The Maddest Obsession

In October, Gianna meets Elena at Ace’s club to help her friend with baby shower arrangements (Elena’s sister is pregnant). While there, she flirts a bit with one of Elena’s cousins, only for Christian to arrive and publicly call her “flighty.” Hurt, she waits for him that night, but he never shows.

The next day, a tabloid article shows Christian with Aleksandra and her father. Gianna then encounters Christian and Aleksandra in her hallway, where Aleksandra implies intimacy by handing him his watch and thanking him for the previous night. After she leaves, Christian denies sleeping with Aleksandra. Gianna claims not to care about this but confronts him about insulting her. She tries to end the arrangement, but he refuses, declaring that they are exclusive and revealing that he is moving back to New York permanently. He then accompanies Gianna to the park, where she goes to feed pigeons. While there, he explains the meaning of the endearment moya zvezdochka and confirms that he does not usually kiss—revelations Gianna finds overwhelming.

Christian watches Gianna sleep and calls his brother, Ronan, to tell him to drop a case involving Aleksandra’s father. During the conversation, he reveals he knows about Gianna’s $20,000 bet that he would marry Aleksandra. In response to Ronan’s teasing, he also says that he is sure Gianna won’t marry again. Nevertheless, he plans to make Gianna fall so in love with him that she will not leave when he makes mistakes.

After the call, Christian gets into bed with Gianna for the first time, holding her as she sleeps and feeling a profound sense of homecoming.

Gianna wakes in Christian’s arms. She questions his Bureau work, and he states that he would defy any order to harm her, though he still refuses to explain why he kisses her but no one else. Before leaving for work the next morning, he tells Gianna to make time for him that evening. She complies, positioning herself, naked, on his bed. He explains that his fixation began when he sought out her late husband on a business matter and then engineered reasons to be near her, admitting, “[N]othing has ever felt more right than finding you like this in my bed” (264).

The following morning, Gianna finds Christian making a smoothie and vows to cook for him. She attends therapy, concealing the nature of their relationship, and then prepares dinner for Christian, teasing him about how much he enjoys it. She spends the next several nights at his apartment.

Christian maneuvers Gianna into attending a Bureau dinner. While there, she attempts to ask him about his family, but he avoids the topic. Feeling “petty” about this refusal, she downplays their relationship to his coworker Kyle. Christian overhears and coldly tells her she’s wasting her time flirting with Kyle, as he has little money. Gianna is already feeling nauseated by the time a woman approaches her to gossip about Christian’s ex, Portia, whom she mistakes for his current girlfriend.

Overwhelmed and questioning whether she does in fact love Christian, Gianna flees into the rain. Christian follows her into an alley, and she admits that she knew their arrangement would fall apart. This provokes him, as he claims that he cannot move on as easily as she can. Nevertheless, he apologizes for insulting her and reassures her when she voices doubts about her suitability as a partner, saying, “You’re the only one I want” (276). Gianna relents, and they walk home hand in hand, with Gianna suddenly realizing it was Christian who took her home after the shooting that killed her first husband.

After the dinner, Christian bathes Gianna and cares for her but refuses to have sex with her. To Gianna’s annoyance, this pattern continues for several nights, though they continue to spend time together. In response to her questions, he reveals that his rose tattoo signifies turning 18 in a Russian prison. He explains that he used his hacking skills to gain entry into the US but deflects questions about his family or a newer Andromeda constellation tattoo.

Gianna eventually seduces him by cooking dinner while wearing only lingerie. She starts learning Russian, moves many of her belongings into his apartment, and recognizes she is falling in love.

Christian insists on accompanying Gianna to church. After the service, he kisses her in front of the congregation, making their relationship public, and goes to wait for her outside. Valentina points out that he has maneuvered Gianna into a real relationship; Gianna is annoyed but admits to her friend that she enjoys being with Christian and that she would have turned him down if he had asked for a relationship directly.

Back at the apartment, Gianna confronts Christian, and he admits that he orchestrated the shift, saying he wants “everything” from her. She drops the subject for the moment but becomes increasingly frustrated that he won’t tell her more about his past.

Christian visits his former psychologist, Dr. Sasha Taylor, seeking a diagnosis. Sasha suggests that he meets criteria for antisocial personality disorder with obsessive-compulsive features. However, she reframes his fixation with Gianna as love, claiming that he has pathologized his feelings to avoid dealing with their intensity; the reality, she says, is that love is an extreme, consuming obsession.

Gianna asks Christian about his sexual history. He is obviously reluctant to discuss it, and when she questions how he lost his virginity, he orders her to leave. Gianna does, warning that she will not return until he decides to answer. Alone, however, Gianna realizes that she loves him.

After two days of silence, Gianna goes for a late-night swim. Christian finds her and explains some of his history: When he was 15, a female nurse in Butyrka prison took a liking to him. Her favoritism inspired jealousy in the other inmates, and when one tore up a book she had given Christian, Christian beat the man up. The incident contributed to Christian’s preoccupation with possession and control, but it also had another consequence; as the nurse was tending to Christian’s injuries from the fight, she sexually abused him. The abuse continued afterward, with another nurse becoming involved. Gianna accepts the disclosure, and they reconcile, with Christian admitting that Gianna is the only woman he’s ever felt the desire to kiss.

Christian reflects that Gianna’s presence has taken over his apartment and routines and that her absence unsettles him more than her mess. He continues to worry about sharing more of his past with Gianna, but she admits that she truly likes him, he reciprocates, and they grow closer. Later, Nico confronts Christian, insisting that he marry Gianna to safeguard her reputation within their world. Christian argues that she is not ready, but Nico’s warning that he will find Gianna another husband if Christian doesn’t act adds pressure.

Christian makes pancakes, but the smell nauseates Gianna. To her shock, he then proposes, arguing that marriage will protect her. She refuses, saying she cannot marry a man she does not fully know. He declares he loves her, tempting her to accept; nevertheless, she insists on knowing all of him and walks out.

Christian follows Gianna to her apartment, where he reveals his childhood: His mother was a sex worker with a drug addiction who allowed clients to sexually abuse him. He committed his first murder at age seven to protect his younger brother from experiencing the same. When Christian was 13, his intoxicated mother mistook him for a client and tried to have sex with him herself. She died of an overdose that night, and neither Christian nor his brother intervened to save her. After listening to this, Gianna runs to the bathroom and vomits.

Gianna’s sickness makes her realize that she may be pregnant. A home test is positive. The next day, she pays Valentina the $20,000 from their bet, and a doctor confirms that she is 11 weeks pregnant.

Christian finds Gianna while she is feeding pigeons on a park bench. She tells him that she doesn’t care about his past, and when he responds with confusion, noting her nauseated reaction to his story, she reveals that she is pregnant. He reacts with relief and happiness. They exchange declarations of love, and he embraces her, vowing to hold on to her and their future.

One year later, Christian visits Dr. Sasha Taylor. He reflects on fate, fiddling with a 1955 quarter he once stole. He reports that he and Gianna have been married for a year and have a five-month-old daughter, Katherine, called Kat. He describes his life as a vigilant husband and father who has finally found peace. Before leaving, he places the quarter on Sasha’s table. He states that he “stole someone else’s fate” and challenges anyone to take it from him (318).