Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Thanks to Jenna and Missy for all their help. Hugs, kisses and strawberry shortcake!
Story Title: Dance with the Devil: A Mafia Tale.
Summary: Meet Isabella Marie Swan, a twenty year old, struggling college student with a bright future but a dark and painful past.
Meet Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, a convicted Mafioso serving time for his crimes.
Now join Isabella and Edward as actions, circumstances and consequences set them on a collision course. At the end of it all, will the pure and untainted Isabella survive the callous and seductive touch of a man no better than the Devil?
It is a dark tell of seduction, passion and lust. Blood will be shed. Lives will be lost. But what do you expect when you Dance with the Devil?
Chapter Number: 5
Chapter Title: Finders Keepers.
Date Chapter Published: 21st December, 2013.
Chapter Rating: NC 17 for the use of vulgar language.
Word Count: 3, 067.
The majority of the journey had been spent in relative silence. Emmett and Jasper sat in the front of the car, unperturbed by the suffocating tension that was almost tangible between Edward and Carlisle.
"Carlisle, relax," Edward finally said with a chuckle, highly amused by the emotions that were continuously passing across his brother's face.
"I can't, Ed. Not when I failed you," Carlisle admitted softly.
"Failed me? Carlisle, what the hell are you talking about?" Edward smirked with a roll of his shoulders.
"We never found out who ratted on you, man." Carlisle shot a look over to Edward. "It was the one thing that I expected of myself to do and I never did it."
"Carl, all I wanted was for you to keep things floating while I was away. I never expected you to find out who ratted on me," Edward explained.
"I know this, but I needed to find out who it was. I needed to do this. I am your big brother and I couldn't save you from those five years."
"And I would do it all over again in a heartbeat," Edward interrupted. "Killing the man who ratted on me did not eliminate the fact that I would have been arrested. It was either I take the fall or the entire hierarchy of the organization would have been behind bars. I know this. You know this. Those five years meaning nothing if I kept you all out of jail, Carlisle. And I already knew you would not be able to find him. No one would have been able to find him. He's high in the food chain and is being shielded by hiding in plain sight. The information they had was too accurate, too precise to just be some hearsay from the lower men." Edward shrugged as he closed back his eyes.
"Why did you not tell us this before?" Jasper interjected.
"Because you did not need to know all of this. I was leaving behind a lot for the three of you to do and try as I might, I don't trust our father very much. I knew the burden I was leaving with you all and it was not going to be an easy task to keep things afloat, so I did not want to add to your burden. Now that I am out, I'll take back over the reins and we can start focusing on finding the man who ratted on me….on the organization."
"It's good to have you back, Edward," Emmett smirked. "These two were starting to go soft on me. Enough with the sentimental bullshit. Edward doesn't want to hear how Esme is turning you into a pussy, Carlisle. Seriously…. "I failed you." Take it down a notch on the estrogen, Carl," Emmett said in a gruff voice until Carlisle locked his arm around Emmett's neck cutting off his air supply.
"Say one more thing, Emmett. Say one more thing about my wife and I will snap you neck," Carlisle growled menacingly in Emmett's ear.
Thankful that Jasper was the one behind the wheel of the car and knowing that Carlisle would not actually kill Emmett was comfort enough for Edward to finally drift off into a peaceful slumber, the first he had had in five years.
Though, it had been originally planned that the family would be having a home-cooked meal made by the hands of Elizabeth Cullen, those very hands were too anxious to hold her son that had they attempted to make a meal, it would have resulted in some very severe injuries. So it was with a heavy heart and after much persuasion that she allowed her daughters-in-law to take over planning Edward's freedom dinner and move it to Euforia.
Even now, she nervously paced in front of the doorway, her eyes only seeking the form of her second child. Yes, she loved all of her children, but there was something about Edward. She could never remember when he had done something to incur her wrath. She could never remember being hurt or disappointed by him. There were days before his incarceration when he would call her simply to tell her that he loved her, or sent her a bouquet of flowers for no reason at all. He was never shy in showing his mother how much he loved her and he never held back anything from her.
She was the one he came to when he had decided to take the fall for the organization and had sat with his head on her lap for hours as she memorized every little thing about him, not knowing when she would see him again. She had felt as if her world had caved in on her when Edward had been sentenced to five years in prison and even though people had tried to comfort her by saying that it could have been worse, Elizabeth only found herself mourning the absence of her child for the next five years of his life.
Huffing, she grabbed her husband's hand to quickly find out what the time was. Seeing that it was well after nine and there was no sign of her son yet, she unceremoniously dropped his hand that landed with a dull thud on the table.
"Sweetheart, they will be here in a few minutes," her husband's calm voice tried to reason with her. "Sit and have a drink."
"No. I just want to see my son. When I see him, I will be alright," Elizabeth muttered, once again pacing toward the door of the private room.
"My love, they might still be at least an hour away. Please, rest your feet a bit," her husband tried again, unaffected from the bite in her voice.
"God damn it, Edward! I will sit in a …" Elizabeth trailed off, the fire in her voice leaving immediately as her head whipped over toward the door.
There, leaning against the doorframe was the bulking six foot, four inch frame of her son. Her Edward.
"My baby," she choked out before she all but ran toward her son and pulled him into her arms, burying her face against his chest as she released all the fear, frustration and anxiety that she had held in for the past five years. "Mio piccolo ragazzo," she sobbed, her arms almost too tight around his neck.
"No, mama. Don't cry. Sons do not like to see their mothers cry. Don't break my heart like this. Hush, mother. I'm here now. There is no need to cry," Edward whispered in Italian, desperately trying to comfort his mother while neither of them attempted to pull away from the other.
Everyone in the room remained silent as they viewed the exchange between mother and son. To Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle, it was a reminder that Edward had and will always be their mother's favourite, though Elizabeth would always deny it.
Edward Senior was not particularly fond of the emotional display between mother and son. For some unexplainable reason, he had always found himself jealous of the affection his wife showered on their children. If he truly had a say in the matter, Carlisle would have been their only child but Elizabeth was always the one person that he could never say no too.
After allowing Elizabeth and their son what he thought was a sufficient amount of time to get reacquainted, Edward made his way over to the pair and gently but firmly pulled Elizabeth into his arms.
"Come, my love. Our son is home. Let him have a proper meal now," Edward murmured to her as he tenderly wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Off course. You must be famished." Elizabeth smiled before pulling away from her husband yet again and leading her son over to the table where the rest of the family was already gathered and waiting on them.
"I hope you are hungry, Edward," his eldest sister-in-law, Esme, said with a soft smile as she reached out to hug him, "the staff went all out on this dinner."
"I am always hungry, though I would so love to have a meal prepared by yours and my mother's hands soon." He chuckled as the pair pulled apart only for the young Alice to launch herself at him.
"And what about my hands?" she asked in her chipper voice that soon turned into squeals as Edward lifted the tiny woman off her feet.
"Any meal prepared by your hands is sure to land me in the hospital so no, Alice. I rather you stay far away from the kitchen," Edward ribbed her good naturedly before turning to Emmett's wife.
"How are you, Rosie?" he asked her softly as he folded her into his chest.
"I've been better," she muttered for only him to hear.
"Soon, Rosie. Soon you will be blessed with that bouncing little boy that you always wanted. It will just take time," he said as he wiped her tears away and, with a soft kiss on the top of her head, he handed her over to Emmett who gave him a grateful nod.
It was only after he had had time to greet all the members of his family that Tanya slunk out of her corner to meet him. Had it been another time, Edward knew that he would have had to discreetly adjust his pants so that he would be comfortable, but now the red dress that looked like it had been painted onto her body did absolutely nothing for him.
"Welcome home, husband," she purred as she shamelessly rubbed her body against his.
Growling, Edward pushed her away from him. "Act like you have some sense, Tanya. My mother is in the room," he reprimanded her before gently leading his mother to her seat and then claiming the one next to her as his own.
Shocked at his outright rejection of her, Tanya grumpily threw herself into the seat next to his before trying again to turn his attention to her only to have her advances batted away as if she was just a bothersome fly.
"Esme, go ahead and let the wait staff bring in the meal," Elizabeth said softly though her attention was solely focused on Edward.
"Yes, Ma'am," Esme answered quickly as she hurried out the room with Alice following closely behind.
"I had them make your favourtie meals from the menu, son. Tomorrow, I'll make you your favourites from home." She laughed softly as his eyes lit up.
"Thank you, Mama. But you don't have to go through all that," Edward chuckled though he knew that there was little that he could say that would change her mind.
"Nonsense. Let me do this. For the past five years, I've only been making Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett's favourites. It will do this old lady's heart good to make your favourites now," Elizabeth said fondly at all her sons who chuckled when she referred to herself as an old lady.
"Then name the time and I shall be there to help you," Edward bartered as he gently held one of his mother's hand in his. "All of us will be there."
"Whenever you want to come over tomorrow. The door has always been open and will always be open to you, children." She smiled at her sons because while to the world they were all criminals, to her they were pure as untouched snow.
At that moment, the door opened and several trays were brought in, each filled to the brim with various dishes and wines for the family to indulge in.
Out of the corner of his eye, Emmett watched as Edward catalouged the face of each waiter and waitress that had entered the room and knew it was only a matter of time before he asked for Isabella.
Elizabeth had immediately begun to pile food onto her husband's and sons' plates. Edward and Carlisle shared a fond glance before picking up various items and filling up their mother's plate, knowing that she would rather give them everything to eat and stay hungry than feed herself.
Soon the only noise that could be heard was the clanging of silverware against fine china plates and the clinking of glasses as they knocked against one another before casual conversation broke out.
"Emmett, I did not see Isabella. Is she off tonight?" Edward asked casually after sharing a joke with Jasper.
Emmett hesitated before he answered, "No, she quit five months ago."
Edward did not need to know that what Emmett did not tell him was the fact that Isabella had quit after she had returned from seeing him.
"Is that so? Did she say where her new place of employment would be?" Edward asked again, gently running his finger along the stem of the wine glass in front of him.
But before Emmett could answer, Tanya interjected.
"Please, Edward. Can you not ask about your whore at the dinner table?"
Every Cullen woman knew her place. It was something that the matriarch of the family, Elizabeth, had drilled into their skulls from day one. So it was not a shocker to any of the men present when Edward slapped Tanya clear across her face, the sound of his hand making contact with her heavily made up face reverberating throughout the room.
"One toe, Tanya. Just place one toe over the line and I guarantee you that it will be the last thing you do. If I take everything from you, if I take your clothes, money, car and house, if I grab you by your hair and drag you to the middle of the fucking desert and leave you there, just know that you have given me that power," Edward sneered into her ear, taking a sick pleasure in seeing her tremble in fear. "I'm not the man that left you five years ago," he taunted, running the sharpened knife lightly against the inside of her arm, drawing a thin line of blood. "No. That man would shrug and turn a blind eye to what you did. Your pussy was that good. But this man…this man wants you dead. And what this man wants…..this man gets."
"Edward!" Elizabeth gasped, completely shocked by his outburst.
"Forgive me, Mother, but I can't act like I am the happy husband any longer. This woman is poison. Her words are poison. Her actions are poison and I may not be able to get rid of her through divorce ,but I will get rid of her," he said in a stern but gentle voice to his mother before turning back to Tanya. "Until death do us part. Remember how thin that line is, sweetheart."
After dinner and a round of cigars for the men, the family decided to call it a night. It was only after Edward had seen his mother safety into his parents' car did he make his way back to Tanya, but before he could make it to the woman, Jasper stepped into his path.
"After everything went down with you and Isabella, Emmett told Carlisle and I that she quit. I just never told Carlisle or Emmett that I know where she is now," Jasper muttered as he passed over a slip of paper to his brother. "It's good to have you back, Edward." Jasper embraced him before walking back over to his own car.
Grabbing Tanya by the upper part of her arm, he threw her unceremoniously into the back of their car before speeding out of the parking lot in the direction of their home. After a few tense minutes of silence, Edward broke it as he locked eyes with the terrified woman sitting in the back of the car.
"You may be wondering why I am angry with you. Truth be told, I'm not angry with you. I'm livid. I'm disgusted and I'm sickened to my stomach to know that you wielded such power over me, that I never saw you for the gold digging, power driven bitch you were. How many millions did you spend in five years, Tanya? How many cars and houses did you buy? How many diamond sets did you order? How much did you think you could spend before I would notice it all? And then I had to ask myself: Did she ever love me?" Edward chuckled darkly.
"Of course I loved…" Tanya interrupted, but was quickly silence when Edward roared at her.
"Quiet! I did not ask you to speak. When Emmettt told me how much you spent and then Jenks showed me the actual figures, I couldn't lie to myself anymore. I couldn't laugh it off and say it was Tanya being Tanya because believe it or not, Tanya, I loved you the day I married you and I loved you the day I went into that prison, but I came out hating you. The rose-tinted glasses I wore when it came to you were stripped away from my eyes and I saw you for what you were. I don't like ugly, Tanya, and nothing could be uglier than what I see when I look at you now. Get in the house. I need to take care of some things," Edward muttered coldly as he pulled up to their house.
He did not even wait for her to close the car door properly before he was pealing down the road again.
Isabella Swan hunched down as she tried to become invisible yet again. It was something she had taken to doing every night as she made her way home. She knew which alleys to avoid and which dealers were a little too touchy to be comfortable with. She knew not to keep money in her pockets and not to wear any jewelry, but the most important thing was not to trust anybody.
However, had she paid a little bit more attention tonight, she would have noticed that no one troubled her. No one reached out to grab her and no one taunted her. In fact, had she paid a little bit more attention tonight, she would have noticed the man standing at the corner of the road, carelessly puffing away on his cigarette as he leaned against the lamppost, untroubled about getting his trench coat dirty. And had she paid a little more attention, she would have noticed the signature crooked smirk and copper coloured hair that the devil wore so well.