here. I want you in my bed.” I reach down and scoop her up into my arms. She gasps with pain as I pull her close to me and I freeze, my resolve wavering.

“It’s fine,” she says. “I’m fine.” She pulls me into another deep kiss. I growl as I pull away from her and bound across the room, racing through the house and up the stairs as quickly as I can with her in my arms.

When I enter the bedroom, I lay her down on the bed. She’s already panting with desire. We waste no time pulling off our clothes. By the time I’m out of my jacket, shirt and tie, Anastasia is unclasping her bra. When I see her breasts break free, I lunge at them, taking one of her nipples into my mouth and rolling my tongue around it while my hand gently pinches and rolls the other one.

“Fuck, Christian,” she moans and her hands fly into my hair. I sink my teeth gently into her nipple and she cries out, the sound going straight to my aching cock. The strain against my pants is unbearable and I reach down to release my erection. Her hand flies out and grasps me and I feel my breath hitch in my throat. Fuck, I’m not going to last very long. I begin to pull her leggings off her, thankful she’s wearing something so easy for me to get into and in one swift motion, she’s naked. Yes, I have needed this. Just looking at my wife’s beautiful naked body is enough to unravel me but I can’t allow myself release. She needs to come first. She always comes first.

I reach out and my fingers find her clitoris and I being swirling them around. She gasps again at the delicious contact. Fuck, she’s so gloriously wet. I could take her now. I want to take her now. I dip my fingers into her, swirling them around. She squirms and I place my free hand on top of her to hold her down.

“Christian, please,” She begs. “Please, I need you inside of me.” I groan and take her nipple back into my mouth.

“Take me, Christian,” she says and I can wait no more. I shake the pants hanging around my knees to the floor and climb out of them. I tear off my shoes and socks and push Ana farther unto the bed and climb after her. Grasping myself, ready to plunge into her, I pause and look down into her lust filled blue eyes.

“If I hurt you, you’ll tell me to stop,” I say, commanding rather than asking.

“Yes,” she breathes, and I force myself into her. Holy fuck, it’s heaven. I nearly lose control as the hot wetness of her clenches around me. Fuck, she’s tight. Really fucking tight. This is home, where I belong. Buried inside my wife. She gasps as I enter her and I freeze.

“Are you okay?” I ask through gritted teeth.

“Yes,” She responds. “It’s just been a while. I’m fine. It’s good. It’s so good, Christian. Keep going.”

I pull out and ease back into her, enjoying every inch of her.

“Gah!” she yells out and I’m in ecstasy. Again and again I ease out of her.

“Faster Christian, harder,” she begs. I hesitate for a moment before I pick up momentum. Holy fuck this feels so good. My thrusts become more urgent as my worries dissipate under the pleasure. She’s not stopping me and I can’t stop myself from taking more of her.

“Fuck, Christian!” She cries and I know she’s getting close. That’s it baby, let me bring you to the edge. Feel that baby? Feel how perfect we fit together? You were made for me baby, and I was made for you. Her insides start to quiver and I know her orgasm is building.

“Give it to me, baby. Come for me,” I demand and she does, screaming my name as she writhes beneath me. I lean down and kiss her, taking her screams of pleasure into my mouth. I can control myself no longer.

“Ana, oh god. Fuck, Ana!” I yell and I come violently, harder than I remember ever coming before. It’s bewildering, the pleasure that courses through me as I pound into her again and again, pouring myself into her. When at last my orgasm comes to an end, I lie over her, supporting my weight on my elbows. We’re both panting. She reaches her hands up and grasps my face, kissing me deeply again. I kiss her back eagerly, pouring all the love I feel for this woman into this one point of intimate contact.

I roll over and wrap my arms gently around her, still reeling from my powerful orgasm.

“You didn’t use a condom,” she says breaking into my reverie.

“No,” I said.

“I’m not on the shot.”

“Good,” I say, too incoherent to speak more than one syllable at a time.

“You want more children?” she asks. I nod.

There is a brief knock on the door and my mother enters the room.

“Christian I’ve just… Oh god!” She screams as both Ana and I reach for the duvet at the bottom of the bed. She turns and runs from the room, her face burning with embarrassment.

I turn and look at Anastasia, horrified and she looks back at me with shock until her face melts into a smile and she bursts in laughter. I can’t help it, the joy on her face, for the first time in weeks, melts me and I join her. She rolls over, laying her head on my chest as we both laugh uncontrollably.

 

CHRISTIAN’S POV

Day eight:

 

From: Jason Taylor

Subject: Fluid Analysis Results

Date: July 20th 2012 Time: 07:15 AM

To: Christian Grey

Mr. Grey. The lab was able to confirm the blood on the towel belongs to Mrs. Grey.

-T

 

I’m sitting in my study as I read the email, a very full glass of bourbon in my hand. It’s only me, Carrick, Elliot, and Ethan in the house now. My entire security team has gone to my parents’ house in Bellevue along with my mother, Mia, Teddy, and Mrs. Jones. Without my son here, I am consumed with pain and I try to subdue it with liquor.

I can’t handle it anymore. I can’t do it. This is going to kill me, I know it. I will literally do anything to avoid feeling the way I feel now. I drain my glass and reach for laptop to compose an email.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Time and Place

Date: July 20th 2012 Time: 07:18 AM

To: Elena Lincoln

9am. Escala.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc.

 

I push away from the desk, and trudge up the stairs to my bedroom. In the bottom drawer of my dresser is a pair of worn, faded, ripped jeans. I put them on and pull a black t-shirt out of the top drawer.

On the way to Escala, I stop at the Liquor store and buy another bottle of bourbon. It clinks against the metal railing of the elevator as I ride up the elevator to my Escala penthouse and I realize I’m shaking. I have no thoughts. No guilt. No remorse. Nothing. I have only pain. I will do anything to get rid of this pain.

The elevator doors open and Elena is waiting in the foyer.

“Christian,” She purrs, a wide, genuine smile on her face.

“Elena,” I acknowledge her flatly. She gestures towards the apartment and I follow after her robotically.

“Can I fix you a drink?” Elena asks, and I hand her the bottle of bourbon. I can’t focus on anything, my eyes just stare blankly into nothing.

I feel something cold and look down to see Elena has placed a glass of bourbon in my hand and I swallow it in one gulp.

“It’s natural to be nervous,” Elena says reassuringly. “It’s been a long time for you, Christian. But I assure you, once you’re in there, it will be like riding a bike.”

“There’s nothing in there,” I say lifelessly.

“What do you mean, Christian?”

“Ana,” my voice breaks. “She doesn’t like the whips and canes. I got rid of them.”

“Well, you’ll need to get creative then,” She smiles, pouring me another drink. “It’s going to feel good, Christian.”

I slam the drink once more, kick off my shoes, tear off my t-shirt, and march forward towards my playroom. It’s already unlocked and I know it’s because Elena has already let the girl in. She knows where the spare key is kept in the laundry room.

I enter the dark red room and see the small brown haired girl kneeling by the door out of the corner of my eye. I cross the room and look at the wall. Once full of whips, canes, and belts, it now only holds one brown riding crop and a suede flogger. I can’t use these things. These are Ana’s things.

I look around the room and realize, everything in here is Ana’s. That’s the bed I tie her to to keep her still when I fuck her. That’s the cross I truss her up on when I want to worship her. That’s the bench I bend her over when I spank her. Everything in here is Ana.

I sit on the bed and look at the naked girl kneeling on the floor, staring at the ground. It sickens me. I actually feel sick seeing her there like that. I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to fuck some strange girl, I want to make love to my wife. My Ana. Only Ana.

I push away from the bed and storm out of the room without a word.

“Christian, what’s wrong?” Elena asks. She’s in the kitchen with a glass of wine.

“Get out,” I say.

“Christian?”

“Get the fuck out of my apartment and take her with you!” I yell. I can feel how hard my glare is, hear the threatening undertone of my voice. Elena shivers slightly.

“But I thought…” She stops speaking as a furiously charge at her. I knock the glass out of her hand and it shatters on the floor. I’m towering over her, my anger radiating over her as I scream.

“Get the FUCK out of my apartment, Elena, and don’t ever fucking come back here. Do you understand? We do not know each other any more. I do not want to know you. GET THE FUCK OUT!”

She gasps and hurries forward. I hear her dragging the girl with her as she flees from the apartment. I look down at the broken glass on the floor. My hands fly up into my hair and I tug, feeling overwhelmed. By what? Anger? Sadness? Frustration. It’s frustration. My entire adult life, I’ve been in control, the master of my universe. I needed it. I thrived on it. And now it’s gone. Nothing is in my control. I can’t even hire a fucking security team.

I reach up to the rack where my crystal wine glasses hang and begin to shatter them on the floor. I storm into the living room, pick up a chair, and throw it into the television. I’m a bull, raging through my own home, and I don’t care. I want to destroy everything. I can control that.

My living room and kitchen lay in shambles. Mrs. Jones is going to have a heart attack when she finds this mess, but I don’t care.

I need to get home, god knows what I’ve missed since I’ve been here, but I can’t go home in these clothes. I can’t bear to have them touch me any longer. I strip as I make my way through the mess of broken glass and furniture towards my bedroom. I pull new clothes out of my dresser, wondering briefly if I should also take a shower. I want to wash the grime of what I almost did off of me. I stomp towards the bathroom when I hear the blood curdling sound of a musical ringtone. I turn and see another pre-paid cell phone sitting on the nightstand. I launch myself at it.

“Hello? Hello?” I say desperately.

“Are you bored yet, Grey?” the cold voice asks.

“What?” I respond confused. He sighs.

“I’m getting bored. Anastasia isn’t very good company. She doesn’t seem to want to talk to me, which is rather rude. I’m a very interesting person to talk to. Don’t you agree, Grey?”

“Give her back. I’ll give you whatever you want, just give her back to me.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he sneers.

“What do you want?” I ask desperately.

“I want $20 million dollars, and every hour it takes you to get it to me, you’re going to add another million.”

“Yes. Yes, I can give you that. Just tell me where you want to make the trade.”

“The address is in your car, Grey. I hope you don’t have trouble finding the place.”

“And if I get it to you… When, when I get it to you, you’ll give me Anastasia? She’ll be alive and safe?”

“Of course I will, Grey. I’m not a liar. You give me the money, I give you the girl. I have to go now. I hope to see you soon, Mr. Grey.”

The phone goes dead and I run back through my broken apartment, pulling out my blackberry as I go.

“Mr. Grey?” Taylor answers on the first ring.

“Taylor, he’s made his demand. I’m at Escala, I need you to come pick me up. I can’t drive. Taylor, HURRY!

“Right away, sir. I’m just around the corner.”

I hang up the phone as the doors to the elevator close. Taylor is waiting for me in the garage when I make it down stairs. I fly into the front seat of the Audi SUV and dial the number for my accountant.

“Mr. Calloway’s office, this is Abigail.”

“I need to speak to Calloway, right away,” I demand. “This is Christian Grey.”

“I’ll transfer you.” I listen to the hold music. Taylor is staring at me, waiting for instructions but I ignore him.

“Mr. Grey,” Calloway’s voice greets me.

“How long will it take you to get a wire transfer of $20 million dollars together?”

“$20 million dollars, Mr. Grey?”

“That’s what I fucking said!” I roar.

“Can I ask why you need such a large sum of money at once?”

“No! How long quickly can you get a wire transfer of $20 million dollars together?

“Well, a sum that large may take some time. I’m going to have to access several of your offshore accounts to get that kind of money. I’d say that fastest I could get it together would be 6-7 hours.”

“You have 5,” I said harshly. “And I’m going to need $25 million. Call me when it’s available.” I hang up the phone.

“Mr. Grey?” Taylor asks.

“He wants money. All he wanted was money. Shit!” I exit the car and race across the lot to my R8. There is a piece of paper on the front seat with a bank account number and a phone number scribbled on it. I tuck the paper in the pocket of my jeans and run back to the Audi.

“Where to, Mr. Grey?” Taylor asks.

“Take me to Bellevue. I want to see my son.” We drive over the bridge over Lake Washington in silence. I’m anxious now. Why didn’t he demand the money up front? I wouldn’t have denied him once I knew he had Anastasia. All this stress, fear, worry, pain, and all he wanted was money. I need to distract myself.

“Why were you around the corner from Escala?” I ask.

“Welch was able to find the address the courier picked up the package with the towel from so I was investigating, but it was an abandoned warehouse. I searched the property but didn’t find anything. We’re dealing with someone who knows what he’s doing, sir.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Taylor. We’re going to get her back. Five hours and I’ll have her back.”

I’m sitting in the armchair of my mother’s living room, staring at the clock while I rock my son back and forth. When my blackberry rings, Mia reaches out to take Teddy and I begin to pace as I answer the phone.

“Grey,” I bark.

“It’s done, sir. I have the whole total ready to transfer.”

“Good. The bank account number for the transfer is 2A 660139208816. Don’t transfer the money until I call you back.”

“Yes, Mr. Grey.”

I hang up the phone and call the number on the bottom of the piece of paper.

“Already, Mr. Grey? I’m impressed,” the voice says in greeting.

“Where do I meet you?”

“The trade will be made on Pier 66. I’ll see you soon, Mr. Grey.”

He hangs up and I walk to Mia, kiss Teddy on the forehead, and call for Taylor. He drives like a bat out of hell towards Pier 66 and as we both run up the dock, I call the number again.

“I don’t have the money yet, Grey,” the cold voice says impatiently.

“Is she here?” I ask.

“She’s here, but I’m not going to tell you where until I have the money. And before you get any ideas, you should know that I can see you and if you take one step, I’ll fucking kill her.”

I turn to Taylor and nod. He has my accountant on his cell phone.

“Transfer the money,” Taylor says. We wait in silence for a moment as I wait for the voice to speak, to tell me he got the money. To tell me where Ana is.

Thirty seconds pass and the phone goes dead.

“No!” I scream and I redial the number.

I’m sorry but the person you have called has a voice mailbox that has not been set up yet… goodbye.

“No!” I yell again, looking down at the phone in terror.

“Sir?” Taylor asks.

“Anastasia!” I call out, looking around desperately. I run further down the pier to the abandoned fish storage warehouse, calling out to her as I go.

“Anastasia! Anastasia!” There is no answer. No. No, this cannot be happening. No. What have I done? Taylor approaches the warehouse and kicks the door in. I chase after him. Oh dear god, please.

“Anastasia!” I call, desperately. “Anastasia!” My voice echos off the walls as Taylor begins tearing through the building. I don’t see her. My world is collapsing in on me. Fuck, it’s over. He played me. Why would I trust the man who kidnapped my wife? Fuck! Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!

“Anastasia!” I call again.

“Christian.”

I hear a weak, muffled voice behind me. There is a door to the left of the room and I launch myself towards it, throwing it open so quickly the hinges groan.

“Anastasia,” I whimper as I look down at my broken, bloody, and badly bruised wife tied to a chair in a closet. I fall to my knees and burst into wet, cathartic tears.

 

CHRISTIAN’S POV

“Ana!” I yell. The relief of hearing her voice is indescribable. She’s alive. I now know, she is alive. “Ana, oh god, Ana.”

“Chr-istian,” she says again, and I can hear that she’s crying.

“Are you okay, baby? Have they hurt you? Where are you?”

“I-I don’t know. I’m in a room and it’s dark. I don’t think there are windows.” I can barely understand her through her tears.

“Oh god, Ana. Don’t worry, baby. I’m going to find you. Do you understand? I’m going to find you and I’m going to bring you home.”

“Teddy?” She asks.

“He’s fine. He’s perfect. He misses you.”

“I’m so scared.”

“Are you hurt, Ana?” I ask, my voice pleading. Her answer is cut off by a loud noise in the background.

“Oh god,” She whimpers. “No!” She screams and my body seizes with terror. I hear a succession of loud thumping noises accompanied by her screams.

“Ana!” I scream into the phone, and then it goes dead. No. No, no, no, no, no! I take the phone away from my ear and try to redial, try *69, but there is no number to call back. Fuck! They’re hurting her. She was screaming. My stomach heaves and I have to run into the bathroom. I vomit violently as my body begins to shake with fear and anger. Taylor bursts through the bathroom door followed by Elliot, Ethan, and my father.

“Mr. Grey, we heard you scream. What’s wrong?”

I slide the cell phone across the bathroom floor and it hits Taylor’s feet.

“When I got into the bedroom,” I explain, “the package was on the bed. That cell phone was inside and it started ringing. I answered and it was Ana.”

“Ana?” Carrick exclaims. “She’s okay? Did she say where she was?”

“She was crying. She said she’s in a dark room with no windows.”

“Did she say anything about who was keeping her, sir? Does she have any idea of who it is?”

“I didn’t get to ask her. I talked to her for maybe 30 seconds and then I heard… I heard her scream. He was beating her.” I whirl around to the toilet as I vomit again.

“Shit, Christian,” Elliot says.

“I’ll get Welch on the line,” Taylor says, “See what he can find out from this phone.” He disappears through the door and I want to run after him, go with him, but my body is seized with fear. I’m shaking.

“Let’s get him off the floor,” Ethan says, and he and Elliot come forwards and heave me to my feet.

“Wait a minute,” Carrick says, as his eyes fall on the night stand. “Isn’t that Ana’s blackberry?”

I nod my head. “He was here. He left the phone and the package.”

“Fuck,” Elliot swears. “Christian, maybe you shouldn’t stay here.”

“No, if he comes here, I want to be here. If he comes here again, I’ll fucking kill him myself.”

“Maybe Teddy should come stay with us?” Carrick suggests.

“No, I need him with me. He can’t be away from me until Ana is back. Not until I get Ana back.”

“Let’s get downstairs. Mia, Kate, and Grace are still looking for Ana’s phone. They need to know what happened.”

I nod my head. Elliot and Ethan let me go as I test my body to see if I’ve regained enough composure to stand. When I’m steady, we head down the stairs to tell the girls.

“If you’re staying, I’m staying,” Mia says, after we’ve explained the events from upstairs.

“Me too,” Kate declares.

“No,” Elliot says. “Absolutely not.”

Kate glares at him. “Elliot, Christian can’t stay here alone. He’s going to need help with Teddy.”

“Christian has security and staff.”

“I’m staying too,” My mom answers. Everyone looks at her, and my dad shakes his head in disbelief.

“I won’t leave my son alone when he’s being stalked by a mad man. We should all stay. The more numbers the better.”

“I’ll increase security,” I assure them. I think back to the early months of Ana’s pregnancy when she had finally convinced me to ease security on our family. She hated having an entourage follow her around and with Jack no longer a problem, she didn’t believe the security was still necessary. I stupidly agreed. Why the fuck did I agree? If she’d had Sawyer with her in Australia, none of this would have happened.

Except she would have been on that damn plane.

No, that would have been better. Hannah was fine, Ana would have been fine too. As it is, I have no idea where she is and I know she’s being hurt. A horrific image crosses my mind of strange hands running over her naked body and I have to swallow back bile. I can’t think about that. I don’t know anything like that has happened and if I dwell on it, I’ll go crazy.

“Mom, will you bring Teddy to me? I need to hold him.”

“Of course dear.”

“Taylor,” I say turning to him. My voice lacks its usual undertone of authority and it bothers me.

“Yes, sir?”

“I want you to hire back the security team and anyone else good that you know of. Pay them whatever they want.”

“Yes, sir,” he responds and heads off to his office to make phone calls.

My mother appears with Teddy and I take him eagerly, feeling the smallest amount of my anxiety melt away and even that small amount is liberating.

There is tension in the house. Mrs. Jones has the day off so my mother is cooking lunch for everyone. We’ve all been awake for over 24 hours but none of us are able to sleep. The only thing we think about is Ana.

I’m sitting in my study, Teddy sleeping soundly in my arms as I read the email from Welch on my laptop. Welch has tracked the serial number and found that it was sold from the Walgreens on Pike St, less than half a mile from Escala. He’s got contacts with both the local police and the FBI, and is working on getting a warrant for the sales records for that day. Hopefully the fucker used a credit card and we’ll be able to connect the name to the purchase. Welch is also working on hacking into the store’s security camera footage so that we can see everyone who has entered the store over the past few days. Taylor is scouring Escala with his team, including the newly re-acquired Sawyer, to see if there has been anyone in my apartment.

I feel a little better, knowing my team is on it. It feels like we’re making progress. I’m going to find her. I’m going to bring her home and I’m never going to let her go again. I look down at Teddy.

“Don’t worry, precious baby. I’m going to find her. I’m going to bring Mommy home to us.”

There is a commotion outside my office door and I look up to see Mia trying to keep a blonde woman out of my office.

“You’re not welcome here,” Mia snaps.

“Get out of my way, you silly girl,” the woman says and my gut clenches as I realize who she is.

“Elena?” I ask hesitantly. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

She pushes her way past Mia who I brush away with my hand and she closes the door behind her.

“Christian,” She purrs, a pout on her face. I stare at her suspiciously.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“How could I not be here? I heard about the flight and that Anastasia was on it.”

“She wasn’t,” I say coldly, straightening in my chair so I sit taller. Her eyes fall on Teddy in my arms.

“Is that him?” She asks. There is a kind smile on her face but I can hear the undertone of disgust in her voice. “Is that your son?”

“Yes,” I respond.

“Theodore, isn’t it? But, Christian why is he in here with you? Surely there is a nanny that should be taking care of the… baby.”

“He’s fine here.”

“Hmm. Can I hold him?” She asks.

“No!” I snap, holding Teddy tight against my chest. Teddy is Ana’s. Ana would be furious if Elena got anywhere near him. Ana will be furious that Elena came here at all.

“You should leave,” I say.

“Christian, I just came to check on you. I know how difficult this must be for you.”

“Your concern is noted but entirely unnecessary, Elena,” I say flatly. “I don’t need your support.”

“Oh, I didn’t think you needed support,” She says slyly. “I thought I could give you something else that I know you need.”

I narrow my eyes at her as she sashays across the room and sits on my desk.

“Christian, we both know that best way to relieve stress and I’ve come to offer my assistance.”

“If you think I would ever touch you again…” I growl.

“Oh god, Christian. I wasn’t talking about myself.” She glares down at me, her domme persona in full effect. I stare back just as hard so she knows I’m not intimidated.

“I’m going to make some calls and have a suitable submissive delivered to you,” She says, her voice softening. “She’ll give you a feeling of control. Do you have a playroom here or should I have her sent to Escala?”

“I have no interest in a submissive, Elena,” I say darkly. “I am a happily married man. Now get the fuck out of my house before I have security escort you out.”

“Now, Christian. I’m just looking out for you. I worry about you. If you don’t want me to send someone, I won’t. But you know it will help.”

“Like I said, I don’t want your help, now please leave.” I glare at her, but her eyes flick away from mine when her cell phone rings from her Chanel bag.

“Oh that must be James,” She says. “He’s my new toy. Feisty this one, he can take a lot of pai…” She looks down at her phone and frowns, but she answers it anyway.

“Hello? Who is this?” She looks down at me, her brow furrowed and then hands me the phone. I look at her suspiciously and take it.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Mr. Grey,” the cold male voice answers. My breath stops.

“Where is she?” I demand.

“She’s right here,” the voice replies. “I’d give her the phone but she’s a little tied up right now.”

“I’ll fucking kill you,” I respond menacingly. “Let my wife go or I swear to god…”

“Now, Mr. Grey, I don’t really like your tone. You ought to be more polite to the man who holds your wife’s life in his hands.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to suffer, Grey. Simple as that. And we’re going to start our little game by you sending your security team away.”

“If you think I’m going to let you get near anyone else in my family, you’re out of your goddamn mind.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Grey,” I hear a loud noise followed by Anastasia’s scream.

“Ana!” I yell, and I begin shaking again.

“How about now, Grey? Do you feel like sending your security away now?”

“Don’t lay another mother fucking finger on my wife you son of a bitch!” I roar into the phone and he sighs.

“I really don’t know why you have to make it this difficult, Grey.” There is another loud noise followed by an even louder scream. I can hear her agony.

“Stop,” I whimper. “Please. Please stop.”

“Your security?” The man asks.

“Gone. I’ll send them away. Just please, please don’t hurt my wife again.”

“Of course not, Grey. I’m a reasonable man. If you just do what I tell you to do, Anastasia will be fine. I’ve got to go now, Mr. Grey, but I’ll be in contact soon. Once your security has gone, that is.”

The phone goes dead and my hand drops to my desk as the pain washes over me.

“Christian, what happened?” Elena asks, reaching out to take her phone back. I jerk it out of her reach.

“How did he get your number?” I ask.

“Who? What are you talking about?” She replies and I can see the confusion on her face.

“The man who has my wife!” I demand. “How did he get your number?”

“What? I thought Anastasia was in a plane crash. Who has her?”

She doesn’t know. I look through the call history and see that the number had been blocked. The door to my office bursts open and nearly every one of my family members pours in.

“What the hell are you doing here?” My mother yells as she sees Elena. “Get out!”

“No,” I say. She turns her furious gaze to me.

“Christian, I thought I made it clear that you were to never see this woman again.”

“I haven’t, Mom. She shouldn’t have been here tonight, but now she needs to stay. I need her phone.” I turn to Taylor. “I got another call, on Mrs. Lincoln’s phone this time. Give it to Welch. See what he can find.”

Taylor comes forward and takes the phone. I stare down at my son and tremble.

“Look, Christian. You keep the phone. I’ll replace it,” Elena says, and she looks at Grace. “And, I’ll just see my way out. I’ll have the uh… matter we discussed delivered to Escala tomorrow. Come, or don’t come, it’s up to you.” She smiles down at me as she rises off my desk and walks out of the room.

There is an uncomfortable silence in the office until Elliot finally speaks.

“What did they say, Christian?”

“He wants me to send my security away,” I respond flatly, not taking my eyes of Teddy.

“Christian, you can’t send security away. Don’t you even think about it,” my mother says, panicked.

“I’m not going to, Mom. I won’t leave my son unprotected. I’m just going to have to wait it out to find out what this fucker wants.”

I spend the next few hours either on the phone with Welch or speaking with Taylor in my office, trying to come up with a plan of action. He and his team are to remain out of sight. They will watch my family without anyone knowing they are here. I know Taylor can avoid being found if he wants to be. It’s getting late and I can feel the sleepless nights starting to catch up with me. I’m exhausted but I’m terrified to sleep. I’m terrified I might miss something important, but even more so of the nightmares I know will come.

I head out to the living room, sit at my piano, and play. It doesn’t distract me the way it normally does but, since Gail has put down Teddy in the nursery, it’s the only thing I have. My family sits on the couch watching me play. Elliot has fallen asleep with his head in Kate’s lap, but no one else seems to want to go to bed. I focus on the notes, not allowing any thoughts to enter my mind, when I hear the doorbell. I jump up and run to the door, Carrick, Ethan, and Taylor on my heels. Taylor jumps out of sight next to the door and I think I see him send a silent hand signal to his team as they watch us over the CCTV. He nods at me and I wrench open the door and find a courier carrying another small brown package.

“Mr. Christian Grey?” He asks, and I have to swallow the lump in my throat to answer.

“Yes,” I say. He hands me a paper to sign. I scribble a half-hearted signature and take the package. Ethan remembers to tip the courier as I walk back into the house, ripping the package as I go. I’m at the kitchen counter when I finally get into it and I pull out a note and a stained towel.

“What is that?” Ethan asks. “What’s all over it.”

“Oh my god, is that blood?” My mother asks. I drop the towel and read the note.

I told you to send away your security, Mr. Grey.

 

CHRISTIAN’S POV

“Are you still there, Grey?” The voice says again. My mouth is dry.

“Where is she?” I whisper, hoarsely.

“Oh, we’re not going to have time for questions, Mr. Grey. We don’t even really have time to talk at all. So, here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to get on your plane, you’re going to go home, and you’re going to wait for me to call you again. Do you understand, Grey?”

“Where is my wife?” I demand, anger boiling inside of me.

“Don’t worry, she’s here. Safe with me. For now that is. If you do what I say, I don’t see why you wouldn’t have her back in no time at all.”

“I swear to god, if you touch her. If you hurt her. I will hunt you down and I will fucking kill you. Where the fuck is my wife?!”

“I have to go now, Grey. I suggest you follow my instructions or when I do send your wife back to you, it will be piece by piece.”

The phone goes dead. No. No. Fuck! I charge out of the room of injured people and into the waiting crowd outside of the building. I’m temporarily blinded by the flashes of light bulbs as I force my way through the throng of onlookers. Photographers yell questions at me and news crews are shoving microphones in my face.

“Is your wife inside, Mr. Grey?”

“Is your wife injured, Mr. Grey?”

“Mr. Grey, can you confirm that your wife is alive?”

I feel a tug on my arm and I’m pulled forward. My head turns to see who has hold of me and I see that it’s Taylor. He’s pushing us through the crowd quickly, getting me away from the media. When we make it to the parking lot of the marina, I see my family members huddled around the black SUVs.

Kate immediately breaks into tears when she sees me.

“Oh god, oh god, she’s not with him. No! She wasn’t rescued,” She wails. Mia and my mother also begin to cry, but I ignore them and climb into the front seat of the SUV. Taylor appears at the window.

“Mrs. Grey, sir?” He asks solemnly.

“We need to get back to the airport,” I respond. “Get everyone in the fucking car and let’s go.” Taylor ushers the now hysterical Kate into the backseat along with Elliot, Ethan, and Mia. Elliot and Ethan try to calm the women in the back seat as they cry, but Kate is beyond herself. She’s screaming in her grief. The sound is grating on me, but I can’t speak. I’m far beyond words. I’m murderously enraged. Out of control. The only thing I can do is obey the commands of the man who has stolen the only thing in my life that has meaning.

We fly down the highway towards the airport. No one bothers to talk to me or ask me any questions. They assume my silence is grief, and on some level it is, but it’s mostly rage.

When we pull on the tarmac, I jump out of the car, away from Kate’s screams, and I pull out my blackberry.

“Welch!” I snap into the phone once he answers. “I need a trace on Mrs. Grey’s phone, now. I need to know where it is, you got that? I don’t care what your doing, I need you to stop and fucking find that phone.” I don’t even give him time to reply before I hang up. I’m pacing, stomping really, back and forth in front of the stairs that ascend into my plane. How am I going to sit still through the two hour flight? Fuck. I grab the railing to the stairs and pull myself up.

I take my seat and stare venomously at Kate, who is laying with her head in Elliot’s lap, sobbing. The captain announces we are ready for take off and as we begin taxing over the airfield, Taylor comes to sit beside me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“Sir, Welch isn’t going to find Anastasia by tracking her phone. This isn’t the type of situation where that’s going to work. I’m sorry, sir, but she’s gone. If she wasn’t brought in with the survivors than she…”

“She’s not dead, Taylor,” I say.

“Sir, it’s time to accept…”

“Jesus fucking christ, Taylor! She’s not fucking dead! She wasn’t on the fucking plane!”

Everything falls silent around me. I hear Kate make a long shuddering gasp as she sits up, her bloodshot eyes baring into me.

“Wha-What do you m-m-mean she wa-wasn’t on the p-lane?” She chokes.

“Exactly what I just fucking said,” I answer coldly. “She wasn’t on the fucking plane.”

“Where is she?” Mia asks so softly I can barely hear her.

My head falls into my hands. I want to cry. I wish I could cry. I’m jealous of the release Kate, and Mia, and my mother get to have, that I can’t. I haven’t been able to cry, not this whole time she’s been gone. The emotion just sits inside of me building and building and now I feel as if I might explode. The stress is too much to handle. Unwittingly, my arm shoots out and punches the wall of the plane with as much force as I can muster. My knuckles break against the metal of the wall but I can barely feel it. It helps. The pain, the release of frustration, it all helps. It takes away from the all consuming anger and stress.

“Christian!” My mother yells. She unbuckles her seatbelt and sinks to her knees in front of me, gingerly taking my hand in hers.

“Someone bring me a towel and some ice,” she says as she examines my broken hand. Mia jumps to her feet and brings back the things my mother asked for. As she wraps my hand in some tape from the first aid kit, Kate begins her inquisition.

“Where is she, Christian? If she wasn’t on the plane, where is she?”

“I don’t know,” I grimace.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Kate demands. “If you don’t know where she is then how do you know she wasn’t on the plane?”

“Hannah,” I say darkly. “Hannah was there. She said she wasn’t on the plane.”

“Maybe she just didn’t make it to her seat?” Carrick asks. “You haven’t heard from her since the accident. I find it very unlikely that she just missed the flight and didn’t call.”

“She didn’t miss the flight.”

“I’m not following you,” Carrick continues warily.

“Someone has her. They picked her up at security or, I don’t know. But someone has her.”

“Sir..” Taylor begins. “Who has her? Where is Mrs. Grey?”

It’s difficult to recount the story of the phone call I received without flying into a blinding rage, but I manage. My family stares at me with looks of horror on the face.

“But I don’t understand,” Elliot says. “If they’ve had her this whole time, why are they just calling you now?”

“The plane crash. I wouldn’t have believed them if they called me before. They needed me to see that she wasn’t killed in the plane crash, for Hannah to confirm she wasn’t on the plane, before I would believe them.”

“So were they there? Did they see you with Hannah?” My mother asks.

“Maybe. I doubt it. They knew I’d find her.”

“Oh god! Oh god!” Kate says as her chest starts convulsing again.

“Kate, I really can’t fucking take that right now,” I spit at her. She covers her mouth and tries to calm herself.

“What can I do for you?” My mother asks.

“Where’s Mrs. Jones? Bring me my son,” I say, and moments later, Teddy is in my arms, keeping away the pain until we arrive in Seattle.

We’re taxing over the tarmac at SEATAC when I’m finally able to check my voicemail from Welch.

“Mr. Grey, I’ve located Mrs. Grey’s phone,” he says. “She’s at your house.”

I listen to the voicemail three times, sure I’ve heard it incorrectly. There’s no way her phone is at the house. She had it with her in Australia and I haven’t left the house in days, except to go to Los Angeles that is. Shit.

“Where to Mr. Grey?” Taylor asks carefully after we’ve all piled into the Audi SUV.

“Home,” I respond. “And Taylor, I need you to get me there as quickly as possible.”

I burst through my front door and am followed by Kate, Elliot, Mia, Ethan, Taylor and my parents, who all have instructions. Find Ana’s phone. We tear through the downstairs of the house while the security team checks the perimeter for signs of forced entry. When they find nothing, I tell them to help the others look. I fly up the stairs, taking them two at a time and burst into my bedroom door.

There it is. Ana’s phone. It’s sitting on the nightstand, plugged into the charger like she’s just forgot to pick it up after waking up for work in the morning. I approach it cautiously, waiting for it to ring. A musical ringtone fills the air but it doesn’t come from Ana’s phone. I look down at the bed and there is a small box, the label is addressed to me. I rip open the package and a small, pre-paid cell phone falls out, ringing and vibrating in my hands. The number is blocked.

“Hello?” I say cautiously into the phone.

“Chr-ist-ian,” a broken, terrified voice breathes.

I know that voice. Better than anything else in the world. The voice belongs to Ana.