Emmett POV

"I'm going to the restroom," I announce, throwing Jasper a knowing look.

He'll do my dirty work while I'm gone. I hate having to manipulate Ed this way, but I don't have much of a choice and Jasper agrees.

I go towards the restrooms, have a quick look over my shoulder to make sure Ed's engrossed in his conversation with Jasper and then I duck down the hall to Bella's office.

She calls me in at my knock and I find her with her head in her hands on the top of her desk.

"You're doing great," I tell her softly as I take the seat opposite the desk. "Give us a minute Seth?" I ask my man who nods and slips out quietly. "You're safe," I tell her straight up.

"Doesn't mean I'm not scared," she mumbles behind her hands.

"I know," I sigh. "Jasper's talking to him now so he should invite you to the house when you come to the table with the bill."

"Why can't you just tell us both here?" she asks, lifting her face so her red rimmed eyes meet mine.

"Because I need him as clear headed as possible while we're out in public," I remind her. "I know you don't like this, the scheming, but it's safer to get him home and tell you both there. I can't risk him changing personas in public."

"Fine," she mumbles, swiping at her eyes.

"Okay then. I'll go back to the table, you get your things together and when you're ready bring us the bill and hopefully he'll do the rest," I tell her as I get to my feet.

She nods but says nothing. I understand and I don't take it personally. She's frightened and not just for herself. She's having to trust me to fix this, and to keep her safe, and she doesn't really know me very well.

Jasper gives me an almost unperceivable nod when I get back to the booth and I hope it's because he's successfully planted the idea of inviting Bella to the house.

"You want anything else?" I ask Edward.

"God no," he groans. "I'm stuffed," he chuckles, patting his stomach.

"I'll call for the bill then," I tell him, then balk. "Oh, here comes Bella. The steak was sublime," I tell her once she's standing at the head of the booth.

"Glad you enjoyed it," she smiles. "How were the ribs?" she asks Ed.

"So good," he almost purrs. "The guys will have to pour me into the car I'm so full," he chuckles.

"What about you?" she asks Jasper. "What did you think of the pork?"

"I'm with him," he chuckles, pointing at Ed. "I'm gonna waddle out of here I ate so much."

"Good to know," she giggles quite convincingly though I can hear the strain in her voice and see it on her face. "Can I bring you all a coffee?"

"Oh no," Ed groans. "I'll explode. I'll have to wait at least an hour before I put anything else in my body," he laughs. "What about you? Are you finished for the night soon? Would you like to come back to the house and have coffee with us later?"

I have to work hard to stifle any expression of relief as he asks the question and I manage it, though Bella does flick her eyes to mine. I want to tell her that I have seen and understood her distaste of the manipulation but I can't, so I stay quiet and still.

"I'd like that," she smiles. "I can leave when you guys are ready."

"Go and round up Seth then and we'll head out," I suggest and she nods and leaves the table.

It's easy to get Ed moving after that. He's eager to spend time with her and eager to get home and change into comfortable clothes after such a big meal so he's on his feet and ready to go when Bella and Seth come out from the direction of the office.

BPOV

We made the drive to Edward's house in silence. Seth understood why I was upset and he didn't offer any empty words to try and ease that pain. I was grateful.

Edward meets us at the door and right away he pulls me to him, kissing my cheek softly and welcoming me.

I return his hug, and kiss him hello in return too, but I have to work hard to keep the tension out of my expression as we move through the house.

Edward had made coffee for us, proudly announcing his accomplishment the second I was in view of the kitchen.

"Go into the living room, I'll bring the tray," he says with a nod and I eagerly comply.

I can't look him in the eye and the chance to escape without that being noticed was a heady pull.

Emmett and Jasper are already seated and Seth is just greeting them and choosing a chair for himself when I join them.

"I'll be gentle," Emmett assures me once I've taken a seat on one end of the sofa, leaving a space for Edward who comes in holding his tray with a grin.

He sets it down and doles out the mugs and then sits beside me.

"I wanted to talk to you both about something that happened while you were doing your interviews this afternoon," Emmett began cautiously, before anyone else can start any other innocuous conversation.

"Oh yes?" Edward asks, eyebrows raised.

"In the adjoining suite someone had left an envelope and letter," he says slowly. "It was addressed to you personally but I opened it," he admits.

"Alright," Edward says, drawing out the syllables.

"I don't have the original, I sent it to Alice, but I wrote down what it said," Emmett continues, pulling out a scrap of paper from his pocket. "Do you want to read it for yourself?" he offers, holding it out in front of himself.

"You read it," Edward replies, reaching between us and clasping my hand tightly.

"Alright," Emmett sighs. "You didn't take my previous warnings seriously. You've forced me to prove just how serious I am. I got into this room to leave this note so believe that I can get to Bella and I can get to you too if I want. Whenever I want to. If you don't stop seeing each other there won't be anything any of your people can do to stop me getting to you."

I gasped. I couldn't help it. The note mentioned me by name, personally. Fear flooded my system immediately.

I look to Edward who is staring at Emmett blankly.

I cover my mouth with my hand to stifle the first of my sobs but still Edward just stares, his face and eyes blank.

"What do we do?" I manage to ask when it looks like Edward isn't going to.

"Firstly I want to assure you both that you're safe here," Emmett says evenly.

He's about to say something else but Edward pulls his hand out of mine and leaps to his feet, closing the distance between himself and Emmett in one quick stride. "Give me your notes," he demands, holding his hand out.

Emmett puts the scrap of paper into his hand and sighs. "You're safe," he says again as Edward reads the note over.

"Who the hell is Bella?" Edward asks as he lowers the paper to his side.

"I am," I squeak, my voice catching in my throat.

"Ed..." Emmett begins but Edward cuts him off again.

"Who are you? Who sent you? Who are you working under? Has your cover been compromised? Whoever sent this knows your real name!" Edward barks at me.

I look to Emmett who has gotten to his feet. "That's enough!" he shouts.

Edward doesn't even startle at the sharpness of Emmett's tone. "If you've brought this to my doorstep through incompetence I'll have your clearance revoked," Edward scowls at me, ignoring the others completely. "My cover may be blown too by her ineptitude," he says, turning sharply to face both Emmett and Jasper. "Check that our encryptions have held on all electronic devices in the house," he barks. "I want this place scoured to make sure it isn't bugged and I want your full report on my desk in two hours," he bellows at me.

"Edward," Emmett says softly, stepping forward a little.

"It's James!" Edward shouts, the veins in his forehead standing out and his cheeks flushing with his anger. "How many times must I remind you of my name?" he hisses. "My mission may have been jeopardised by this, this, girl, and I want this place in lockdown until I can contact the organisation and set things straight. Do not cross me on this," he snarls at Emmett.

"Alright, alright," Emmett agrees as he puts his hands up in surrender. "Go up to your lab and let us all get to work on that."

"Good. That's better," Edward says more evenly. "I'm the senior agent here. Just remember that. I'll be in the lab."

With that he slaps the piece of paper down onto the coffee table and stalks out of the room muttering under his breath about incompetence and manservant's who don't know their place.

We all watch him go and it seems as though everyone else in the room is holding their breath too because as soon as the sound of a slammed door echoes through the house we all let out a breath in unison.

"Bella?" Emmett asks softly.

I look up at him and blink a few times to clear away the tears. "James?" I ask. It's all I'm capable of.

"He thinks he's the spy James Goodall, from the Mission films," Emmett sighs.

"I think I like Rupert better," I mumble before putting my head in my hands and letting the tears fall.

Emmett POV

I do my best to calm Bella down and get her set up in one of the guest rooms for the night. I get her fresh towels and a bottle of water, show her where she can plug in the charger for her phone and where all the dimmer switches are for the lights.

She can't meet my eyes and I don't blame her.

I know she understands now why it was so important for me to tell Ed about the letter here, rather than in her office, but I understand why she's so upset about the whole episode.

She was frightened for herself and for Edward and meeting James in all his arrogant misguided glory was never pleasant in any circumstances. So she was pretty upset and pretty exhausted by the time I convinced her to go to bed.

I'd sent Seth back to her house to pack her a bag and while she showered I called all of Sam's crew for their reports. So far we had nothing and that pissed me off.

We still had no information about the other devices we'd found in her office, car and home and now we had the letters origins to trace and it was frustrating. Very frustrating.

It didn't feel like a lie to promise her I'd keep her safe but there was a tiny, minute part of me that knew I couldn't be everywhere, every minute of every day to ensure it.

I trusted my team. I trusted Sam's crew. But I didn't know my enemy and that made me uneasy.

With everyone in the house asleep, and Ed in his 'lab', I use the quiet time to go over all the notes on everything I knew so far. It isn't much but it's a place to start.

I cross check the names on the list from the hotel of employees and guests who had had access to the same floor Ed used that day with the lists I had of people who had threatened him before, but nothing jumped out at me. Not a single name was on both lists.

I watch the security footage from the hour before his scheduled interview time and saw nothing other than the two magazine crews arriving, and then us arriving too. Without a court order one hour was all the hotel management would give me.

Alice had nothing on the letter itself. No fingerprints, no marks or anything the printer had left behind that would help identify who sent it or on what computer it had been made.

With no other way to trace its origins I take a fresh sheet of paper and write out each line of the letter separated by a dozen blank lines to give me room to make notes.

The first line, You didn't take my previous warnings seriously, upsets me more than anything else written. Even the mention of Bella's name specifically wasn't as scary as the opening line.

What previous warnings? Sure, someone had called Bella's office and warned her to stay away from 'him', but that had been fairly vague. At the time it could've meant either Edward or Seth, as they were both fairly new to being in her company.

That line now tied Edward and Bella together in the warning. The letter had been addressed to Ed personally, so the 'him' mentioned in the call couldn't be Seth any longer. It was Edward.

You've forced me to prove just how serious I am.

That could only mean one thing. Whoever was targeting my marks, plural because Bella was now tied up in whatever was going on and I had a duty of care towards her too now that she was back in Ed's life, was about to step up his or her game.

And it could be either gender. The term 'bad guy' had long since only meant males.

Having no clue who was behind the threat meant I had no clue what he or she would do to escalate it. Tightening security around both my marks was the only course I could take and it still wouldn't ensure they were totally safe. That was impossible and a bodyguard who told you otherwise was a delusional liar.

I got into this room to leave this note so believe that I can get to Bella and I can get to you too if I want. They had me there. They had gotten into the room undetected, left no trace of themselves and I didn't doubt that my marks could be gotten to. How to prevent it was my task.

When I want to was the next line and seemed superfluous. It wasn't necessary after the previous line and so I assumed it was a show of the authors ego coming to the fore.

We were working to his or her timeline already, as the threat had come from them, so the line wasn't needed.

If you don't stop seeing her there won't be anything any of your people can do to stop me.

This was the most interesting and most telling line of all.

'If you don't stop seeing her' made the threat sound like someone was equally pissed at them both because the initial call had made the threat appear to be about Bella staying away from Ed.

Therefore both my marks were the targets. Possibly for different reasons, but just as possibly for the same reason too. Whoever was making these threats wanted to hurt them both. That was now clear.

'Anything any of your people' was also telling. For years I'd been almost the only of Edward's 'people' seen with him. Whoever wrote the note knew there was more than just me guarding him. That leans towards an inside job, or someone at least close enough to know and understand the business.

Prior to Jasper joining the team there had been no specific threat made.

Prior to Bella arriving to talk to Ed, after a five year absence in his life, there had been no specific threat made.

But, prior to Bella's arrival Tanya had appeared to be the consummate professional, if a little overbearing and demanding. But since Bella's arrival she'd been vindictive, secretive and even more demanding, unreasonably so. If that was because of the re-emergence of Bella that lent itself to Tanya knowing more than she'd let on before. If it was a symptom of something else I didn't know what.

That left me with three possible suspects and a fourth, unknown entity. Jasper, Bella, Tanya and a ghost.

Movement on the monitor to my right caught my attention, but what I was seeing made no sense at all.

It was Ed, walking down the long hallway from the back of the house, coming towards the office from his 'lab'. He was still wearing jeans and the t-shirt he'd put on after dinner but now he was sporting a rather fetching black bowtie.

He was grinning widely and that made me uneasy. I hated it when he was in inventing mode.

I gather my papers and slip them into my top drawer just as he comes through the office door.

"I've cracked it!" he announces proudly.

"Cracked what? And what's with the bowtie?" I chuckle.

"Those earpieces the organisation issues us with are terrible," he announces, giving me a heads up that he still thought he was James. "I decided to try using a bowtie instead," he says, craning his neck to show me it, though I can see it plain as day.

"And you've made it work?" I ask skeptically as I pull my own earpiece and its receiver from another drawer, knowing he was going to want to test his.

"Of course I've made it work, I'm a professional," he scoffs. "Put yours on and I'll show you the superiority of this design."

"Alrighty then," I scoff, slipping the twisted coil of plastic coated wire over the shell of my ear and pushing the putty-like receiver into my ear canal. I tap it with my fingertip to power it up and then nod at him. "I'm good to go."

He tilts his head to the left and I hear an audible crackle as whatever power source he's used comes on line.

He grins, looking a little 'evil inventor-ish' and then opens his mouth to speak.

"Stand by..." is as far as he gets. Whatever is in the collar seems to shock him. Not startle him, but rather actually shocks him, like a belt of electricity directly applied to his throat.

"What the fuck did you use?" I shout, getting to my feet and rushing around to his side of my desk.

"Mistake," he manages to squeak. "Must've got a dog..." he begins and gets another belt in the throat for his trouble.

"You used a dog shock collar?" I ask, appalled. "Those things are cruel," I mutter darkly as I reach for the clasp on the back of the bowtie.

"Eeek," he squeaks as he tries to speak again and I can't help but laugh.

I pull the collar from his neck and throw it onto the desk in case it gives me a jolt too. "Niiiice," I drawl as I stare at his shocked face. "I didn't pick you for a Pekingese though."

The switch is instant, as it usually is if he's injured himself as James. He blinks once, twice and then a third time before shivering from head to toe.

"You were headed to bed," I tell him before he can ask why he's up and about at this hour.

He stares at me a second and then nods.

He's muttering all sorts of things as he makes his way back down the hall to his bedroom. Most of it incoherent as his voice is still a little high, but I can make out a few things. Ow, sore throat and crazy are mentioned and I hope with everything that I have that he'd just sleep it off now.

I watch him go into his bedroom and the door close behind him and sigh.

"Sleep it off, Edward. I need a coherent version of you back in the morning," I mumble as I lock the office door and head to my own bed.

EPOV

Fear floods my system as I open my eyes.

I'm sore, my neck and throat are aching, but its fear that wakes me, not pain.

Fear for Bella, fear for myself and fear that someone or something is coming for us.

I leap from the bed and run through my home, her name chanting through my mind. I open every door in the hall that leads away from my bedroom. If she's here, and I feel it in my bones that she is, I'll find her. I'll protect her.

Emmett's snoring. Jasper's got an arm hanging over the bed. Seth's naked ass makes me wince. Bella's snuffling in her sleep when I find her in the last of the guest rooms.

I stride to the side of the bed and shake her awake. She comes round fast, sitting bolt upright, shouting at me, begging me to tell her what's wrong.

"Someone's threatened us," I shout down at her as she wipes at her eyes. "There's a letter. A note. I don't know which. But your name is on it."

"I know," she says blearily but her voice isn't panicked enough, she's not scared enough.

"Your name was on the letter!" I roar. "The threat's real. I didn't dream it. It's real. We have to get out of here. We'll be hurt. I can't let you be hurt!" I shout, tugging on her arm until she's standing too.

"Edward!" Emmett roars as he comes barrelling into the room heading straight for me. "Take your hand off her!" he growls. I let her go immediately and he steps closer. "Go back to your room," he tells me in a low, menacing voice.

"Someone's coming for us," I shout, hoping he'll believe me.

"I know," he sighs, "just go back to your room. I'll be there in a minute."

I stare at him and wonder why he's not panicking. Why are neither of them panicking if they know I'm telling the truth? I look to Bella who's wide awake now and staring back at me. She nods her head when I raise my eyebrows in question at her and I take that to mean that I should do as Emmett has requested.

I leave the room and make my way back to my own. I use the bathroom, brush my teeth and stare at the feint red welt that rings my throat for a moment before going back into my room and pulling on some sweats and a t-shirt. I sit on the edge of my bed and wait for someone to tell me what the fuck is going on and why nobody else is afraid.

Emmett POV

"You okay?" I ask her as she flops back down on the bed.

"Yeah," she sighs, scrubbing at her face with her palms.

"At least he remembers?" I hedge with a cringe, trying to find the silver lining.

"What do we do?"

"Reassure him that I'm on it," I shrug. "There isn't anything else we can do because we don't know anything yet. Do you want to talk to him about it? Or do you want me to?"

She takes a deep breath before answering. "I can't reassure him that he's safe because I can't protect him. It'll have to come from you," she says logically.

I flick my eyes to the clock beside the bed and see that it's only five thirty in the morning and sigh. "A late night and an early morning for you, sorry."

"It's for the best that he's aware," she says, giving no thought to herself.

"I think it's time he's aware of some other things too," I say carefully as I sit on the bed beside her.

"You want to tell him about his other personalities, don't you?" she asks sadly.

"Yeah, I do," I confirm, though I don't like the idea knowing how he was going to react. "Things are happening that I can't predict or contain. If whoever is threatening you both does get near him and he's not more stable than he is now he'll get himself killed, and maybe you along with him. I can't let that happen so I have to force the issue with him now.

"You know I don't want to, not like this. And you know I don't want him hurt any more than you do, but nothing else has worked."

"I know. And I agree. I do. I just..." she trails off.

"You're afraid," I finish for her.

"Not for myself," she tells me firmly. "I'm afraid for him. What if the choices we make on his behalf right now make him worse? What if he never remembers? What if he's like this forever?"

"You love him as he is already. If he never remembers will that change?" I ask softly and grin at her sharp intake of breath.

The silence stretches out as she thinks on it. Her eyes are shining with unshed tears when they meet mine and I can see the determined jut of her chin quite clearly in the dim light. "I just want him well. If he never remembers I'll love him as he is now but if he does, well, if he does I'll help him grieve and recover and then I'll love who he becomes too."

"Did you love him before?" I ask, wondering if she'll answer seeing as it's none of my business.

"I was sixteen when I first met him," she says softly. "He was just starting out and I thought he was the hottest, sexiest thing on two legs I'd ever seen so yeah, as much as a sixteen year old can love someone I loved him."

"And later? When you were older?" I ask cautiously.

"I was too young," she shrugs. "He knew how I felt, later on, when I was at college and old enough to date properly, he knew. But he always said he was too old for me and that the whole Hollywood scene wasn't good for me."

"And then you met and married your husband?" I ask, trying to piece together a timeline in my head.

"I met Jake when I was nineteen, my first year of college," she sighs. "I thought if I went out and dated, tried to have a real relationship with someone, that Edward would see me as a woman and not a little girl."

"But he didn't?" I ask, skeptically.

"I don't know," she says quietly, bowing her head. "Daddy was killed soon after and Edward refused to see me after that."

"You know now that he didn't refuse, right?"

"I want to believe that. I want to believe that he just didn't remember me, but it's hard, Em. So hard. After spending so much time together, years really, and being so close, it's hard to believe that he doesn't remember any of it."

"He really doesn't," I assure her, knowing that the confirmation of it had to hurt all the same. "But I think it's time we get tough and try and force him to remember, for his own safety and for yours."

"I'll do whatever it takes," she says firmly.

"Let's start with a shower and coffee for you and I'll impart a little information to him and then we'll regroup. What do you think?" I ask, getting to my feet.

"I want to be with him when you tell him about James and Rupert," she says, getting to her feet too.

"Then I'll talk to him about the letter and we'll talk to him about the rest together."

"Thank you," she sighs.

EPOV

"Did I dream it?" I ask the instant Emmett comes into my bedroom.

"No, it's real," he tells me straight up.

"It was a letter? Addressed to me but it had Bella's name in it?"

"Correct."

"Someone wants to hurt her?" I ask, my gut clenching with fear.

"No, someone wants to hurt you both."

"But why?"

"That I don't know."

"We should leave. Go far away. I've got plenty of money haven't I?" I ask, desperate to get her somewhere safe if Emmett didn't know who was threatening us.

"You've got plenty of money but Ed, that won't solve anything," he tells me as he pulls the chair by the windows over by the bed. "Listen, someone is always threatening you. Someone is always watching you, waiting for a chance to get to you. But I protect you from those people. I head them off before they get close enough.

"But this threat involves Bella too and it's been made by someone who knows you both and that's a problem for me because you don't remember anyone you used to know. I can discount the people you know now by a process of elimination, but the ones you knew before I have no clue about.

"So for now we stay put here, where you're safe and Bella's safe and I have good control of the immediate environment. Both threats have been delivered to places where security is lax. No, not lax exactly. But either out of my direct control or a public place where it can't be locked down. But here I have control. If we run I run the risk of opening you both up to an environment that I don't have so much control over and that's dangerous.

"I know you're frightened and that's normal, but it's my job to worry in your stead so you need to let me do that. If it comes to the point where I need you to be worried too I'll tell you."

"I'm afraid," I admit.

"I know you are. And Bella is too, which is why you need to be strong for her and why you need to try to remember."

"How will that help?" I ask. "How will me remembering something awful that happened to me help keep her safe?"

"It will help," he insists. "Because if you remember I hope you'll return to being the real you and you'll be stronger mentally and able to think more clearly and that means that if you ever find yourself, or you and Bella find yourselves in a situation that relies on you thinking clearly you'll be able to protect her."

It makes sense to me. It's logical and it makes sense but I'm too scared of too many things to want to admit that. "I need to ask her to come to Rosalie's with me, don't I? It can't wait any more, can it?" I ask.

"No, it can't wait any longer," he agrees sadly. "There are a few more things I need to talk to you about before you see Rose on Wednesday, and some of those things I want Bella to sit in on, but yes. You need to broach the subject of your sessions with Bella today."

"Is she alright? I think I frightened her," I mumble.

"She's fine. She's very strong, Ed. She's strong and kind and she cares about you. She's going to want to go with you I think, so asking her isn't as big a deal as you think it's going to be."

"I'll go find her, apologise for waking her the way I did and then I'll ask her about the sessions. Do you promise to tell me if I need to start worrying about other things?" I ask.

"I swear it," he says firmly with a nod. "I don't want you uninformed I just need you well enough to handle the information I give you."

"I'll do whatever you need me to do to remember then," I tell him.

"Good," he says, getting to his feet and putting the chair back by the windows. "Go find her, grovel a little then we'll have some coffee and some breakfast and we'll talk a little bit before she goes off to work and you're due on the phone for those radio shows."

"I'd forgotten about those," I huff. "I hate them. The callers are always giggling fangirls and the questions they ask are always way too personal and nothing to do with the movie."

"Sucks to be so popular," he teases, cuffing me on the shoulder as he goes towards the door.

"You listen to them squeal then," I tease back.

BPOV

"One minute!" I call through the bathroom door at the knock.

I give my hair one last rub and then brush it out as best I can before hanging my towels back up and throwing all my things into the toiletries bag Seth had brought with him from my house. I step out of the steam filled room to find Edward sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Hey," I say softly as I drop the small wet pack into the overnight bag by the door.

"I'm so sorry I frightened you awake like that," he says.

"It's okay," I assure him, smiling back. "I much preferred yesterdays wake up call, but no harm done today."

He blushed! I made Edward Cullen blush!

"Yeah, well..." he trails off, rubbing at his scalp with his palm.

"Yeah, well," I echo as I go to him and stand between his parted knees. I take his hand, the trembling one in his hair, and pull it to my belly, holding it tight. "It'll be okay. We'll be okay. We're safe here and Emmett and Jasper, Seth and Sam's team too, they'll work this out."

He tugs my hand aside, though he doesn't let go of it, and leans forward so that he can rest the top of his coppery mop on my stomach. "I need to remember now, and quickly Emmett thinks," he mumbles, though I catch the words. "I'm scared to, but I want to, if it'll keep you safe from whoever is bothering us. But I need to ask you to do something with me," he whispers.

"So ask," I whisper back.

He takes a deep breath but doesn't lift his head so I can't see his eyes. "I want you to come with me to a session with Rosalie, she's my therapist. You know things I don't remember. If you talk to her about those things she might be able to help me remember them for myself. Will you come with me to my next session? Please?"

"I'll do whatever you need me to do," is my simple answer and it makes him sigh in what I hope is relief.

"Why," he asks, his words rumbling against my belly.

"Why what?" I ask, trying hard to concentrate on what was a serious topic because of the fact that I had free rein to delve my fingertips into Edward Cullen's hair.

"Why do you want to help me?" he asks and before I can reply he goes on. "I know you're going to say that we're friends, that we were friends before, but I don't think a friend would go to these lengths to help another friend.

"I don't have any friends now, except for you and Em and the other guys I suppose, but I know what friends are and what they do. I've put you in danger and I upset you over and over, so why are you so willing to do whatever I need you to do?"

His words bother me, more than I'm willing to admit, because of the way I feel about him but I have to set that aside for now. So I slip the fingers of my free hand under his chin and physically insist he looks up at me.

His eyes are puffy when he does. His hairs a mess, he's got enough luggage under his eyes to load a 747 to the brim and his bottom lip is trembling.

Whatever I was going to say will have to wait as I stare down at him. This lost, lovely man. My lost and lovely man I think as I sink to my knees before him. Still holding his chin in my fingers I lean forward a little and kiss him softly at the corner of his mouth.

I want more, I've always wanted more, but I stop at just the tiny kiss for now. I withdraw a little, setting my forehead against his.

"I grew up caring about you," I tell him in a whisper. "I grew up being around you. You always, always treated me with respect and kindness, always, no matter what I did or said or how many teenage tantrums I threw you were good to me. You listened when I spoke and talked with me when I needed advice. You never let me down," I say, trying not to cringe at the little lie. He had let me down, when daddy died he did let me down, but I know now that it wasn't ever intentional but I'm not ready to let go of the hurt it caused me. I will, but it's too soon just yet, so I tell the little lie. "I want to repay that kindness to you now because you're in need. Plus, you asked for my help," I say simply.

He pulls his hand free of mine at his side and slides that hand along my jaw and then under my ear. He leans forward and returns to me the kiss I'd given him. It's so, so soft and his lips are warm as he places it just by the side of my mouth.

"I don't think I deserve you but I want to," he whispers against my lips before kissing me just as softly as before.

His words shake me to my core, hearing him speak about me that way and about himself that way tugs at my heart in a way that Jake never had and never could.

Emmett POV

"I don't think this is the right time to talk to him about James and Rupert," she whispers to me the instant Ed's gone from the table.

"You don't?" I ask hesitantly. She'd been onboard with the idea just hours before and I had no clue what had changed since then.

"I don't," she says firmly. "He's asked me to go to his therapist with him and I think that's enough for now," she says, getting to her feet and taking our dirty breakfast dishes with her.

"I need him to remember quickly," I counter.

"Overwhelming him won't help," she argues as she scrapes the scraps into the trash. "And you don't know that what's hiding inside his head will help keep him safe from this threat."

"That's true," I concede, "But, I don't want him to remember what happened that day because it's linked to this threat. I want him to remember so he can recover and so he's more mentally stable and can protect himself if the need arises."

"You don't know that he will be, if he remembers. He might be worse than he is now."

"But he might be better," I counterclaim. "Did you see the welt around his neck?" I ask.

"How did that happen?" she asks, pausing her tidying and settling a worried expression on her face.

"When he's James he feels the need to invent things. Spy gadgets and shit like that. They never work and he almost always ends up hurting himself. Last night's effort was a bowtie with a communicator in it, like the ones we used when we were on the red carpet.

"Only he doesn't like those, or at least James doesn't. So he made his own using a bowtie and a dog's shock collar. Only god knows where he got it. I'll have to hack his laptop and see if he's set up another eBay account," I hiss, frustrated. "My point is he's getting worse. It's escalating. The number of times he's slipped into another personality in the last week is three times the number he'd slip in a month normally."

"It's because of me, isn't it?" she asks sadly, putting her palms against the counter and lowering her chin.

"Yes, it is," I say firmly, "but it's a good thing. Sort of," I tell her before she can speak. "I've tried for years to break through, to get him to either get better or worse, not knowing which one was going to do the trick and unlock his memory. You've succeeded where I've failed."

"It's hardly a success if he's getting hurt more often," she mumbles.

"He's shown no emotion, other than to get pissed at me when I thwart his inventing attempts, for almost the whole five years I've been here, Bella," I tell her softly. "Since you turned up here, since you came back into his life, he's talked more about his feelings than he has in five years. He's cried. Actually cried. Admitted things to me, expressed things to me. Good or bad I count that as a success."

"Okay," she sighs as she sets the plates into the dishwasher. "I'm just scared that giving him all the information at once will break him. And if he breaks, fully breaks," she says, pointing a spatula at me, "then there's a chance he'll never recover. Ever."

"I know," I sigh right back. "Maybe you're right. And a few days won't hurt in the scheme of things. Go to his therapy session with him and see how it goes," I shrug.

"If it goes well there might never be a need to tell him about James and Rupert, did you ever think about that?" she says with a grin.

I quirk an eyebrow at her because I hadn't. I get to my feet, grinning stupidly. "You, young lady, are a smart cookie," I chuckle.

"I aim to please," she laughs right back.

"He's all yours until seven," I tell her as I head towards the office. "He's got two morning radio interviews to give so I need him clear headed. Or close to it."

"I'll be gentle," she giggles.

EPOV

"Will I see you again today, or tonight?" I ask in a whisper as we stand by her car in my drive.

"You could come and see me at my home, if you wanted to. If Emmett says it's okay. I mean, it's nothing special, but you could..."

"I'd like that," I interrupt. Her stammering is adorable because I know she's as nervous as I am. "If it's possible, and he says it's safe, Em will bring me. What time do you finish?"

She looks down at her watch and then back up to me with a smile. "About four. I could make us dinner if you wanted to come around six?"

"You don't have to cook for me again. You made me breakfast. Twice now. And it was awesome today again," I grin.

"I like to cook and we both have to eat," she shrugs but I'm not buying the nonchalant shrug.

She wants to cook for me and she wants me to see her home.

"If Em says it's okay I'll be there at six and I'd love it if you cooked for me," I tell her lowly, so we aren't overheard by Seth who is sitting patiently in the driver's seat already.

"Good, then I'll see you at six," she says excitedly.

I step a little closer, wanting to kiss her goodbye, but still unsure where we stand or what is going on between us, but she meets me halfway and puts her hand to my chest as she leans in.

She kisses my cheek as I kiss hers and it's quick and soft but not quick enough for me to miss her little sharp intake of breath.

We step apart quickly, both still nervous, and I hold the door open for her as she slides into her seat.

I do as I did the day before and stand in the driveway and watch Seth take her away from me. I hate him again this morning.

"Ten minutes!" Emmett shouts from the front steps.

"I'm coming," I shout back, my eyes never leaving the vehicle as it goes through the gates.

To the second ten minutes later I'm in the office with a phone to my ear being interviewed by a guy called Gary Love – which can't possibly be his real name – about the Mission series.

As predicted the questions are inane, boring and pretty standard stuff. The interview takes just five minutes and the callers are squealing fangirls which makes Em laugh behind his hand as he listens in on another extension.

I'm given just ten minutes between the first and second interview so I use the bathroom, chug down some water and am sitting back at Emmett's desk ready to receive the call from the next radio station with a minute or two to spare before air time.

"This guy's name is Pete someone or other," Em tells me as he pushes the phone console closer to me. "It's a quicker interview but they'll take three more callers than the last one."

"Great," I mutter.

"You're doing great. Get this in the bag and you've got the whole rest of the day to yourself until your date," he grins.

"I don't even know if it's a date," I mumble. "She just said we both have to eat so we may as well eat together."

"It's a date," he chuckles. "Women cook dinner for men they want to date. And women invite men they want to date to their homes. So it's a date."

"I don't even know if I've ever dated anyone before," I tell him.

"I checked, way back when, there were pictures of you with a couple girls, actresses mostly, but I don't know if you were dating them or being seen with them," he tells me as the phone rings.

"Mr Cullen please," says a female voice on the other end. I tell her it's me and she gives me a twenty second countdown, then a ten, then five and then I'm on the air.

Emmett POV

The interview is like all the others he's done over the past years. Boring, repetitive questions and a sycophant for a DJ. I know he hates doing them but he's contracted so he sucks it up.

"We've gone to a traffic report. You've got one minute until we take the first caller," says the woman.

I listen to the countdown on the other extension while Ed rolls his eyes at me across the desk. I throw him a sympathetic smile.

"Welcome back to the morning rush hour show. I'm Pete and we've got Edward Cullen, start of the latest instalment of the Shadow Mission series joining us this morning. The lines have almost blown up this morning Edward, so we'll take the first call. You've got Nancy from South Whittier on the line," the announcer tells Ed.

"Hi Nancy," he says cheerily into his handset.

"Oh my god," she squeals, making Ed wince. "I can't believe I'm actually talking to you. Wait till I tell my sister!"

Pete calms her down long enough to get her to ask her question, which, as Ed predicted, is far too personal and nothing to do with the movie. Shelley is next, her question is even more invasive than Nancy's. Caller three is a dear little old lady named Marlene who would 'desperately love tickets to see the movie for her grandson Jed' and caller four is Gabby, a fourteen year old fangirl who 'wants to move to Hollywood and become famous and rich and get her boobs enhanced so she can star in Lara Croft films'.

I cringe when Ed does, sigh when he does, laugh when he does.

We aren't laughing when caller five comes on the line.

"I'm standing in her living room looking at pictures of the two of you together," the male caller claims in a low, menacing tone. "I warned you, Edward. I warned Bella too. You didn't listen so you can't stop me now."

"Hang up," I hiss to Edward, covering the handset with my hand.

He hangs up immediately and I hear Pete apologise for the dropped calls, on both ends. He's quick to recover, throwing to a song and then the female producer is back on the line.

"I have no idea who..."

"I want a recording of that call and I'm sending someone to your studio right now to collect it," I bark down the line, stopping her from going any further. "If you have tracing equipment I want my man to have access to it. His name's Sam Uley and he'll be there in twenty." I hang up and while I'm dialling Sam's number the alarm pattern on my cell phone chimes. I look down at it, realise what it is I'm seeing and curse heavily.

"What the fuck?" Ed asks the instant I pause.

"Nothing for you to worry about," I tell him straight up so he doesn't panic and switch personalities on me. "Go and make yourself a coffee, let me handle this," I tell him. His eyes are already wide and his body is shaking in fear. I cancel the call to Sam and give him my full attention first. "Listen to me," I tell him firmly, "I'll handle this. This is what I do. I protect you and I'll protect her. Go and make a coffee and go and get yourself settled in the library while I get my team moving on this. It might take me a little while but I will sort this out. Alright?"

"Yeah, alright," he mumbles as he gets to his feet.

I wait until I hear the kettle come on in the kitchen and then I redial Sam's number. "Sam, get down to the studio, the address is on the schedule. Collect tapes of the calls he took on air and if they've got tracers I want that info too. Take it to Alice. Call Jasper for the address," I wait until he says he's on it and then I hang up.

The phone on my desk rings immediately, but Ed picks that moment to stick his head around the door. He's ashen and I can see that he's fighting the switch. "Calm down, I'm on it, I swear," I tell him as calmly as I can. "Go and rest, read, watch a movie, just relax. I swear to you that you're safe here, she's safe with Seth and I'll find out who's doing this, but you need to stay put where I know you're safe and let me get things moving. Alright?" he nods but says nothing. I throw a glance towards the door and finally he nods just once and leaves the office. "What?" I bark into the phone when I snatch it back up.

"Alarm going off at Bella's, advise," Seth tells me straight up.

"Bring her here, now. Jasper's already on a job so I'll have Leah and Paul go to her house, you can join them after you've delivered your mark to me," I tell him.

"Done," he says and disconnects the call.

I dial again immediately. "Leah. Grab Paul and haul ass to Bella's residence. Secure it but don't enter it, there might be an unknown threat inside it. Seth will meet you there after brining Bella to me here. Don't leave there until you hear from me," I tell her, to which she replies that she's already moving. I dial Jasper next. He answers on the first ring. "You hear it?" I ask.

"Fucking eerie," he says by way of confirmation that he'd heard the caller and had been listening to the radio interview.

"Stay there with Alice. I'll have Sam deliver you tapes and any information he gets at the station. Do what you can with it," I tell him.

"The alarm at Bella's?" he asks. His phone would've gotten the same chime as mine and I'm pleased he can multitask.

"A teams on their way there now. Repeat what you remember was said," I ask him.

"Um, I'm standing in her house looking at photos of you both together. I warned you both. But I think he might have named them each in turn," he tells me.

"Yeah, that's what I remember too," I sigh. "Okay. Get the tapes then send me a copy via text message so I can get the actual wording right and then we'll see where we're at."

"On it, boss," he says before hanging up.

I sit back in my chair and try to clear my head so I can form a plan. I don't get far when my phones goes again. It's Seth and I have a bad, bad feeling even before I answer it.

"There's a ten feet deep press contingent outside the restaurant," he says hurriedly. "I'm taking her out through the back and we'll come at Ed's place in the zigzag pattern you used after the red carpet. ETA twenty minutes. Check your monitors, if they're here it won't be long until you've got them too," he says before disconnecting the call.

"Motherfucker!" I hiss as I swivel in my seat so I can change the picture on the monitors. "Son of a bitch," I snarl as I watch the first white van pull up to the curb on the other side of the road. Two more pull up in the time it takes me to switch images so I'm looking from the camera perched on top of the gatehouse. "You bastard," I mumble at whoever it was that had set this all into motion.

I race out into the kitchen and find Ed dutifully sipping on a mug of coffee.

"Will you swear to sign with Aro Volturi if I can get you and Bella out of here to somewhere safe for a few days until I can plan what to do about this threat?" I ask vaguely.

He stares at me a moment and I find myself hoping to any god who would listen that he was Edward and not James or Rupert right then.

"I'll sign whatever you think I should sign," he says simply.

"Pack enough clothes for a week. Throw in your cell and laptop chargers as well as the phone and laptop themselves. Take your script so you'll have something to do. Nothing else electronic!" I shout over my shoulder as I race back to the office.

Left with no other option I dial a number on my phone that makes my gut clench. In five years I'd never had to do what I was about to do and it didn't sit well with me, even if I was one hundred percent sure it was the right course to take.

"Garrett, its Emmett," I say when the call connects. "Get the services up to speed and stock me with enough food and shit for six people for at least a week. We'll arrive tonight, after midnight probably, we'll come to you first. I'll need to swap the cars once we're there, can you arrange that?"

"How many vehicles?" he asks. Garrett was good like that. I didn't have to explain myself and he understood my verbal shorthand without needing to ask questions.

"Three to swap but I'll only need two in exchange," I tell him.

"Done. See you after midnight, little brother," he chuckles.

"Tell mom I'll come by in a few days, once I've got my guests settled," I tell him with a sigh before hanging up and dialling one more time.

"Welcome to Volturi and Associates Management, this is Jane speaking, to whom may I direct your call?" a pleasant sounding woman answers.

"Emmett McCarty calling for Aro please, Jane."

"One moment Mr McCarty," she advises before I'm treated to a rousing rendition of Born in the USA done on a pan flute. "Connecting you now Mr McCarty," she tells me before I hear the tell tale click of the call being transferred.

"Emmett, so good of you to call," Aro chuckles. "Do we have a deal?"

That was Aro, straight down to business. "Edward's ready to sign but I need you to do something for him right away," I tell him straight up.

"Name it," he chuckles, "though it had better not have anything to do with drugs or prostitution."

"Nothing like that," I assure him. "He's still as clean as a whistle and I'll make sure he stays that way. The kids got someone threatening him and his girlfriend. I need to buy some time so I can make it go away but I need to stash them somewhere safe while I do it. The wolves are braying at my door, and hers, as we speak," I say, throwing a quick glance at the monitor and seeing more vans pulling up outside the gates. "Whoever is threatening them has outed them as a couple to the press by the looks of it."

"I'll do what I can though I wasn't aware he was seeing anyone," Aro replies calmly. "She had better not be some money hungry wannabe starlet you want me to represent too, Emmett. I draw the line there, friendship or no. I don't do package deals no matter how nice your man thinks her titties are."

"She's nothing like that. He's seeing Isabella Swan, the daughter of Charlie Swan," I tell him and wait for a sign that he's heard and understood. His whistled 'holy shit' is proof enough he understands the enormity of my situation. "I need you to call a press conference immediately, knowing in advance that your brand new client isn't going to show up."

"Now why would I do that?" he huffs. "Not a good way to start a business relationship, Emmett," he scolds.

"You'll do it so that I can get your brand new client out of town safely so he'll still be breathing and able to make all that lovely money for you in the future," I tell him, aware that my voice had taken on a slightly sinister tone. "I need a diversion and you're a big enough name to pull the press pack away from here so we can leave without being followed."

"That's as well and good," he sighs, "but what's in this for me? I'll look like an idiot calling the press to assemble and then giving them nothing."

"He'll sign at twelve percent if you take a hit on this, Aro," I offer.

"Twelve you say? Hmmm. Well, that is a lovely figure and I suppose my enormous ego can take a hit on his behalf for something as important as this. I'll do it. How soon do you need the wolves away from your doorstep?" he asks as I pump my fist in triumph.

"I want to leave right after dark so if you call it for six that'll give me time to set everything up and get him out of here before they realise they've been duped," I tell him.

"Consider it done, my friend," he chuckles, much more genial now that he'd screwed the promise of a contract out of me. "I'll send a courier with the amended contract this instant. Do have your man sign it and return it with the courier right away so that when I tell the press that I'm his new agent it won't be a lie."

"A pleasure doing business with you, Aro," I tell him by way of an answer.

"And you, Emmett. Do say hello to your brother if that's where you're headed. And tell that stunning mother of yours that she simply must come dine with me the next time she's in our area," he chuckles.

"You're a creepy fuck, Aro," I laugh, "but I'll tell her all the same."


A/N: Thanks for reading.

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