Authors Note:

I do not own twilight or any of the characters and make no claim to. All things twilight are property of Stephanie Meyer.

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY THE SUBJECT OF RAPE, VIOLENCE OR SEX. THERE WILL BE PLENTIFUL QUANTITIES OF ALL IN THIS STORY AND I DON'T WANT PEOPLE PISSED OFF AT ME CAUSE THEY DON'T LIKE THE SUBJECT MATTER. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT STOP READING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my FIRST fanfic, so PLEASE be kind. I don't mind (and in fact encourage) CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, but flamers and the likes can bugger off now, as I ain't interested. If you can't be polite don't bother reviewing.

Thank you to all who take the time to read this. I hope to update AT LEAST once a week but I make no promises. I have two children under the age of five and a husband who require my attention also.

So, on that note, I shall shut the hell up and throw myself upon your mercy. Please be gentle, it's my first time!!! LOL!!!

P.S. As I am not an assassin, I have never left New Zealand, nor own an arsenal of weapons, (PLUS this IS fiction) any mistakes I make I hope you get a good laugh over.

Thanks

Greenaway

EPOV

I sat in my chair in the corner of the room watching the disgusting displays that surrounded me. The scum of mankind were happily drinking and mixing in my home, and the worst part was: They were MY scum. My name is Edward Cullen, I am twenty-seven years old and I am the leader of "The Clan".

My father Carlisle was the founder of The Clan and he built it to what it is today. The police fear us, politicians pay for our good favour and the richest and most powerful of society, well they pay us to "eliminate" their problems. We are the best and most feared at what we do. We are assassins.

My father spent my entire life training me to take over leadership of The Clan. I received extensive combat training as well firearm and hand to hand weapons training. My body has been conditioned to function on minimal sleep, food and hydration. My pain tolerance is well beyond that of a regular man, and I have the scars to prove it. I have numerous degrees and am fluent in more than ten different languages. From the moment, I could walk my father has molded me into the man I am today. When he decided to retire seven years ago, he handed the reins over to me, and since then The Clan has only blossomed and thrived. My father was able to go back to his first love: medicine and is now our resident doctor.

My mother Esme hates this life and is happier when she can pretend that we are a normal, all-american family. Her obtuse demeanour aggravates me (We have never been close, she despises me really and the feeling is quite mutual), but my father indulges her and so must we all. I may be the head of The Clan, but as long as Carlisle Cullen is breathing he is still head of the Cullen family. My younger sister Alice is my right hand "man" so to speak and I trust her with my life. She is brilliant, shrewd, loving, cunning and most assuredly dangerous. Her small stature and sprightly features are disarming to her true nature: Alice is a woman not to be reckoned with. My protection alone ensures her safety, but disregarding that, Alice is more than capable of looking after herself. She runs the business end of The Clan, and while I NEVER allow her to take on a contract, I entrust her with all financial and organisational needs of The Clan. Put simply, Alice is my best friend.

Tonight's get together is in "honor" of our new truce with the Volturi. The Volturi have been a thorn in our side since the beginning and it is only due to the tireless diplomacy of Alice that there is a truce at all. She has convinced Aro, the leader of the Volturi that instead of competing against each other it would be mutually beneficial to adhere to a truce. Translation: you stop trying to kill us and we will stop trying to kill you. I would rather have had the pleasure of gutting Aro like the pig that he is, but Alice assures me this is the best way. You learn quick not to bet against Alice.

A half naked woman runs past me with a member of the Volturi chasing after her playfully. I grimace in disgust. God, what I wouldn't give to be able to leave, but alas, as long as Aro holds his place across the room, I am unable to leave mine. Just another pissing match between two of the most dangerous men on the globe. Another day in my life.

A drink is thrust into my hand and I look up into Jasper's smirking face. He knows how much I hate these things. Jasper is Alice's husband and one of my best friends. Who am I kidding? I have only two people that I regard as friends: Jasper and Emmett. Jasper is my highest ranking Clansman, and one of the best assassins I have seen. Death comes quickly to those caught in Jasper's cross hairs. He is a deadly creature, with a penchant for killing with one of his extensive collection of knives. More personal, he says. He is a ruthless, cold-blooded killer.

My father took Jasper in when he was just a small boy and also trained him for his place: my second in command. What nobody was prepared for was the hurricane that Alice would turn out to be. To say my father was unhappy to have his little girl join this life in such a high ranking capacity would be the understatement of the century, just as it would be another huge understatement that he was furious to find that Jasper and Alice had been secretly seeing each other since they were thirteen. Jasper then forever sealed my father's bad opinion of him when they ran off together six years ago and eloped, returning as Mr & Mrs Jasper Whitlock. Carlisle's baby girl had just turned eighteen. Lucky for Jasper I was head of The Clan by then and he didn't leave in his own personally embroidered body bag. Carlisle may hate Jasper for stealing his baby girl away and blame him for her involvement in this life, but I knew better. Jasper never stood a chance. From the moment seven year old Jasper arrived in our lives, Alice has been his constant shadow. And he has never once spoken to her with anything other than love and respect. Most ten year old boys would hate having a six year old girl with pigtails following them wherever they went but not Jasper. It was instant mutual adoration.

"Is Emmett back from Prague yet?" I ask Jasper quietly, and even though the music is deafening, he can still hear me clearly.

"No, not yet. He has called in though. The target has been eliminated and Alice has confirmed the money has been wired. The client is happy." He answered.

Emmett is the third to our little trio of brothers. I met Emmett in college when I came across him being held by about five burly line-backers (It takes five men to hold Emmett. The man is HUGE) while their friends went to work on Emmett's then fiance, Rosalie. I was silent and swift as I broke the necks of the two men raping Rose, giving Emmett the advantage he needed to break free of the other five. Together we had killed them in less than a minute. We became inseparable from then on, and strangely enough, Carlisle took a great liking to my bear of a brother and the beautiful Rose. They moved in with me and my family and the rest, as they say, is history.

I looked up at Jasper who was swirling the contents of his own glass thoughtfully. I rolled my eyes, I knew that look. Something was on his mind, and I would bet money on it that I wouldn't like what he had to say.

"Spit it out Jasper." He looked up from his glass, his icy blue eyes boring into mine.

"It's Jacob" He stated flatly.

Well, no surprises there. Jacob had been a disappointment from the word go. I had recruited him from the marines. He had an outstanding track record and was eager to join The Clan when I approached him, but he lacked the patience for this line of work. I had hoped he would learn over time but so far all he had done is lost what little patience I had for him. Our line of work requires subtlety over all. We are silent killers not soldiers.

The sound of shattering glass, drew my attention from my own musings, and I looked over to the cause of the ruckus. No surprises, as I said.

Jacob.

I looked at Jasper, who just sighed and shook his head. Jacob was more work than he was worth. Unfortunately for him, once you joined The Clan, there was only one way to leave and it was a permanent way.

Jacob was standing over someone, but I couldn't see who from my vantage point. Then a woman's scream cut through the noise of the music and people, and I was out of my chair before I even made the conscious decision to do so. Jacob grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her from the floor when he had obviously thrown her not but a minute before. Her deep brown eyes stared up at him in the most profound terror that I had ever seen grace a human face before. And that's saying a lot, I'm an assassin remember? I've seen fear in men's eyes, but this eclipses them all.

Jacob snarled down at her and struck her across the face before taking his cigarette and holding it to her arm. Her screams intensified and tears of pure agony streaked down her beautiful creamy cheeks. I saw red. There is no other way to describe it. A blinding red haze covered my vision and all I could see was Jacob.

Jacob.

Jacob must die.

In that moment Jacob became my target.

I crossed the room quickly, focused on my prey. I passed Aro's table and didn't even spare him a glance. Perhaps I should of. In retrospect, if I had seen the calculating look in his eyes and the satisfied smirk slowly spreading across his face, maybe I would have reacted differently. Maybe we could all have avoided the shit storm that came at us later. But hindsight is a luxury rarely afforded and this situation was no different. My greatest enemy found a weakness in me.

Shit.

I reached Jacob and pulled him off the terrified girl and threw him to the floor. I pinned him down and he looked at me in fear.

He was right to be afraid.

"Do you like torture Jacob?" I hissed. He tried to form words but his mouth just gaped open like a fish. The woman was sobbing behind me, and I heard Alice's quiet voice as she murmured to her words of comfort and reassurance. Alice pulled her from the floor and lead her through the back doors, taking her to the main house. all of this just barely registered in my peripheral.

I was a man given over to his baser rage.

Jasper came up beside me, and handed me his lit cigarette. He knew what I intended to do without me needing to breathe a word. I brought the cigarette forward and held the burning tip above Jacob's left eye. He began to shudder and shake beneath me, begging me for mercy. I didn't answer him. There was no need. Instead I crushed the cigarette into his eye and smelt the burning stench. Jacob screamed and flailed beneath me, but I didn't let him shake me off.

His screams delighted me, and I briefly wondered why. I was enjoying this. Huh? From the moment I heard the girl scream and saw her beautiful face marred with tears and fear, I was filled with blood lust and rage. I would kill whoever brought such an angel to tears. I would kill the demon who dared to touch her. I was the only one who should be touching her, not a filthy mutt like Jacob.

Where the fuck did that come from? I wondered to myself. I didn't even know this girl's name and I might have well walked up to her and cocked my leg to piss on her. I felt protective and possessive all at the same time. My head was a mass of confusion, and the blood lust/rage ruled my body. I looked down at the whimpering man beneath me.

"Oh Jacob, you don't look like you're having fun any more." I stated mockingly. His breathing was unsteady and coming in quick rasps. Jasper chuckled quietly beside me.

Suddenly, I heard Alice's high heels clacking across the floor towards us. I never looked up at her (rule number one: NEVER take your eyes off your adversary. Unless you are feeling suicidal.) She didn't pause, instead her fist came flying down and connected with Jacob's nose, shattering it and spraying blood everywhere. I stood up and motioned for Jasper to pick Jacob up and restrain him. Once Jasper had Jacob's arms locked behind his back, I looked into my furious sister's face. Her raging green eyes met mine. I silently questioned her actions with a raise of one eyebrow.

"This PIG doesn't deserve to live Edward. Kill him now or by all that's holy, I swear I will." Alice fumed, her face turning several shades of red as she cradled her rapidly swelling fist to her chest.

"What is this all about Alice?" Jasper drawled from behind Jacob in his deep southern voice. Normally Alice would swoon at the sound of her husband's southern accent, but not now. Now she barely even registered he was there. She must be livid, I had never seen her so angry before.

Alice thrust her finger into Jacob's face

"He doesn't deserve to be breathing! Bella is lucky to be alive! Not only is her body covered, and I mean COVERED, in bruises and abrasions, he's been forcing drugs on her and raping her! You know where he met her Edward? Ireland. He met her in fucking Ireland Edward and FORCED her to come back here with him. When she refused, he went to her house and shot both of her parents dead! She has NO ONE NOW!" Alice was screaming now.

Fuck. Ireland. Goddammit to fucking hell, why did I ever bring Jacob into The Clan?

I had sent him to take care of a simple contract in Ireland. We were being paid twenty million dollars by the British government to silence a new rising head of the IRA. Jacob had completed his task and then been ordered to return straight home. Apparently he didn't listen, and took a detour. A public detour. Exposure was one thing that I could not allow and The Clan could ill-afford. I glared at Jacob.

"Is this true?" I asked coldly. He nodded at me weakly. Jacob may have been reckless, but he wasn't stupid. He knew better than to lie to me. Death was a forgone conclusion now, and he knew it. The only question was how he died.

I took Alice carefully by her elbow and turned her with me and began walking towards the door. I glanced over my shoulder at Jasper and nodded. He returned the nod and began pulling a struggling Jacob out through the opposite door. Jacob was a dead man.

Alice and I exited the party and made our way across the lawn to the main house. She was still breathing heavily, trying to calm herself.

"Alice, I don't understand. What has you so angry? You don't even know this girl." I asked her quietly. Alice was a kind and caring person by nature, but this was extreme, even for her.

"I don't know Edward, I can't describe it. You'll get it when you meet her. She just seems so fragile and lost. I want to protect her." Alice answered, clearly frustrated at her own feelings. I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my side.

"I doubt that Ali-phant" I used her nickname I gave her when she was seven. Alice had developed an unnatural obsession with Elephants. The number of times she dragged the family to the zoo had Carlisle seriously considering buying her her own damned elephant. She looked up at me a smirk suddenly gracing her tiny face. She was not buying my indifferent bullshit for a second. She always saw straight through me.

"Oh, we will see, dear brother, we will see. I have a feeling that Bella is going to change all our lives.".