The sky was a perfect reflection of Grey's temperament; clouds rolled through creating a force field that seemed to separate Seattle from the rest of the world. Still, the world wasn't completely dark and light filtered through; penetrating Seattle's damp, dreary atmosphere. It was the calm before the storm and while Grey was born from a dark place, Grey was also made of Steele.

Christian Grey was in fight mode. There was no time for anything else ever since an unknown threat made an appearance on his radar, sneaking in and taking pieces of his businesses.

It shouldn't have been that hard to determine who this person was. He had the best security and technical teams out there and no one could determine who this shadow hanging over his shoulder was. Christian was losing pieces of his company and a new corporation had sprung up developing new technology similar to products he had been working on. They were stealing his bids, going public right before he was scheduled to, and undermining him in the business world. Christian was fighting each day to ensure that his company didn't go through a hostile takeover.

Christian didn't need the money though he knew he would never allow himself to be poor again. The reasons for that were his and his alone. No one would ever know exactly why and the one person who had come close to knowing way too much about him had abandoned him years ago. Thinking about her only made him angry and bitter.

Who was she to do this to him? No one made Christian Grey weak; led him around like a dog on a leash. Leaving him was probably the best thing Anastasia Steele had ever done for him and yet he still thought about those days constantly.

He had tried to call her, to talk to her even once but Ana hadn't received his calls or responded to him. All communication had been cut off and once she had discovered that he had bought the publishing company she was working at Ana had quit. Christian had managed to keep tabs on her for a little while; he knew that she had gone home to her mother for a few months before finding another job in Chicago.

Ana would never know how many times he had been that close to her; close enough to walk up to her and if he had really wanted to, to exert his control over her for everyone to see. Anastasia Steele had been his. So he thought, until he was told that she had married her old friend Jose, and Christian Grey had put their history to bed.

So he told himself. He stopped keeping a watchful eye on her –it was too painful knowing that she was happy with another man—but he never really stopped thinking about her. Did she think about him when she was letting Jose love her? Did Ana ever reunite with Katharine?

During her brief relationship with his brother, Kate hadn't spoken to Anastasia though not for a lack of trying. Kate never believed that their relationship had ended amicably, and suspected that they had stopped seeing each other due to something Christian had done; she was right. He hated that.

Just like he thought about how things could have been different if he had only been capable of giving her more, he was thinking about how things could have been if he had a normal childhood and upbringing. Anastasia made him want to be a better person even when they hadn't seen each other in almost twenty-five years.

He had wondered then and knew now that Anastasia would always be his conscience and Grey wondered if the damn, stubborn woman would ever leave him alone so he could have some peace and quiet. He doubted it.

Andrea buzzed, "Sir, Ros is coming up now with new information."

"Send her in."

Walking in with a smile, Ros through a file down on his expensive marble desk. "I think we have them."