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“If anything happened to you . . . ,” he murmurs, his eyes wide and serious.
“I know,” I whisper. “I feel the same about you.” I shiver at the thought.
“Come. You’re getting cold,” he says, sitting up. “Let’s go to bed. We can cover third base there.” He smiles a lascivious smile, as mercurial as ever, passionate,
angry, anxious, sexy—my Fifty Shades. I take his hand and he pulls me to my feet, and without a stitch on, I follow him through the great room to the bedroom.
The following morning, Christian squeezes my hand as we pull up outside SIP. He looks very much the powerful executive in his dark navy suit and matching tie,
and I smile. He’s not been this smart since the ballet in Monaco.
“You know you don’t have to do this?” Christian murmurs. I am tempted to roll my eyes at him.
“I know,” I whisper, not wanting Sawyer and Ryan to overhear me from the front of the Audi. He frowns and I smile.
“But I want to,” I continue. “You know this.” I lean up and kiss him. His frown doesn’t disappear. “What’s wrong?”He glances uncertainly at Ryan as Sawyer
climbs out of the car. “I’ll miss having you to myself.”
I reach up to caress his face. “Me, too.” I kiss him. “It was a wonderful honeymoon. Thank you.”
“Go to work, Mrs. Grey.”
“You, too, Mr. Grey.”
Sawyer opens the door. I squeeze Christian’s hand once more before I climb out onto the sidewalk. As I head into the building, I give him a little wave. Sawyer
holds open the door and follows me in.
“Hi, Ana.” Claire smiles from behind the reception desk.
“Claire, hello.” I smile back.
“You look wonderful. Good honeymoon?”
“The best, thank you. How’s it been here?”
“The best, thank you. How’s it been here?”
“Old man Roach is the same, but security has been stepped up and our server room is being overhauled. But Ha
Sure she will. I give Claire a friendly smile and head to my office.
Ha
fact that she’s a couple of years older. She has my latte waiting—the only coffee I let her get for me.
“Hi, Ha
“Ana, how was your honeymoon?”
“Fantastic. Here—for you.” I pop the small bottle of perfume I bought for her onto her desk, and she claps her hands with glee.
“Oh, thank you!” she says enthusiastically. “Your urgent correspondence is on your desk, and Roach would like to see you at ten. That’s all I have to report for
now.”
“Good. Thank you. And thanks for the coffee.” Wandering into my office, I rest my briefcase on my desk and gaze at the piled up letters. Jeez, I have a lot to do.
Just before ten there’s a timid tap on my door.
“Come in.”
Elizabeth looks around the door. “Hi, Ana. I just wanted to say welcome back.”
“Hey. I have to say, reading through all this correspondence, I wish I was back in the South of France.”
Elizabeth laughs, but her laughter is off, forced, and I cock my head to one side and gaze at her like Christian does to me.
“Glad you’re back safely,” she says. “I’ll see you in a few minutes at the meeting with Roach.”
“Okay,” I murmur, and she shuts the door behind her. I frown at the closed door. What was that about? I shrug it off. My e-mail pings—it’s a message from
Christian.
From: Christian Grey
Subject: Errant Wives
Date: August 22, 2011 09:56
To: Anastasia Steele
Wife
I sent the e-mail below and it bounced.
And it’s because you haven’t changed your name.
Something you want to tell me?
Christian Grey
CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc.
At achment:
From: Christian Grey
FW Subject: Bubble
Date: August 22, 2011 09:32
To: Anastasia Grey
Mrs. Grey
Love covering all the bases with you.
Have a great first day back.
Miss our bubble already.
x
Christian Grey
Back in the Real World CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc.
Shit. I hit reply immediately.
From: Anastasia Steele
Subject: Don’t Burst the Bubble
Date: August 22, 2011 09:58
To: Christian Grey
Husband
I am all for a baseball metaphor with you, Mr. Grey.
I want to keep my name here.
I’ll explain this evening.
I am going in to a meeting now.
Miss our bubble, too . . .
PS: Thought I had to use my BlackBerry?
Anastasia Steele
Commissioning Editor, SIP
This is going to be such a fight. I can feel it. Sighing, I gather up my papers for the meeting.
The meeting lasts for two hours. All the commissioning editors are there, plus Roach and Elizabeth. We discuss perso
end. As the meeting progresses, I grow more and more uncomfortable. There’s a subtle change in how my colleagues are treating me—a distance and deference that
wasn’t there before I left for my honeymoon. And from Courtney, who heads up the non-fiction division, there’s downright hostility. Maybe I’m just being paranoid
but it goes some way to explaining Elizabeth’s odd greeting this morning.
My mind drifts back to the yacht, then to the playroom, then to the R8 speeding away from the mystery Dodge on I-5. Perhaps Christian’s right . . . perhaps I
can’t do this anymore. The thought is depressing—this is all I’ve ever wanted to do. If I can’t do this, what will I do? As I walk back to my office, I try to dismiss
these dark thoughts.
When I sit down at my desk, I quickly check my e-mails. Nothing from Christian. I check my BlackBerry . . . Still nothing. Good. At least there’s been no
adverse reaction to my e-mail. Perhaps we’ll discuss this tonight as per my request. I find that hard to believe, but ignoring my uneasy feeling, I open the marketing
adverse reaction to my e-mail. Perhaps we’ll discuss this tonight as per my request. I find that hard to believe, but ignoring my uneasy feeling, I open the marketing
plan I was given at the meeting.
As is our ritual on a Monday, Ha
discussing what we want to achieve during the week. She brings me up to date with the office gossip, too, which—considering I’ve been away for three weeks—is
pretty thin on the ground. As we’re chatting, there’s a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
Roach opens the door, and standing beside him is Christian. I’m momentarily struck dumb. Christian shoots me a blazing look and stalks in, before smiling
politely at Ha
“Hello, you must be Ha
“Mr. Grey. H-how nice to meet you,” she stutters as they shake hands. “Can I fetch you a coffee?”
“Please,” he says warmly. With a quick puzzled glance at me, she scuttles out of the office past Roach, who stands as dumbstruck as me on the threshold of my
office.
“If you’ll excuse me, Roach, I’d like a word with Ms. Steele.” Christian hisses the S sibilantly . . . sarcastically.
This is why he’s here . . . Oh shit.
“Of course, Mr. Grey. Ana,” Roach mutters, shutting the door to my office as he departs. I recover my power of speech.
“Mr. Grey, how nice to see you.” I smile, far too sweetly.
“Ms. Steele, may I sit down?”
“It’s your company.” I wave at the chair Ha
“Yes, it is.” He smiles wolfishly at me, the smile not reaching his eyes. His tone is clipped. He’s bristling with tension—I can feel it all around me. Fuck. My