Freed (Fifty Shades as Told by Christian #3) - E.L. James Page 0,124

on his SIP hard drive. I tell him about the car chase.

“Crikey!” Flynn exclaims when I finish.

“He’s now the chief suspect in my helicopter’s sabotage.”

“Holy crap,” he mouths, and takes a bite of his sandwich.

“But that’s not the reason I’m here. This morning I got an e-mail from Ana saying she doesn’t want to take my name. I would have expected a discussion at least. Not just an e-mail.”

“I see.” His expression is thoughtful. “Finding out your wife’s ex-boss is trying to burn down your building, and may be responsible for a near-fatal accident in your helicopter is a big deal, Christian. Plus, a car chase. Have you considered that you may be channeling your stress from all these incidents into your reaction to the e-mail that you received from your wife?”

I frown. “I don’t think so.”

He strokes his chin. “Knowing how anxious you are about Ana’s safety, all of these events had to have had an effect on you. As I’ve learned over the last few months, she is your primary concern. Always.”

“True.”

“You do a great deal for her,” he says gently.

I do.

“You’ve given up a great deal for her.”

I say nothing. Where is he going with this?

“Then you might be interpreting her e-mail as a rejection, especially after all that you’ve done for her, and that wounds you.”

I take a deep breath.

Yes. It does. “I just can’t believe she didn’t talk to me about it. It’s like she’s dismissing me and all that I have worked to become. I wasn’t born a Grey.”

Flynn frowns. “There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence, Christian. And, sadly, I don’t have the time to do that right now. I hate to break it to you, but Anastasia keeping her name might be more about how she feels about herself, and may have nothing to do with you.”

How could this not be about me? It’s my name. It’s the only one I have…the only one I acknowledge.

There you are, Maggot.

I gaze at him, remaining impassive.

“The best thing to do is to talk to her. Tell her how you feel,” Flynn adds. “We spoke about this before. Ana is not an unreasonable person.”

She’s not. Except about the obey vow.

“This obviously means a great deal to you. Talk to her. I think we have an appointment on Wednesday. We can discuss this in more detail then. And maybe, in the meantime, you’ll have worked out some kind of compromise.”

“Compromise?”

She either takes my name or she doesn’t. Where’s the compromise in that?

“Ask her why, Christian,” he says gently. “Communicate and compromise.”

“Yeah, yeah. ‘It’s better to concede the battle to win the war.’” I parrot his words from one of our earlier sessions.

“Precisely.”

I get up. “Thanks for seeing me at such short notice.”

“Well, I hope I’ve been helpful.”

“I think so.” I’m going to talk to Ana right now.

“I’ll see you Wednesday.”

“One more thing. Leila Williams—is she in Connecticut?” I ask.

“I think so. She starts college today in Hamden. I had an e-mail from her last night. She’s excited to begin her studies.” He angles his head to one side in an unspoken “why?”

“It’s nothing. See you Wednesday.”

“Ryan, take me to SIP.”

“Yes, sir.”

On the short journey to Ana’s workplace, I contemplate what I’m going to say to her. We had three weeks to discuss the issue of her name while we were on our honeymoon. Why didn’t she bring it up then? I’ve done nothing but call her Mrs. Grey. She didn’t object. Maybe I’ve made a stupid assumption about her name, but she knows I have…issues. I’ve told her to manage my expectations.

I want people to know she’s my wife, even where she works.

My name does that. It represents all that is good in my life.

My parents. My father.

It represents everything he’s done for me. For Elliot and for Mia, too.

Even though he’s an asshole sometimes.

I still want to emulate him.

And every time I stood in front of his desk while he gave me a dressing-down, I knew I’d failed and disappointed him.

He has pushed me to be a better person, a better man.

I admire him.

I love him.

Fuck.

Maybe I should wait until this evening.

No. It can’t wait. I will burst a blood vessel.

This is too important to me.

As I stare out of the car window, looking at everyone going about their business, my resentment simmers. Why the hell didn’t she tell me?

By the time I stalk into SIP, I’m hanging on to my temper by a silken thread. The first person I meet is Jerry Roach,