Protecting You - Complete

Chapter 27 - Christian

I'd been in a filthy mood throughout the entire trip. Somehow, I'd slept through Anastasia's promised phone call after her SIP interview. The call came at 3:00 am on Friday morning Taipei time, and after hours awake thanks to bad dreams, I must have been so zonked out I just didn't wake when she rang. She'd left a message saying it had been a combination of group and individual interviews, and she'd had the opportunity to interview for an assistant to an editor position. Disappointed to miss her, I tried to call her back when I woke at 6:00, but her phone went straight through to voicemail. I knew she did that when she was at work, and it was 3:00 pm Seattle time, so rather than call her work phone and disturb her day, I texted her I was sorry to have missed her call and I was glad the interview had gone well.

The rest of Friday was a complete write-off. I battled it out in the boardroom with the shipyard representatives until 7:00 pm. I had only an hour off before I was obliged to attend a dinner function with the owners and senior management, and being 4:00 am Seattle time, there was no chance to call my girl. By the time I got back from dinner at midnight, it was Friday morning in Seattle, and Ana had already left for work. So again, I settled for a text message saying how much I missed her before calling Andrea and asking her to find an excuse to visit the eighth floor and report back by email how Anastasia was going.

Not being able to speak directly with Anastasia was doing my head in. If it weren't for the frequent updates via Sawyer and Reynolds, I'd be going out of my mind. I wanted to hear my girl's voice—and I wouldn't say no to more phone sex like the other night, either. That had been hot! When Saturday likewise found Ana and me missing one another's calls, reduced to conversing via text, I was close to murdering someone. My interactions with the Taiwanese had gone from barely cordial to glacial, and I was being even more of an asshole than usual. I didn't appreciate traveling halfway around the world to renegotiate a deal that had already been agreed upon months before. I didn't want to be there, and I made sure as hell everyone knew it.

I was asleep in my suite of the Mandarin Oriental Taipei when Taylor entered my room at 3:00 am Sunday morning. Aware I rarely got enough sleep, I knew Taylor wouldn't wake me for anything less than an emergency.

"Mr. Grey? You need to wake up, Sir. There's been a security breach with Ms. Steele at Escala."

Hearing security breach and Escala in the same sentence had me sitting bolt upright, wiping my bleary eyes.

"What's happened? Is Ana ok?!" I asked frantically, any number of horrifying scenarios playing themselves out in my mind.

"Ms. Steele is fine, however, Mrs. Lincoln paid her a visit. Sawyer has just removed her from the apartment."

A string of profanity spilled from my lips. I cursed Elena damned Lincoln in every language I knew, before starting in on Reynolds and Sawyer. They were paid to keep Elena away from Anastasia, yet somehow my girl had had to endure the botoxed bitch in our home. The place I'd promised Ana she would always be safe.

"You can tell Sawyer and Reynolds they're out on their ear once we get back to Seattle," I growled, getting out of bed. "I told you I didn't want her anywhere near Ana. How did this happen?"

"From the limited information Sawyer provided, Mrs. Lincoln approached the Escala reception desk who called through to the apartment. Reynolds was off duty, and Ms. Steele was alone in the apartment as Sawyer was with Gail fetching some shopping. It appears Ms. Steele approved Mrs. Lincoln's access."

Ana let Elena in? That didn't make sense. With Elena and Van Ryn's connection unknown, Elena could have done anything to Ana. I closed my eyes for a moment, imagining Anastasia drugged, bound and gagged, in the back of a truck bound God knows where. The idea was too frightening to imagine.