Fifty Shades Darker(131)

"Girlfriend," he says by way of explanation and tilts his head to one side and smirks.

She smiles, a slow, beaming smile directed entirely at him. It's unnerving.

"Of course. Hello, Anastasia. I didn't know you'd be here. I know you don't want to talk to me. I accept that."

"Do you?" I assert quietly, gazing at her and taking all of us by surprise. With a slight frown, she moves farther into the room.

"Yes, I get the message. I'm not here to see you. Like I said, Christian rarely has company during the week." She pauses. "I have a problem, and I need to talk to Christian about it." "Oh?" Christian straightens up. "Do you want a drink?"

"Yes, please," she murmurs gratefully.

Christian fetches a glass while Elena and I stand awkwardly gazing at each other. She fidgets with a large silver ring on her middle finger, while I don't know where to look.

Finally, she gives me a small tight smile and approaches the kitchen island and sits on the bar stool at the end. She obviously knows the place well and feels comfortable moving around here.

Do I stay? Do I go? Oh, this is so difficult. My subconscious scowls at the woman with her most hostile harpy face.

There's so much I want to say to this woman, and none of it complimentary. But she's Christian's friend - his only friend - and for all my loathing of this woman, I am innately polite. Deciding to stay, I sit as gracefully as I can manage on the stool Christian's vacated.

Christian pours wine into each of our glasses and sits between us at the breakfast bar. Can't he feel how weird this is?

"What's up?" he asks her.

Elena looks nervously at me, and Christian reaches over and clasps my hand.

"Anastasia's with me now," he says to her silent query and squeezes my hand. I flush, and my subconscious beams at him, harpy face forgotten.

Elena's face softens as if she's pleased for him. Really pleased for him. Oh, I don't understand this woman at all, and I'm uncomfortable and edgy in her presence.

She takes a deep breath and shifts, perching on the edge of her bar stool and looking agitated. She glances nervously down at her hands and starts manically twisting the large silver ring around and around on her middle finger.

Jeez, what's wrong with her? Is it my presence? Do I have that effect on her? Because I feel the same way - I don't want her here. She raises her head and looks Christian squarely in the eye.

"I'm being blackmailed."

Holy shit. Not what I expected out of her mouth. Christian stiffens. Has someone found out about her penchant for beating and f*cking underage boys? I suppress my revulsion, and a fleeting thought about chickens coming home to roost crosses my mind. My subconscious rubs her hands together with ill-disguised glee. Good.

"How?" Christian asks, his horror clear in his voice.

She reaches into her oversized, patent-leather, designer purse, pulls out a note, and hands it to him.

"Put it down, lay it out." Christian points to the breakfast bar counter with his chin.

"You don't want to touch it?'

"No. Fingerprints."

"Christian, you know I can't go to the police with this."

Why am I listening to this? Is she f*cking some other poor boy?

She lays the note out for him, and he bends to read it.

"They're only asking for five thousand dollars," he says almost absentmindedly. "Any idea who it might be? Someone in the community?"

"No," she says in her soft sweet voice.