Chapter Ten: The Advent
"The Pretender" by Foo Fighters
~Bella Cullen~
"December 4, 1948
It's quiet tonight. The unusual warmth of the season makes me feel like I'm in Naples still. But I know I'm not. The coldness of this home reminds me of that. It's as cold as the man who inhabits it, just as hard, and I'm terrified for our upcoming wedding. Father said he comes from a good family, but I can't help but wonder just how my father could know them.
I don't trust Aro. He hasn't tried to touch me yet, outside of a few chaste kisses. But I fear for the day that I have to be a wife to him. I know what I am supposed to do, but I feel nothing for the man. I knew from the moment I saw him at the airport. He is not a good man. He does not consort with good men. Though a small part of me tries to listen to the words of my father, my gut tells me otherwise. I should get away from him while I still can.
We will marry on Christmas Day, and it's only a few weeks until then. But what will happen after that? I am expected to give him a child. I don't know if I can do that. I feel nothing for him. I am scared and restless and questioning everything I know. My father, my family, what have they done in the past? I can't help but wonder about my younger siblings. What will become of them as well. My sister Antonia, and my little brother Russo. He's just a baby, he can't be a part of this life I am so sure that Aro and my father are a part of…"
Edward stopped speaking and took a deep breath.
I looked at him, contemplating why he had stopped. But I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't even comprehending it all yet. Instead, I begged him on, again and again.
April 14, 1949
It finally feels like Spring after the dark, dark winter. I've come to realize I'm no longer the 19 year old woman I used to be. I'm now expected to be Aro Volturi's wife, in every capacity. Whether I like it or not I have to meet his expectations, and it sickens me. I lay awake at night crying and then chastising myself for being so ridiculous. In between these bouts, I hear them, the men who meet with my husband late into the night. I don't know their names yet but I can't help but wonder how he knows them. They come from all different backgrounds and all seem to be just as evil as the he is…
My grandmother's words rang in my ears as I thought about all the entries. When my father and I arrived home with Sue crying and Edward acting frantic in the living room, I knew something was wrong.
Then Edward said it was all connected and I had to make him backtrack. After his disapproving look at finding out we were at the shooting range and then hearing what Sue had started to read about in the diaries. I decided to put on a pot of coffee and we would start at the beginning.
Sue had read later entries—written in my grandmother's broken English—whereas the early ones were in Italian. They spoke of abuse, neglect and the horrendous men Aro consorted with. I couldn't think of that. I couldn't think about what my grandmother had been through, so I told Edward to start at the beginning.
He was the only one who could read Italian. My father and I could speak it to some extent, but we definitely weren't fluent and couldn't read it.
So we sent the kids to the den to watch a movie and made sure Lucy was sound asleep in her bassinet before we began.
Her words flowed from the page in a way that made my heart hurt and my stomach clench at her realizations. How she arrived in a new world, the offering into an arranged marriage. How she realized rather quickly that her soon-to-be-husband was not a good man, that he was a mobster, a gangster, the exact type of man her father always railed against in the confines of her home in Italy.
Yet then it dawned on her that the only way she would be in an arranged marriage with such a family as the Volturis was if her own family was mob as well.
And she began to question everything.
Did her mother really die of cancer?
Was her father a made man? Was he high in the organization in Italy?
Were her younger brothers already involved in it; or worse yet destined for it?
She was stuck. She couldn't go back; she wasn't fluent enough in English to make her own way.
She was trapped. My heart ached to think of my wonderful, sweet, strong grandmother in such a predicament.
"Liefje?" Edward pulled me from my ramblings and I looked up at him. "It's nearly six, we should probably eat something."
Though his words made sense, his face was blank and I could tell his mind was elsewhere.
"Why don't I make us something?" Sue stated. She put her hand on my father's arm and squeezed as they shared a silent conversation. "I think we'll just stay the night if that's okay."
I nodded eagerly; glad to have them here to help sort everything out and also wanting to have their input.
Sue walked into the kitchen to start some pasta and I sat back down at the dining room table.
"Keep going." I murmured.
Edward looked pensive, but finally nodded and continued.
"December 8, 1950…"
*&^%$#
I could hear his breathing as I stared at the ceiling. I could tell he was dreaming, maybe even having nightmares as his body tensed and shifted beside me. We stayed up until nearly three in the morning reading my grandmother's journals. Edward finally collapsed of exhaustion once we went to bed—a by product of two poor nights' rest, traveling, and reading material that was mentally and spiritually exhausting.
Words ran around my head at the speed of a freight train.
Gangster.
Aro.
Spanierd.
Evil.
Jan.
Trapped.
Forced. Kept. Watched…Rape.
I couldn't sleep as one after another after another of the words and thoughts ran through my head. Edward had refused to read a few of the entries and would only give us a glossed over description. When my father walked outside and I saw Sue's eyes shine with tears I knew why instantly.
This wasn't about us, it wasn't about me, it was about the woman that we all knew. She was the best person one could ever meet and yet she survived…
All of that.
I couldn't comprehend it. Even with all Edward and I had been through, I couldn't comprehend it.
My tired eyes blinked and turned to glance at the alarm clock. 5:30 a.m. shone back at me and I knew Edward would be awake soon. Even though he got little sleep the last two nights, I knew he would still be up at 5:45 like normal. He would go down to the gym in our basement and work out his frustrations and then eat breakfast with me and the kids before heading off to work.
But he was distant. No matter how hard he tried to be present he was distant. Maybe it was the inevitable connections that he said he realized last night, or the ominous waiting before something happened. But he was distant.
He was still my Edward, but I could feel him holding back. And yet I couldn't blame him.
A cry sounded from the bassinet next to me and I quickly shot up to tend to Lucy. She was a dream as a baby, slept for over eight hours at night and I couldn't ask for more. But I knew she was hungry and I wanted to let Edward sleep.
I picked her up and held her tight as I walked to the nursery to sit in the rocker. As she latched on and I rubbed her head, I lost myself in my thoughts again.
I only had one more week until I went back to work. I only had one more week until I had to deal with the likes of J. Frederico and Lauren and all of the other BS. But I loved my job and I was getting a little crazy being inside the walls of our home, which felt more like a fortress of late.
"Hey." Edward whispered as he peered in at us. "She eating?" He asked as he sleepily rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah." I sighed as he walked over and kissed my head. "You okay?" I murmured.
He sighed and leaned down next to us. "I should be asking you that."
I nodded, knowing what he meant, but also knowing that he would take the weight of the world on his shoulders while the rest of us tried to simply process things.
"You seemed like a lot of things made sense to you last night. Can you tell me what that was about?" I finally asked after we sat in silence for a few minutes.
He looked down at Lucy and then back at me, unsure what he should say until I prompted him on.
"Edward. Please tell me."
He swallowed and walked over to lean against Lucy's soon to be used crib. "I recognized several names in the entries and…well…" he sighed, "they just had a lot of connections to my missions." He shrugged.
"Edward, tell me straight. I want to know and I can handle it." I said sternly.
Edward looked at me and contemplated what he was going to say, until he walked back over and sat on the floor next to us.
"Russo…your grandmother's youngest brother…" I nodded, remembering who he meant.
"I'm pretty sure he was an enforcer…err…basically an assassin for the man we took down in Brazil." He stated.
"So he worked for…what was his name?"
"Johan."
"So he worked for Johan and Johan was connected to Aro and Aro was connected to your grandfather, and they were connected to the Draconis."
"Yeah."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Brazil, Italy, Romania, the U.S….that's…pretty expansive." I said, knowing what that meant to him.
"Exactly." Edward lowered his head and rubbed his temples for a few minutes before looking up at me again. "Is she asleep?"
I looked down at our little dark haired beauty and smiled lightly and nodded. "Let me just put her back down."
I quickly changed Lucy and placed her in the crib she would soon be occupying nightly as she sighed in her sleep. She was so related to my brother, as she obviously had no interest in waking up yet—which was fine with me.
"Wanna shower?" Edward grabbed my hand and walked us back to the master suite.
"You're not going to work out?"
"I'll go over lunch." He shrugged, but I could tell something was weighing on him.
We walked into the bathroom and quickly stripped out of our nightwear, only some boy shorts and a tank top for me and some boxer briefs for Edward.
In the midst of everything happening, I had finally started to feel like myself again post baby. The first month was always a haze, then the second month you slowly gained your bearings. But now coming up on the end of the third month, I finally felt like I was getting my mind and my body back. I was able to run and work out the last few weeks and things were starting to tighten back up and make me feel better. I was close to being back to my pre-baby weight as well.
Edward told me all the time that I was beautiful, but he was so damn gorgeous that I felt a little like I needed to measure up to him.
"Mijn Zon, are you coming in?"
I looked up and nodded as I stepped in our shower, remembering our last tryst in there and a flush of heat swept through me. I wasn't sure how that was possible considering I hadn't slept yet. But then again, my husband could always do that to me.
"Here." He handed me my shampoo and I quickly lathered up and scrubbed through my hair.
He eyed me as I tipped my head back and let it rinse under the spray. Without a word, his eyes darkened and he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me.
"I missed you." He nuzzled his nose into my neck and I welcomed his embrace. But warning signs started firing off in my head. He seemed almost…apologetic.
"What's wrong?" I asked as the water ran between us.
He sighed and squeezed me tighter as I buried my face in his chest.
"Edward?" I asked again.
"I have to tell you something…about someone." He sputtered.
I swallowed at his words, doubt creeping into my brain, but immediately dismissing it.
He would never…
"Okay." I finally said. "What is it?"
He pulled back and put his hands on my face before telling me how much he loved me, and then I really got nervous.
"Edward…you're scaring me." I said nervously.
He finally sighed and pulled me close before he started. "Her name was Zoraida…"
His voice quivered a bit as he started to tell me about his mission in Brazil. He wanted more than anything to prove that he was good on a solo mission, that he could make it in the field, but he used a woman, Zoraida, to get in. He wasn't even sure if it was her real name but he now knew she was connected to everything. He told me how he slept with her, yet it didn't mean anything. He was vulnerable at the time, willing to risk everything, and he crossed a line that he never thought he would cross.
"She didn't mean anything to me, she doesn't mean anything to me Liefje, you have to know that."
I drew a deep breath, because even though I knew my husband was more than devoted to me, I couldn't help but be jealous of this woman from his past. Claire Whitney was one thing, but she was a waifey socialite, a dime a dozen in my book.
The way he described this woman: she was a mystery, sexy and intriguing and so different.
"Bella." He pulled me from my reverie and I looked up at him as I realized the water was cooling around us.
"Do you think you can go in late to work?" I asked as I turned off the water.
He swallowed and nodded to me. "Yeah."
We stepped out and Edward wrapped a towel around me as we walked back to our bedroom. It was just after six and I knew we had an hour until Eric woke and the rest of the house came to life. So I slipped under the covers and Edward pulled me close as I laid my head on his chest.
"You slept with her?" I said absently, though he had already told me that.
He paused and I could feel his heart pumping under my ear. "Yes." He whispered.
"Okay. I can't…I mean…I can't judge you. It's not like I've never been with anyone else before." I trailed off and turned to look at him. But his eyes were swimming with emotion and fear.
"Oh baby, I'm not mad."
Edward closed his eyes and then blinked down at me. "I know. I just feel…dirty or something. For so long I thought I broke that mission. For so long I thought I was the one to use her and get inside, terrible as that may seem. I rationalized it, thinking she was a…
"A slut." I offered.
"Uh, well yeah, because of whom she consorted with. I figured she was using me, so I would just use her right back and get information. But then when I saw her in Miami."
"Wait, you saw her in Miami." I asked, alarm bells going off in my head.
"Not like that," he soothed and ran his fingers down my face. "I just saw her for a split second and it freaked me out. I knew then that she was connected to all of this and that she used me. I felt…naive and exposed and…stupid."
"You are anything but." I quickly sat up and realized that Edward's insecurities about the situation weren't because he felt anything for this woman; it was because he felt like he was taken advantage of. That had to be a hard pill to swallow for him considering he was one of the FBI's most coveted assets.
"Baby, how old were you when you were on that mission?" Trying to make him see things for how they really were and ease his worries.
"Twenty-five."
"Twenty-five. And how long had it been since you had lost your brother?"
"About a year and half." He whispered.
"Do you really think that you were in the best mental state back then? You weren't even dealing with things when we met and that was over ten years later." I pointed out.
"I know, but I don't want you to think…" he trailed off.
"You don't want me to think what?" My eyes searched his face, challenging him to say it.
"I don't want you to think that I did that all the time. I don't want you to think that you weren't different, because you were different. I don't want you to think that I don't love you, that there's anything else, that there will ever be anyone else for me, because there's not. I love you more than I could ever say Liefje. I love our children more than I could ever say. You have to know that. You have to know that whatever came before was…it was nothing. It wasn't even a millionth of nothing. If that makes any sense…"
"Hey, hey, it's okay." I shushed him before he got worked up, because I knew what he meant. I couldn't lie and say that it didn't feel good to hear him say it, but I knew what he meant.
"I know Edward I know." I kissed him and crawled up his chest, framing his face with my hands. "I'm a little disconcerted by it. But it's not different than finding out about an ex-girlfriend of yours," I said, easing the tension a bit.
"Well…" he rolled his eyes, "there weren't many of those anyhow," he chuckled.
"I know. I'm sure it's not easy for you to hear about mine either." I raised an eyebrow at him and his eyes darkened in response.
In a matter of seconds, he flipped move over and hovered above me as his eyes seared into mine.
"I hate to think about that more than anything. In fact, I just pretend that it never happened," he murmured.
"That's exactly how I feel," I said, but drew a deep breath. "But I wouldn't mind if you showed me how you feel." I flexed, enticing him a bit.
"I'll always show you how I feel." Edward whispered as he bent down to take my lips. We moved slowly at first, but soon quickened our pace. The fire between us had never died, it was just hard to find the time anymore. Now it was stolen moments between feedings and diapers, quickies in the mornings and frantic sessions against the shower wall.
But it was still there, that need that was there in the beginning, that passion. Right then we needed that connection. We needed to reaffirm how we felt about one another after our discussion and with everything we found out the night before.
And for a moment I didn't have to think about my grandmother, my family or the danger lurking around us. I didn't have to think about being a mother or a daughter or a granddaughter and what that now meant.
I was just his; as I always had been.
And he was mine as well.
My tongue pressed against his lips as his hips shifted into me and my body warmed to the feeling.
"I love you more than I can say as well. You know that right?" I asked as I looked up at him between kisses.
He nodded as his lips met my neck, my chest and paraded their way down my stomach. Lower and lower he descended, soft mouth and tongue finally reaching where I wanted him. I moaned at the feeling of the all-encompassing electricity racing through me as he licked and sucked and pulled at my flesh.
"Edward…" I tossed my head back and gripped the sheets, all of my outside distractions falling away. I thrust my hips into his mouth, begging for more of his attention as his hands gripped my outer thighs and pulled me closer to him.
"Oh fuck…" I grunted as he added his fingers and hummed against me.
It was so intense, our connection. It always had been. Playing me like a fiddle, he had me soaring and soaring until I almost couldn't stand it. Yet somewhere in my mind I realized I didn't want to come this way. I wanted him.
I tugged on his hair and gazed down with glazed eyes as he worked his way back up my chest. He thrust into me easily and I wrapped my legs around his hips, eagerly pulling him into me.
Our lips met again, tongues following insistently. Heat from Edward's body seeped into me as he pressed against me. I was lost as he whispered sweet and dirty words in my ear. How much he loved me, how much he wanted me, how he couldn't live without me and how good I felt wrapped around him.
The words and his hips moved faster and faster until I was spinning.
I lost it as his teeth took my earlobe and I shuddered violently, fingernails raking his back as he thrust deeper and deeper, pulling me up his thighs to reach that spot deep inside me.
"Liefje…fuck…liefje, liefje, liefje…" he mumbled.
"Edward," I gasped as I suddenly rose and crashed again when he turned just so, driving into me one last time.
We panted and clung to each other as we tried to catch our breaths. The quiet of the house settled around us in the early morning hours as I sighed and kissed his shoulder.
He leaned up onto one elbow and stared down at me for a moment before his lips tenderly met mine. Fingers raked through my hair like they often did, adoringly.
For an instant, I didn't have to think about what this all meant. The diaries, his mission, my great uncle being a part of Aro Volturi's connections and the ever expanding system that Edward uncovered. For one final moment, we could just be before our world as we knew it would be ripped to shreds.
*&^%$#
"That's a fucking joke, Garrett, and you know it." Edward growled into the phone as he readied himself in the bathroom. I knew they were talking about Volturi's parole, as he had spoken with Garrett nearly every day the past week.
I quickly slipped on my dress and earrings, taking a deep breath before looking in the mirror. It was my first day back at work after being off for three months. I was both scared and ready. I wanted to go back to my job. I needed to get out of the house for one thing.
Though I loved him dearly, Edward had been even more protective since he came back from Miami. He checked and checked our "command center" watched video of the neighborhood and razzed the local police officers and agents that were watching our home.
He was restless, I could tell. I knew he had been working with Emmett and Garrett the past week. When he blew the lid off the connections to Miami, he called Fortnight and Fortnight had the entire thing cleared to start a new investigation. Edward and Emmett were staying in New York, but some of the other agents in Miami were reassigned. Seth was already under on another, somewhat related, mission apparently, so he wasn't reassigned yet.
It all felt so much like the last time—the talking, the watching, the waiting, the secrets. Except this time Edward wasn't on the front line. And it was driving him crazy, I could tell.
"You look beautiful. Are you ready for your first day back, Liefje?" Edward suddenly interrupted my train of thought with a kiss on the cheek.
"I guess." I shrugged.
"You'll be great."
"I hope so."
"You will. Now go. I'll take care of the kids this morning. You just get on your way."
I sighed, not wanting to leave, but also not wanting to stay. It was definitely easier than the first time I left Eric. But I still shed a few tears as I climbed in our Range Rover and pulled out the driveway.
The drive to work was mercilessly short and quick, and I was anticipating my return more than I thought I would, especially given the way I left things. The guards greeted me with a smile as I entered and chatted with them. The office was quiet as it was still early, only 7:30 in the morning. Most people didn't get to work until 9 on the East Coast.
My entire body tensed as I unlocked my office and looked around. I wasn't sure if I was expecting something to be off or someone to jump out at me, but I released it in a rush as I glanced around, noticing everything in place.
Smiling and shaking my head at my stupidity, I walked over and sat at my desk. My hands glided over the desktop and I took a deep breath, just taking things in. Finally, I grabbed my laptop from my bag and set to work getting caught up on three months of emails.
After a few hours and a breakfast and coffee break later, my eyes felt like they were crossing as I had only reached mid-October in my responses. Sure I checked my email while I was gone and forwarded any of the urgent messages, but I still had plenty to respond to. Chiming in on potential new exhibitions, reviewing applicants for the following summer's interns, addressing staffing concerns, it all had to be attended to.
But I still needed a break.
A knock at the door pulled me from my latest response to a question regarding an exhibit.
"How's the first day back?" Jasper's blonde head popped in and I smiled and waved at him.
He sat across from me and I noticed that he had on another god-awful sweater vest.
"Jasper seriously, when are you going to stop wearing those?" I teased and rolled my eyes.
"It's warm; and I'm getting old enough now that I don't care."
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes. "How have things been around here? I haven't had a chance to talk to you much about work with everything going on." I said tentatively. I was still mindful of the last time I said too much in my office.
"Yeah, Edward told me about that. How do you feel about it?"
I shrugged. "There's not much to say. It's not like I'm going to have any sort of relationship with him. He's not my grandfather in any way. I don't care if I ever meet him."
Jasper looked surprised and raised an eyebrow. "Really? Not even a little bit?" He asked.
"No. I don't ever want to see him."
"Huh."
"What?"
"Nothing I just thought…well, I guess I would be curious is all."
I shook my head emphatically. "No." I cringed. "I don't have anything to say to him." Suddenly the anger I had toward him for what he had done to my sweet grandmother came rushing to the surface. I despised him. He was the devil incarnate as far as I was concerned, and I wanted my entire family as far away from him as possible.
"He's…" I swallowed and looked at the new pictures of the four of us on my desk, "he's a terrible man, Jasper." I looked back at him and held his gaze. "And I want nothing to do with him."
He nodded, seemingly leaving the subject alone based on my reaction. An unusual awkward silence crept over us until he stood up and changed the subject.
"Well, I just thought we could go to lunch like old times, celebrate your first day back."
"I brought my lunch, but I'll eat with you."
He nodded. "I'll see you later then." He walked to the door, opening it to leave. He paused for a moment and then sighed before turning back to look at me.
"It's good to have you back, Bella." He smiled and left.
The rest of my day passed quickly as I responded to nearly all of my emails, set up appointments with all of the department heads to follow up on interns and started to review the files of the new applicants.
Just as I was beginning to pack up my bag to leave, my telephone rang, startling me from my mental task list for the next day.
"Bella Cullen speaking."
"Mrs. Cullen. It's good to hear you're well."
"Um, may I ask who's calling please?"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Cullen, it's Manuel. I work with J. Frederico."
"Yes…" what the fuck? "Manuel. What can I do for you?"
"Mr. Frederico would like the pleasure of meeting with you to discuss his offer to donate another exhibit to the museum. Would you be available for lunch this week?"
"I…" my mind raced at what I could say. I didn't want to go to lunch with him. I didn't want to be anywhere near him or this man.
"I'm sorry, but is there someone else you can speak with at the Met. It's my first day back and I don't think I'm quite up to speed to meet with him regarding such an offer."
"Mr. Frederico requested you specifically. I ensure you are more than qualified to meet with him."
I pondered what to do. I really couldn't say "no" since this was my job. But something was nagging at me, something telling me this wasn't on the level.
"Can I get back to you Manuel?"
"Of course."
I quickly jotted down his contact information and bid him a good day. Staring at my phone for a moment before returning it to the cradle, I couldn't understand what J. Frederico wanted with me. It was unsettling and strange to say the least.
On my short drive home, I thought about my first day back. For the first time, I started to question whether I should stay at my position. Perhaps I should try to get on at one of the art schools in New York or with a gallery or another museum. Because something in my gut was telling me that my job might again put me in danger.
*&^%$#
"Absolutely not."
"Edward," I sighed that night over dinner. "This is my job. This isn't some social call."
"I don't trust him." He said defiantly, his jade eyes on fire with his anger.
"Baby, I know you're worried about me. But I will insist that he come to my office to meet with me. I won't go anywhere and I certainly won't meet with him alone. I was thinking about asking Jasper to come with me."
Edward's fork clanged loudly against his plate and I jumped. Eric looked up and I could tell he was startled as well. I shot Edward a dirty look and we didn't speak another word of it during dinner.
In fact we didn't speak of it again for the rest of the week. I didn't respond to Manuel with an answer yet, but sent him an email the next day to let him know I would have an answer by the end of the week.
On Friday, I told Edward that I was planning to do it and he gritted his teeth and nodded before he left for the day. Something was up with him. He had been busy at work with routine things and hadn't been able to devote as much time as he wanted to investigate the Volturi connection, as the Bureau had termed it. Instead he was following up on wrongful searches, interrogation techniques and other problems that had arisen with the takedown of a different New York gang.
Consequently, when Friday night rolled around he was tense. We were supposed to go to dinner and have a date night. It was our first night out in a long time and Carlisle and Esme came over to watch the kids. I was excited but also tense due to Edward's mood.
When I saw him dressed in his gray Armani, black shirt and his now longer hair gelled back I was filled with anticipation again.
"Wow, baby, you look amazing." I smiled, hoping to put the week behind us and enjoy our night together.
His eyes roamed my body and I could see the glimmer of my husband come through as he traced my features.
"You look sensational. When did you get this?"
I shrugged. Alice had dropped by a great Zac Posen dress for me to wear. It was fitted but not too tight. Though I'd lost the weight I'd gained with having Lucy, things still weren't as firm as I would like them to be.
"Alice?" He smirked and I nodded as he grabbed my hand.
Edward kissed my cheek and we said a quick good-bye to his parents as we made our way to our Range Rover.
I wanted to take a cab, but Edward didn't want to let his guard down and he was sure he would have to work the next morning so he wasn't planning to drink much anyway.
The tension in the car was so thick; I could have cut it with a knife. I drew a deep breath as we pulled up to the valet at Nobu 57, a famous Japanese restaurant attended by the seen and to be seen.
The maître de escorted us to our private booth and we both ordered drinks.
I hated the tension. I hated the distance between us, because it wasn't us. But I knew I had to be the one to cross the threshold if I wanted to get rid of it. Edward was too caught up in his head.
"Edward, what's got you so stressed this week?"
He bristled and pursed his lips as he looked at me. The waitress set down our Ketel One martinis and gave us a few moments to look at the menu before leaving.
He turned back to me, his eyes swimming with emotion and I could almost feel the anxiety and pressure rolling off of him in waves.
I grabbed his hand and rubbed the back of it as I searched his face.
"I'm sorry, for overreacting about Frederico. I just…I don't trust him and with everything going on, I don't trust his motives."
"I don't either. But you do trust me right? I would never put myself in danger."
"I know." He sighed. "I know." He squeezed my hand and let out a breath.
"So what did you find out this week? We haven't' had a chance to talk much with me being back at work and you being so busy."
"I know." He glanced around before lowering his voice and then leaning into me.
"Garrett thinks that Volturi's kids have somehow hooked up with the Jaguars down in Miami and are now setting up some old ties back in Italy. He thinks they're in Italy and Russo is their connection."
"But why would they even need to go through Miami? Don't they already have those connections?" I inquired.
"Probably, but some of them might be being watched. Organizations will do this sometimes, break things down and build them back up in another area to protect themselves. New York, in fact the entire Northeast is covered as far as watching their ports. Miami is competitive but provides some cover because of it."
Edward slipped into his agent mode and filled me in on the benefits of running things through Miami versus another port. He explained that often times the black market organizations would burn out their contacts—or leave them for dead—only to see if someone was following them. Then they would connect back up with them in a few years. It showed how expansive and how many contacts many of them had that they could even do it. But it seemed that was going on here. He suspected that with Aro out of jail he was organizing things, but keeping a low profile. He thought his sons were in Europe, had maybe hooked up with part of the Draconi contingent, though he wasn't sure yet. And then there was the Miami/Brazil aspect which they were investigating.
"I just have one question." I finally said, all of this new information whirling around in my head. "How is Volturi getting information out of New York? If everyone is watching him, he has to be working with someone you don't suspect."
"Exactly." Edward's eyes glinted in what appeared like admiration. "You're good at this Liefje, you could be an analyst." He teased and squeezed my leg. I sighed, glad that he was finally letting out some of his stress and turning back into himself.
"That's what we're trying to figure out now. We're watching Volturi and once he makes one wrong move, we'll be on him."
"We?" I quirked an eyebrow.
"Well, the agents they have assigned to the mission. But those of us that worked on the prior missions have a lot of invaluable information, so we've been keeping up to date on everything."
I nodded, knowing what he meant.
Edward finally leaned back and blew out a breath. "Okay, no more shop talk. This is our night out." He smiled.
"To us." I raised my glass.
"To us." We clinked our glasses and Edward leaned in to give me a kiss and pull me closer.
The rest of our evening was spent enjoying the delicious food and catching up on our family and friends. We stayed as far away from any more shop talk as possible.
When we walked out to the valet at nearly eleven, Edward's hand was precariously low on my back and I was tipsy from my martinis and enjoying it thoroughly.
Edward wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly to keep me warm in the cold November air. I giggled as he whispered naughty nothings in my ear and grazed his hand over the side of my breast under our winter coats.
Just as the valet pulled up with our car, I felt Edward's body go rigid.
"What is it?" I asked, looking at his now stone-faced expression.
"Nothing. C'mon." His demeanor appeared cool and collected to anyone else, but to me, I knew something was wrong.
He hurriedly ushered me into the car and I strapped on my seat belt as he pulled into traffic. Edward was quiet, but I could see him glancing in the rearview mirror every so often as he made a turn.
"Fuck." He muttered and I felt him slam on the accelerator.
"Edward?" I reached my hand for the dashboard as I nearly slammed into it.
The car surged to the right and swept past three other vehicles before he abruptly took another right and stepped on the gas, going in the opposite direction of our home.
"Baby?" I asked again, now frightened as I saw his jaw tense and flex, his hands maneuvering the steering wheel.
I glanced in the mirror seeing a dark sedan mirror our movements and fly around the corner behind us.
Suddenly a crack sounded as loud as a thunderbolt and I screamed.
"Liejfe, get down!" Edward threw his arm across me as I sped up again and veered left, nearly tipping our SUV on it's side.
"Edward what was that?" I cried out, but knowing in the back of my head.
Another shot rang and I looked back to see the glass of our back window cracked but still intact.
How was that possible?
Who was this?
What was happening?
Oh my God, our kids!
I fought the urge to throw up as the car lurched back and forth again as Edward tried to out run them. My mind raced, but I tried to calm myself. I had to do something. I couldn't just sit there.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm trying to lose them. I can't go toward home."
"What can I do? Should I call 911?" I fumbled in my purse for my phone. But then it flew out of my hands as we took another corner, our tires screeching and my shoulder ramming into the door.
"We don't have time for that!" Edward shouted. "Stay down!"
He pressed on my back again and I clutched my chest as we sped through traffic.
All of a sudden, I could see lights coming toward us and I screamed.
"Hold on, Liefje!"
XXXX