Who brought their dancing shoes?


Chapter Six

I woke up to afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows, a shadow covering the bottom half of my body. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes as I sat up and found Cullen standing in front of the window with his arms crossed over his chest, five o'clock shadow from last night turning into full on scruff. I noticed that the clothes he had on now were the exact same ones he was wearing the night prior, only his shoes and socks missing.

"Did you sleep at all?" I asked in my still sleepy voice after yawning. "You look like shit."

"Too busy getting things ready for tonight," was his reply, his eyes focused on something beyond the room we were in. His only movements were when he would breathe as he stared, and it was really putting me on edge.

"What's tonight?" I asked as I pushed the sheets off of me and got out of bed. "And why was it so much more important than sleep?"

I walked over to him, flinching when his hand flew out of nowhere and in front of my face with a card in-between his thumb and pointer finger. "This is what's tonight. And because I had to order a few things."

You are cordially invited to a masquerade ball for tonight at 7 pm.

"I don't get it."

Cullen sighed. "This was sent to James early this morning, about thirty minutes after you dozed off. Notice how there isn't any name of whose ball it is, nor who it was addressed to. Something's up."

I caught his eye with an eyebrow hitched. "You got all that from a white piece of paper and black letters?"

He shook his head, his jaw locked. I was ticking him off. Good.

"Just be ready by six-thirty. A dress will be dropped off at four for you." He turned to face me, his blood-shot eyes staring in mine. "Try to look nice for me. It's the least you could do."

I was shoved out of his way as he walked towards the door. He slammed it shut behind him, leaving me with the invitation in my hand and anger towards him in my veins.

x-x-x-x

A dress was delivered to my door right at four o' clock. And by dress I don't mean this big, princess mess of a dress. I mean skin-tight, ruby-red dress that only Cullen could have picked out. There was also another package that came along with it. When I opened it, an intricate masquerade mask was resting against soft white paper. It was very simple, only using a black base with diamonds and studs covering it. Whatever Cullen did... It costed him a lot.

So, I showered, curled my hair, put in blue contacts to hide my eye color, and applied my make-up before glaring at the red dress that I was being forced to wear tonight. As I continued to glare, a knock radiated off the door. I didn't even think to grab a robe or something to cover myself up. I reached for the door knob and pulled the damn thing open... And there was Cullen.

"Well, well," he murmured with a smirk, "what's the occasion?"

I groaned. "Shut it."

"Please tell me my wife isn't going to wear this to the party?" he asked, that damn smirk still on his face. "Because I won't allow it. That's for my eyes only."

I had to resist the urge to punch him because I knew it was only our cover he was referring to. Tonight, I was playing to doting wife that kept her mouth shut unless spoken to. I was arm-candy. That way Cullen could sweet-talk the room while I kept my eyes out for our target.

Hopefully, I'll be good. I make no promises, though.

"Just wait out here while I put my dress on," I replied, trying my best to ignore the smirk. "I'll be three minutes."

I shut the door on him, but I could definitely hear his hearty laugh through it. With an eye roll, I stepped into the dress before facing the mirror. The damn thing had a slit where my chest was and no matter how hard I tried the thing wouldn't at least look like it wasn't there. Add a bare back to that and you have me.

I stepped into my heels before walking out into the room, finding Cullen messing with his cuff links as he sat on my bed.

"Well?" I called as I walked towards him. "Am I decent now?"

His gaze dropped from the cuff links and onto me, his eyes moving slowly up and down my body as I twirled for him.

"Perfection," he whispered.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Just tie this for me."

I handed him the masquerade mask with gentle hands and turned my back on him. He set the mask in place and tied it in my hair, using a few pins I gave him to make sure it would stay in place.

When I was facing him again, I couldn't help but drool at the sight of him. Men in suits were my weakness, and his was... Good god... So sexy. Something as simple as a black suit and tie makes me weak at the knees. Say it with me, kids: Judge. Me.

His mask was a bit more elaborate than mine was. It was black with a few silver sequins framing his nose. The left side of the mask was normal, the sequins trailing up the side of it and into two diamond-shaped black studs. The right side, though, was a completely different story. There were feathers sprouting from the middle of the mask past his eye, making it look like that side of his face was scarred, ugly.

It reminded me of Two-Face from Batman.

And if you don't know who that is, well... Sorry. Ignore my reference.

"Done ogling me?" he asked after a few minutes of silence, breaking my trance.

I blushed. "Who said anything about ogling you?"

He smiled that crooked grin, making it harder not to stare at him. "Right."

"I wasn't." I grabbed my knives off the dresser I was standing by. "Got your stuff?"

He patted his jacket. "Don't worry about me."

I nodded as I strapped the buckle behind my right thigh, letting the pack of knives rest right above my knee where I could easily reach them if something happened. I wasn't able to hide my gun in this skin-tight dress even though I would really like to have it on me. It was dangerous just using knives, but I guess I'll have to make due.

We exited my room together, and walked towards the elevator in silence. Cullen smiled at a couple we passed, his hand resting on my lower back. I had to remind myself not to cringe because we weren't Cullen and Swan anymore. We were Mr. Tyler Hawkins and his adorable wife Sara that hid behind him.

And I was so glad to be back in action.

Game on, bitches.

x-x-x-x

The party was in full swing when we arrived. Cullen and I walked in arm-in-arm with smiles on our faces, but our eyes were scanning the parts of the massive ballroom they could reach, searching out any familiar faces. As we continued to search the area, a young man raced up to me, a sweaty mess of nerves, asking if he could take my coat.

"You may," Cullen answered before I could open my mouth. "But try not to get any of your pubescent sweat on it while you hold it. It's her favorite."

I wanted to smack him for being so rude to the poor man, but then I had to remind myself that we weren't being nice tonight. We were stuck-up, bigger than the people who worked as coat checkers. We were rich as hell, on top of the world. We were better than the working class.

It disgusted me knowing that these people get off on being so cruel, and the fact that I have to pretend to be one of them for an entire night.

Once the young man scuttled away, Cullen used his hand to push me further into the room with him. For now, people were keeping their distance, making small talk with people they were familiar with. A few couples were on the dance floor, swaying to the slow classical music that was being played. We stopped at an empty table where our placards were and sat down.

Cullen kept his arm behind my back on the top of my chair as he continued to survey the room. A server stopped by with glasses of champagne, and I slowly sipped from it as I looked around.

It was hard trying to pinpoint out a familiar face since we were all wearing masks, but I knew that in this type of situation, there had to be a secret place they were planning on meeting for business. All I had to do was locate the door or hallway and follow after them. I just hoped it was soon, this dress was beginning to suffocate me.

I felt Cullen move next to me, leaning towards me before whispering in my ear, "See anything?"

I shook my head, but kept a secret, shy smile on my face, pretending that he had just whispered something seductive in my ear.

"Keep a look out. I'm going to walk around and get to know some of our friends."

He stood up, but stopped halfway to place a kiss on my cheek. Instantly, a blush appeared on my face as he started to walk away, and it was hard for me to admit that I wasn't pretending in that moment.

I was weak, remember?

He disappeared in the crowd of people who were milling around the dance floor, and I was left alone to sit and not make myself known because that's the type of wife you were at these events. You do not speak unless it is to compliment another wife on her dress or to greet someone. Which made it easy for me to keep a watch on everything.

Not much was happening, though. More people began to dance as the music changed to a latin dance, feathers gliding through the air as faces moved. Laughter could be heard from every corner of the room, and it was easy to see that the main guest had arrived to get the party going in full swing.

I stood up to get a better look at the dance floor, now noticing that there was a circle of couples dancing around a man and a woman as they twirled in the middle of them. Leaving my empty glass on the table, I slowly made my way towards the moving mass of people, trying my best to get a look at the couple everyone was so happy to see and dance around.

If I recognized them, then we may be on the right track. Our plan can be set in motion.

A hand latched onto my hip, pulling me back into a man's chest. I cringed into myself as the scent of hard liquor rushed my nose and a pair of lips barely touched the hollow of my ear.

"It's a shame knowing that you're here all by yourself, my lady," the man slurred out, each word with an extra 's' at the end.

"Sadly, she's not," a familiar voice growled out. "Unhand my wife. Or I'll do it myself, and, trust me, it'll hurt far worse."

The hand left my hip slowly. I knew the guy was taking his sweet ass time so he could grope a feel. Luckily, so did Cullen. He latched onto the guy's wrist and twisted it as he raised it in front of the man's face.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Cullen hissed out as he threw the man's hand at him, making him waver on his feet before he rushed away. Then, worried green eyes were on me as warm, calloused hands softly cupped my face. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I said softly in reply with a shy smile. "You know I would've taken care of him if you hadn't been close by. Have a little faith in me."

He smiled that famous crooked grin of his. "I know."

I could tell that it was Edward who had chosen to appear when the guy latched onto me because of the way his eyes were brighter. When it was Cullen, his eyes were dark, shadowed, so you couldn't tell what it was he was feeling at that moment. But with Edward... His eyes were like an open book, just waiting for someone to read the hundreds of pages it holds.

He was happy in this moment. And I couldn't help but wonder if it was because of me.

"Let's dance," he said before pulling me behind him towards the dance floor.

Another latin song was playing once we found a spot on the floor. Cullen spun me around so I was facing him, a huge, beaming smile on his lips. My small hand fit perfectly in his as we began to move quickly to the beat of the song.

Normally, I wouldn't dance to a song like this, and I was thankful that I hadn't landed on my ass yet. It was fast-paced, our feet moving so quickly that it felt like we were doing one of our exercises. But not once did Cullen let me go. His hands held me steady as we continued to move, and, soon enough, we had a crowd gathering to watch.

I was spun out from Cullen's grasp, my free hands now latching onto the dress at the knee, hitching it up so my silver heels were visible. I tossed the fabric aside as I swayed my way back to Cullen's hands. They latched onto my waist, my knee hitching up to his right side as he dipped me backwards as the song ended. The crowed erupted in applause, whistles and catcalls mixing in.

Cullen pulled me back up so I was on my own two feet. We were both panting as we smiled at each other. I could feel each deep breath he took in and released from how close we were to one another, and it was then that I noticed that my hands and his hands had yet to let go of the other's body.

Something told me that we weren't pretending for that whole dance.

"Excelente!" a man called as he stepped forward while clapping. "Your dancing was excepcional!"

Cullen turned to face the man, but kept his arm around my waist. As he thanked the man, I focused on details. Eye color, facial hair, body language, you name it. Anything that could give off a warning sign, I was looking for.

And I found one. His accent.

This was Marcus Bertonelli. Head of the Spanish agency. To be more specific, the one we hated and knew was planning an attack on us.

Bingo.

"Tell me, what is your names?" Marcus asked, gesturing towards Cullen and me.

"Hawkins. Dr. Tyler Hawkins," Cullen replied before giving my waist a squeeze. "And this is my beautiful wife, Sara."

I smiled sweetly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Marcus smiled brightly back. "Please, the pleasure is all mine. Enjoy yourselves tonight, mis amigos. Tonight we celebrate!"

The crowd cheered for his words as he walked away, everyone dispersing after the scene was over.

Cullen and I stepped out of the ballroom so he could smoke, but so we could also talk in private.

The night was chilly, and I had wished I had asked Cullen to grab my coat for me before we made our way down the path into the garden that was by the building the ballroom was in.

"Cold?" I heard him ask after exhaling smoke.

I shook my head. "Nah, I'll be fine."

He didn't hear me or he pretended not to because he was already out of his suit jacket once the words left my lips.

"Thank you," I replied, a blush heating up my cheeks.

And then we were all business.

"Did you recognize him?" he asked me as he continued to smoke his cigarette.

"Marcus Bertonelli," I replied with a small shake of my head. "I should've known it was that bastard. Wonder how much he told James he was paying..."

Cullen flicked the cigarette towards the ground with a sigh. "Doesn't matter. What does is that we can turn our attention off James for now. Right now, we need to figure out what Marcus is planning."

"Okay..." I drew out the word, trying to be in the mindset he was in. I was still in a daze from all the dancing and tension that was floating around us, so... Yeah. "And where would you like to begin?"

His eyes focused on mine with an apologetic look. His face was pained, like whatever he was about to say was physically hurting him on the inside.

"What?"

"He likes you," he rushed out.

I was beyond confused. "What?"

Cullen groaned. "Marcus likes you, Bella."

And then it dawned on me.

"No. Nope. Not happening," I screeched as I started to pace. "There is no way I'm going to be able to survive after an experience like that. You're crazy!"

"Bella, trust me," he reasoned as he ran a hand through his hair. "I wouldn't send you in there if I didn't absolutely have to. But... Well, I have to. We have to so we can get the information we need."

I sighed and halted my irrational pacing. "I know..."

"I'll be close by. I promise," he murmured as he stepped closer to me. "I wouldn't ever leave you alone in this type of situation."

I looked into his eyes, Edward's eyes, and saw that he meant every word.

I nodded. "O-okay. I'll do it."

He returned my nod. "I'll go in first to make it seem like we just argued over... Whatever. Act like you're hurt when you find a seat close to him. It'll pull him in."

"Got it."

Before he could walk away, I shrugged out of his jacket and handed it back to him.

"Thank you, Edward. For everything."

He smiled a little as my words processed through his mind.

I wasn't just thanking him for promising to protect me, but for also... The dancing, the caring... The kiss.

"Don't mention it," was his reply before he walked away.


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