And So I Ran - Complete

Chapter 50

I sat in my office at GEH completing more paperwork. It was Thursday night, and today I'd told Ros I was taking Ana away on a four-week holiday in just over a week's time. To say she was displeased was the understatement of the century. I knew she'd understand once she knew the truth, so I was relieved to hear she'd accepted my mother's invitation to her Labor Day party on Monday.

I'd spoken to Mom last night, and let her know Ana's parents would also be attending. Mom adored Ana, so was looking forward to meeting her family. Kate had already added José to the list of invitees. He'd be staying with her and Elliot, so she'd be bringing him to Bellevue early. Traditionally the family gathered an hour or so before the first guests arrived, so Ana and I planned to make our announcement then. We'd hand out the wedding invites and explain the need for secrecy. When everyone else gathered, we'd make the engagement and pregnancy announcement, but we wouldn't let on the wedding would be any time soon. I'd have a quiet word with Ros and John after the second announcement, and slip them their wedding invites then.

Ana was at home tonight with Gail, Andrea, and Kate. Franco, formerly of Esclava, and his assistant were doing a trial run for Ana and Kate's hair and makeup. My mother had been seeing Franco for years, and after a few leading questions yesterday she'd quietly confided in me that she'd heard he'd left Esclava and was going out on his own. As her stylist, she intended to follow him. So I'd felt no guilt engaging his team for all next Saturday. They could attend Mom, my grandmother, and Mia at Bellevue before going across to Escala to see to Carla, Gail, Kate, and Ana.

It was hard to believe in nine days Ana would be Mrs. Anastasia Grey. Ana was closemouthed about her gown, although she did let me know she'd chosen a silver theme with a navy accent. Elliot and I would wear tuxedos, and beyond that Ana had left the details to me, although she had asked me to run my selections past Gail and Andrea. Elliot and I already had custom-made tuxes, so we'd met at my tailor's yesterday, and under Gail and Andrea's approving eye, had made the relevant accessory selections. My father and grandfather also had tuxedos they would wear, but Ana told me Ray didn't. She didn't want him to feel out of place, so she'd arranged a fitting, and he drove up for it. We'd had dinner afterward, which is when Ana told Ray about the plans so far and asked him to give her away.

The only hitch had been our vow selection. We'd met with Reverend Walsh to discuss our thoughts. Ana had initially thought we'd write our own but came around to my idea of using the traditional wedding vows. I was elated – until the stumbling block about obey.

Ana had outright refused to promise to obey me, and I couldn't help but feel it as a rejection. Several tense hours had passed after we first discussed it, me barricading myself in my study like a petulant child. In the end, I'd called Elliot who had told me in no uncertain terms I was an idiot. It was a sentiment politely echoed by Reverend Walsh when I called the next day, and he confirmed he couldn't remember a single ceremony in the last thirty years where a bride had promised to obey. A night of honest discussion, followed by several rounds of very hot lovemaking, and Ana and I agreed to use the modern traditional vows that didn't include the word obey.

The only other snag in our present happiness was Jack Hyde. He'd failed to appear at his hearing in New York, so a warrant had been issued for his arrest. While my security team was still doing their best to find him, in the grand scheme of things he was no one else's priority. If he was careful, he could go years without being picked up. I hated the idea of him out there and on the loose, but he had bigger issues than Ana to contemplate. We'd finally got a second assistant to tell her story, and that had led to a third and then a fourth. When Jack was caught, and he would be, we had enough to make sure he was put away for a long time. I hadn't yet told Ana that Jack didn't made his hearing; we'd barely had ten minutes alone together each night before Ana fell comatose into bed fast asleep. But I'd tell her tomorrow.