CHAPTER 07
The Brady Bunch

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight or anything associated with the Twilight Universe. I'm just playing around and no copyright infringement is intended. The only things that belong to me are my original characters and the plot.

PREVIOUSLY, ON HOUSE OF THE HUNTERS: The barbeque went as well as could be expected and eventually everyone left… except the new family. The family, who we discovered, unsurprisingly, were the Swans, joined the Cullens inside to play catch up and introduce the new generation. Mostly everyone hit it off and even Bella and Edward stood together as silent sentries over the room. Carlisle, Charlie, and Senior eventually approached the two with what they thought would be a brilliant idea; join forces. How will they handle the suggestion?

EPOV

My grandfather, Liam's, office was a bit stuffy for my taste. It was a rather large space with two adjoining rooms that were only separated by a large opening in the wall where the door once stood, but the tones were rich and deep.

The entire office, including the large floor to nearly ceiling bookshelf and glass cabinet built in, was comprised of the same acacia wood. Nan had that shit imported from Brazil. The dark brown wood had tinges of reddish orange and light yellow accents that seemed to match the beige walls and sandy tiles perfectly.

You could tell the women in the family had a great eye for detail, but still… Not my style. I did, however, love the pool table and sitting area that was in the adjoining room.

Apparently it wasn't Bella's style either. She entered the room a few paces ahead of the rest of us and I watched as her eyes scanned over every available surface. Her eyes flickered back and forth quickly, assessing her surroundings and making assumptions, which were probably accurate, based off of the décor alone.

The room was closed off with no other exit visible to the naked eye aside from the door you entered through and I watched as she side stepped around the area before placing herself beside the wall next to the entrance.

Good girl. She was obviously trained well.

My grin tugged at the corner of my lips despite how I tried to stamp it down. I slid pass her and into the room, never letting my eyes land directly on her but always keeping her in my sight, and took a seat behind Pap's extravagant desk.

Looking at the set up in his office, one would think he was the Don of the largest crime family here in Chicago. However, I expected Aro's taste to be a bit more atrocious.

After settling in and watching the three men who proposed the idea take the chairs in front of the desk, I dove right into the reason we all found ourselves there. "Explain yourselves." My eyebrow quirked and I waved my hand before them.

Uncle Carlisle, always the one to take responsibility, sat up straighter in his chair. "We've known Charlie our entire lives. The story of how he came to be with us is one for him to tell, but I can promise you that we trust him and his family. I vouch on their behalf with my word… my life."

I wanted to raise my eyebrows up to my hairline… but I didn't. I couldn't give my thoughts away on the entire situation; especially because Bella and her father were here. This wasn't a private matter between the family. This was a business deal.

However, that was a shocking statement, notably in our family, with our line of work. I couldn't imagine vouching for one man, let alone an entire family of six; five adults and a child.

Vouching for a single man was stressful enough. If that man stepped out of line or failed to follow the rules, he would be dealt with and so would you. You may not get a bullet to the head like your beneficiary, but you'd surely take a hell of a beating.

We were like the Families in that way, I suppose. We weren't the mafia by any means, but we lived by a similar code. Our family always came first, no matter what, there was never hesitation to pull the trigger and we definitely saw ourselves above the law.

The list could go on, but despite all of our similarities, we had one large difference. Women. If you asked my Nan to stay home and be a trophy wife, to prance around all dolled up and hold fund raisers while turning a blind eye to the massive amounts of blood money that poured through the doors, she'd smack you upside the head.

And then she would pull out the pistol that is always on her, somewhere or another, and make you swallow the barrel. My Nan and the other women in my family were kind and had amazingly generous hearts, but I would never go out of my way to fuck with one of them.

They're just as fucking crazy as the men.

Bella's attention was still largely focused on the three men before us as my uncle leaned back in the chair and allowed Charlie to take the lead. He grumbled and cleared his throat before starting in on his story.

"Bells, here, knows most of this, but I feel you should know exactly why we consider the Cullen's as family." I glanced up, catching Beauty's gaze once, before returning my attention to her father. My head nodded and I gestured for him to continue.

"I'm a man of few words, so, I'll tell you our long story in the shortest way possible. I lost my folks when I was too young… I was six, actually. Liam, your Pap, was a close friend of my father's. Before the state could take me, he offered to take me in."

He brought his hand up and swiped his thumb across his nose. I wasn't sure if it was a nervous habit or he was trying to keep himself from growing emotional. "I grew up with your dad and uncle. Went to school with those two shits and they were even my best men when I married my Renee."

I nodded, absorbing the information he was giving me before I placed my hand in the air, effectively stopping him. "As heartwarming as this story is, Charlie, I don't need to be reassured. My uncle laid his word and his life down for you and your family. That's enough in my book. If you and yours fuck up, he'll be the one to answer for it. However, I would like one of you to explain why two girls and a giant will be beneficial to my operations."

I swore I heard a light huff of irritation from my Beauty, but I let it slide.

Charlie was about to grumble a response, most likely a sarcastic comment, but I put a quick stop to that shit with a single look and quirk of my brow. History be damned, I would not tolerate being disrespected as the head of our family.

My father sat forward this time, that stupid grin still plastered across his face. I was sure he was going senile. "It's a perfect match, son." He steepled his fingers in front of himself. "The numbers even out for team based operations and contracts, not to mention each one of you has a specific skill set that would come in very handy. Besides, the other four are getting along wonderfully."

I knew they were. Jasper was thinking with his dick and Rosalie was being pleasant out of obligation. Still, he did bring up valid points.

I nodded, for what felt like the hundredth time, and leaned back in the comfortable leather chair. It groaned slightly from overuse, but continued to support my weight.

Beauty pushed herself off of the wall and walked around the front of the men who still sat before me. She planted her ass on the edge of the desk and I watched it intently as she shimmied herself to get more comfortable. Suppressing the groan that wanted to push from my throat was hard enough, but then I heard her voice for only the second time tonight.

"We're not the fucking Brady Bunch."

Well, that was… something. And she definitely had a point. You couldn't just shove six people, trained killers at that, together, tell them to play nice, and send them on their merry way to carry out highly dangerous contracts across the surrounding states.

That was just a time bomb waiting to happen.

"She has a point, you know." I leaned back up, catching a whiff of strawberries and sunshine and something completely unique, before turning my glare back to my father. "You may have a past with the Swans, but the rest of us, including his own children, don't know jack-shit about each other. You can't expect us to be pushed together and everything magically falls into place."

Bella glanced over her shoulder and gave me an approving glance. That was a start, I supposed, but I'll need more than a nod of approval to get those deliciously tight jeans of hers on the floor.

Apparently I just couldn't keep myself in the green, because my idiotic mouth had to ruin it for me. "Besides," I continued, "Bella and Alice are extremely small and we already have Rose working our inside operations."

Her nod of approval instantly swept into a scowl and, admittedly, it startled me a bit. Beauty had a fierce side. She stood abruptly, pushing her entire body off of the desk, and pivoted to face me fully. With both arms stiff at her sides and her fists clinched tightly, she looked more like an angry kitten than the fierce tiger I'm sure she was trying to portray.

One corner of my lip turned up and I smirked. She just looked too fucking adorable, all ruffled and shit. "Calm down, tiger. I just assumed. What exactly can you do?"

Her arms slacked after she realized there would be no need to prove herself at the moment and she matched my expression perfectly, giving me an infuriating smirk in return. "I think the shorter list is of what I can't do. The girl behind the scenes is Alice, so your Rosalie can speak with her about how they would like to split up the load."

Ah, she said 'your Rosalie'. She was obviously still drawing lines between our two groups. Apparently she was as reluctant about merging as I was. Despite all of that, I still nodded my agreement.

"Sure, sure. But before we even consider taking on jobs together, I want to see what your team has to offer. No offense, Bella, but the last thing I need is a person who can't pull their own weight and drags my family down with them. Unacceptable."

She paused for a moment, taking my words at face value, before she nodded. "I feel the same, so we're agreed." The fact that she thought my family could possibly drag hers down made my skin burn with annoyance. "Do you have a local gym or training grounds you frequent? We could head over and run through our skill sets. Perhaps then we can tell if these old bags here have an idea worth entertaining or not."

Her hand gestured beside her, indicating the three men who were watching our exchange. My uncle and father were intrigued, watching back and forth like a tennis match with small smiles in place, while Charlie sat there, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

Rose's gym was the only place we trained, regardless of the time or what we needed, minus long distance shooting, so that's what I brought up. "We could head over to TITS, Rose's gym."

My father and uncle were nodding their heads in silent agreement as I watched and waited patiently for Beauty's agreement. Her expression was careful as she regarded me. "TITS? Who names their gym TITS?"

I rolled my eyes and gave a small huff. "It's an acronym." My voice took on my niece's 'duh' tone. "The gym's name is Thorn in Their Side, TITS for short. We do all of our training there, including firearms. If you guys are up for a round of fun, I'm sure my cousins would enjoy letting off some steam."

For a moment, a very brief moment, I thought I saw a hint of a smile, but it passed quickly. I did, however, easily detect the mischievous glint behind her eye as she bobbed her head once in agreement. "I'm sure Alice and Em will enjoy the work out."

Bella walked back around her father and my family before exiting through the only door in the office. Once she was gone I let out a long breath and caught the eye of my father. He gave me a wicked grin in return before standing. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, son."

Without any further information, he spun on his heel and followed Bella's departure, my uncle and Charlie trailing behind him.

An inkling of apprehension crawled up my spine as I thought about our upcoming activities, but I quickly swept it away. This was exactly what we needed. Jasper and I were still feeling deprived from our previous contract and Rose was always ready to up her training. Besides, it would be nice to know what the others are capable of. Friend or foe, that kind of information was important.

I guess it was time for a battle of the families.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Mmkay, so we're working our way into a bit more action. We'll be seeing some show off moves and what have you. I was also wondering what you guys thought of the constant Edward POVs. I enjoy writing from his view, but don't want to story to lack. Should I stick to it and do outtakes in Bella or other POVs or should I jump back and forth between the two of them? Remember, I nom-nom-nom reviews!