A/N: Sherry rocks

EDITED 22/06/15

Chapter 14
EPOV

Eleazar didn't remain hidden for long, if he was indeed hiding. A few hours after the feds had been. I got a text from him, telling me to meet him at Succubus. No explanation, nothing. I wasn't sure if he was planning to confess or just play dumb. Perhaps he was even planning to kill me. Either way, it was too good an opportunity to waste. I was going to go over there and put an end to his miserable life.

Of course, my father and brothers had refused to let me go alone. They insisted on coming along with me to stop me from doing anything stupid. But they didn't realize I wasn't going to let anything stop me. I knew he was the one behind Bella's kidnapping, and I would do anything to find her.

When I arrived at the bar, I found Ez seated in his usual spot, in the far corner. I was surprised to find he had company with him. It took me a few minutes before I realized who was sitting with him, Caius Bower, and his daughter, Heidi. He was the Don of the New Orleans mafia.

What the fuck was going on?

"Edward," Eleazar said, getting up to greet me when he heard my approach. "Caius decided to pay us a visit."

I didn't know how to react. On one hand, I wanted to punch the fucking daylights out of Ez, but on the other hand, I didn't want to show Caius that our family wasn't united.

Caius got up from his chair and shook my hand. "Nice to see you again, Edward."

I smiled, playing my part. "And you Caius, it's been far too long. Are you here for business or pleasure?"

"A little of both," he laughed. "You remember my daughter, Heidi," he said, motioning to the woman beside him.

"How could I forget?" I smiled as Heidi got up from her seat and pulled me into a warm embrace.

"It's good to see you again, Edward," she whispered in my ear, placing a kiss on my cheek as she pulled away.

"You remember my brother Carlisle of course, and his other two sons, Emmett and Jasper," Ez said, starting another round of hellos.

"If you can excuse the intrusion Caius, but I would like to speak with my uncle for a moment. I won't take up much of his time."

"No, go ahead. I'm sure the others will keep us entertained," Caius said, raising his glass to me.

I motioned for Ez to head towards his office and he did without argument. My father made his excuses and came along with us.

As soon as the office door was closed, I took Ez by surprise and grabbed him by the throat, shoving him against the wall. "Where is she?" I snarled.

"Edward!" My father warned.

"Get your fucking hands off me!" Ez chocked.

I shoved my hand harder into his throat as I reached behind my back and pulled out my piece, pointing it to his head. "I won't ask you again."

"Edward, put the gun down!" my father yelled, as he grabbed my arm and forced it away from Ez's head. I didn't fight against him, as I didn't want to risk having the gun accidently go off, shooting my father.

He pulled my other arm away from Ez's throat and shoved me on my chest, making me back away.

"You need to put your son in his place," Ez spat, fixing his suit and tie.

My father glared at him. "Eleazar what did you do with the girl?"

"I got rid of her," he stated. "She's probably lying in the bottom of a barrel by now."

I saw red. I knocked my father out the way and once again grabbed Ez by the neck and punched him repeatedly in the face. "You fucking bastard."

My father grabbed the back of my suit and dragged me away from Ez, tossing me across the room. "Enough!" he roared at me.

I leaned against the opposite wall, watching the two of them, trying to catch my breath as Eleazar's blood dripped from my hand.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Ez roared, as he held his hand up to his nose, trying to stop the bleeding. He looked pathetic. My grandfather Raymond would be disgusted if he could see his replacement right now.

"Did you really have her killed!?" My father yelled, shoving him against the wall.

Ez nodded. "I gave Laurent my plane, told him to take her out of town and kill her."

"Why?" I croaked. I couldn't believe that fucker had killed her… she was gone. Just like that.

"Because she was going to ruin everything," He hissed. "The way you were drooling all over her was pathetic."

"Ruin what, brother?" Carlisle asked.

"The marriage, Edward's fucking marriage," Ez snarled, as he made his way around to his desk. He sat down on the chair and took out a bottle of vodka and a glass, pouring himself a drink.

"What are you fucking talking about?" I asked him. My father looked just as confused as I was.

"Why do you think Caius is here? We arranged for you to be married to his daughter," Ez said, before downing the drink.

"No, fuck that." I wasn't going to go through with an arranged marriage. I had Bella, and he had taken her away and killed her. I didn't want anyone else. He could go fuck himself.

"You arranged a marriage for my son without consulting me?" Dad sounded pretty pissed off.

"I did it for the good of the family. If I hadn't, you'd all be fucking dead!" Ez barked.

"What are you talking about!?" My dad snapped.

"I introduced Caius to a third party who was going to acquire some weapons for him. The deal went south, the other party went off with millions and Caius blamed me. He wanted his money back, money that I didn't have to give him. He said I had made him look like an idiot, and if he didn't do something about it, then no one would respect him. He had to setan example." He poured himself another drink. "He would have started a war between our families, if I hadn't gone to him and put the offer on the table. I saved all you fuckwits," he roared, pointing at my dad. "I offered to marry his daughter into our family once she became of age. Caius agreed. He chose Edward, he said you were the one that showed the most promise." He shrugged.

I marched over to the desk, leaning over it towards him. "Well, you're just going to have to go back in there and tell him the deal is off. We'll pay back whatever money you owe him, but I'm not going through with a fucking, arranged marriage."

"That's exactly what you're going to do, you ungrateful little shit!" Eleazar shouted, as he stood up and slammed his fist on the desk. "I made you into what you are, and I can fucking break you."

"Hey!" My father said, pushing me back from the desk, so he was once again in between Ez and me. "Both of you need to calm down."

"You've been too lenient with him over the years, Carlisle. Look what you've turned him into!" Ez roared. "The little bastard is going to screw everything up."

The next thing I knew his hand was going into the back of his trousers, and pulling out his gun. It was as though the whole thing was happening in slow motion, and I didn't have time to react. I heard the gun fire and waited for the bullet to hit me, but it didn't. Instead, I saw Ez slumped over the desk.

I turned to see my father holding his gun. "You fucking shot him," I said, shocked.

"I had no choice. He would have shot you if I didn't stop him," Dad stated, as he placed the gun back in its holster inside his jacket.

The office door burst open, Jasper and Emmett came hurrying inside with their weapons drawn, followed closely by Caius. When they saw Ez's body, they lowered their guns.

"What's going on here?" Caius demanded.

"Edward's just been promoted," my father answered, before pushing past everyone and heading down the hall.

I figured he needed a minute. After-all, he had just killed his brother.

"You sound?" Emmett asked, looking over me.

"I've never been better," I answered, honestly, but I didn't want to say too much in front of Caius.

"Well then, Edward, I think its best you and I have a little sit down. There are things we need to discuss," Caius said, turning his attention to me.

I nodded. "I couldn't agree more."

I led the way back through to the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. I needed something to take the edge off. I took Caius to a different table and left my brothers to entertain his daughter.

"So," I said, sitting down and popping open the bottle. I poured two drinks and slid one across to him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Did your uncle tell you about the arranged marriage?"

I sighed. "Yes, he did, he had just informed me before his untimely demise." I downed my drink, sucking in air through my teeth as the whiskey burned my throat. "It's not going to happen."

Caius seemed unfazed by my answer. "Your family owes me."

"And I plan to pay you back. Tell me how much we owe you and I'll make sure you get your money."

"I'm afraid it's not as simple as that. Plus, with the interest rates over the years, you could never afford to pay me back," Caius said, as he swirled the whiskey in his glass.

"Let me worry about that."

Caius sighed and sat his drink down on the table, untouched. "See, here's the deal. I never trusted your uncle. He was nothing, but a snake. He didn't know the first thing about respect and honor. That is why I took out a little insurance." He put his hand into his suit jacket. My fingers flinched to reach for my gun. "It's just my cell," he smiled, at my unease.

He pulled out his cell and pressed a few buttons, before setting it down on the table and sliding it across from me. "Maybe this will change your mind."

I looked at the screen and saw a picture of Bella. A large, muscular man was standing behind her, pulling her hair while holding a knife to her throat. I knew I should have felt angry or worried, but in that moment all I could feel was relief. She was alive.

"I am told you care about the girl?"

I nodded.

"Your uncle didn't feel the same way. He had her sent away to be killed. So really, I did you a favor." He drank his whiskey and then reached for the bottle to fill himself another. "I knew he wouldn't be able to control you, that you would need a little persuading. You're too strong-minded for your own good. Perhaps my Heidi will be able to tame you in time."

"What do you want from me?" I growled.

"I thought I had made that clear. I want you to marry my daughter."

"Why?"

"Because I want a stake in your family, my brother controls Chicago, I control New Orleans, and we want New York. It's simple. I want more money, more power, and you are going to give it to me. We've worked too hard to let a little prick like youscrew this whole thing up," he said, smiling smugly at me.

I stood up, pulling out my gun and pointing at his head. At the same moment, I heard a commotion on the other side of the room. Heidi had pulled out two guns and pointed both of them at my brothers. They had also pulled their weapons.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Caius warned. "My brother is rather fond of his new pet, and if he doesn't hear from me in the next hour, he's been told to break her in."

I reluctantly lowered my gun. I wouldn't risk him harming Bella. I need to be smart. I needed to play along with his stupid game until I found a way around it.

"That's a good boy," Caius smiled, as he stood up and straightened his suit jacket. "You have twenty-four hours to make your decision. I expect you will make the right one. We don't want this to get messy." He went into his suit pocket and pulled out his card tossing it on the table. "Don't disappoint me."

He turned around, motioning to Heidi to follow him. I watched the two of them leave the club, fighting back the urge to follow them out and gun them down in the street.

I pulled out my phone and hit Lena's number.

"Boss?" She answered after one ring.

"She's in Chicago, find her," I ordered.

"You got anything a little more concrete that I could go on? Chicago is a big city,"

"Aro Bower has her."

I hung up the phone and sank down into the chair, running my hands through my hair. Fucking Ez had brought all this upon me, upon Bella.

After this was all over, I was going to kill every last one of the Bowers. They had fucked with the wrong family. I was going to make sure everyone knew not to fuck with us. It's time the Cullens earned their reputation back.

"What was all that about?" Jasper asked, as he and Emmett made their way over to me.

"He has Bella," I muttered, pouring myself another drink.

Jasper swiped the bottle away from me. "Then, you will need a clear head if you plan to get her back. You'll have time to drown your sorrows once she's safe." He set the bottle down on the table behind us.

"Did Dad really shoot Ez?" Emmett asked.

I nodded. "Fucker drew a gun on me."

"Why?"

"Because I wasn't willing to go along with his plan. It seems he screwed Caius over a few years ago and in order to get out of it he sold me off."

"What do you mean?" Jasper asked, taking the seat beside me.

"They made plans for an arranged marriage between Heidi and me. That was why Ez wanted Bella out of the picture."

"So how did Caius end up with Bella?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know," I snapped. "Does it really matter? Ez ordered Laurent to kill her and now Aro has her. I have twenty-four hours before he expects me to bend a knee to him or he is going to kill her."

"Then we better get moving," Jasper said, standing up.

A/N: Thanks goes to SunFlowerFran & CristinaN for working with me on the old version of this chapter.