A/N
This is a shorter chapter which brings us back to the events in the prologue.
Hope you enjoy
AA (Maybe if I add YMC before it?)
Bella
I took a deep breath before opening the huge, heavy wooden door that would lead me further into this madness. A coffin draped in black silk stood at the far end of the room. Tacky floral arrangements hung limply at either side looking out of place in the ornate Catholic Church with it's gold accents, statues and stained glass windows. Dragging my eyes away from the focal point I scanned the room half filled with 'mourners'. The colour of the outfits they wore were the only thing they had got right. Jessica appeared to be wearing a corset and stripper heels, Lauren's skirt was a pleather mini with a thigh high split and Mike was wearing a Sons of Anarchy T-shirt under his leather jacket. Another sigh escaped me as I sat in the nearest pew and wondered how I would get through the day without killing anyone. Well, anyone else.
It had been 2 days since the big reveal breakfast. Edward ended up staying at my parents house, refusing to leave my side. Dad finally convinced him to sleep in the guest room next door to mine last night but I found one of his men Jasper posted outside this morning.
We had a long talk and Edward told me that he had seen me once when I was 16. He confessed that he had been waiting for Ed one day when I was walking home from school and I passed him in his car. He said that he saw me enter the house and quizzed his dad for hours on what he knew about me. Mam swears it was the uniform again. Esme and Rose have both asked to borrow it. Idiots.
Edward was waiting for me to come home after University before he was introduced. He told me that he's 30 and went to University in England, then moving back to Ireland to learn the business and take over from Ed eventually. As we talked about our past I told him that I was waiting for marriage before I did anything physical.
- The previous day-
I was nervous that my confession would send him running for the hills.
"Edward, I know that you've made it clear that you won't push me for anything physical but I want to be honest with you. I promised myself that I'd wait until I'm married. It's not a religious choice, not really. I've always seen my virginity as a gift to my husband. Proof of my love for him alone. I know it's a bit old fashioned but I hope you understand?" I finished and waited for him to respond. After a few moments I felt his knuckles drift softly down the uninjured side of my face.
"Isabella, thank you for telling me that and being so honest. I understand completely. I won't lie to you, I fully intend to earn the right to ask your father for your hand, if you don't object of course. I wasn't an angel in my youth and I've had a number of encounters for wont of a better word. I never kept these women around for longer than a night. I didn't want the entanglement of having emotion involved or someone to answer to. But I swear to you that I haven't touched a woman since I saw you for the first time outside your house."
I swallowed thickly trying to dismiss the images of feminine hands running over his body, a head of blonde hair draped on his chest and his head thrown back in pleasure. I clenched my eyes tightly and shook my head. It wasn't unreasonable that he'd been with other women but I didn't need the visual. My thoughts went to his last sentence. Nobody since he'd seen me. Looking into his eyes it was undeniable that he was being completely honest. It pained him to see my reaction to his previous words.
"Well, it seems that ma was right about my uniform." I faked a pout. The relief on his face was instant and beautiful. Laughing he tickled my sides.
"Little minx." Then he smirked. "Do you still have it?"
-end-
With the heavy discussion out of the way, we spent the last 2 days learning everything about each other. In between this, the men were also planning today's crazy pantomime. Jake's girl Nessa had been picked up after our breakfast meeting and was holed up in a hotel with my cousin James and his Dad Caius looking after her. She'd be relocated and released as soon as this mess was cleared up. According to my uncle she was quite happy to get a new start and some cash in exchange for leaving Jake. The words two pump chump were mentioned.
Ma called Billy and informed him that a distant cousin of hers had passed away and the funeral was today and asked him if he would attend. She made it sound like he was important to the family and we all wanted him there. She also dangled me as an incentive, telling him that I'd be attending and it would be lovely if we could all meet. Needless to say he agreed quickly and had been calling Jake's phone nonstop ever since.
Dad, Edward, Ed and Uncle Aro left this morning to deal with Jake. I felt awful once they left the house and wanted to call my dad and tell him to leave him alone. After half an hour Ma convinced me to let her call him and have a chat. We sat at the kitchen counter and I could hear Dad's voice but not the words. Ma told him that I was feeling guilty and nodded in response to his answer. Suddenly there was loud banging and shouting coming from the handset. Ma pulled it away from her ear a bit and carried on agreeing to whatever dad was saying then told him she loved him and hung up. She was quick to reassure me that everything was fine with our guys but Jake had snapped. He was ranting about me, saying that I loved him and they were keeping us apart and that I'd learn my lesson about running away. He was trying to rip the handcuffs from his wrists with brute force. Right or wrong, by the time Ma was finished I'd lost the feelings of guilt. When they returned I hugged each of the men that had protected me so fiercely. Edward approached me with apprehension but I put that to rest by pulling him to me and planting a kiss right on his mouth.
