A/N... So it's time for the mission to drop off the pictures. Let's see how our girls from Gravity investigations work with Edward and his gang. This is pretty action-packed and a touch violent. Just wanted to give you the heads up.
But it's yours to read... I'll see you at the bottom for a few things...
CHAPTER 7
EDWARD
"Damn, she couldn't get any closer?" I complained as we walked up the sidewalk.
"She's mad at you," Bella said softly as we avoided a group of business women walking together down the street. "This is punishment..."
"Mickey's..." I sighed, not knowing how to put it without revealing what her outburst contained that morning.
"Mickey doesn't trust me," she said simply with a shrug. "I'll either earn it, or I won't."
I snorted, rolling my eyes. Bella's dad was right. That girl could spot bullshit a mile away because her next statement blew my mind.
"Besides," she chuckled. "You can't actually be pussy whipped unless you're getting said pussy."
My feet tripped over a nonexistent crack in the sidewalk, and I came to a stop in the middle of it.
"You heard her," I whispered when Bella turned around, her face more amused than I was expecting.
"My job is to be observant, even though my attention is supposedly focused elsewhere, Edward," she chuckled, tugging on my sleeve to keep us going. "There's not much Jake could say that I'm going to listen to at this point, unless it's about my father. And when you were nose to nose with her, it was hard to ignore."
I thought back to the morning, and she had been with Jacob when Mickey's temper had gotten the best of her. I was embarrassed where my reaction was concerned but even more embarrassed over what Mickey had actually said.
"She won't talk about you like that anymore," I vowed. "She can be very...crass."
"She's a member of your team, Edward, so it's understandable she doesn't trust me...or my girls," Bella stated with a shrug. "Besides, jealousy can do funny things to people..." She trailed off, allowing me to open the door of the office building, like a decent gentleman.
"Jealousy?" I scoffed, rolling my eyes and shaking my head. "It's not like that, Bella."
We both saw Emmett sitting in one of the waiting room chairs but said nothing to him or made any eye contact. He was there inside the building in case something went wrong and I needed him to get to me quickly.
I pressed the button for the thirtieth floor once we were in the elevator, leaning back against the wall.
Bella chuckled, looking up at me. "It may not be that way for you, but women don't respond that strongly about another woman unless there are feelings there...pretty boy," she snickered.
I winced, still shaking my head in denial. "She's like a sister, Bella. That's a joke. Emmett and Jasper live to hear her tell stories about her...amorous achievements. I try not to listen. And they call me that because they say I'm too good to...kiss and tell."
I felt like an ass having this conversation with Bella – in an elevator, of all places.
Bella laughed, looking up at me. "Whatever, Edward. It's none of my business, really. I'm just telling you that no woman gets that upset without jealousy playing a part. I see it at work...every day."
"Bella..."
She chuckled, stopping just as we stepped out of the elevator doors on the floor we needed to be.
"Look, it's just been you and your team for a long time. And here I show up, and you help me out of a really awful situation. You've been kind to me, but she sees that as a threat, Edward. I'm not sure what she knows about my...experience in that basement because I don't know what you've told your crew, but she sees me as an intruder. It's really quite understandable. She sees your...obligation to help me as something more..."
With that said, she turned away from me, leaving me speechless. She thought I was only helping her out of obligation? Was I?
"Fuck," I sighed to myself, running a hand through my hair.
I clenched my teeth because I didn't know the answer. Was she just another job? Did I just feel protective of her because of the way I found her? Was it because she meant so much to my father? Or because I'd met her once when we were kids?
My nostrils flared in anger because I didn't have a fucking clue, and that pissed me off. I was warring inside with the conflict. I never wanted anything to happen to Bella. I wanted to stop King and Miller, as well as whoever else had it in for her. She drove me fucking crazy, with her temper and her strong will and her mere presence. She was beautiful when she laughed, and she was even more stunning when she turned that same strong will and temper on me.
"Check in!" I barked as quietly as I could into the radio.
"You have two eyes in the sky," Jasper blipped in, meaning he and Makenna were in place on the roof across the street.
"You already saw my awesomeness on level one," Emmett chortled.
"We're in place," Alice added.
"Mickey?" I growled, shaking my head. I was still fairly pissed at her outburst from this morning, despite Bella's theory.
"I'm around the corner, making round two," she muttered.
I stared at the floor as I listened to them check in, but when I lifted my head, Bella was waiting patiently for me.
"All okay?" she asked.
I nodded, gesturing for her to lead the way to the law office.
As we walked down the hall, I told her, "We need to get this done and get out, okay? No gossiping with the secretary about who's dating who..."
Okay, so maybe I deserved what came next.
Bella's eyes flared with her temper. "First of all...you sexist asshole...they aren't secretaries anymore. They're personal assistants – just ask Rose. Call her a secretary, and you'll lose a testicle. Second, I'm sure you're used to vacuous women whose main concern is the color of their fucking nail polish, but forgive me, I have bigger things to deal with than who's fucking dating who," she growled low, her hand still on the door handle of the office.
She yanked open the door, breezing past me and giving me one last ire-filled glare.
I huffed a deep breath, shaking my head, and followed her inside to the waiting area for Spencer, Wyatt, and Townsend. She was already speaking with the sec—receptionist...what-the-fuck-ever.
"Bella!" the pretty blonde behind the counter chirped.
"Hey, Tanya. Could you please let Marshall Spencer know I'm here?" she asked, smiling up at the woman, whose eyes slid to me.
I did what any pissed off man that had gotten his ass handed to him thirty seconds prior and who apparently had a fucking death wish would do.
I flirted – with a smile, a nod of my head, and a lean on the counter, like I was at a bar.
Tanya flushed a deep red, picking up the phone. She spoke quickly and quietly to someone on the other end, giving me a flickering glance before speaking to Bella.
"He said to go on back, Bella," Tanya told her, hanging up the receiver.
"Great," Bella said, looking to me. "I'll be right back."
"Sure," I said with a smile at Tanya. "I'm sure I'm in good hands until you get back..."
She snorted, rolling her eyes and giving me a disgusted look. Suddenly, I felt like a real jerk. "I'm sure," she mumbled, moving through a door on the side.
"Tanya," the girl behind the counter purred, holding out her hand.
"Edward," I muttered, not sure now what I'd been thinking, but I shook her hand anyway because it wasn't Tanya's fault that I was a selfish bastard that couldn't figure out why the little brunette that had just disappeared through the side door was making me crazy.
I smiled politely, taking a step back from the counter. "I'm just gonna wait...over here," I sputtered, pointing to a cluster of chairs by the wall of windows overlooking Seattle.
"Sure thing," Tanya chirped, smiling widely.
She was an attractive girl, but a strange feeling came over me. She wasn't Bella. She had blue eyes, not warm expressive brown ones. She had shorter blonde hair, not long dark curls. And she was tall, curvy, and even though I was sure she had a great body underneath that professional suit, she wasn't the short, spunky thing that seemed to fit like a puzzle piece next to me.
I sighed, falling down into a chair and looking out over the skyline. "Jazz and Mack, what do you see?" I asked softly into my earpiece.
"Bella's in an office, handing over the thumb drive," Jasper answered immediately. "And you have a hot fucking blonde coming up beside you..." he chuckled.
"Damn," I groaned, looking to my left.
"Coffee, Edward?" Tanya asked.
"No, thank you," I said kindly, smiling a little.
"Hot damn, Eddie," Jasper cheered in my ear, and I could hear chuckles ring in from everyone's radios, including Bella's.
"Enough!" I snapped in a hissing whisper. "Radio silence unless it's necessary."
"Sir," my team answered with a click in my ear.
I watched Tanya send a wink my way when she greeted someone else. She smiled when she answered the phones, and she walked over to me, placing a slip of paper into my hand. Her phone number.
I smiled politely, giving her a brusque nod, but gripped the slip of paper in my hand when Jasper crackled into my ear.
"That's the hottest one yet," he chuckled.
"I fucking said...radio silence," I seethed.
"Um, Edward?" I heard Makenna start nervously.
"Go ahead," I sighed, facing the window.
"There's talk that King has a mistress. He's married to a woman named Mary, but there are rumors of a woman named Victoria...Vicki... She's a red head...and I think she's inside that office. I think she's seen Bella."
"You think, or you know?" I asked, my heart now kicking into overdrive.
"I'm pretty damn certain," she answered. "I've seen pics of her..."
"Bella, get your ass out of there ASAP!" I ordered into the radio.
"She took her earpiece out, Ed," Jasper stated, "but that redhead...she's on the phone..."
"Shit. Goddammit!" I spat to myself.
I looked up at Tanya, who thankfully was busy on the phone and had missed my unusual outburst. She glanced up and smiled, but I turned back to the window. We needed to get the hell out of there.
"She's walking out now...she's walking with a guy..."
"Everyone on alert. We'll need to move when she's out. Mickey, get into position..."
"Sir," she grunted in answer.
The side door opened, and a giggling, smiling Bella walked out, followed by a young man in an impeccable suit. He was handsome, I supposed, and he was totally checking her ass out as she walked ahead of him.
"Bella, I've got some more work for you," he said, holding his hand out to shake hers, but instead of just shaking it, he lifted her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it.
What the...?
"I'm not taking anything right now, Liam," she crooned up at him, smiling sweetly. "I'm taking a sabbatical of sorts."
"You deserve it, beautiful," he said with such sickening charm that I wanted to gag. "Well, you call me when you come back, okay?" he asked, slipping a business card into her front pocket.
That was it!
"Bella, we have to go, sweetheart," I whispered in her ear, stepping up behind her. "We have to meet your parents for lunch, baby."
Her head spun like it was on a swivel, and I knew I'd pay for that act of testosterone-ism, but I needed her out of that fucking building. Like thirty seconds ago.
"Ed," Emmett growled in my earpiece. "You've got two in the elevator...armed heavily. They're carrying in a shoulder harness. Take the stairs. Garage, not the front door, because you've got two on the street just like them."
"We have to go," I urged, giving her waist a squeeze. "Now. Or we won't make that reservation."
Bella's eyes grew wide, and she nodded, turning back to Liam. "He's so right," she chuckled nervously, taking my hand. "Liam, I'll be in touch when we're back in my office."
"Sure thing, sweetness," he crooned but gave me a wary glance, holding out his hand. "Liam Cornell."
"Edward Masen," I grunted my not-so-real name, taking his hand in the most Neanderthal of fashions, smiling when he flinched.
"Let's go," I said to Bella, turning her away.
"Edward," Tanya called from the reception counter, and I looked up at her. "Call me."
"Dear Lord," Bella snorted, shaking her head. "Talk about vacuous."
"Enough, sweetness," I growled, taking her elbow and leading her out of the office doors and into the corridor. "You've been spotted."
"Oh, shit, by whom?" she gasped, diving into the stairway when I opened the door.
"King's lover," I told her. "The redhead in there. Go...all the way to the garage," I commanded. "Em spotted two armed men heading up the elevators."
We threw ourselves into running down each flight, and we both came to a standstill when we heard a door slam above us.
"Why'd you take your earpiece out?" I snapped, looking up the stairs and then back down to her.
"I couldn't hear Marshall telling me about the case, Edward. I'm sorry," she panted from our trek down the first five floors, looking up at me.
"Well, maybe if you weren't flirting with every man in there..." I snapped, knowing that was wrong but pushing her to keep going when we heard another door slam above us. "Just...go!"
"Fuck you, Edward," she snapped, turning the corner. "Make sure you tell Tanya hello from me when you call her."
"I'm not calling her," I said in shock but grimaced when Bella's hand grabbed my wrist, pulling our hands up between us. Tanya's slip of paper was still crushed in my grip.
"I heard Jasper," she snorted, rolling her eyes.
I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take that look of disgust when I didn't deserve it. I pushed her against the wall, panting above her. "Really? Do you want to go there, Isabella?" I sneered, reaching into the pocket that Liam had so kindly tucked his business card in.
Bella gasped when my hand reached inside of her pocket, and I pulled out the card and held it between our faces.
"He gives me work," she whispered, but it didn't quite sound convincing to me. "He uses Gravity for divorce cases..."
"Try again," I growled low, stepping closer. "You're a single girl now. Jake's gone..."
"No," she groaned, shaking her head. "It's not like that, Edward. Sometimes, a woman has to flirt in the business world. Unlike you, where you'd take a second look at anything that smiles your way."
Bella's eyes were dark with her temper, and it didn't help that I was in her face. Her fists were balled up at her sides.
I held up Tanya's phone number, shredding it into a dozen pieces and letting them flutter to the stairwell floor. "I wasn't going to call her."
"I don't care," Bella growled, trying to push past me, but I held firm. "Do what you want."
What I wanted was to kiss Bella senseless. What I wanted was to run the fuck away from her as quickly as possible. What I wanted was to breathe in that sweet and floral scent that wafted in through my bedroom window at the beach house. There was a pull that I was feeling, and it wasn't deniable any more. I wanted her.
"You think you have me figured out, Bella. You don't," I whispered, stepping even closer to her so that our bodies were flush. "If you're the jealous one, just say it," I purred, leaning even closer so that my nose grazed across her cheek.
Bella's breathing sped up, but she didn't move. "I'm not jealous," she said, but it sounded awfully weak to me.
"Liar," I growled, pulling back to look her in the eyes, but she was staring at the wall behind me. "I'll admit that I've had my needs, and they've been taken care of, but I wasn't going to call Tanya..."
"I so don't fucking care," Bella snapped, but she stood her ground, looking up at me. "What's the matter? Tall, busty, blondes aren't your type, pretty boy?"
"Actually, they aren't," I seethed, slamming my palms against the wall on either side of her head. "You drive me crazy, Bella. Why can't you do what you're told? Why can't you follow the plan?"
"I couldn't hear the lawyer. It wasn't out of malice...and I don't answer to you. No one controls me," she growled, placing her hands against my chest, but I wouldn't budge.
"While I'm responsible for your safety, you do fucking answer to me. Hell, you could use some control," I told her with a voice that sounded husky and needy, and I hated it. "Your buddy Liam is more than willing to try. Loved your ass, he did – stared at it the whole time you walked in front of him."
"I can't help it if they look," she hissed, pushing at me. "Tell me, does it make you feel like a god when you get ogled, Edward? Does it build your ego when you've got Mickey jealous, Makenna staring, and Tanya licking her chops for just a taste of you?"
I closed my eyes and shook my head because I just hadn't seen any of that shit. How had she?
"How does your head fit through the door, GI Joe?" Bella asked, pushing at me, but I wasn't moving.
"Shut up," I barked, shaking my head at her. "You don't know anything..."
"Make me, or let's go, Edward," she challenged, and I was done.
I was done because she was fucking panting and pissed off. She was gorgeous and practically shocking me with her hands on my chest. She was shaking and breathless, and she smelled like fucking heaven – like flowers and sugar and all fucking warm, sexy girl.
My mouth dove for hers, and it was angry and commanding, but as soon as I felt her relax into the kiss, I knew it was all over. I'd thought that pulling her out of that fucking dungeon had ruined me, but actually tasting her was a different level of torture altogether. She slipped her hands up my chest, gripping my hair hard, and I couldn't stop the groan that rumbled through my body.
My own hands, which were completely out of my control, pushed off the wall and grabbed her. One shot to her waist, pulling her hips flush to mine, and the other moved to the base of her neck, turning her head to finally let me slide my tongue in.
A whimper gushed against my cheek out of Bella, and she grasped my hair harder. I found myself leaning into her, pressing her into the wall of that stairwell, completely and stupidly oblivious that we should be getting our asses out of that goddamn building.
I massaged her tongue with mine, knowing I was most likely going to regret this action, but I couldn't stop myself. She was so fucking frustrating and beautiful and wild, and I wanted to tame her, but I was slipping ever-so-much more away from what was right and falling right into what I wanted. And her body fit against mine so perfectly that I was about to lose my mind completely.
The door on the level above us slammed, and we both jumped. I took two quick steps away from her, running a hand through my hair nervously.
"Feel better?" she whispered, diving for the stairs quickly.
"Shut you up, didn't it?" I snarked back, shaking my head to clear it.
"Fuck you, Edward," she spit out, taking the next level down.
"You wish, sweetness," I growled, rolling my eyes.
This shit had gotten way the fuck out of hand. And I only had myself to blame. Bella made my brain stop working, made my only focus zoom in on her and her only. Maybe it was saving her from that room, but I wasn't so sure about that. In fact, I wasn't sure about anything anymore.
We reached the first floor, and I stopped Bella from going out into the lobby.
"Don't; we've got company on the street," I whispered, pointing to another door that led out into the parking garage. "Emmett's covering us in here," I panted, opening the door and hitting the button on my radio. "Em, where?"
"Straight out. Watch your back," he stated, and Bella, who had now finally placed her earpiece back into her ear, nodded.
The garage, despite the fact that it was in the middle of the afternoon, was dark due to its being underground. I tapped Bella on the shoulder, whispering, "Weapons out, Bella."
She nodded, reached to the small of her back, and took out her nine mil at the same time I pulled my Glock out.
"Ed, I'm stuck at an accident. I'm at the garage entrance," Mickey checked in.
"Stay there," I told her, "and we'll come to you. Got me?"
"Ten-four," she replied, sounding frustrated as hell.
Up ahead, two shadows crossed in front of us, and I pulled Bella behind a minivan.
"Twelve o'clock, I know," she panted, leaning against the van and flipping the safety off on her gun. She looked up at me, her eyes flickering toward the opposite row of cars. "I've got the front; you got my back?"
"Yeah, definitely," I answered, tugging her sleeve before she could shoot across the row. "I'm sorry..."
"Later," she snorted, rolling her eyes. "You can defend your barbaric behavior once we get out of here."
"Right," I huffed, nodding. I looked through the windows of the minivan, seeing shadows moving again. "Up and at two o'clock, Bella."
She nodded, took a deep breath, and whispered, "Ready...go."
We ran across the aisle, diving behind an SUV when shots pinged off the concrete floor near us.
"Shit," she growled, looking through the window. "Where's Emmett?"
"Coming to you," he growled, and I could hear him running. "I'm on the level below you guys."
"Ed," Jasper said in our ears, "if you can lead them up a level, I've got a shot on the south side of the garage. It's a separate building. And that's on your way up to the exit."
"I'm at the exit, Ed," Mickey called out.
"Good. Everyone, stand by for my command. Em, hurry your ass up here!" I growled, turning to Bella. "Take that wall right there," I told her, pointing to the space between car bumpers and the wall of the outside of the garage. "Look," I said, pulling her enough that she could just barely see, "it leads to the stairs for the next level...the ground level. Got me?"
"Yeah," she said, nodding, and locked her arms before taking off in the direction that I showed her.
I followed her watching her back. We got about halfway to the stairs before shots rang out again.
Bella turned, aimed, and shot, a grunt echoing through the cement structure. A perfect fucking shot, she was.
"Nice," I praised, turning around and firing at a goon coming up behind us. He fell to a heap beside a red car. "Go, go, go," I urged, pushing her along.
She slammed into the door to the stairs, yanking it open and diving inside, tugging me with her as shots ricocheted off the metal door's surface with a pinging sound.
"Fuck, that was close," she breathed, looking up at me. "You must really want that pie," she said with a slight smile.
"I do." I snorted, helping her up and ushering her up the steps. "You have no idea," I whispered to her.
"Shameless," she sighed, taking two steps at a time at a run. "You're earning it, I suppose," she grunted, finally reaching the next door. She paused for just a second, turning her head slightly my way with her hand on the knob. "Ready?"
"Jasper, we're at the next level. Any movement?"
"Yuppers, Ed. You got three working their way to you. They just got out of a sedan at the exit."
"Em?" I growled.
"I'm cleaning up what you left on the last level," he grunted, and we both flinched at the sound of gunshots fired.
"Watch it, Em," I told him, giving Bella the go-ahead nod. "Go, Bella."
She took a deep breath, creaking the door open to peek out. "Jasper's right. There are three. Scattering on the left and right and...left again."
"Take the two on the left. I'll take the right and your back," I told her, and we were out of the door like a shot, guns raised.
It was amazing to me that King's men, or anyone connected to organized crime, for that matter, could move in suits. I found them to be restrictive and uncomfortable, but hell, what did I know?
I shot at the guy on the right, pivoting once we made it to an open air window.
"I've got you in sight, Ed," Jasper called over the radio. "Move to the east...the goon in front of you will step out."
"Go, Bella," I urged her, but she was already on it.
Sure enough, a guy in a gray suit stepped from behind a truck, but Jasper's shot pierced his head, shattering it everywhere.
"Thanks, Jasper," Bella and I sighed together.
Bella took the opportunity to haul ass up the aisle, and I could see that her goal was the daylight at the end. I followed her, keeping watch for the last guy, but a call over the radio from Jasper told me he'd saved our asses.
Bella and I spun to see another man collapse to the ground, his head practically gone.
"That's it," I heard Jasper say, "so get the fuck outta there!"
"On it," I said, grabbing Bella's arm.
We bolted out onto the street, catching sight of my father's BMW where the back door was already swinging open for us.
Bella dove into the car, and I practically fell in on top of her. "Go, Mick, go!"
"You guys okay?" Mickey asked, peeling out of her spot and taking off into downtown Seattle.
"Yeah," we both sighed, situating ourselves correctly in our seats.
"Everyone...check in," I breathed into the radio.
"Leaving our perch now," Jasper grunted. "See you at the landing sight."
"Yup. Alice?" I called out.
"You need to keep going. You've got another car accident up on the next intersection," she babbled into our ears. "And then a road block for construction on your way to the highway. Take Third Avenue, State Street...and then the highway...yes?"
"Thanks, Alice," Mickey muttered, shaking her head as she avoided the accident that Alice had mentioned first. "Girls know what the hell they're doin'," she mumbled, turning away from the traffic jam.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Alice answered back. "We're leaving Wi-Fi territory."
"Emmett?" I growled.
"I'm out of the garage, no one on my tail. See you at the nest."
"Good. Radios off as of now!" I snapped, tugging the damn ear piece out of my ear and throwing it to the floor. There was a part of me that wanted to crush it under my foot, but I knew Emmett would have my ass for breaking equipment.
Bella did the same, her head falling back to the headrest.
"Hey," I said, and she turned her head my way. "Well done."
She nodded, still breathing heavily.
"And by the way," I said with a smirk. "GI Joe...he's Army. I'm Air Force..."
"Shut. Up!" she snapped, rolling her eyes, but I could see the smile on her face. "I still don't see how your head fits through normal doors, ass."
I laughed, shaking my head as I looked out the window. Even after my horrid behavior, she was still teasing, so I followed her lead.
"Mickey, we'll need to make a stop," I said, looking over at Bella. "Bella has some cooking to do tonight..."
Bella's laugh echoed through the car, but she just turned her head to the window.
As I looked over at her, I thought about the kiss. I shouldn't have done that. At least, not in that way. I'm pretty sure my punishment was far from over.
~oOo~
BELLA
"Where are we?" I jerked awake, yawning when the car came to a stop.
"Technically, it's called Trinity," Edward answered softly. "Welcome to Glacier Peak Wilderness."
"So we went from the ocean to the mountains," I mumbled, rubbing my face before opening the car door. "What's next? The jungle?" I joked, standing up out of the car and stretching.
"Maybe," Edward chuckled, shrugging one shoulder. "This is my dad's place, though," he said, jerking his chin toward the house.
"Wow," I gasped softly, looking up at the most gorgeous mountain cabin I'd ever seen. "That's so pretty..."
It peaked in the middle, with an A-framed roof. The front part of the house was open, with large glass windows and a deck wrapped around the whole way. It sat against a backdrop of green-covered mountains, and the lawn looked amazing, like a natural meadow with wild flowers clustering here and there.
"Yeah, we used to stay here sometimes when I was really young," he muttered, a dark look crossing his face. "My mother would bring me here in the summer when my father was away. He'd meet us if he had leave."
I nodded, knowing that his mother was a touchy subject.
"Not bad, pretty boy," Mickey snorted, popping the trunk of the car so we could get our bags out. "Your mom had good taste."
"She did," he said, but his voice had taken on a cold tenor, almost menacing, and I wondered if he saw her jealousy yet because I could.
She stepped between us when we went to get our bags out and stayed between us as we made our way up to the house. It wasn't that I blamed her because it was obvious that Edward and his team were close friends. I tried to see her side, and I could imagine she hero-worshipped him. He was strong, brave, smart – never backing down from danger. He was confident and so very handsome that he was almost pretty. Yeah, I got it.
"My mother hated camping," I snorted, looking around the back of the house and catching a glimpse of what looked like a lake, "even if it was a cabin. She required people close by. Civilization, she called it."
Edward chuckled, looking over at me, but we all turned when we heard Esme's voice.
"Thank God, you're all safe," she gushed, rushing through the front door and wrapping me in a hug, followed by Edward, and even a surprised Mickey. "You have no idea how bad the news made downtown Seattle sound," she huffed, rolling her eyes but cupping my face again. "Is it done?"
"They have their pictures," I sighed, shrugging. "King found us there."
"I heard," she said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and guiding me inside the house. "Ben called, said that they made it look like a drug thing gone wrong," she muttered, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. "They reported five people shot dead..."
"I imagine they did," Edward grumbled. "When assholes shoot at me, I have a tendency to shoot back, though I hardly had to because Bella is a damn good shot."
I chuckled, smiling over at him, but it faltered when he shot me a wink. Flashes of his mouth on mine, his hands gripping me, and his body pressing me into the wall of the stairwell flew through my mind, making my heart beat faster and my breath catch.
"Your father is on his way, Edward," Esme said, changing the subject and breaking the tension. "He said to make yourselves comfortable, that there is plenty of room for everyone, though I think we'll have to double up."
"I have my own room," Edward snorted, rolling his eyes. "I'm not bunking with anybody," he growled playfully when she smacked at him.
"Whatever, Prince Cullen," Esme yelled at him as he walked away laughing. She turned back to me and Mickey. "Come, I'll show you the rooms; you two can pick the one you want."
The front door slammed open, and five very loud, very celebratory people shuffled in, led by Emmett, who was beaming from ear to ear.
"Now that was fucking awesome!" He laughed, holding his fist out to Mickey and then me.
"No shit," Jasper chimed in with his big grin. "Nice job, Bella. It was a little sketchy there for a minute in the garage, huh?"
I snorted but nodded. "Thanks for your help, Jasper."
"Sure, no problem." He smiled, but his cheeks tinged pink, much to Alice's amusement.
"This place is beautiful," Rose whispered, looking around.
Inside the cabin was just as pretty as the outside. The plan was open, the living room sunken a bit on the left side of the room, the kitchen toward the back. The hallway jutted off to the right.
"Yup, but we have to double up this time," Mickey muttered, looking embarrassed.
"I'll bunk with you," Makenna chirped, causing Mickey's head to snap up. "Come on."
We all made our way down the hall. Emmett and Jasper found a room with two twin beds, claiming it for their own and stating that the cots at the barracks held them so twin beds would, too. Mickey and Makenna found a room with a twin bed and a pull out sofa, and they took that without shame.
"I have no shame in sleeping with you two," Rose snorted to me and Alice as we eyed the last room.
It was a pretty decent-sized room, with a large king-sized bed in the center.
"Yeah, that works for me," I sighed, tossing my bag onto the floor before falling back onto the bed. "But no spooning!"
"Damn," Alice whined, giving me a wink when I laughed. "There go my plans tonight."
"You wish, pixie. Bella is mine," Rose chuckled, falling down beside me.
Alice puttered around the room, even scoping out the bathroom before sitting between me and Rose.
I sat up, looking at the both of them.
"Was it scary today?" Alice asked.
"A little," I sighed but then shrugged. "I wasn't alone. I had you in my ears."
They both smiled and nodded, but Rose chuckled. "And you had Edward."
"I did," I said, getting off of the bed. "He's a pretty good shot. And stayed damn cool under pressure."
"Mmhm," they both hummed, and I raised an eyebrow at them.
"And Tanya?" Rose sneered because she hated that poor girl. She found her to be dumb and slutty, but I'd known Tanya for some time, and she wasn't. She was just flirty and lonely.
"What about her?" I asked, turning to my bag to find a place to put my clothes.
"You know we heard it all on the radio, Bella. We heard Jasper call her hot, heard that she gave Edward her digits..." Alice said, tilting her head at me, but I knew that look – she knew more than she was letting on.
"He's free to do what he wants," I said with a shrug, "and Tanya's pretty..."
"Except that he tore the number up," Rose said wryly, watching my reaction like a hawk.
"How did... Who told... That was in the stairwell," I growled. "How did you know that?"
"Are you forgetting my job, missy?" Alice huffed, hopping down from the bed and tugging her laptop out of her bag.
"You didn't..." I breathed, my stomach sinking.
"The way I saw it," Alice explained, making Rose chuckle softly, "you needed eyes inside that office building. It started with Emmett walking in. We wanted to make sure he was on point. Then, we needed to see all routes leading in and out of the building. It didn't take much to hack into the security system of that building, Bella," she concluded, like she was giving a fucking report.
She turned her laptop around, and there we were in the stairwell. Thankfully, there was no sound, so they had no idea what was being said between us. Edward and I were nose to nose, with fierce, angry looks on our faces. I saw as he pulled out the card Liam had piggishly tucked into my pocket. I saw Edward tear up Tanya's phone number.
I didn't have to hear the conversation to recognize when I told Edward to make me shut up because he did. Thoroughly. He kissed me stupid. He kissed me with anger and desperation, with frustration and so much heat. He kissed me with such talented lips that I could still feel their sting.
And it was all playing out right there.
I groaned, blushing, and turned away from them.
"That was one helluva kiss there, sweetpea," Rose snorted into a guffawing laugh.
I groaned again, putting my face in my hands. "Please erase that," I begged, but the newly-single, and now-newly-kissed girl inside of me threw a tantrum at the thought of losing that sight.
"Not a chance," Alice giggled. "What does that mean?"
"It means..." I huffed, shaking my head. "It means...fuck, I don't know..."
"Damn, her brain is still kiss-scrambled," Rose chuckled. "Relax, Bells. We're only teasing. Was it at least a good kiss?"
"Oh ho," I groaned, giving them a pleading look. "You have no idea..."
They cheered, giving each other a fist bump and falling back onto the bed in a heap. "I'm glad this amuses you two," I sighed, falling onto the edge of the bed.
"What's wrong?" Alice asked, her face serious as she wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. "You aren't happy?"
"Happy?" I scoffed, shrugging. "You didn't hear the shit that surrounded that kiss," I started, looking down at my hands. "That kiss was adrenaline, jealousy, and just...anger." I turned to look at them, and they were both listening intently, completely serious. "We fight, we argue, but there are moments...really good moments, when he's sweet. But sometimes, I want to ring his neck," I growled, my hands curling into claws.
"That ought to make for fabulous sex, Bells," Rose noted, a wry smile playing on her face.
"You sound like Mack. Do you want a poster of him on your wall, too?" I teased.
She laughed, shoving my shoulder a bit. "No way...but one of Emmett on the other hand..."
I grinned at her. "Next, Alice will say Jasper..."
Alice looked away, shrugging nonchalantly. "No poster. Hell, I want the real thing."
Rose and I exchanged a grin, but we all looked up when Esme called us for dinner.
Dinner was loud and happy and served outside on the deck overlooking a small but very beautiful lake, but I stayed quiet. Carlisle told me that he was separated from my father and Jake because even he wasn't allowed to know where they were going. Jasper and Emmett were excited that everyone had come out of the office building alive.
Makenna still hadn't wound down from being on the roof with Jasper because apparently, he'd talked her through the whole thing, and Edward had even praised her for recognizing Vicki, King's girlfriend. If she was crushing on Edward before, she was over the moon for him now.
Mickey wanted to know all about Tanya, of course, to which Edward said nothing, giving me an uncomfortable look. She pestered him so badly that he finally barked, "Enough!"
Carlisle was glad that the mission was done, that we'd all come back safely. He said to treat the cabin like home because we didn't know how long we'd be there.
Emmett and Jasper wanted a fire, so the two of them built one just off the deck on the shore of the lake, with everyone joining them but me. I could hear them laughing, my girls flirting with the guys shamelessly, but I didn't feel like joining in.
I walked into the kitchen, looking up to see Esme wiping down the counters.
She smiled, opened the fridge, and held out a beer to me. "Want one?"
"Hell, yes," I sighed, cracking it open and taking a long draw on it.
"You aren't...celebrating?" she asked with a smirk, pointing her beer toward the lake.
"I killed two men today," I growled, "so no. I'm not feeling that festive."
"And the fact that there's...something different between you and Edward...I suppose you don't want to talk about that," she mused, always the observant one.
"No, I don't," I growled, frowning down at the bottle in my hands as I started to peel the label. "But I owe the jerk a freakin' apple pie," I snorted, shaking my head.
"Want some help?" she asked, her face lighting up. "You could teach me..."
"Yeah," I said with a growing grin. "That'd be great. We'll just prep them for tomorrow because there are a lot of steps. Okay?"
"Of course," she agreed with a snicker, "because anything that good is worth the wait, right?"
My head shot up to look at her, and I saw that she knew. She knew something had changed, but she didn't say it out loud. I don't know how she knew because my girls would never say anything unless I gave permission.
"Right," I told her with a slight nod. "I guess."
As if fate had it out for me, the back door opened, and in walked Edward. His eyes locked with mine immediately, a small, tentative smile curling the corners of his mouth.
"You're not coming out?" he asked, leaning on the counter.
"No," I smirked, taking a sip of my beer. "I have pies to get ready for tomorrow."
He grinned and nodded, looking delicious. He was dressed in jeans and a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
"That's right, you do," he chuckled, raising an eyebrow at me.
Esme snorted, grabbing another beer and handing it to him. "Bella was just about to teach me how to make it. Perhaps you can join us, Edward..."
My head swiveled to face her, but she didn't even flinch, the wicked woman. Edward did. I watched in amazement as the cocky, obnoxious, Tanya-flirting, command-barking, moody man melted away, and the sweet, stuttering boy emerged, causing my heart to skip a beat.
"Really? Y-You'll teach us?" he asked, his eyes now a sweet evergreen.
"Yeah, I'll teach you," I sighed with a smile because I couldn't help it when his face relaxed and my favorite crooked grin crossed his handsome face.
"Excellent!" he gushed, rubbing his hands together and walking around to the other side of the counter.
I chuckled at his excitement, taking another sip of my beer before joining them. Esme beamed, reaching into the fridge for all the ingredients and setting them on the counter.
I looked over everything, making sure it was all there, and looked up at him. He was so very cute – not sexy, not lethally hot, not commanding...just very fucking cute – waiting for my next word, and I wondered if that Edward could come out more often, because if he did, then I was done for. The hot, sexy, commanding thing that he usually was drove my hormones crazy, but the one waiting patiently for me to teach him how to make apple pie was pulling me to him just as much.
I snorted, nodded, and took a deep breath, my next words meaning more than just that moment. "Okay, let's get to work."
A/N... Okay...so it's getting hot in the kitchen, yeah? Edward just kinda...snapped. The mission went down a little ugly, but the job got done. Everyone worked well together...well, except the two hot-heads. LOL
But...I need to say this again... Bella isn't just all of a sudden better. She's doing okay, but there will be ups and downs. This...was an up. Are you getting me? I hope so because there will be a touch of a roller coaster-type feeling for a little while.
And I love this Esme. She's a sharp shit, you know? LOL
Coming up, we'll see the repercussions of that hot as hell kiss... We'll see how our hot-headed couple deals with it. And they get settled in to a new safe house. We'll hear from the always-wise Jasper...and some news comes in...
Thanks to JenRar for always working quickly. I love ya for it!
Okay, so since I'm posting way earlier than I expected...my internet being as whacky as it has been lately...then REVIEW for me! I want to hear it all...even the "keep it coming" and the "hurry the hell up!" LOL Or...you can review because Thursday is my BIRTHDAY! :) I'll take reviews as my present! So, let me know what you're thinking with this one. I will post pretty soon...most likely Sat or Sun... Until then, later...