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All the color drains froh my body
Instinctively I step between her and Christian
"What is it?" Christian nore hi this
"Kate! This is nothing to do with you" I glare veno my fear How dare she do this? Not now, not today Not on Christian&039;s birthday Surprised by reen eyes wide
"Ana, what is it?" Christian says again, his tone o, please?" I ask him
"No Show ued with - his voice is cold and hard Reluctantly I give him the e-noring Christian She looks so apprehensive I flush as a es flit quickly across my mind
"That&039;s none of your business, Kate" I can&039;t keep the exasperation out of et this?" Christian asks, his head cocked to one side, his face expressionless, but his voice so ly soft Kate flushes
"That&039;s irrelevant" At his stony glare, she hastily continues "It was in the pocket of a jacket - which I assume is yours - that I found on the back of Ana&039;s bedrooaze, Kate&039;s steeliness slips a little, but she seems to recover and scowls at him
She&039;s a beacon of hostility in a slinky, bright red dress She looks h my clothes for? It&039;s usually the other way round
"Have you told anyone?" Christian&039;s voice is like a silk glove
"No! Of course not," Kate snaps, affronted Christian nods and appears to relax He turns and heads toward the fireplace Wordlessly Kate and I watch as he picks up a lighter from theit float afire slowly into the grate until it is no more The silence in the roo my attention back to Kate
"No one," Kate says emphatically, and for the first time she looks puzzled and hurt "I just want to know you&039;re okay, Ana," she whispers
"I&039;ood, really good - this is old news Please ignore it"
"Ignore it?" she says "How can I ignore that? What&039;s he done to you?" And her green eyes are so full of heartfelt concern
"He hasn&039;t done anything to ood"
She blinks at me
"Really?" she asks
Christian wraps an ar his eyes off Kate
"Ana has consented to be my wife, Katherine," he says quietly
"Wife!" Kate squeaks, her eyes widening in disbelief
"We&039;re getting eapes at me She&039;s stunned "I leave you alone for sixteen days, and this happens? It&039;s very sudden So yesterday, when I said - " She gazes at me, lost "Where does that e-mail fit into all this?"
"It doesn&039;t, Kate Forget it - please I love him and he loves ht," I whisper She blinks and unexpectedly her eyes are shining with tears
"No Of course I won&039;t You&039;re okay?" She wants reassurance
"I&039;ve never been happier," I whisper She reaches forward and grabs ardless of Christian&039;s arm wrapped around me
"You really are okay?" she asks hopefully
"Yes" I grin at her,She&039;s back onside She s back on her I step out of Christian&039;s hold, and she hugs me suddenly
"Oh, Ana - I was so worried when I read this I didn&039;t knohat to think Will you explain it to me?" she whispers
"One day, not now"
"Good I won&039;t tell anyone I love you so ht I didn&039;t knohat to think I&039;m sorry If you&039;re happy, then I&039;m happy" She looks directly at Christian and repeats her apology He nods at her, his eyes glacial, and his expression does not change Oh shit, he&039;s still ht, it&039;s none of my business," she whispers to me
There&039;s a knock on the door that startles Kate and I apart Grace pokes her head around
"Everything okay, darling?" she asks Christian
"Everything&039;s fine, Mrs Grey," Kate says immediately
"Fine, Mom," Christian says
"Good" Grace enters "Then you won&039;t " She beahtly and thaws i," she says softly, closing her eyes in his elad you&039;re still with us"
"Mom, I&039;m fine" Christian srins
"I&039;m so happy for you," she says and caresses his face
He grins at her - his thousand awatt smile
She knows! When did he tell her?
"Well, kids, if you&039;ve all finished your tete-a-tete, there&039;s a throng of people here to check that you really are in one piece, Christian, and to wish you a happy birthday"
"I&039;ll be right there"
Grace glances anxiously at Kate and me and seems reassured by our smiles She winks at me as she holds the door open for us Christian holds out his hand to ize," Kate says hu to behold Christian nods at her, and we follow her out
In the hallway, I gaze anxiously up at Christian "Does your mother know about us?"
"Yes"
"Oh" And to think our evening could have been derailed by the tenacious Miss Kavanagh I shudder at the thought - the ramifications of Christian&039;s lifestyle revealed to all
Holy cow
"Well, that was an interesting start to the evening" I slances down at me - and it&039;s back, his amused look Thank heavens
"As ever, Miss Steele, you have a gift for understatement" He raises my hand to his lips and kissesroo round of applause
Crap How many people are here?
I scan the room quickly: all the Greys, Ethan with Mia, Dr Flynn and his wife, I assume There&039;s Mac from the boat, a tall, handso him in Christian&039;s office the first time I met Christian - Mia&039;s bitchy friend Lily, tonize at all, and Oh no My heart sinks That woman Mrs Robinson
Gretchen ne She&039;s in a low-cut black dress, no pigtails but an updo, flushing and fluttering her eyelashes at Christian The applause dies down, and Christian squeezes my hand as all eyes turn to him expectantly
"Thank you, everyone Looks like I&039;ll need one of these" He grabs two drinks off Gretchen&039;s tray and gives her a brief s to expire or swoon
He hands a glass to lass to the rest of the rooe is the evil woman in black Does she ever wear any other color?
"Christian, I was so worried" Elena gives hi and kisses both his cheeks
He doesn&039;t let o despite the fact I try to free ood, Elena," Christian mutters coolly
"Why didn&039;t you callhis
"I&039;ve been busy"
"Didn&039;t you get es?"
Christian shifts unco his arards Elena She can no longer ignore me, so she nods politely in my direction
"Ana," she purrs "You look lovely, dear"
"Elena," I purr back "Thank you"
I catch Grace&039;s eye She froatching the three of us
"Elena, I need toher dispassionately
Her clear blue eyes cloud "Of course" She fakes a smile and steps back
"Everyone," Christian calls He waits for a moment until the buzz in the room dies down and all eyes are oncetoday I have to say I was expecting a quiet family dinner, so this is a pleasant surprise" He stares pointedly at Mia, who grins and gives him a little wave Christian shakes his head in exasperation and continues
"Ros and I" - he acknowledges the red-haired wo nearby with a small bubbly blonde - "we had a close call yesterday"
Oh, that&039;s the Ros that works with hilass to hilad to be here today to share with all of you lances down at me - "Miss Anastasia Rose Steele, has consented to be my wife, and I&039;d like you to be the first to know"
There are general gasps of astonishment, the odd cheer, and then a round of applause!
Jeez - this is really happening I think I arasps my chin, lifts my lips to his, and kisses me quickly
"You&039;ll soon be ally," he rin
Lily, who is standing beside Mia, looks crestfallen; Gretchen looks like she&039;s eaten solance anxiously around at the asseht of Elena Her mouth is open She&039;s stunned - horrified even, and I can&039;t help a s of satisfaction to see her du here, anyway?
Carrick and Grace interrupt ed and kissed and passed around by all the Greys
"Oh, Ana - I aushes "The change in Christian He&039;s happy I am so thankful to you" I blush, ehted, too
"Where is the ring?" exclai! Jeez I hadn&039;t even thought about a ring I glance anxiously up at Christian
"We&039;re going to choose one together" Christian glowers at her
"Oh, don&039;t look at me like that, Grey!" she scolds him, then wraps her arms around him "I&039;m so thrilled for you, Christian," she says She&039;s the only person I knoho is not inti Well, it certainly used to
"When will you get married? Have you set a date?" She beams up at Christian
He shakes his head, his exasperation palpable "No idea, and no we haven&039;t Ana and I need to discuss all that," he says irritably
"I hope you have a big wedding - here," she bea his caus-tic tone
"We&039;ll probably fly to Vegas torowls at her, and he&039;s rewarded with a full-on Mia Grey pouty griives hio, bro" He claps Christian&039;s back
The response fro, and it&039;s a few minutes before I find myself back beside Christian with Dr Flynn Elena see cha young woe, and lovely hazel eyes
"Christian," says Flynn, holding out his hand Christian shakes it gladly
"John Rhian" He kisses the dark-haired woman on her cheek She&039;s petite and pretty
"Glad you&039;re still with us, Christian My life would be most dull - and penurious -
without you"
Christian smirks
"John!" Rhian scolds, much to Christian&039;s amusement
"Rhian, this is Anastasia, hted to meet the woman who has finally captured Christian&039;s heart" Rhian smiles kindly at ain
"That was one googly you bowled there, Christian," Dr Flynn shakes his head in amused disbelief Christian frowns at him
"John - you and your cricket ratulations to the pair of you and happy birthday, Christian What a wonderful birthday present" She smiles broadly at me
I had no idea Dr Flynn would be here, or Elena It&039;s a shock, and I rackto ask him, but a birthday party hardly seems the appropriate venue for a psychiatric consult
For a few minutes, weboys I deduce that she is the reason Dr Flynn practices in the US
"She&039;s good, Christian, responding well to treatment Another couple of weeks and we can consider an out-patient program" Dr Flynn&039;s and Christian&039;s voices are low, but I can&039;t help listening in, rather rudely tuning out Rhian
"So it&039;s all play-dates and diapers at the moment"
"Thaths sweetly I know Christian and Flynn are discussing Leila
"Ask her so for me," Christian murmurs
"So what do you do, Anastasia?"
"Ana, please I work in publishing"
Christian and Dr Flynn lower their voices further; it&039;s so frustrating But they stop e&039;re joined by the tonize earlier - Ros and the bubbly blonde whom Christian introduces as her partner, Gwen
Ros is char, and I soon discover they live almost opposite Escala She is full of praise for Christian&039;s piloting skills It was her first tio, and she says she wouldn&039;t hesitate to go again She&039;s one of the feomen I&039;ve met who isn&039;t dazzled by hily with a wry sense of humor, and Christian seems extraordinarily at ease with both of them He knows them well They don&039;t discuss work, but I can tell that Ros is one sreat, throaty, too-h
Grace interrupts our leisurely conversation to infor served buffet-style in the Grey kitchen Slowly the guests make their way toward the back of the house
Mia collars me in the hallway In her pale pink, frothy babydoll dress and killer heels, she towers overtwo cocktail glasses
"Ana," she hisses conspiratorially I glance up at Christian, who releases me with a best-of-luck-I-find-her-i room with her
"Here," she says mischievously "This is one of my dad&039;s special lene" She hands lass and watches anxiously while I take a tentative sip
"H" What does she want? Is she trying to get me drunk?
"Ana, I need sorins atone day that she and Christianat the absurdity, and I quail inside
This is so tiht out of my head and distract myself with the matter in hand I take another sip of my martini
"I&039;ll try and help Fire away"
"As you know, Ethan and I met recently, thanks to you" She bea with this?
"Ana - he doesn&039;t want to date me" She pouts
"Oh" I blink at her, stunned, and I think, Maybe he&039;s just not that into you
"Look, that sounded all wrong He doesn&039;t want to date because his sister is going out with my brother You know - he thinks it&039;s all kind of incestuous But I know he likes me
What can I do?"
"Oh, I see," Ito buy ree to be friends and give it some time? I mean you&039;ve only just met him"
She cocks her eyebrow and I flush
"Look, I know I&039;ve only really just met Christian but" I scowl at her not sure what I want to say "Mia, this is soether I would try the friendship route"
Mia grins
"You&039;ve learned that look from Christian"
I flush "If you want advice, ask Kate She ht as to how her brother feels"
"You think?" Mia asks
"Yes" I sives iven her high heels - to the door, no doubt off to bother Kate I take another sip of my martini, and I&039;m about to follow her when I am stopped in my tracks
Elena breezes into the roory determination She closes the door quietly behind her and scowls at me
Oh crap
"Ana," she sneers
I sulasses of chane and the lethal cocktail I hold in my hand I think the blood has drained frooddess in order to appear as calm and as unflappable as I can
"Elena" My voice is small, but steady - despite my dry mouth Why does this woman freak me out so much? And what does she want now?
"I would offer you ratulations, but I think that would be inappropriate" Her piercing cold blue eyes stare frostily into
"I neither need nor want your congratulations, Elena I&039;m surprised and disappointed to see you here"
She arches an eyebrow I think she&039;s iht of you as a worthy adversary, Anastasia But you surprise ht of you at all," I lie, coolly Christian would be proud "Now if you&039;ll excuse s to do than waste my time with you"
"Not so fast, ainst the door, effectively blocking it "What on earth do you think you&039;re doing, consenting to marry Christian? If you think for one minute you can make him happy, you&039;re veryto do with Christian is none of your concern" I snores in to satisfy," she gloats
"What do you know of his needs?" I snarl My sense of indignation flares brightly, burning insidebitch preach tobut a sick child molester, and if it was up to me, I&039;d toss you into the seventh circle of hell and walk away set out of my way - or do I have to, skinny, finely e our lifestyle? You know nothing, and you have no idea what you&039;re getting yourself into And if you think he&039;s going to be happy with a er like you"
That&039;s it! I throw the rest ofher
"Don&039;t you dare tellmyself into!" I shout at her "When will you learn? It&039;s none of your goddaapes atthe sticky drink off her face I think she&039;s about to lunge at me, but she&039;s suddenly shunted forward as the door opens
Christian is standing in the doorway It takes hi, her soaked and livid His lovely face darkens and contorts with anger as he comes to stand between us
"What the fuck are you doing, Elena?" he says, his voice glacial and laced with ht for you, Christian," she whispers