Chapter One.
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Rolling over on my bed the next morning, I knew that I was alone. I didn't even have to check. Edward never spent the night when my father was home. Daddy dearest would not be too pleased to know that I was dating his right-hand man. If you could even call it dating. Edward and I were pretty much an enigma in the relationship world. He loves me and I love him, neither of us wants to be or would be with anyone else, but 'dating'? It just sounds too high school. Edward enjoys pointing out that I am, in fact, in high school so the term is not all that that strange. I still don't like it.
Edward and I have been doing whatever it is that we're doing for about two years – since I was sixteen, although we've known each other for longer. He's only four years my senior, so our situation is not nearly as messed up as it seems. Well, maybe that's not true.
Sighing, I heaved myself out of my all-too-comfortable bed and headed for the shower. The prospect of getting to see my father excited me, so I hurried through my morning routine.
After pulling on a pair of worn jeans and yanking a T-shirt over my head, I practically skipped down the hallway in my haste to get to the kitchen. I knew he'd be up – my father always got up early.
"Dad!" I screeched, rounding the corner and coming to a skidding halt in the kitchen doorway. He looked up from his paper and smiled, coming around the island to embrace me tightly.
"There's my girl," he replied, squeezing me.
"It's good to have you back. I hate when you have to leave."
"I know you do." He sighed and released me, stepping back and appraising me. I took the time to do the same. Charlie looked slightly haggard, but I'd seen him look worse. I guess it was to be expected. His work was stressful and he'd been away for over a week taking care of 'things'. My father was always vague when it came to the shady operations hidden behind his legitimate weapons business, Swan Corp.
I squirmed under Charlie's gaze. "I worry about you." I didn't mean for it to come out as a whisper.
He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I know that this has never been easy, Bella, and you know that if I could –"
"No, no, no," I cut him off quickly, taking a step closer. "I didn't mean it like that. Just a simple statement of fact. I love you, Dad. I never say that enough."
He smiled and placed a kiss atop my head before returning to his seat. "So how was school this week?"
Oh how I loved the bits of normalcy peppered into our far-from-normal life. I smiled and grabbed a chocolate chip muffin before plopping down on the barstool next to him. Although our house was large, it was still cozy. The oak-accented kitchen was warm and inviting, unlike the gloomy Seattle weather outside.
"Relatively mundane," I replied with a sigh, popping a bit of the muffin into my mouth and watching rain spatter against the expansive kitchen windows. "I had a history test, but it was easy." Along with English, History had always been my best and favorite subject.
"That's my girl." He winked at me.
Footsteps in the foyer caused us both to look up. Edward walked into the kitchen a moment later and I had to hold back an ear-to-ear grin. He glanced at me surreptitiously as he entered. "Good morning, Charlie. Bella." He nodded towards me and I blushed, ducking my head so that my father wouldn't see.
"Ah, I see that you got my message, Edward," my father clapped him on the back.
"I came as soon as I did."
My father nodded and eyed me warily, mulling over something before standing up and tucking the newspaper under his arm. "Why don't we take this to my office." I sighed internally. My father never talked business in front of me. It's not as though I didn't know what he did.
"I'll meet you up there," Edward replied, walking over to a cabinet. "I'm just going to grab a cup of coffee."
My father nodded and placed a firm kiss to my forehead before exiting.
Edward and I both froze and listened to his receding footsteps, not moving until we could no longer hear them. He came back to life as soon as the sound faded and leaned back against the refrigerator, smirking at me. "Thanks for last night."
I frowned at his attempted sexual humor and slowly walked around the island, coming to a halt across from him and crossing my arms. I cocked an eyebrow questioningly. I could see his cool façade fading and a moment later he burst into laughter. Sighing, I looked away. "You think you're so hilarious."
"Your face, Bella," he said with a chuckle. Clearing his throat, Edward managed to wipe the smile off of his face and look serious. "I'm sorry."
"Mmhmm."
Taking one step forward, I reached up and ran my hands through his messy bronze hair that would never be tamed before locking them behind his neck. His arms came around my back and he leaned forward, but I rocked back before he could reach me.
"I'm not rewarding bad behavior," I told him, earning a smirk.
"My sincerest apologies, Miss Swan." Before I had a chance to respond, he quickly leaned down and kissed me. "Now it's a good morning," he said with a grin. He kissed me again quickly before sighing and letting me go to turn and grab a mug from the cabinet. I pouted, but backed up to lean against the island as I watched him pour the coffee.
"What does my dad need to talk to you about?" That earned me a knowing look. "Oh, come on Edward."
"There's a reason we're not discussing it in front of you." One thing that Edward had in common with Charlie was that he hated that I was involved in this business. I can't even count the number of times he has told me how dangerous it is. As if I didn't already know. I could usually get Edward to cave and tell me at some point, but sometimes it takes more persuasion.
"I just want to know what's going on. I hate how I'm always out of the loop," I replied, crossing my arms indignantly and trying not to resemble and petulant five-year-old. My foot remained cemented to the floor. I will not stomp it.
Edward stared at me for a few moments before replying. "I'll tell you about it later, but I need to go before he gets suspicious." Yes. Victory.
"Tonight?" I was unable to keep the excitement and hope out of my voice. I don't know why I asked - Edward was with me whenever it was possible for him to be. Who knows what he would be doing tonight?
"Yes," he replied, although we both knew that promising such a thing was impossible. He did it simply to make me happy. It did.
I smiled widely as he pushed himself off the counter and kissed me deeply before following my father up the stairs.
I couldn't wipe that smile off of my face for the rest of the day.
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I tuned Jessica out and focused on my doodles. She was prattling on about some football player but my attention span was failing me tonight. Drawing different letters of the alphabet in fancy script was much more fascinating.
"Bella?"
"Hmmm?"
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Yes." It sounded like a question.
Jessica sighed on the other end of the line. "Then what did I just say?"
Dang. She had me there. "I…have no idea."
"Typical," she muttered, blowing air into the phone – something I hated.
"I'm sorry, Jess, I'm just really tired, I guess." A lie, but I hoped it would appease her. Lies came naturally to me because I'd been living one my entire life. As far as Jessica, and everyone else for that matter, was concerned, my father was simply a successful businessman and the owner of Swan Corp., the most profitable weapons and machinery company in the world. Little did people know what really went on behind closed doors at that particular corporation.
"Long day?" Jessica's voice on the other line snapped me back to reality.
"Yeah." I sort of felt bad about lying to Jessica. She was my best friend, for all intents and purposes. It's difficult to stick someone with the label of 'best friend' when they really don't know you at all, but for the parts of my life that I didn't have to lie about – my high school life – Jessica Stanley was my best friend.
There was mumbling and shuffling on the other line and Jessica seemed to be preoccupied for a few moments before her voice returned. "I've got to go, Bella. Call me tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'll talk to you later." I hung up and placed the phone on my nightstand before looking around. The sun was almost done setting and long shadows were cast about my room. I hadn't turned the lights on yet and it was peaceful sitting there in the dim sunlight. The storm from this morning had passed, gracing my otherwise overcast world with the blessed reprieve of actual sunlight.
There was a soft knock on the door before Edward strolled in, shutting and locking it behind him.
"Hi there," I said softly as he made his way over to the bed.
"Hello." He flopped down next to me on his stomach and I smiled, lying down beside him and running my hands through his messy hair. Edward twirled a piece of my dark brown hair between his fingers. We sat staring at each other for a while. I was spellbound.
"You're beautiful," he murmured, catching me off guard.
I rolled my eyes, unable to take a compliment. "What did you do now?"
He chuckled and pulled me closer, nuzzling my neck. "Just making an observation." He planted light kisses along my shoulder, sending a shudder through my entire body.
"You're awfully affectionate tonight." I made a conscious effort to sound indifferent.
"Are you complaining?"
"Just making an observation," I replied, mocking him. He chose to ignore that and continued his ministrations. "I know what you're doing."
"And what's that?" He asked huskily.
"You're trying to distract me." He was doing a damn good job too, but I refused to be sidetracked. I had not forgotten our conversation in the kitchen earlier. I told him so.
Edward sighed and removed his lips from my neck, rolling onto his side to get a better look at me. "You know me too well."
I smiled up at him. "You don't play fairly." Suddenly something occurred to me. "Where's Charlie?"
"Not here," he quickly reassured me. Edward was always extremely cautious in sneaking around with me; I wasn't worried.
"Where is he?" I reached out to trace Edward's wrinkled brow.
"At a meeting."
I cupped his cheek and he leaned into the touch. "Why aren't you with him?" My father rarely did any business without Edward there by his side. He was essentially second in command, from what I could gather. Pretty impressive for his young age. Edward certainly earned his rank and the trust of my father, but it was more than just that.
Edward was Carlisle Cullen's son. The Carlisle Cullen – my father's best friend and partner in crime up until his untimely death three years ago. Carlisle had been killed at the expense of my father's business. A deal had gone wrong, shots were fired, and Carlisle was struck by a stray bullet.
Carlisle had been like a second father to me, just like my father was to Edward and his sister, Alice. I never really knew my mother – she died in a car accident when I was four. But Carlisle and his family filled that gap for me. It seemed contradictory, what with the completely illegal operations he and my father oversaw, but Carlisle was a wholeheartedly good person. Not that my father was bad, but where Carlisle was warm and inviting, Charlie had always been somewhat reserved and aloof.
We had been one, big, dysfunctional family. All that changed when Carlisle died though. I could never put my finger on exactly what had shifted, but it was something big. Ever since then, Edward had stepped up to fill his father's shoes. I missed Carlisle every single day. It was like I had lost my own father. I'd been greatly affected by his death, but I knew that whatever I was feeling, Edward was feeling it tenfold.
His voice interrupted my wandering thoughts: "It's nothing of great import. Just logistics."
"Are you going to give me any more information than that?" I prodded, always wanting more information.
"Why do I feel as though I have no choice?"
"Because you don't."
"You're impossible."
"That's why you love me."
Edward groaned and flopped onto his back. But he kept his hands on me, so I knew that I hadn't lost him. Now it was my turn to roll onto my side. "I'm worried, Edward. I'm always worried. It gives me peace of mind to know at least something about what's going on. You don't have to tell me everything. I just need to know the big things. Like last week I know you were all in Las Vegas at an underground weapons dealing. I know most of the people who were involved and it helped me get through the days without having a nervous breakdown. You know where I go and what I do every second of the day."
"You're not breaking the law," he pointed out seriously.
I shrugged, trying to keep the mood relatively light. "Much." That got me a smile. God, he was so beautiful. I leaned in and stole a kiss, unable to resist him. "Please?"
Edward stared at me for a while, waging an internal war with himself. I waited, knowing that I would get what I wanted in the end.
"Fine," he said at long last, a look of defeat crossing his features. "If you must know, we are dealing with a new client. A big client. Possibly our biggest client ever."
My eyes widened. "Who?" I'll admit, the business that my father was in was wrong, but I'll be damned if it's not fascinating.
"Some prince from Saudi Arabia." I knew that he was intentionally omitting names, but I'd take what I could get. "Anyways, he wants in on our dealings. Big time."
"What does he want?" My father dealt with so many types of products; the possibilities were endless.
Edward shrugged. "Who knows? Weapons, vehicles – whatever he wants but can't get through any other sources."
I mulled over this information while Edward stroked my side. A prince, eh? I wondered at all of the opportunities and connections this presented to my father.
"He's coming for a stint in the states at the end of the month, and he's going to be making a stop here in Seattle for awhile. He wants to inspect our operation and meet your father before getting too involved. We are making a few, smaller dealing with him prior to that, though."
By 'smaller' I knew that Edward meant only a couple hundred thousands of dollars as opposed to millions. Our house wasn't cheap – my father charged a large fee but did a flawless job.
"I see," I responded at length.
"Do you?"
I swatted at him playfully. "Thank you got telling me."
"Mmhmm."
I curled up beside Edward, wrapping my body around his and placing my head on his chest. "So what's the meeting for? The one my dad's at right now."
"He's speaking with some other agents about the prince's visit and about our current dealings with him. He's already made some…purchases."
"Of what?"
"Bella," he admonished.
"Sorry. You can't blame a girl for trying." Edward rarely ever talked about specifically what product they were dealing with at any given moment. "So when will Charlie be home?" Time to change the subject.
Edward shrugged. "Late, I suppose." I glanced at the clock – nine o'clock. That gave me plenty of time with him. I kissed my way up his neck and over his chin, quickly finding his lips.
"Can you be all mine until 'late'?" I asked in between kisses.
"I'm always all yours." His response made my heart flutter and I held him closer.
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A/N: Questions? Opinions? Concerns?