Bella POV
None of them bothered to really pack much. "Why aren't you guys bringing anything?" Angela asked, frowning at their lack of luggage.
"We lived there," she pointed out, "all of our stuff is still there, so," Aleera said shrugging. We got first class tickets, but a problem arose the moment we got off the plane.
Aleera was guiding us out when someone walked up to us, they spoke in Greek, so we had no idea what they were saying. It was a heated discussion, but the moment the name 'Kaylee' sounded Aleera lashed out, punching him hard and knocking him to the ground. He pulled out a gun and one shot went off as they wrestled on the ground for a few seconds. Brandon caught up to us and rushed the pair, he grabbed the gun, slidding it away and Aleera hit him hard enough to knock him.
"Let's go," Connor said lifting up Aleera, who looked like she was seeing red.
"Who was that?" i muttered to Brandon, who look tense and alert.
"Nobody," he said in a clipped tone. Angela and i shared uneasy looks, before we all got into a cab.
Aleera and Connor were speaking in hushed voices, but whatever he said calmed her down. She glanced at the three of us and frowned.
"Something i need to know?" i asked hesitantly.
"That was Kaylee's brother, i'm sure you can imagine why he dislikes me," she said shrugging.
"How did he know you were here in the first place?" Ben asked, having no idea who Kaylee was but keeping up with the conversation anyways.
"Friends in strange places," was all she said.
We pulled up to a gated house, overlooking a huge cliff and we each got out. Aleera typed in a few codes, taking my hand and leading me up towards the house. The yard was full of wild flowers, colors in every hue imaginable. There were windows everywhere, and the far wall facing the cliff was nothing but a window.
"We'll take my room, Ben and Angela can have one of the guest rooms," she said loudly enough for them to hear.
"Oh my god, this house is amazing," i breathed, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into a hard kiss. She returned it, pressing my back to a wall, and bringing her hands up into my hair. We broke away, panting for breath, and she smiled at me, "thanks for bringing us here."
"I want you to understand who i am, before you see what we are as a family, that means showing you everything, Greece included," i eyed her for a moment. So there was something i still didn't know. Even after i'd looked over the police reports, but what was i missing? She still didn't even know i'd gone over those reports. But how do you tell someone something like that?
"What do you mean, before i see what you are as a family?" i asked frowning. How much more is there to tell? "What aren't you telling me?"
She just grinned at me, giving me another light kiss, "plenty."
She pulled away, taking my hand and guiding me up the staircase to the top floor. There were only two rooms up here, "the other one is Jace's, he was engaged back then."
"What happened," this was news to me, i didn't even know how old Aleera was, let alone her brothers.
"She got scared," Aleera said pausing and tilting her head thoughtfully.
"About the wedding?" i guessed.
"No," she pursed her lips, and then moved to the window, opening it and gestured for me to join her.
The view was of Santorini below us, the houses and streets all the way to the cool waters beneath us. "We own this Bella," i stared at her, confused and then followed her gaze.
"Santorini?" i ventured uneasily.
"Greece," she said in a calm even voice. "We own Greece, all of it. My family and i are very dangerous and when Jace's fiance saw just a little too much, it all got too real for her. Of course she knew that we were, for lack of a better term, gang members, she wasn't aware of how deep our power went. I believe that scared her. Because the more power you have-," i cut her off.
"The more other people want it," she nodded once.
"A lot of people had targeted her just for being close to our family, of course no one had made a move against her, it would only be a matter of time before we had a name. She broke off the engagement off, and less then two weeks later, her and her family were murderered while they were in Athens visiting more family."
"Did you find who did it?" she glanced at me quickly, and then smiled a little.
"Of course, Jace, myself and Adam went after the group. Jace tore them apart," she said, a sort of impressed look on her face. "I'd never seen him so angry before. At the time i didn't fully understand what he was feeling. Until someone blew up our home of course."
"Why are you telling me this?" i asked quietly.
"I want you to understand just how dangerous it is, being this close to us, and to me," i pursed my lips, as she gave me a hard gaze. "I wont deny that my family and i have done terrible things, and i wont ask for forgiveness for any of the crimes we've committed either. But i want you to understand what being mine, really means."
I gazed at her for a moment, stepping closer towards her. "You know, i think i've been on this side of the conversation before," i said amused, wrapping my arms around her neck, and pulling her closer. "It didnt scare me much last time either."
"Hm, i guess we'll have to work on that, wont we?" she asked amused, pressing her lips to mine.
Angela and Ben came up to knock on the door a few hours later. "What's up?" i asked, pulling the blanket up over my chest.
Ben looked a little surprised and Angela looked away, "we wanted to go out, but uh, if your busy," Ben went bright red and Aleera laughed a little.
"Yeah, just let us shower and get dressed, leave in twenty?" she asked a playful smile on her lips.
"Um, yeah okay," Angela said turning and leaving, Ben just continued to stare, her arm appeared on his arm and she pulled him away. I burst out laughing, rolling and jumping on top of Aleera, who looked just as amused.
"He's going to picture us naked every time he sees us you know," she pointed out. I grinned, giving her a chaste kiss and she wrapped her arms around me, sitting us up so that i was straddling her waist.
"Let's go shower," i said jumping up, and tugging her into the bathroom.
"I have a question, when we first met, you said you grew up in Forks, how'd you end up in Greece?" i asked, intertwining our hands as we strolled down a very busy street. It didn't go unnoticed all of the people that stared at the four of us, mostly Aleera, and then me. But she didn't seem to care, so i figured it was normal. I guess everyone recognized her.
Aleera looked surprised for a moment, and then a sort of 'deer caught in headlights' look appeared on her face. "We've lived in plenty of places, is all," she said, clearly uncomfortable. So what was she leaving out?
"Are you carrying a gun?" Angela hissed at her, stepping closer to whisper/shout at her.
She gave Angela a weird look, "why? Did you want one for yourself?"
"What?" i said confused.
"I didn't think you knew how to use one, but if you want," Aleera pulled one from under her waist band and i grabbed her arm.
"Your not giving Angela a gun!" i all but shouted. I turned to Angela and Ben, "its just dangerous around here, and she carries a gun on her everywhere out here, that's all."
"Who are you people?" Ben said wide eyed.
"Let's just say were not your average family," Aleera said unperturbed with there fear.
"Where did Brandon and Connor go?" i asked as we continued the walk, ignoring Ben and Angela's scrutiny.
"They went to make sure there wasn't another incident like this afternoon's," in other wods, they went to pay a visit to Kaylee's family.
"Where are we going?" Ben spoke up, from behind us.
"I assumed you were all hungry, were going to eat, have a drink or two," she said smiling at me, "and i want to show you something."
"What?" i asked warily.
"You'll see," was all she said.
She guided us through the streets with little effort, and i noticed more and more people were recognizing her. None of them glowered or looked angry, more respectful. The closer we got to the pier, the more people nodded at her in greeting.
We got to a small bar, and she led us in. We got a booth in the back, not even having to wait for a spot. The waiter bowed slightly, casting a weary glance from myself to Angela and Ben. He spoke something quietly to her, and she nodded once, and then responded effortlessly, and even a little amused. He gave her a relieved sigh and then left.
"What was all that about?" i mumbled confused.
She leaned towards me, whispering with a chuckle, "he thought i brought you here to have you killed or something."
I turned to her confused, "the last time i brought someone here, i sort of, shot them," she said just as quietly.
"Why?" i asked in horror.
"They insulted me," i said her a disbelieving look, "i've killed people for a lot less before," she said shrugging, and sitting back.
I frowned at her, and she gave me a small hesitant smile. "I told you i've done a lot of terrible things, most of which i prefer you not know about, considering the look on your face, but i wont deny any of them," she said carefully.
I shook my head slightly, "no, i guess, i'm still adjusting to it is all."
She gave me a small smile, and i kissed her, "it's history, it'll take a lot more then that to scare me away," i promised, and she smiled back, kissing me in response.
We were walking back up to the house hours later when something flew over head. We all looked up to see a helicopter fly above us. "That's really low," i said staring at it. It looked familiar somehow. But then again, i guess all helicopters looked the same.
I glanced over at Aleera, who just shrugged, an unreadable look in her eyes. It went over the hill, disappearing. "Do you know who that was?"
"What makes you think that?" she retorted eyebrows raised.
"Because you seem to know about everything around here," i pointed out. She just smiled, taking my hand and directed us back to the house.
Her brothers were back when we all entered the house. Brandon was having a heated discussion over the phone and Connor was playing a video game. Aleera spoke to Brandon, in a language that sounded a lot like Korean, rather then Greek, and he responded in what sounded like Egyptian. Couldn't they just speak english?
Whatever Brandon said took her by surprise and she glanced at me and then said something else i couldn't decipher.
"Come on, i want to show you something," Aleera said, gesturing towards the garage.
We got into an expensive looking foreign car, and she pulled out. "Where are we going?" i asked, a little uneasily with her fast driving.
She didn't answer, and we pulled up to an all too familiar gated house. It was the one that i'd watched blow up. The one that Kaylee had died in. Seeing the place on a video was much different from seeing the real thing. "Aleera, what are we doing here?" i asked, gut twisting.
"The funny thing about police records, is that they document every time they're opened, for how long, where, what's viewed. I know you went through the records Bella," she said quietly, i tensed, gripping the edges of the seat tightly.
"I-," i didn't know what to say. Sorry i got nosy and suspicious? I wasn't sorry though. I deserved to know more about who i was getting involved with. And now i did.
"I was suprised, at first i thought it was Charlie that had recognized me or something. But i checked the time, and it was right after i'd been called away. So i knew it was you. Even after all that you'd seen, i could not have been more surprised when you left school and threw yourself into my arms like every other time."
"You expected me to run screaming?" i asked frowning, "if that's what you thought would happen, why did you show up at all?"
"Well i wasn't under arrest, was i?" she retorted amused. "For some reason you kept what you'd learned to yourself. Regardless of my own personal fears, i needed to be sure you planned to keep this new information to yourself."
I was silent for a long time, and she got out of the car, walked towards the properpty and the gates opened up. I took a deep breath, pushing open the door of the car and followed her onto the property.
She stood right in the center, where the house had been, which was now a beautiful field. She took a deep breath, and i watched the array of emotions on her face. The sadness, and pain. "I never came back here after that night," she said quietly.
She opened her eyes, going to the edge and staring out over the waters. I felt uneasy standing here now. I took a few steps forward, onto where the house would've been. Everything was gone. Nothing but flowers and tall grass. I never would've guessed that something so horrible had happened if i had never seen the video.
"I can still remember everything so clearly from that day. She'd gone home to see her parents, and my brothers and i had gone into the city to handle an issue over money. Half way home we got word that the property had been breached. We didn't make it back in time. At first when we got home i thought 'we had made it, i wasn't too late' and then it just blew. Just like that. No punch line, no screaming, nothing. It just went up in flames."
She chuckled humorlessly, turning to me, "but that was years ago." She moved towards me, liftimg me up, and i wrapped my arms around her, mostly in surprise. Her eyes were just burning into me, trying to make me understand what she was saying, "That was years ago Bella, and for us, a few years amounts to a life time. Kaylee was a lifetime ago, do not concern yourself with ancient history."
I kissed her hard, undefined relief flooding through both of us. I wrapped my arms around her and she returned the kiss just as passionately. I suppose it said something that we were making out in a place where the last girl she'd been in love with had been blown up, but she said it herself, 'that was a lifetime ago'.
We returned home, everyone else being fast asleep and we climbed into bed, getting tangled up in each other before falling asleep ourselves.
The rest of the weekend went by uneventfully. Ben and Angela had an amazing time, as well as Aleera and i. Though every now and again, she'd get phone calls that would send her into arguements with Brandon and Connor. She refused to tell me what they were about, but once her and her brothers came to tense agreements, that was the end of it.
She brought us back home, dropping off Angela and Ben, both of whom didn't seem to know how to thank her. When she dropped me off, she leaned over the spot between us kissing me passionately, "friday?"
"Friday," i said nodding at her.