Chapter 13

Finals are done and I'm back, guys! I'm going to start updating every week again, sometimes twice a week. Please don't hate me too much for the end of this chapter.

Flashback

"Dammit, Isabella! Why can't you do anything right?!" he screeched while I jumped and cowered at the sudden loud tone. It seemed to be the only way I was able to talk to my dad anymore; he had to be yelling or accusing me of something.

"What's your fucking problem this time?" I retorted, knowing I'd regret it immediately.

I heard his footsteps and he was in front of me in the blink of an eye and I was sprawled across the floor just as quickly. Holding my aching jaw, I glared at the man standing above me, the one that I got so many of my looks from.

One obvious thing about my father and I has always been that we look alike. I inherited his same build, same hair and eye color, nearly everything except for my personality. My mother was more flighty that I'd ever be but we were otherwise very similar. I looked so much like my father that the only way people knew my mother was my mother was if they asked.

I stood up slowly and shoved Charlie back. He tried to catch himself but ended up knocking over a vase in the process.

"Now look at what you did you pathetic girl! That was your mother's favorite vase and you broke it! There's no way I'd ever be able to repair it!"

Without much thought, I stepped forward those few steps and stomped on the shards of glass that were now everywhere. He gasped and I had to fight to stop the smirk that was wanting to make an appearance.

"How could you be so disrespectful towards your mother?" he questioned in a heartbroken voice that surprised me. I had only been hearing words of hatred or anger for the past year-and-a-half.

"I'm not being disrespectful towards her, dad. She's been dead for over a year and you need to learn how to move on."

"She is not dead, Isabella Marie Swan! You know damn good and well that she's alive, we just haven't found her yet."

"You honestly think that Aro would keep her alive this long? If that were the case he'd be torturing her and he'd make damn sure that we knew. But we haven't heard anything from him ever since she went missing. He killed her so act like a grown up and accept it," I retorted.

I heard the slap before I felt the sting. Luckily I wasn't hit hard enough to fall to the ground this time.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not polite to hit girls?" I asked while slowly drawing my gun out from the back of my pants.

"What makes you think you even have the right to talk about your Grandma Swan? The only relationship you two had was that beef stroganoff recipe."

"I knew Nan better than you think and I know she'd be disappointed by what a pathetic loser her son has become."

He raised a hand to strike me a third time but I had my gun pulled out and aimed before he was able to make the move.

"Hit me one more fucking time and I'll blow your damn head off you piece of shit. We used to be a lot closer before mom disappeared and you went crazy. Remember the fun times we used to have?"

He lowered his hand slowly while keeping one eye on me and the other on the gun I had pointed at him. Once they were lowered by his sides he shrugged.

"That was before my whole reason for living was taken away from me. I didn't even have the chance to say goodbye," he replied with tears gathering in his eyes.

"Boo fucking hoo. I used to have sympathy for you before you started hitting me and treating me like a piece of rotten meat. It's a good thing you gave me the authority yesterday to run this empire you created because, as of now, you are officially done. I know the other members wouldn't be very happy to hear about the previous mob boss hitting women."

"I haven't signed the contract yet, Isabella. Until I do, you will respect me as an insubordinate," he replied.

I chuckled darkly and cocked my gun, watching for a reaction. I was slightly disappointed when I only got his poker face.

"Sign the contract and leave."

"And if I don't?" he questioned.

"Then I shoot, forage your signature, and leave Jacob to clean up the mess. He doesn't appreciate having to be part of the clean-up crew but I think he'd have some satisfaction if it was your blood."

We continued to stare at each other for a good several seconds before he slowly made his way over to the desk and pulled out a pen. The document was signed and he was out the door before the ink even dried.

"Bella? You okay over there?" Rosalie interrupted my thoughts.

"Sorry. You know how I get sometimes. What were you saying about Jasper?"

Rosalie shifted her eyes to Emmett who rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"What? What's wrong? He's not injured, is he?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just…we have reason to believe that he started the house fire," Emmett informed while Rosalie busied herself on the computer.

"And what reasoning is this? Jasper wouldn't purposely try to injure one of us."

"Well, Emmett hacked into one of the computers. There were several documents about the fire and Jasper's name was mentioned several times. There's even a scanned copy of some contract concerning the fire that he signed."

"Let me see."

She handed me the paper which I scanned over quickly. My eyes were drawn automatically to where Rosalie had highlighted Jasper's name. His signature is what raised my blood pressure and Emmett shrunk back in fear.

"Let's go."

We all drove to Edward's house, slightly disappointed that he wasn't home. I didn't have time to call him and get everyone together for what I wanted to do. I had the element of surprise and I wanted to hold onto that for as long as I could.

We all got dressed in black and made our way back out to the jeep. I shook my head when Emmett tried to get into the driver's seat and he begrudgingly went to the back while Rosalie took the passenger side.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked after we had driven a few miles.

"We're taking care of this Jasper problem and find out what's going on. I know we said to do what he has to but…"

No one responded and we rode in silence. After my phone had rang for the third time I threw it in backseat. I was focused and nothing would distract me.

We finally pulled up to a small shack and checked for traps. Seeing nothing that wasn't easily disabled, I knocked on the front door with my foot tapping impatiently.

Finally, it opened ever so slowly and I drew my gun behind my back.

"Bella? What are you doing here?"

"Alice?! What are you doing here?"

She shrunk back and tried to close the door but I put my foot in before she could. I threw the door back open and she tried to scurry away but I grabbed her arm before she could get too far.

"You better do some explaining and you better do it quick. We know that this is where Jasper has been staying."

"I had to see him, Bella! He doesn't know I'm here yet."

"Well, where the hell is he?"

"Right behind you, actually," Jasper responded coolly.

I kept my gun drawn and turned towards him.

"I figured you'd be around sooner or later. I'm kind of surprised it took you guys this long to figure out I started that fire. Don't get too pissy until I explain," he stated.

"I ought to shoot you in the kneecap for pulling this kind of stunt. You put all of us in danger you prick!" I yelled.

He shrugged and kept an eye trained on the gun I had pointed at him.

"I made it appear as if you were all in danger. I waited for a moment where I knew everyone would be out and security would be switching shifts so no one could be injured. It was the only way for them to see that I was serious about joining."

"And how serious are you about joining them, Jasper?" Emmett asked quietly.

Alice had slowly been inching her way towards Jasper and she was finally close enough to touch him. She grabbed his hand and he yanked it away.

"You're all idiots for coming here, especially you Mary Alice. You need to get over this desperation for me and grow up. Hell, maybe you should even move on," he finished.

"What are you saying, Jasper? That you're breaking up with me?"

He thought for a moment then adorned a mischevious grin that unsettled me.

"Yes, I'm breaking up with you. Thank God we didn't get married before this whole fiasco. You know how they say absence makes the heart grow fonder? Well, I realized that I actually don't need to put up with your petty needy bullshit when there's so many other women around here throwing themselves at me. They're independent enough that I don't have to constantly worry about them, either. Oh, and as to your question, Emmett. I'm devoted one hundred percent to this company."

"Which company are you referring to specifically, Jasper?" Rose asked.

"Why, Aro's of course. They know how to actually run a mob without letting emotions get in the way. If you had done things right, Bella, you wouldn't have pathetically fallen in love with that piece of shit named Edward. That's the problem with you people, you let your emotions rule everything. Once you can detach yourself it makes getting work done a whole lot easier."

"You've turned into a fucking sociopath. This isn't the Jasper we all know," I responded.

His grin reappeared and he moved quickly grabbing my gun and pointing it back at me. I had been so appalled by his story that I allowed myself to be distracted with the new information.

"No, that Jasper left after the first week of being here. I prefer to think of myself as 'new' and 'improved.' Aro has taught me well."

In my peripheral vision I saw Emmett inching his way towards Jasper and he was able to wrestle Jasper to the ground but in the process the gun was fired and we saw blood hit the wall.