Fifty Shades Darker

Fifty Shades Darker is a 2012 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It is the second installment in the Fifty Shades trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. The first and third volumes, Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Freed, were published in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The novel is published by Vintage Books and reached No. 1 on the USA Today best seller list. Plot Three days after leaving Christian, Anastasia "Ana" Steele begins her job as personal assistant to Jack Hyde, an editor at Seattle Independent Publishing (SIP). He asks Ana out often which, though it makes her uneasy, she writes off. Later, Christian emails her about a gallery exhibit José Rodriguez started in Portland, which she had forgotten. Ana and Christian attend the show together and kiss in an alley. The same night, they have dinner in a restaurant and Christian reveals he wants her any way possible. He wants to resume their relationship, but under Ana's conditions: no rules and no punishments. She agrees. Christian reveals that he bought SIP, but the deal must stay secret for another month. Ana starts feeling Christian is interfering in her career, especially after he freezes the company's accounts, preventing her from going on an overnight business trip to New York with Jack. Christian insists his actions were for her own protection because Jack is a "known philanderer" who has apparently harassed his last five assistants. Jack eventually corners Ana after hours and blackmails her, demanding sexual favors. Ana escapes using her self-defense training, and Christian has him fired and confiscates his work computer. When attending a masquerade ball at the home of Christian's parents, Ana meets Christian's ex-lover Elena Lincoln, who turns out to own a salon business with Christian. Later, Ana is auctioned off and Christian bids $100,000 for the first dance with her. Ana is disgusted to learn that he continues to be friends with Elena, who seduced him when he was only 15 years old and introduced him to the BDSM lifestyle. Realizing that Christian sees Ana as a girlfriend and not a submissive, Elena becomes antagonistic towards her, trying to sow discord in the budding relationship. Meanwhile, Ana is stalked at work by Leila Williams, one of Christian's former submissives, who turns out to own a gun.