A/N: I am LOVING LOVING LOVING these reviews, alerts, and favorites. You guys rock! All those wonderful comments (and the other critically constructive ones) has pushed me to update. Also, I put a lot of Edward/Bella intimacy, because frankly this story needed some.

I wanted to begin with a little but of background and fellow characters before them just plain ol' jumping into bed. And this issssssssss the Forties we're talking about!

Yep, somewhere in chapter three I said it was the Twenties. Changing that fact right now. It's the Forties now, after World War II. Wedding time in three chapters! Count them down : ).

Bella POV-

He was dangerous, I knew that. Our relationship was taboo, because even if I was forced into this by two careless parents, I found that I was enjoying my way. Edward sat across from me at the long, cedar wood table I had brought in from New York last week. He hardly noted the new changes done to the country home, but I knew he noticed everything. His eyes, those pensive green-to-brown opals, flicked over everything in his way; sometimes, they had a way of looking right through you, deciding what of you actually mattered. Sometimes I assumed his eyes cared not for anything of mine. I cleared my throat to clear my mind of those scattered thoughts. "You look divine tonight, Isabella." Edward spoke from across the room, but his voice seemed to be right there against my ear.

I blushed, unfolded my napkin from my lap and made a flurry of it, as I was taught to do instead of fidgeting. Under a fine man's gaze, a lady had to be prepared to not make a fool of herself. Which I had already done numerous of times in front of him. "Thank you, Edward." I sent him a full-lipped smile, not caring how girlish it made me feel. The quarter sized pearls on my ears, along with the under curled style of my shoulder length brown hair overdid the evening… but then again, in the world of the Cullencianos, there was no such thing as overdone. Their houses had to be big, their cars had to be of expensive making, and their clothes had to be loud and attention-grabbing. The silk gown of navy blue I wore was picked out by Alice herself, whom promised this dress would win Edward over in any quarrel we could ever have. The empire waist made sitting down as uncomfortable as visiting the powder room in the company of a man, but the sweetheart cut that showed just enough to keep Edward's attention at the hemline (so wateringly desperate to somehow see more) and that was glory. To know I could keep a man's eye… oh, that was prideful.

But I remembered, pride was a sin in God's eye. Everything about Edward sin, so I knew I would not be able to avoid the limbo much longer. The more time I shared with him, the more in limbo I would forever be. "This Quail is delicious, also; I appreciate your taste for tonight's supper." I found that I most loved his accent- among other wonderful attributes he possessed. "Did I ever tell you my Godfather was the first to take me hunting for game?" I shook my head, looking up at him for to go on. "My godfather lives in Sicily, where my father is from. My mom is from central Italy, a small town close to Rome." Why was he telling me all this? The last time he spilled his guts, I got was guilted into telling Alice her fiancé was dead! "My godfather owned a summer home in Oxford, France; he lost in wife to the Spanish Influenza a few years before I was born. I was always told she was as soft as a willow's breeze, but as sharp as a nail upon a board- I was selfish in the way that I was near glad she was dead. It meant I would never share my Uncle Stefano, ever." He looked down at his plate, than up at me. "Would your God see that as an unforgivable sin?"

I coughed abruptly, never having felt an actual intense moment before then. "No." I said at last, praying that He could hear me send a prayer for my future husband, that this was the worst he had ever done in his life- and ever would do. "God Almighty, he shall forgive every sin, as long as you ask his permission in your dying moment."

"And if I were to die abruptly? Would he forgive me, even if I hadn't shouted a plea before I croaked?" It made me nervous to think of Edward as dead. He became my world, and my everything so quickly- it was as if I knew of no other thing than him. Edward was my father, my guardian, my protector, and my friend. If death became him… well, I wouldn't know what do in existence.

I clutched my chest. "If forgiveness and acceptance is in your heart, it will be in His." I swallowed hard and shoved another piece of meat in my mouth. I chewed softly and looked back up at him. "Tell me more about your godfather?"

Edward sat back in his chair and sipped lazily from his Burgundy. "Uncle Stefano is a wise businessman, but my father never allowed me to listen too much of his ventures. My papa always said that Uncle Stefano's morale and heart was lacking, and it wasn't until I grew more mature and older that I understood him. "Stefano believes in two things- money and laughter. Love, faith, and the long-run are never on his mind. He had no wife to give his love to, no God to lay his faith in, and no real reason to think of the long-run. Stefano and my papa began at the bottom of the food chain together in Sicily. They worked their way up, created their own businesses, and digressed."

I eyed him curiously, wondering how much he would let me get away with. "By the "food chain", you mean mafia?"

Edward nodded, finishing his glass at once. "Yes, Isabella, that is what I meant. My papa is focused on the aspects that my godfather is not, and so they never crossed paths of rivalry. They were capable of maintaining a friendship that had lasted decades. I suppose I could have met a friend had I started at the bottom like my father. When you're born at the top and have spent years looking down, every face becomes the same. Every voice begins to sound alike, and soon you are not able to tell a liar a part from a lover. You learn to trust no one, and you're careful as to whom you speak to. Especially carefully around the ones who call you friend." The spite that came from his voice sent my scattered mind into overdrive as I prayed to my Father again, this time asking him to forgive Edward for his ignorance of love and kindness. I begged God to overlook Edward's black heart this time.

"But then, I saw you. Your father's Inaugural ball at Carnegie Piazza; you were so frail, so untouchable in your soft, midnight blue gown- just as you are right now, in front of me." My cheeks turned beet red, and I had no fancy flutter of cotton napkin to deter the shock and certain embarrassment of his comment. That was about four years ago, when I first came to Chicago with my dad. I hadn't known his name, or his family's reputation by then. "There was a moment where you eating your smoked salmon, and I picking at my bland meal, when you looked up and caught my eyes staring at you." I flushed; why didn't I remember that? People stared at me sometimes- but mostly because they couldn't believe I hadn't received my mother's looks, and my father's stern attitude. Most men never even gave me a second glance. So why couldn't I remember the most beautiful man staring at me? "Your wonderful, brown doe eyes gave me two seconds of pure euphoria. You looked away, and I knew you hadn't actually made eye contact with me, else you have blushed a color too bright for pink." I chuckled at his observation.

"You were fourteen, and I was almost twenty. The prime ages of a man and a woman to marry, yes, but for some inexplicable reason I wanted to watch you blossom- because I knew you weren't quite developed yet, even if you looked more beautiful than Athena, herself." I shook my head, keeping eye contact with the witty, handsome man before me. This was beginning to be too fairy tale for me. This couldn't be anything near reality! "I was in attendance to every ballet performance, to every poetry recital you were part of, and to your graduation few months ago." I gasped at the revelation he made. Who did he think he was? That was my life he was trying to wedge himself in! He had the bravery to murder and distribute, but not the courage to speak to me? "There was an addictive part of you that I couldn't let go of."

"You were… obsessed." I stated shakily, holding my wineglass by the stem and staring down at the contents to avert my attention. "Sweetly obsessed." I forced a chuckle from my mouth.

"But an obsession, no matter how sweet, is never right. And so, I wanted to apologize if you felt any unease by the hands of my evil inner-monster. I only wanted to be honest with you." He cleared his throat and sat up in his seat once more.

I smiled, tilting my head at a weird angle. "I appreciate your approach to honesty. But, please, if you wish to stare or follow me from here on, allow me to be aware of it? I don't mind your presence as much as I do your proxy." I winked playfully, causing a great smirk to envelope his face. "I have learned to, in this life, accept what comes to me. It allows for an easier, hatred-less way of living."

He stared down at me for a long moment, probably attempting to see what was truth and what was lie in my words. I believed everything I said to him; it was eerie that he followed and was present through many different times in my life, but it was perhaps better than being with a complete stranger. At least we had some common ground! But that was voided by the calm exterior he exerted when he rose and beckoned me with one hand. "Come. I want to show you something." I stood and followed him as he pleased, my hand somehow finding his as he led me down familiar hallways to our destination. So far, I had seen everything. The gardens, the kitchens, his Master bedroom, the library, and even the second and third Crystal ballrooms on the upper floors. But as we made a quick left to the East wing, I suddenly became lost.

I never ventured past the library on the East Wing, mostly because the creaky steps frightened me more than I would ever admit. Once, while I left the library one late evening, I felt a pair of eyes following my every move as I walked past a portrait of Edward and a business associate, Don Humphrey. I stilled in my voyage and looked around; Edward was gone on a month trip to London for business, and I was left to myself with the house help and Alice in a spare bedroom on the second floor. I shook my head; since when was I a believer of thing that bump in the night? Or was it some lucid intruder that somehow got past the Estate's gates and around the clock security? Neither of those possibilities could ever be. So I plucked my rosary from my dress' pockets and wound tightly in my hand. "Our Father." I closed my eyes and chanted, willing what ever ugly feeling I owned to release it of me. After a quiet moment, I felt the eerie sensation dissipate, wherein I ran all the way back to my rooms and slammed the doors shut.

We passed the library's doors and went much further than the powder room and entrance to the Second Crystal Ballroom. "Where are we going?" I inquired suddenly, a clear shudder in my voice. Our housekeeper made sure the whole house stayed warm in winters like this; Mrs. Doytore was a tight-lipped worker that kept the rest of the house in order when I wasn't there. She made sure the cooks were well and healthy, the sweepers kept the chimneys clean and safe to use, and hounded the gardeners to stay on their jobs. She was the kind of household person I knew I would never become. Edward avoided my question and kept walking, as if he had taken this path a million times before. He wasn't usually a man of mystery- most of the time, he enjoyed keeping things bland. Who was this Zorro, so suddenly? Finally, we approached a wooden door and proceeded through it not skipping a beat.

He turned on the electricity in the room, allowing light to flood the nearly empty room. I looked around, letting go of his hand and reaching out to the touch the grand piano of black and blanc, the colors that went perfectly together. I then moved to the Victorian-styled loveseat, curved delicately for two people only- allowing the third wheel the knowledge of being ousted. It like no fashionable material I knew of lately; my fingers glided along the surface, which was smooth for the most part until the soothing patterns of Egyptian threading ran along my finger pads, massaging the sensitive receptors there. "The loveseat was my great-grandmothers when she and Grandfather Cullenciano lived here. I have never found the energy or wanton to get rid of it. If it is displeasing, you are more than welcome to-"

He must have taken my bewildered look of musing for a displeasured scowl of dissatisfaction. "No." I spun on my heel and looked at him. "I believe it gives the room… color." The walls were cleanly blanc, not eggshell or milk white. There was no dust collected, so every corner was without shadow and the four corners of pillared wall were as nude and carefree as a newborn entering the world. This room, and its two eldest occupants, survived both World Wars and three generations of families. This sofa and piano deserved to be here, forever. I was caught in my musings that I didn't give the world around me notice until my ears perked at the sound of a piano string being played. I gave the piano and its master my attention, settling on the couch softly, all the while staring at Edward's back- watching how the tiny breeze that infiltrated the old window's seal and rushed past his thick neck, which was sprouting from his button-up, since the first few buttons were undone.

He played for a few more minutes before beckoning me to sit with him. Like a lost puppy, I came with my tail wagging hopefully. I sat still, his body heat radiating like a sauna from a hot spring. I feared that if I made one un-choreographed movement we would both topple over the bench and fall several stories down. Edward caught me by my waist and sat me in between his legs, like a little girl in a father's teaching embrace. My whole body flushed excitedly; it was moments like these that my libido begged for far more than I could handle. His head swiveled around mine, his lips pressing softly against my temple as his hands covered mine. Each of his fingers manipulated mine, and together we made sweet music, that on my own, I could have never made otherwise. We were playing "Moonlight Sonata", I vaguely became aware. The fact that I was actually semi-playing a solid song was forgotten as soon as his lips found wonderful spots on my throat. "Edward." I shuddered, a shaky tone taking my voice over.

He kept playing. As he kissed lower, just above my gown's neckline, I felt his impeccably jelled hair shag down and move against my dress and he devoured my chest. A sigh of utter bliss escaped much louder than I intended, and he ceased playing at once. He twisted my body and slammed my bottom down on the keys, emitting a few thunderous notes. "You are my sweet obsession, Isabella Cullenciano."

Half-frightened, half-aroused I stared down at him in wonder. I was so confused; all I was capable of doing was nodding and looking doe-eyed. What was I supposed to say to something like that? And he completely dropped my birth name, replacing it with his own. Our marriage and sharing of nuptials was fast approaching. Spring is my deadline. Before that time, I had to somehow fall in love with a monster that would not stop his terror onto other people until he was six feet under. Edward crushed his lips against my own, creating a shaking of my hands and body as I wound my arms around his neck and softly tugged at the hair at the nape of his neck. Sure I could be naïve and enjoy moments like these, pretending there wasn't a creepy Mafia leader underneath it all. But I knew, once this moment of ultra-Romanticism was over, I would have to look the real Edward Antonio Cullenciano dead in the eye. "Shall you promise me eternal happiness in the marriage?"

I broke away from his kiss and looked upon him, hoping to get the answer I wanted. "If you are speaking of love, then no, Isabella-" He grew dark with his words.

"No." I shook my head. "I know that love is unquestionable in our situation. But I mean happiness… happiness everyday of my cherished life with you." I held my hands in a clasp behind his head, and his hands settled on the thick waist of my dress.

"Of course, Bella." He planted a chaste kiss on my lips again. "We will be married tomorrow, if you so wish to understand how happy I am capable of making you."

I shook my head, a childish grin on my face. "I promised your mother I would wait until the spring. Esme would have my head if I didn't keep my promise." I sighed, wondering what it would be like to have never met Edward and never known any of these people. "I want to be happily married, Edward. I am tired of hating you." I admitted lowly. I needed to stop being naïve, to stop being negative, to stop being a selfish girl. I needed to grow up and truly accept my situation.

Edward nodded solemnly, his boyish smile suddenly gone. "I think it is time you spoke with Charles and Rene."

I was too shocked to speak, or to even faint in his arms. I could only blankly stare in his face.