Chapter 2 (Recognition)
I hadn't seen Isabella since she told me that she still loved me on the balcony two weeks ago. But since then, I had been working like a man possessed, because work was the only thing that could distract me from the siren named Isabella Marie Swan.
"You ready, little brother?" Emmett asked me with a devilish gleam in his eye. His dimples were out in full force as he handed me a black glock. He gave me a wink, and then pulled the black ski mask he wore down over his features. He leaned out of the side window of the black Rover we were riding in and let out a jubilant whoop.
"Sit down, asshole," Jasper cursed at Emmett from the front seat. He glanced back at me, blonde hair pulled up into a bun that was hidden beneath his ski cap. Jasper seemed to have an awareness that no one else quite did - he was a sensitive sort of soul underneath the violence and penchant for madness. He didn't need to use words to verbalize what his eyes were asking me. I nodded.
The truth was that I still wasn't quite recovered from the blow of losing my father. But neither were Jasper and Emmett. We were handling our sorrow the best way we knew how: mind numbing, blazing and bloody rage.
The Rover pulled to a smooth stop at the curb two blocks from a fancy jewelry boutique named The Velvet Box. There were hundreds of millions worth of score in gems and cash behind those glass windows. But that wasn't what we were here for.
Garrett, expert driver and technician, pulled out his laptop. With a few flicks of his fingers, he disabled the boutique's alarms and camera systems. He nodded at us.
"Two minutes," he told us.
Emmett slid out of the back seat first, cocking his gun. Jasper gave me one last look before pulling his mask over his face and following Emmett down the block. Garrett looked back at me.
"Make sure Jasper and Emmett get back home," I told Garrett, fixing him with a gaze that told him that I was serious. "Don't worry about me."
"Edward-" he began, but I slid out of the back door and slammed it shut before he could say another word. I pulled my mask over my face and jogged down the block, towards the glittering boutique.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Emmett announced our presence with a loud voice, after firing a shot into the ceiling. He was a calm, grinning face among the instant chaos and cries of fear. "We apologize for this interruption to your regularly scheduled capitalism. But we are here to rob you."
Jasper locked the doors behind us, and nodded at me. I hit the light switch, throwing the boutique into darkness. The petrified faces of the wealthy were illuminated by the glass cases housing clear cut diamonds and other precious stones. Jasper began slamming the cases with the butt of his gun, shattering the glass to scoop up the treasures within.
"So long as you cooperate with us, you will be back to your evening activities in no time." Emmett promised, as he patrolled the crowd to collect expensive watches, rings and earrings. "But if you don't, well..." Emmett grinned, and fired another shot into a glass case just behind the head of one of the salesmen. Screams punctuated the sound of shattering glass.
I hung back for a moment, scanning the small group huddled together in fear. An elderly man with an expensive haircut caught my eye. I went to him and pulled him to standing by his collar.
"Samuel White," I said quietly into his ear. "Do you remember me?"
The way his face immediately blanched in terror gave me all of the answer I needed. Holding him by his collar, I dragged him beyond a door marked 'Employees Only.' The manager's office was smaller than it looked on the blueprints, but just as promised, a large safe lay hidden behind the wall of the computer.
"Open it," I demanded, pushing him towards the object.
"E-Edward," he stammered. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your father, but you don't want to do this. You don't want the war that will come. J-Just let sleeping dogs lie. I've been authorized to-"
I hit him across the face with the butt of my gun. Blood bloomed like a summer rose at the corner of his lip and he staggered, but didn't lose his balance.
"Fuck you, old man," I cursed. "Open the fucking safe."
The Velvet Box masqueraded as an upscale jewelry store, but it didn't take me long to figure out that the chain was actually owned by a mysterious entity who's identity I couldn't decipher for all of my efforts. The closest I had gotten was discovering that Samuel White actually controlled the operations of the stores, despite pretending to be a shopper himself. Samuel White, as it turned out, was the father of one of my dad's five closest friends, James White.
I didn't know exactly what I would find in the safe, but all signs suggested that I would find some answers about Samuel White's boss in the safe of this particular Velvet Box location. Samuel's reaction to me simply confirmed it.
"Open the fucking safe!" I demanded, aiming my gun carefully at the senior's forehead. He raised his hands into the air and moved immediately to the combination. His old hands moved slowly. I glanced at my watch. I had exactly 37 seconds left before I had to make sure Jasper and Emmett got out of the store.
Samuel's hands trembled as the safe clicked open. I shoved him aside and cleared out the contents of the safe into my backpack. I glanced at the old man once more. His eyes were fixed on the corner of the safe, but when he noticed my gaze, he shifted his. Suspicious, I ran my fingers against the seam of the safe lining.
23 seconds.
My fingers caught a particularly worn spot. Grabbing hold of the short fibers, I gave a hard tug, and the lining peeled away to reveal a stack of manila envelopes. I took those, too.
11 seconds.
I gave the old man one last glance. A large bruise was forming where I had hit him with my gun.
"You might as well kill me," he said in a weak voice. He suddenly looked pathetic. Pale, and deflated, like a trampled flower. "I'm already dead."
4 seconds.
"Why did you betray my father?" I demanded.
2 seconds.
Samuel's eyes suddenly grew hard and cold. He paused as a cruel smile crossed his face
"Carlisle Masen was a real son of a bitch," he answered, eyes glinting in defiance. "I didn't betray him, but I'd kiss the fucker who did."
Those were the last words Samuel White ever spoke. The sound of my gun spraying Samuel's brains against the back wall rung in my ears as I burst out of the room.
Time was up.
Red and blue lights were flashing against the back of my eyes, my ears were ringing with the sound of sirens as I dove into the Rover behind Emmett. Jasper slammed the door and Garrett peeled away from the curb.
"Woo-hoo!" Emmett called into the night sky, as he peeled his ski mask away from his face to let out another excited whoop. Our bags were filled to brimming with cash and jewelry, but none of that meant anything to me. I was more intrigued with the envelopes in my bag.
We got rid of our guns in a quick trade by the river. Our ski masks and boots were given to the homeless. We swapped out our tires and license plates at a reliable chop shop the next town over, and we drove back into the city under the cover of night, and in separate cars. Quick, discreet, untraceable. Carlisle would've been proud.
I pulled up into the private garage beneath my apartment building. Jasper and Emmett had always thought me crazy for not wanting to live in an enormous house like they had chosen to. My penthouse suited me well. Fatigue beat at my eyes and shoulders as I stepped out of the elevator, and into my foyer. The lights were already on. My hand immediately went to my revolver.
Quietly, I hugged the wall, and peered into the kitchen. My eyes rested on a familiar form, and the air left my body in one great sigh of relief.
"Isabella? What are you doing here?" I asked, tucking my gun out of sight as she turned around. She gave me a warm smile, and I felt two weeks worth of fatigue hit me all at once. I hadn't realized how lacking my apartment was until she was here. She made it feel like home. I went to her, wanting to scoop her up and wrap her into my arms. But, I hesitated at the last minute. She looked up at me, and gave me an inviting smile, her lids half closed in what looked like pleasure. I could feel the warmth of her, even though we weren't touching. I was entranced. It was dangerous for her to have such an effect on me. But in that moment, I didn't care.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her again in a low voice. She swayed closer to me.
"Esme invited me out for lunch," she purred. "She said you would want to see me, so she let me in. She left about an hour ago, but made me promise to stay."
That sounded just like my mother. While Esme had always been unnervingly silent about Tanya, she'd always made not-so-subtle efforts to get me and Isabella to spend more time together.
"How have you been?" Isabella said quietly after a long moment of silence. She reached small, soft hands up to caress my face, and I closed my eyes at her touch.
"Tired," I murmured. "Exhausted, actually."
"You look it," Isabella said with a gentle giggle. I wanted to listen to her laugh forever. It was a slice of heaven here, to be so close to her, breathing in her soft honeyed scent of sweet vanilla and ripe strawberries, with her hands brushing gentle whispers against my skin. "I should go," she said. "You need to sleep." I opened my eyes.
"No," I said, reaching up to grasp her hand and hold it in mine. "Stay. You're always welcome to stay."
"Well, then I should make myself useful. Are you hungry?" she asked, already opening the fridge to pull out ingredients I didn't even know lay within. "Wow, your fridge is surprisingly well stocked," she marveled.
"I have a cook," I said sheepishly. "Alice. She's a visionary. You would like her."
Isabella hummed thoughtfully as she sifted through my cabinets, looking for the items she needed. She looked like she belonged here, in my kitchen. In my home. Her words from the last time I had seen her hit me again, and it was like a second wind. Isabella loved me. For a brief moment, I found respite in that. It was a welcome break from the pain and blinding rage I had succumbed to since watching my father be killed in front of me.
I crossed the kitchen in two long strides, and rested my hands against Isabella's hips, pulling her body flush against mine. I dropped my head to draw her ear against my teeth. She shivered and gave a giggle, tilting her head to grant me more access.
"Edward, stop," she said, even while she closed her eyes and relaxed into me. "I'm going to burn the eggs."
"You love me," I murmured. "Let the eggs burn."
She laughed out loud at that and swatted me away.
"Oh, is that what this is about?" she asked with a lovely grin. I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms to watch her work.
"Tell me more about it," I teased. "When did you realize that you love me?"
Isabella rolled her eyes and laughed as the whipped pancake batter in a bowl.
"God, Edward, you must be dense. I've loved you since we were kids. That's why I couldn't tell you that I was leaving. All you would have to do is look at me with those green eyes of yours, and..." she glanced up sheepishly at me, biting her lip through her grin. She shook her head, and went back to her batter.
"And, what?" I pressed.
"You know, I had forgotten how much of an ego you have," she laughed as she poured the batter into a heated pan. The smell of pancakes and eggs made my stomach grumble. She swatted my hand away when I reached for a bit of egg. My phone rang from my bag, interrupting my response. I didn't recognize the number.
"Hello?" I answered. I recognized the voice immediately.
"Edward Masen, you mother fucker. I will put a fucking bullet through your head like you did my dad."
It was my father's dear friend, James White.
A/N: I am a huge fan of writing romance. I most enjoy writing lovey-dovey scenes between Edward and Isabella. But this story is a little different; it is as much about Edward's quest for revenge as it is about the love between Edward and Bella. Hopefully, you like it both ways. Until next time, my friends.
