A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Thank you everyone who reviewed and showed me their thoughts.

Enjoy.


Chapter 6 - Jealous

She thought about waiting for the elevator but today was a good day to take the stairs. She would do anything to get away from this place as soon as possible.

"Hey, Bella," she heard Emmett right before she opened the door to get to the stairs. "Where are you going?"

Clear confusion was in his voice. She merely pointed at the stairs, because she herself thought it was obvious that she was going home.

"Did you talk to Edward?"

Don't cry, Bella.

"I talked a little, yes."

He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"You're being very mysterious," he commented.

"I have to go, Emmett," she said in her strongest voice.

"What do you mean?" he said with a scowl. "James Coven contacted you. Didn't my brother explain?"

Explain what?

He told her plenty, and it all lead to her heart being crushed. She hated how much his words made an impact on her. It wasn't meant to be like that. She wasn't meant to feel this much because of a jackass who didn't even know her.

"What happened?" he continued when Bella didn't respond. "I was gone for only a minute."

She sighed at the situation. Truth be told, Emmett didn't do anything wrong. He deserved more that her passive aggression.

"Emmett, you're very kind. Too kind. Maybe the genetics passed on too much on you and left no more to spare for you brother. But I'm done with him."

"What did he say to you?"

"Ask him."

"I will, if that's what you want. But I want to hear it from you."

Couldn't he tell from her posture, her eyes, her voice... couldn't he see what was so obvious?

If not, at least her following words would explain what happened in that office a few minutes ago.

"He hurt me," she said with a breaking voice.

Tears fell and she felt like a fool. She tried to wipe them away but they kept falling.

It's too soon to fall apart.

She sniffed and tried to stand a little taller. It was important to not let them show that he did more than just hurt her.

She thought that life had already broken her. Life had hurt her by taking away everything she once had. She didn't know a person could do that to her as well.

"Bella, he's an idiot. As your bodyguard-"

"You're not anymore my protection. I don't think you ever really were. The thought was nice though."

She tried to smile, even if it felt bitter.

"As your bodyguard," he continued slowly, yet fiercely. "I'm telling you to hear my brother out. You don't have to speak. Let him do the talking."

Emmett clearly didn't understand what his brother was capable off.

"You brother doesn't talk," she said desperately. "He stabs. He crushes. He insults. He breaks. But he rarely talks."

"Bella, first of all, nobody messes with my friends. And second, you need to hear him out. I'll tell him to behave."

She was about to wipe a few hot rolling tears away from her chin as they dropped down when Emmett turned her around all off a sudden.

Her eyes locked with Mr Cullen.

What the hell?

Emmett was too nice, she said? The hell with that. He knew that his arse of a little brother stood behind them and he chose to turn her around just she was falling apart.

Thank you for the humiliation, Emmett!

What a jackass he was.

She wondered how much of her conversation with Emmett he caught.

She slapped Emmett's arm in a poor attempt to hurt him.

"You're just as bad as he is", she said angrily.

He was suddenly too close to her, and whispered in her ears, "Bella, you're capable to throw the jackass of his high horse. Now go do it."

"Why?" she asked in disdain, loudly for everyone to hear.

"Because somebody should," he said loud enough for Mr Cullen to hear.

"Do it yourself," she said in a tone that suggested that he was dismissed.

"I can't. Nobody can. But you can."

That. Made. No. Sense.

Next, Emmett just folded his arms in front of him and looked back and forth between Bella and his brother.

She noticed Mr Cullen watching them both with curious eyes.

"What did you tell her?" Mr Cullen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"None of your business, asshat," Emmett snapped to Mr Cullen. "Don't you dare mess with her again. I'll know if you did, and you will answer to me."

She pressed the button for the elevator to take her away. However, Mr Cullen was behind her and she felt a panic.

This was ridiculous!

Why should she be panicked? She'd done nothing wrong!

"Bella," Emmett said.

The elevator came and she stepped in and turned to look at him. Mr Cullen stood a step behind her.

Emmett came to stand next to the entrance so the elevator door wouldn't shut.

"Call me if he misbehaves. Or if you need a friendly chat. Or if you need to yell at me."

He smiled a little apologetically.

"I don't have your number," she responded monotonously - that was the end of her conversation with Emmett.

"You do."

She scowled as he gave her a wink instead as he stepped away from the entrance - but not before handing her a handkerchief.

The texture was very soft - it was too beautiful to be used...

Tears were however still falling, so she used the soft fabric to quickly wipe them away.

She could feel Mr Cullen's stare on her and she was even more humiliated that he saw her like this.

There; he broke her.

Happy now?

"Edward. Why are you dripping?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your hand, idiot."

Bella glanced behind just when Mr Cullen looked at his right fist, the one he used to hit the wall, to see the skin had ripped.

That looked painful.

It also reminded her of his uncontrolled rage toward her.

"Hit a wall," Mr Cullen said casually.

No.

That was not a representation of him hitting a wall. It was so much more.

Emmett's chest raised in a deep breath and he shook his head.

"You really are an idiot."

Of course she didn't expect Emmett to see what Bella so clearly noticed.

The elevator doors slid shut.

Mr Cullen placed his good hand under the dripping one to prevent blood from dropping on the floor. As they reached the first floor, he still stood in that position and said:

"Wait here. I need to get this fixed."

"I'm not sure what you're implying, Mr Cullen, but I know that I'm leaving."

Even though her voice shook, she was glad that she'd been able to tell him that.

"You're in danger, Miss Swan," he said with a hard stare. "If you care about protection, stay here while I get this fixed. We'll talk when I get back."

He turned his back to her and left with an irritating, confident walk.

Bella felt like crying again.

She's in danger?

What was that supposed to mean? That James Coven would probably never see her again.

There couldn't be any danger.

She didn't want there to be any danger.

She refused to believe it.

Still, she walked with wobbly legs to a waiting area and dropped herself on a small couch.

There she sat, waited and worried. Of everything that happened, the reason behind Mr Cullen's fist that hit the wall right beside her head was the one that bothered her most. For reasons unknown to Bella, he got mad at her, and insulted her, and implied her being fired.

But the reason for his fist that he was currently cleaning up was crystal clear to Bella - Mr Cullen wanted to hit Bella when instead he chose to hit the wall.

She couldn't get over that fact, she simply couldn't.

He was back fast with his hand cleaned up.

"Ready?"

She was hurting again. Just his mere present was painful.

"Miss Swan?"

Also frightening.

And it's like he didn't even see.

She was only a grey mouse to him; and oh how well did he toy with her for his own pleasure.

"Are you ignoring me now?" he asked. "How immature."

Her heart just crushed a little more.

He came to sit beside her and even though she could feel his eyes burning holes in her head, she still couldn't respond or give him a look.

"You look nervous," he went on. "You've been twisting that thing a million times now."

Her hands were indeed fumbling with the handkerchief that Emmett gave her. It was one of her habits, to play with her hands or whatever was in her hands when she was nervous.

Alas, Mr Cullen noticed.

When he touched her hands, she flinched away and turned her shoulder to him, as a way to make a barrier between them.

"Don't touch me again!" she hissed, only it came out much weaker than she hoped.

"Again?"

She heard the incredulity in his voice.

"I've never touched you."

For a man who was perspective, he was a fool to not notice the dominant emotion that Bella felt.

"Are you coming, or what?" he asked in a voice that suggested that his patience was wearing thin.

Was she coming?

Well, she wanted to know about that James Coven and she wanted to hear Mr Cullen out, but mostly because Emmett told her that she should. Basically, yes, she wanted to go someplace a bit more quieter and a bit more private where they could talk about the so-called danger that Bella was in.

The possible danger that she might be in, because of James Coven.

But before she could do that, she had to be sure that she was safe and not in a different kind of danger.

The kind of danger when Mr Cullen was enraged and hit the wall so hard that it made him bleed.

The kind of danger where Mr Cullen wanted to hurt her physically.

"I need a moment," she said in a small voice.

"What for?" he said.

"To hear you out, as Emmett suggested."

"That wasn't an answer to my question."

His tone, dripping with sarcasm just cut deeper and deeper into her open wounds.

Could he not be just a little kinder?

Just a tiny bit?

Her eyes were merely on the marmer floors. How could a building so beautiful as this one be run by a man as terrible as Mr Cullen?

Fine.

"I thought that the worst thing you could do to me is insult me," she said in slow motion. "And humiliate me. And manipulate me. And sexually harass me. And insinuate to the world that I'm just a slut who's sleeping around with you or any man for that matter. But it's not."

There it came, the moment she would tell him the truth and he would make yet another piercing comment.

At least she was honest.

"After you hit that wall so hard it made your skin rip while you were hoping it wasn't the wall but instead me that felt the strength of that strike, I'm going to need a moment to collect just a little courage, because I'm now not only intimidated by you. I'm also scared of you."

A shiver ran down her spine as she said that out loud.

"I need a moment," she repeated. "Because you wanted to hit me. And I'm scared. Well, go ahead then. Mock me. Laugh at me. I don't care anymore."

He leaned his elbows on his knees and she thought he was trying to catch her eyes. She was however just staring in front of her, at nothing.

"But I didn't," he said in defense. "I hit the wall instead."

The defensive comment was unexpected, but at least it wasn't mock.

"You don't get it, do you?" she asked. "You don't see it..."

It was quiet then and Bella wondered if he was thinking about just leaving her to fend for herself.

They had obviously hit a dead end.

It would be better to just leave it at this.

Until she heard his next words.

"Then tell me."

She was a mess and he was so calm. She was shaking her head.

"You didn't hit me," she said. "But you wanted to, didn't you?"

Her eyes never met his but her heart beat felt loud as she waited for an answer.

"Never," he said quietly.

Why was he lying?

It only angered her.

"Fine!" she snapped. "Go ahead and try to brainwash me into believing you. But I know for a fact that you were angry with me. You were yelling at me. You made fun of me. You hit that wall which was only inches away from me. You... hurt me. I'm barely able to talk to you. I can't look at you. And I'm unable to go anywhere with you, unless..."

Her voice broke and her tears started again.

What were a few tears, when she just made those horrid confessions? They were only a representation what she already felt, and now he knew.

"Unless you give me a moment," she choked out for the third time. "And if you can't wait, it's fine."

Her mind was running over hours and she felt stupid and silly for asking him for a moment. It was clear that he wouldn't give her what she needed.

"It doesn't even make sense that you're here to tell me whatever you need to tell me about James. I know how little you think of me. I'll ask Emmett instead."

From the corner of her eyes she saw him move, but he only seemed to sit straight up and lean against the couch.

At least he wasn't trying to look at her again. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her humiliation.

"I can wait," he said, his tone a little off.

She covered her face in the handkerchief and waited for the quiet sobs to end.

Her moment turned to minutes, by which her sobbing ended and her tears dried.

Her moment turned to half an hour, that had her thinking about her broken life and why it was that she couldn't have an ordinary life.

Her moment eventually reached an hour and she didn't know what to say or do.

The clock in front of her read it was almost half past 7.

She glanced back carefully.

He had a piece of her dyed-black-dead hair in his hand and he was twirling it around his finger. She saw he did it repeatedly. She hadn't even noticed a touch or a pull on her head.

He brought his eyes up and she quickly dropped hers to his hands and her hair. His fingers kept working around that single strand of hair.

She moved so all her hair was in her own hands and she brought it to her side, away from Mr Cullen and his reach.

It was a way of telling him to not touch her or any part that belonged to her.

However, when she denied him, she feared him even a little more.

His anger back in his office had been so unexpected.

She drew in a nervous breath.

What if it happened again?

"What happens now?" she asked in a dry voice.

"We need to talk about James Coven. Unless you're not ready."

What if she was never ready to talk about that with him?

"Take your time," he added.

She shook her head, because there was a limit to her time. That made her feel so desperate.

"I don't think it's useful to just sit here until I'm feeling better. Let's just-"

He interrupted her and said, "I'll wait until you're ready."

She shook her head.

"I'll wait for you."

What was he saying?

What was this about?

Mr Cullen wasn't meant to say things that were... kind.

She had to ignore those words to keep her mind a little clear.

"I should call the police if I see him again, right? What more is there to say?"

"There's so much more than that. There is actual danger."

DAMN HIM.

She turned to face him for the first time.

"Why?" she asked.

He seemed confused, especially when their eyes caught.

He repeated, "Why?"

"If there's so much more, why didn't you tell me so in your office? Why instead did you choose to tell me all those other things? Because, I think it's hypercritical of you to call me immature while really, you're the one who's not acting his age. What if Emmett didn't stop me? Would he have called me, to talk about this so-called danger? Would he have visited me at my place after he noticed my absence tomorrow? Would you have told him what you told me?"

He opened his mouth, and in that moment, Bella didn't care what he wanted to say. She had just one more thing to tell him.

"Do you treat everyone like shit, or is it just me?"

For a while it was a staring game.

He sat quietly, so passive.

Did he even care that he hurt her?

"Why are you waiting?" she asked. "It's been over an hour. You can't mean it that you actually want to wait here."

"I have something to tell you."

"Haven't you said enough back in your office?"

He brought his eyes down and she didn't know what to make of it.

He seemed...

No.

It could not be that he looked ashamed.

"I can ask Emmett to take over, if that's what you want."

She wondered out loud... "Isn't that what you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"To get away from me, to leave, to go and do things a lot more amusing than sitting here. That must be what you want."

He didn't reply.

"If that's it, then go," she said.

"That's not it," he answered.

It was short and firm. He didn't make any snide comments, but he simply disagreed.

"Is that what you want?" he asked. "Do you want me to leave?"

She turned her eyes away from him.

She didn't know what she wanted.

"I'll go if you tell me to go. Emmett is still upstairs. He's very fond of you."

She didn't know quite what she wanted yet from her boss. Former boss. Or whatever he was. But as it would seem so, he was simply sitting next to her and not leaving because apparently, he didn't want to.

"Emmett is kind," she responded instead.

She leaned back and started twirling a piece of her own hair around her finger - just like Mr Cullen had a few moments ago.

"What was it that he whispered to you?" he asked.

"Something silly."

He was staring at her hard and she sighed.

"He said that I'm capable to throw the jackass of his high horse."

At first he watched her bluntly, but then he chuckled and muttered, "Fuck me."

"Silly, right?"

"Is it?"

He inhaled sharply and ran a hand through his hair.

"Can I tell you something? I assure you that it's not a repetition of what I told you in my office. But neither can I promise whether you'll take it as an insult or not."

Even though he hurt her and humiliated her, she found herself wondering what it could possibly be that he wanted to tell her. He even asked her politely.

She could decline, but then she would never know the mystery.

"There's only one way to find out," she said at last.

He didn't start immediately. The anticipation was real for Bella.

What would he tell her?

Would she take offence?

And if she did, would it truly surprise her?

It probably shouldn't.

"I need you to know this first. I will never hurt you physically. Even the thought has never crossed my mind, nor will it ever. I didn't hit that wall because I was angry with you or because I wanted to hit you. I would have never hit you. Hitting that wall had nothing to do with you. The last thing I wanted was for you to think that."

She was captivated by the intensity of his voice. He watched her in a way that was foreign to her. He was more serious then she had ever seen him since they met.

"But I did harass you," he said. "I forced you to tell me what I needed to hear. Which came with a cost. I don't take pleasure in seeing you like this."

She swallowed nervously and he seemed to hesitate himself before he said, "It hurts me to see you hurt."

Without giving her words a thought, she said, "Then you must like pain a great deal, because all you do is hurt me. Could it be that you are both a masochist and a sadist?"

She wanted to smack herself as soon as she said that.

"So is this what you wanted to say?" she said quickly to kill her awkwardness.

"I haven't even begun yet," he said with a scoff. "Do you want me to stop?"

She shook her head no, and said hurriedly, "I'm standing on the edge of a cliff and it feels like you're behind me, ready to push me off whenever I make a mistake again."

He leaned back and let out a hard breath.

"You say that it hurts you to see me hurt, but you're the one who hurt me. And when I confront you with that, I don't know what you'll do to me. You managed to make me feel like this. You managed to get inside my head and drive me mad to the point it disrupts my sleep, gives me strange dreams and now... now I must be mad for even telling you all this, because it makes me the masochist who's asking for a beating. Or a little nudge until I'm no longer on that cliff."

After she said that, it was very quiet.

And she waited, waited nervously on the edge.

"Listen," he said quietly. "I won't push you off the cliff. There are only two things that could happen on the cliff. The first being that I throw myself off that cliff to free you from me."

Her heart beat a bit faster and her stare on him became frozen.

"As for this," he said, showing me his bandaged hand. "I hit that wall because I was jealous of James. You had only just met him, and already you two seemed to be getting along very well. What you saw in my office was a jealous man. It's not an excuse. But it's what I felt, and it's a feeling I haven't felt in years. I can't remember the last time I felt jealous, and if I did, it was never as strong as the moment I saw you with James."

She stopped breathing, because her mind seemed to know where this was going, but her brain refused to help her process it.

It simply couldn't be.

"In your last e-mail you asked me a question that only added to my own confusion: why can't you just leave me be? That was my question. You know that obsession that teenage boys have when they find a girl they like? It's one I have now for the first time in my life come across with."

...find a girl they like.

Oh, no.

Mr Cullen, please don't say it.

Panic...

Alert...

Her brain was blocked, because that's what the brain did when there was immediate danger; it blocked to save the body.

"I've been with many women," he said. "No strings attached. No feelings involved. I never really had that need to be with someone, except for sex."

She was shocked at the horrible confession. What constituted many women?

And he was only with them for sex.

Surely he was exaggerating though. There must have been a girlfriend at least once in his life. There must have been feelings involved.

It must be an exaggeration.

"At least, that's what I thought until I met you," he said.

What was happening now? This was even worse than his previous comment about waiting until she was ready, waiting for her...

"I crave for your attention. I long to know your thoughts. I have to be near you. I want to touch you, even if it's only a piece of your hair."

He had taken her hair in the hour that she'd been silent and taking her moment, he had been twirling her hair, because he wanted to...

Touch her. Be near her. Know her thoughts. Have her attention.

There was a word stuck on her lips;

No.

However the way he spoke seemed so very gentle. She didn't know this side of him. Therefore, she allowed him to speak whatever it was he wanted to say so suddenly.

Even if it made no sense.

"I didn't understand for a long time why you became my obsession. I understand it now. I can see why I feel this need to chase you."

Her heart was beating restlessly, but she told herself to look at his face, his eyes and his expressions. She had to know what he was going to say.

Even if it made no sense.

He smiled, a little forced and a little bitter.

"It's because, if I'm not quick, I'll lose you to another man."

Nothing made any sense anymore.

He ran a hand through his hair again.

Just like Bella toying with her fingers of an object when she was nervous, he seemed to be also doing something with his hands when he was nervous.

Which meant that Mr Cullen was nervous now.

"That thought kills me," he said with his eyes on her.

She didn't know what to say.

He had rendered her speechless.

"At least, that's what I thought, until you said that you're afraid of me. That kills me even more, because I can't undo it. I can't force you to stop fearing me."

There's a moment in your life when everything seems to stop moving. It can happen when something beautiful happens. It can happen when something terrible happens.

And it was happening right now to Bella.

Was it happening to her because this was beautiful of because this was terrible?

"I know I'm not good for you. But for whatever it's worth. You're changing me. And I'm letting it happen. Because I want to change. For the better."

Oh.

"For you, Bella."

She felt bitter.

Was it because he told her something so darkly romantic, or because he called her Bella?

She said, "It's a cliché, Edward, to fall for the prostitute."

She was repeating James' words.

"Who cares if it's a cliché, when it's the truth?"

She closed her eyes, because he didn't deny it. He had fallen for Bella.

Even if it didn't make any sense.

All this time, Mr Cullen made it so clear he wanted her body. Nothing more. But James said it so clearly. Of course she remembered the painful words where he told her that, "without the editing, you aren't even pretty". However, right before he made that comment, he said something that Bella decided not to give a single thought. "That thing about you that struck the eye of your boss."

It wasn't a love confession or anything, but it was something a hell lot more than Mr Cullen only desiring her body.

"It's a mistake," she added with her eyes downcast. "You just want that fantasy of Izzy. Even offered me money."

"If I wanted sex, I would be having it right now with any other woman. But I'm here with you."

He had a point there. He could be having sex with any woman right now. But that didn't mean she would so easily give up.

"Because Emmett told you."

"Because after you told me that that dream you had is just a bittersweet memory of something that never really happened, you caught me and now I'll be chasing you forever."

She took a sharp intake of a breath. "All I know is that you want my body. That's the only thing you've made clear."

"That's all I know. I've never felt anything like this before. I don't know the steps."

"The steps of being a nice guy?"

"I've never been a nice guy. It's not you. I treat everyone like shit. To answer your previous question."

"That's why you treated me like a prostitute for shallow sex?"

"On the interview I was testing you. I knew very quick you're not the person the media has portrayed for the world to see. All the other times it was just to see your reactions. To get your attention. Because God forbid you find out I have a crush on you."

She winced.

She really didn't know what to say.

He had it so clear to her that he desired her body, never something more.

She cleared her throat.

"There's a catch," she said. "With you, there's always a catch."

"There was never a catch," he said.

Still... if that was true, still...

"Be realistic," she said. "I'm on the bottom of the food chain."

He steered his head.

"What?" she said. "I'm the prostitute. Imagine what it would be like if I ever met your family. I would get laughed at."

"It is I who would get laughed at. You're high above me, even with your tainted name."

He said it without joke or mock.

"I don't know what to think anymore..." she muttered. "I don't know how you can go from being so mean to being like this... It's too sudden. It's not real."

"Why?"

She had a hard time breathing, but since they were already on dangerous territory, she decided to go even deeper into the dark.

"I'm walking on a very breakable thread that will send me straight on the streets. Everybody I once knew has left or died. I have nobody to go to. I have nothing."

She wasn't even feeling a thing as she said this. She had lost everything a long time ago. It didn't hurt her anymore.

"You're the owner of this company. Do I really need to say it? Do I have to continue for you to see my point?"

"No," he said. "I understand. You're saying I'm superior to you."

"Yes. You said it just now: God forbid I may find out you have a-"

She couldn't say the word.

He smiled a little as he looked down.

"I told you about two things that could happen when we're on that cliff. Do you remember?"

"Yes."

"I told you that the first one would be that I jumped to free you from me. Do you remember?"

"Yes."

"The second one would be that I make sure that that dream you had is no longer just a bittersweet memory of something that never really happened. Even if I don't know what exactly made that dream so special."

Even if it wasn't wise to tell him what made that dream so special, she felt like she really didn't care anymore whether he knew or not.

"If you must know," she started, "in that dream you were considerate. You kept asking me if I was okay and if whatever you were doing is okay. You kept showing concern. You cared about me. It was sweet. That's all. Nothing more. Just... considerate sex. It's lame, I know."

He seemed to be thinking hard.

"You didn't have to tell me that," he said eventually. "Especially after the way I talked to you in my office. I broke a promise. I used something you told me against you."

"I honestly don't care if you have more ammo to hurt me with. I really don't care."

"I'm not collecting ammo against you," he said with a scoff.

"I don't care if you are."

She didn't mean to make herself look like a sad piece of work. But here's the thing; she was telling the truth. She really didn't care what he was doing. Because he was going to do it anyway.

"What does this all have to do with you being superior to me? I already knew you wanted to fuck me and now I know you want to fuck me on a cliff. Perhaps right before you commit suicide. You really didn't strike me as the depressed type of guy."

He seemed to be biting his tongue and she just realized what she just said.

No, not said.

Blurted out.

"That was blunt," she said awkwardly.

"I can take it," he said with a smirk. "The cliff is a metaphor for your feelings. My suicide is a metaphor for giving you what you need."

"And you fucking me on the cliff is a metaphor for you fucking me on the cliff."

So blunt...

What's wrong with her?

He said, "And me fucking you on the cliff is a metaphor for us having considerate sex."

"Are you mocking me?"

She heard him sigh. "No. You threw the jackass of his high horse."

She felt odd that he thought she managed to do that.

"You'll be okay, Edward."

He laughed, but it wasn't humored.

"Are we on first name basis now, or are you being cute with me?" he asked dryly.

"You tell me, Edward," she said. "Besides, you're no longer my boss. Why should I call you mister? Besides, you're tall. Just jump and get back on your high horse."

He smiled, a strange smile.

"What's funny?" she asked defensively.

"You don't see it, Bella. You don't see that I fell of my horse the moment you told me you're scared of me. You don't see that my horse ran away and I didn't attempt to stop it, because I didn't want to."

She couldn't not feel something. His words were touching her.

Even if he was a disgusting man.

"Why would you let a perfectly good horse run away?" she said in a way of a joke.

"I don't fit well with that horse."

"You'll find another horse. Maybe one that's even bigger."

"I don't want a horse. I want you."

She looked away.

She didn't know what to make of that. It still wasn't real.

"I'm sure it's just Izzy you want. You barely know me."

"I don't want Izzy," he said. "I want you."

For one final time, she thought of an excuse, something, to tell him, to make it stop. However, she couldn't find any other words to his comment - made twice, that he wanted her.

"That was blunt," he said, as a way of repeating her previous words. "Let's get dinner. I'll tell you about James on our way there."

"Just tell me know."

"After I told you what I need to tell you, you might freak."

"So?"

"I want to stay with you when that happens. And we might as well have dinner. Unless you have other plans?"

"I don't, but-"

"Please?"

She didn't want dinner, yet she found herself in his car.

He asked her where she wanted to go; she said she didn't care.

He asked her where she would like to eat; she said she didn't care.

He asked her if she was still scared of him; she looked away instead.

"I was with a girl once," he said. "James Coven killed her around three years ago. I don't need the police or evidence to know that she's dead."

She held her breath.

"Pictures are being made of you and me. Now a killer tried to contact you."

Her breath fell and a shiver ran down her spine.

"That's why you are in danger. Because of me."

She refused to believe it.

"This girl that James killed, she was with me often over the course of a few weeks. It was never more then sex. But James must have thought that I liked her and that she and I were dating. I started noticing small things. For instance, he tried to make me jealous. He wanted me to react. Perhaps needed me to react. But I didn't. I never did. So he killed her. His own company is dying. She was collateral damage to one of his weird plans to bankrupt the CC. He's had several over the years. When his plan failed to bring me down, he no longer needed her. He could have easily let her go. But he knew that killing her would frustrate me. I never meant for that girl to die."

She wasn't sure she understood it...

She wasn't sure she liked this conversation.

But she didn't want to speak.

Even if it would make him think again that she was immature.

"He made the mistake three years ago to snatch the girl whom he thought I had feelings for. James isn't blind. He noticed my interest in you. Three years ago, he tried to make me jealous, and as I've said before, I don't get jealous. But this afternoon, I did. And that was my mistake. I should and could have known that was his goal. Now you're in even more danger because of me. If he could kill once, he can do it again."

Not long ago, Mr Cullen was telling her that he has feelings for her.

Right now he was telling her that James Coven, the man she spoke with a few hours ago, was a killer and he probably would kill Bella if he could get the chance.

She was having a very hard time not to panic.

"The police is of no use to report him. They let James go after holding him in custody for two days, stating he's innocent. And he hasn't sent you anything threatening that you could use. There's nothing you can use against him to the police."

How was that fair? The police were supposed to help you and when you had a big chance of being murdered, they couldn't help you because legally, nothing showed you were in danger.

"At work, your safe. Always. I can also guarantee your safety whenever you're home or going to work or elsewhere. I can arrange a few bodyguards. If you ever see James and you're alone, call the police and tell them somebody is going to kill you. Because, he will. I'll also arrange a bulletproof vest for you."

She thought of a girl that was once Edward's... very friendly friend and now she was gone. The police couldn't find her.

Bella could become that girl.

Because apparently, she was in need of safety, bodyguards, 911 and a vest.

"I'd say you're very safe with all these taken actions. And the stalking will probably stop, now that James has gotten what he wanted. Well, that is to say, in case you hadn't figured it out yet, it was James who has been taking your pictures. He's been keeping a close eye on you."

She gasped.

He took her pictures?

James was her stalker?

That's what Emmett meant with stalker...

James had been stalking her even before she had an interview?

Mr Cullen parked the car in front of a fancy looking place.

She didn't want to go there, eat there, or whatever. But she needed air, so she got out and walked.

She walked, walked, walked.

"Bella!" Mr Cullen called.

"Get away from me," she said quietly.

"Bella..." he said, his voice closer and less loud.

"Leave me be, Mr Cullen."

"You're in danger. I can't leave you here to fend for yourself."

She turned around to face him, but kept a full several yards between them.

"Well, you're useless, right?" she snapped. "How are you supposedly going to help me if somebody would hurt me right now?"

"I would take out my gun and kill them."

What?

He didn't even hesitate.

She reached her breaking point and quickly got behind an ally. She faced the wall and felt like she was choking. Her body was shaking and she could not take it anymore.

He walked over to her and looked cautious.

"You're ashen," he said. "And hyperventilating."

"You have a gun?" she squealed.

He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Take deeper breaths, Bella."

She shook her head, because she couldn't.

"Leave me be!" she snapped.

She had gone weak from everything that had been said and done today. She was clueless. Her mind was filled with information, but the connections were lost.

"I have taken care of your safety. Even right now, there are bodyguards keeping you safe. What can I get you to make everything else less unpleasant?"

She was so worried.

What should she do? What would happen if she saw James again?

She couldn't bear the thought of meeting with that killer again.

"You're safe, Bella."

"Can't you fake your feelings? Show James you don't like me. Take me in this alley and then leave me. Or punch me in the stomach. Show him I'm nothing to you."

Her rant was quick and thoughtless.

"Take you in this alley and then leave you?" he repeated with raised eyebrows.

"Just do it. Or punch me in the stomach."

"I'm not going to take you here, Bella."

"It's what you've wanted all along. What's wrong with it now?"

"I never wanted to take you in an alley...however, if there was a chance it might work, I would consider it. But it's too late. We can't fool James. He's not easily fooled."

"This is your fault!"

"I know. I take full responsibility."

And what use was that?

What was she going to do? What could she do? She didn't know.

She was alone, there was nobody.

How the hell did that happen? Why did her parents have to die? Why was her life such a mess? Why was she alone?

Mr Cullen... Edward... Whatever she was supposed to call him, came to stand very close to her.

He might take her, right now. Perhaps they could still fool James.

"Did you reconsider?" she whispered.

When he didn't respond, she looked up and noticed only his blank face.

"No," he said eventually.

"Somewhere else then?"

He seemed both amused and disbelieving.

"No," he repeated.

"Oh... Did you start? Am I supposed to play along? I don't get it... What are the rules? We're supposed to fool James, right? You can't just start without even hinting at me what I'm supposed to do or-"

He pressed his thumb against her lips and she drew in a deep breath.

"No," he said with a scoff. "You're not supposed to worry about those things. I got this."

She shook her head. Of course she was worried.

"I've got your back," he said.

Sudden exhaustion kicked her in the head and she started to have a blasting headache.

He released her lips, but rested his hand on her shoulder, lightly squeezing it.

"I don't want to take you on a cliff, or in this alley, or any other place."

"I don't know which game I'm supposed to play."

He sighed and held her chin tightly.

"Forget about James. I'm not playing a game with you, which you're supposed to follow along."

"What do you want from me then?"

"To call me Edward and mean it."

For a second she got lost. Not sure if it was in his words or in his eyes.

By the look in his eyes, he seemed to notice the change in her.

That's all he wanted? For her to call him Edward. However, it meant so much more. Calling him Edward made them friends...connected.

"Okay..." she said quickly. "Okay, then you should call me Bella, right?"

He released her chin and rested both his hands on her shoulders. Without notice, he pulled her forward and pressed her body against his own. She didn't know how to respond, so she didn't. Her hands remained stiffly by her side.

"I'm sorry for hurting you," he said close to her ear.

When he released her body, he placed his hand over hers and pulled her softly along with him.

"Come," he said.

After a few yards he released her and there was a tense atmosphere. Bella's heartbeat was running wildly.

She was scared...and that's why she walked close next to him and clung to his arm.

She had a very bad feeling about James Coven.

"Hell is empty," she said. "All the devils are here."