Ana sipped her morning tea slowly as she studied her husband as unobtrusively as possible. She frowned at the newspaper he held in front of him; either the article was incredibly long and incredibly interesting or he wasn't reading it at all. Ana tilted her head to one side thinking back to the sad look on his face when he first woke up. Something was definitely up. She let out a long sigh, wondering wearily just what Christian was keeping from her now. Suddenly Taylor was there at the entrance to the kitchen.
"We're ready when ever you are, sir."
Slowly the newspaper dropped as Christian nodded his head and replied, "A few minutes, please."
"Of course, sir" Taylor said softly and returned to his office.
Ana watched, confused by what had sounded like regret in Taylor's voice. She met Christian's eyes and saw regret there too. Alarmed, she opened her mouth to protest, but he beat her to it.
Ssh, honey. It's no big deal. Taylor and his security team just want to have a meeting with you. It's nothing." The words and his tone of voice were reassuring but his eyes and the way he kept running his fingers through his hair told her he was lying, trying to protect her again.
She knew at some point Taylor was going to give her grief about ditching Sawyer but she had forgotten about it. Obviously Taylor hadn't.
Christian stood and walked Ana to Taylor's office. She could see Sawyer, Ryan and someone else she didn't know. Christian gave her quick kiss and a gentle nudge forward into the office. She halted and turned towards him, "Aren't you coming too?" She asked.
"Not this time honey. Go ahead"
Ana frowned and turned back ahead to greet the security team with a nervous smile but no one smiled back and she knew she had just entered the lion's den alone.
Everyone stood as she entered and Sawyer directed her to a comfortable leather wing back chair set in front of Taylor's desk, directly opposite him. As everyone sat, Taylor introduced the man with grey hair who was sitting beside him, "Let me introduce Lou Welch."
Welch stood and came over and shook hands with Ana. She wondered if he had picked up on the slight tremor of fear she was experiencing. If he did he sure wasn't doing anything to reassure her.
As Welch sat back down, Taylor began. "I'm sure your husband told you what this meeting is about,"
"No Taylor he didn't. Why isn't he here? I know what this about and if you think I am going to let you gang up on me, you're wrong"
"We're not here to gang up on you, but we are here to get your attention. Your husband's presence would be counterproductive."
"Look, Jason, I know what this is all about. It's about me ditching Sawyer and saving Mia."
Taylor looked away to Welch and grunted. Then he stood up, slapped his hands on the desk and leaned forward towards her and in a low harsh voice he whipped out, "No! You're wrong, Mrs Grey. This meeting is about trying to keep you alive. Kidnapping is like rape. It's all about power. The ransom is just gravy. Half the time, the victim is dead before a ransom demand is even made."
Ana felt the trembling in her hands increase and wanted to tell Taylor if he was trying to scare her, he was succeeding. She stayed silent though and Taylor continued
"There are a dozen different way that ransom meeting could have gone," his voice getting louder and angrier with every word, "and every damn one of them has you both dead."
Ana shook her head impatiently. No way was Taylor going to bully her.
"Taylor,please...you're being over-cautious again. I did what needed to be done. It's over. Everyone is safe. Let's move on."
Taylor's face grew red. He turned his back to her abruptly and snarled "Welch."
Mr. Welch smiled pleasantly at Ana and said softly, "I direct your attention to the monitor on the wall."
Ana moved her chair and stared up at the monitor as the screen dissolved into an endless slide show of dead bodies each one accompanied by the pleasant voice of Mr Welch describing the ransom paid and the kidnap victims name, age and how long they had been held before being killed. She watched in horror wanting it to stop but Welch just kept droning on. Tears streamed down her face, so many people, so many women battered, bruised lying dead in pools of blood and then the slide show victims started to become children. Some looked like they were sleeping, some had obviously been beaten. She was sobbing now, but the slide show continued. When the first baby's body came on the screen she screamed, the screen stilled with the dead body of 5 month old Theodore Llewelan's picture frozen on the screen.
Taylor knelt down in front of her and hissed, "Do you have any fucking idea how lucky you are to be alive? Did you know Hyde was armed and pulled a gun after you collapsed? He was going to shoot you but I was able to shoot the gun out of his hand. There was someone else there too. Someone according to Elizabeth, who was going to take you away after Hyde was done with you. The mystery man escaped but he 's out there and you can bet he'll try again."
He stood up slowly, "How could you not trust us?" Ana felt embarrassed at the obvious pain in Taylor's voice. "I don't understand. How could you believe a kidnapper and not trust us? We'd all gladly take a bullet and give up our life to protect you but it's impossible if you don't trust us."
Ana started sobbing, staring at baby Theodore's picture up on the monitor. Taylor handed her a handkerchief and continued in a softer tone, "You're pregnant now. You're the biggest and best target Christian's enemies have ever had. You want to know how many names are on your husbands watch list? People who have threatened him or Grey Enterprises? Welch!"
"272 that we are keeping an active watch on. "
She gasps in horror. "No! That's not possible. How could so many people hate my husband. He's the sweetest, kindest man in the whole world!"
Taylor smiles and looks at Welch and the next thing all four men are laughing.
"Let's just say the rest of the business world doesn't agree with you, Mrs Grey" Taylor replied diplomatically still grinning. Then he got serious again.
"As your pregnancy advances, you will become slower, more predictable and it will be harder and harder to protect you. If you can't listen to Sawyer and Ryan and trust them to protect you, they'll have to be replaced. As of right now, you have a four person security team that goes with you everywhere outside of your home. It will change and once you start to waddle-"
"I will never waddle!" Ana interrupted furious with the description.
"Forgive me, Mrs Grey." and with an obvious smirk, continued "When you can no longer, yo walk briskly or run, your security team will likely triple. You are going to need to stop working. Maybe you can work from home but going into the office on a regular basis even with staggered hour is just too dangerous.
Ana shook her head from side to side in disbelief. Then she narrowed her eyes at Taylor, "This is Christian's doing, isn't it?" She spat out.
Taylor's hands curled into fists and he slammed one down on his desk in frustration.
"How in hell do I get through to you? After what you have been through since you met Mr Grey, how can you possibly act so naive? Do you have a death wish? Are you a passive suicide? I don't know what to say to you." He opened a draw and pulled out a folder. He reached across and handed it to her. " Read it," he ordered. "Read it good. Think about it. If you can't commit to it, Sawyer and I will resign. That's all, Mrs Grey, you can leave. "
"That's blackmail, Taylor. You know how much Christian needs you"
"I also know what seeing his wife'sdead body would do to him and it's not happening on my watch. You want to ignore security precautions designed to keep you and your baby alive then do it on someone else's watch, not mine. Unless you have something else Mrs Grey, this meeting is over. "
"Oh for gods sake, Taylor! Give me a pen and I'll sign the damn paper. "
"No, Mrs Grey. Read the damn paper, commit to it. I don't want you whining to your husband that there's too much security, that we're being overprotective. Think about it. Twice you've ditched Sawyer. It can't happen again. Not for any reason or he's gone. You understand?"
Ana glumly nodded yes.
"Ok, I'm sorry if I was a little hard on you. "he muttered gruffly.
"A little, Taylor?" Ana asked sarcastically, "Really, a little?"
Taylor smiled, "Really, Mrs Grey. I hardly swore at all. I didn't say half the things I wanted to or the way I wanted to say them but I sincerely hope you understood. There is a security protocol we have to follow. It isn't a guarantee that you won't be harmed but it increases the odds for your safety. I need 100 percent cooperation from you especially for the months ahead. Read the paper Mrs Grey and get back to me. "
"OK, Taylor. Let me go and study this." She replied holding the folder up.
Just then there was a furious banging on the door, "open this damned door, Taylor, or so help me God-"
The door opened revealing a panicked, wild eyed Christian. Ana eyed him up and down. His shirt was torn and pulled loose from his jeans. His bottom lip was swollen and it was obvious he had been in a fight. For once he was oblivious to his wife, "Taylor! You had no god damn right to tell her about"
"Sir, we agreed you could watch and listen to the meeting but not interrupt. It's her life, she can't make a decision if she doesn't have the facts."
"Come on, Christian. Taylor's right. I need to know what's going on. Come now, that was a very draining experience. I need to put my feet up and have a nice cup of tea."
"Of course, sweetheart." he whispered, softly kissing the top of her head and holding her close to him he led her away.
Then he turned, "By the way, Taylor, the two new guys who were supposed to keep me locked in my study? They're fired. If they can't keep me contained, they're not good enough to protect Anastasia."
'Yes sir," Taylor sighed, "I'll take care of it."