I know you all think I was mean for that last cliffy, but I'm even more shocked that some of you weren't sure it was Peter who was there! Anywhoo, MaggieMay14 makes this crap look pretty and Risbee and Acinad816 pre-read like superstars.
I don't own Twilight. I wish I owned Rough and Ready because I think the term 'Throbbing Meat Wand' is fabulous. If you don't know what I am talking about, check out my facebook page. I'm coldplaywhore words.
"Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels." - Francisco de Goya
EPOV
November 2011
"Isn't this cozy?" Peter asked as he rose from the couch and looked between Bella and me with utter contempt in his eyes. His mouth upturned into a devious grin as I felt Bella grow anxious beside me. What in the fuck was going on here? "Did you miss me, Isabella?"
"Don't answer him," I spat, anger boiling up inside of me as I stared at my cousin. I couldn't fathom how this complete asshole had the same genes as me. It was unimaginable. We were so drastically different, it was like night and day. I also began to worry about how the hell he had figured out where the loft was and how he had gotten in. Then again, Emmett had been able to break into his hotel room easy enough, hadn't he?
"How to did you find her?" I asked, anxiously.
"Edward, you are stupider than you look," Peter yelled. "I have money and it can get you lots of wonderful things, like access to a private investigator or a five minute phone call with the receptionist at your work who informed me that you had been in and out of the office for weeks. Needless to say, I got suspicious and put two and two together. It was easy once I realized you were in the picture."
"Get the fuck out of here."
"And miss all the fun? Hardly," Peter sneered as I felt Bella tug on my coat, her entire body vibrating in fear.
I stepped in front of her, shielding her from his wrath as he simply laughed and threw himself back on the couch with a loud thump. The very same couch that Bella was pleasing herself on, as I shamefully watched, the day before.
"Peter, just go," I implored, trying to ease Bella's anxiety. "There's no reason to let things get worse than they already are. Just go on your way and let her get her own life back."
"Not likely, Edward. I'm not leaving without my fiancée and the answer to why the hell she is with you right now? You barely know each other."
"I'm not yours anymore, or didn't you notice the ring I left in your hotel room?" Bella shouted angrily. "And, do you want answers? The reason I moved to Chicago was because of Edward. I was his first. We were in a relationship together long before I was yours… do you get that?"
"When?" Peter asked, confused by Bella's ranting. She was clearly getting worked up and I wasn't sure if it was due to courage or fear. Either way, she was managed to hold her own against him.
"We used to live here together over five years ago. It was the best, most beautiful and wonderful time of my life," Bella countered. "Not a single moment I had with you could compare to what I had with Edward."
"You're lying." Peter finally looked like he might crack; his voice wavered as he realized that I had Bella long before he did, and that she cared for me infinitely more than she would ever care for him. It actually made my heart soar as I heard her confess to him just how much she cared for me.
"No, she's not," I answered for Bella, as I felt buoyed by her declarations. "I loved her and she was my muse, my everything, and we had… there was a situation and we spilt up. She moved to Chicago and I stopped painting. She's not yours, Peter. Not now… not ever," I spat. Bella stayed by my side, close enough that I could feel her body heat against me. Peter, however, didn't back down like we hoped he would.
"I think this charade has gone on long enough, don't you think, Isabella? Coming up with convoluted lies to try and make me leave? This is pathetic."
"They're not lies," I countered, tempted to go and retrieve my latest work from the spare room to show him just how much she meant to me.
"Isabella, just stop. Stop," Peter yelled forcefully, causing Bella to cower slightly in fear. "We are going to head home to Chicago and you are going to stop with all of this nonsense."
"G-g-g... go away," she stammered as she clung to me like a lifeline. My mind was moving a mile a minute, trying to comprehend everything that had gone down to get us to this point. How the fuck did he break into the building? When will he get it through his thick skull that no one fucking wants him here? "I'm not leaving. I am going to stay here in Seattle… without you."
"Well that's not going to happen, Isabella. We are going to go away, my dear. Now that I have found you, we're heading back to Chicago on the first available flight."
"Over my dead body," I shouted as I moved to take a step towards Peter, and Bella held me back.
"It can be arranged, Edward. I don't take too kindly to people taking what is mine," he replied through clenched teeth as I stared him down, trying to come across as menacing. I wasn't sure it was working though since he didn't back down at all. "I don't know what stupid lies my cousin has filled your head with Isabella, but it's going to stop right now. He clearly didn't want you enough the first time you apparently dated, otherwise he would have moved heaven and earth to find you, like I have. I will support you, love you and worship you in ways he can only dream of, so stop with all these silly fucking fantasies. The move to Seattle has been cancelled thanks to your little stunt and Marcus and the other partners have called me back to the Chicago office immediately. I'm not going home alone."
"Yes, you are," Bella stated, trying to be firm as I looked down at her with an encouraging smile. "I'm not your property, Peter, and I'm staying here in Seattle. You don't have a say in my life anymore. You don't have anything to hold over me."
"Oh don't I?" Peter stood up from his spot on the couch, which I mentally reminded myself to burn after today, and began to close in the space between us. Bella stayed glued to me as we paced around each other awkwardly, neither one of us moving closer, but both of us trying to appear intimidating. "Just because you had Emmett break into the hotel and steal the disc doesn't mean there isn't another one out there. Did you really think I wouldn't make a copy of it?"
Bella gasped at my side. I hadn't been naïve enough to think that Peter only had one copy of the video, but I also knew that it didn't really matter anymore. Nothing would change how I felt about Bella, or that I knew she had been manipulated by Peter. She hadn't been strong enough then to refuse him, but she certainly would be now. I clenched her hand tightly in mind and lifted it up to my lips, giving it a small kiss as Peter looked on in surprise.
"I don't care about the video. Show it to my mother if you want. Hell, Marcus would probably get off on it," Bella exclaimed, her voice illustrating her fury perfectly. She was determined and fierce, and all kinds of hot if I was being honest. "It doesn't matter to me what you do with it. I don't care."
"You can't really be serious, Isabella."
"What Bella chooses to do with her life is none of your business anymore, Peter. Why can't you just let her go on and let her live the life she wants?" I questioned as my hands balled up into fists at my sides. I was ready to fight for her, something I didn't really do when she disappeared years earlier and I now regretted.
"Poor clueless Edward," Peter declared as he took a dramatic step towards us and we stepped back, nervous of his intentions. "You just don't get it. Isabella is mine. She always has been and always will be, regardless of the lies you've come up with to try and dissuade me otherwise. She'll do anything I want her to, you know?"
"Fuck you," Bella yelled as Peter threw back his head and cackled like a madman. What in the hell was his problem?
"You have had no problem fucking me or anyone else for that matter, Isabella. Is that what you want from him? Do you want Edward to fuck you? If you need to get that out of your system so you can come home with me, let's get on it. We have a flight to catch," Peter said callously as he watched Bella like he was stalking his prey. "You know Edward, she really is fantastic in bed, very docile and innocent. She'll do anything I tell her to do, or anyone for that matter."
"I already know of Bella's past and it doesn't fucking matter, so shut your damn mouth," I countered angrily.
"There's something Isabella doesn't like to do... shut her mouth. Do you know how many cocks she has sucked since she started dating me, Edward? How many men she has let violate her over and over again? How many women she has been with? All because I told her to." Peter was a vile motherfucker, throwing this shit in Bella's face again as she struggled to maintain control. I could hear her breathing falter behind me, and I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was freaking out. She was paranoid that I would let him affect me, but he was too late. She had already told me everything, and the garbage he was spewing didn't faze me. The only thing it made me do was want to beat the shit out of him.
"You don't deserve her."
"And you do?" Peter laughed again as he neared us again. "You don't know this girl. You only know the shit she has told you, and all of it is lies. Her mother will even confirm how Isabella is a pathological liar. I've been helping her, Edward. All you are doing is making things worse. Hell, if what you say is true, you are probably the cause of all her emotional problems. You drove her to Chicago, to my arms, and I'm fixing what you've fucked up."
"I did nothing," I stated firmly, trying not to let my anger get the best of me. "Bella left me and lost our child. I found out a few days ago what happened."
"You're right, she left you... and she's about to do it again when she comes home with me. This isn't up for negotiation; now go grab your shit. We have a flight to catch."
"Shut up," Bella shouted as she stepped from behind me with her hands covering her ears. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up." Peter grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him and Bella struggled to pull away. He laughed like a maniac as I pulled her free and pushed her onto the couch as I stalked towards Peter with my fists at the ready. As Peter lunged towards me, my fist connected with his jaw and a loud crack could be heard in the open apartment. He deserved the hit and so much more.
"Don't fucking go near her," I shouted as Peter reached up to grasp his jaw but the smirk on his face remained in place, which only managed to enrage me further. "She's not property that you can just go tossing around like garbage. Your mother should have raised you better. I can't begin to understand how the fuck we are related."
"Fuck you, Edward," Peter grinned as I stood as a shield between him and Bella once more. "But I should thank you, because now I can press charges against you for assault and kidnapping, seeing as you are obviously keeping Isabella here against her will."
"No," Bella screamed from behind me as she jumped up from the couch and moved to stand in front of me, but I held her back. I didn't trust my cousin for one second to be close to her. "Edward did no such thing and if you try to press charges against him, I will tell everyone what you've made me do over the past few years. I will claim assault against you and…"
"I will bring up harassment and breaking and entering charges too," I added as I continued to stare down Peter, hoping to break him.
"Marcus will fire you the moment you have any charges pressed against you," Bella said smugly. "I don't think the firm will appreciate you dragging them through the mud, especially since I have nothing to lose and I will have no problem detailing every little thing you had me do in the name of 'love'."
"You wouldn't dare." For the first time, Peter actually sounded a bit concerned as he stared us down and neither of us seemed to care about his half-assed threats.
"Try me. I know the firm almost as well as you do and if you recall, Jason Jenks was fired for a hell of a lot less than what you would be charged with. The firm hates bad press, Peter, so if you refuse to leave me alone, I have no issue going to the police and the press with everything. Can you imagine what would happen if word got out that one of their attorneys arranged for his girlfriend to fuck co-workers at company functions?" For the first time, Bella actually looked smug and confident as she spoke to Peter. It was almost like I was seeing flashes of the Bella I had fallen in love with.
"Your name would be everywhere, Isabella. Do you really want that?"
"I'll do almost anything to get you out of my life," Bella declared vehemently as I kept my hand wrapped tightly around hers. "If it means revealing all of the secrets, I'd do it. I just want you gone, and you can take my mother, and her selfish attempts at reconciling with me, with you."
Bella stepped away from me and grabbed her cell phone, quickly turning it on and waving it in Peter's direction. "If you don't get the fuck out of here in the next minute, I'm calling the police and I will begin ruining your life the way you've ruined mine," she said fiercely as Peter's mouth turned into a devious frown and he glared between us with pure hatred.
"This is far from over."
"Oh, I disagree," I added with a grin. "If you so much as try to email, phone or see either of us again, we won't hesitate to contact the police. Even if they don't press charges, your name will still be dragged through the mud and the firm will fire you. There's no way you want that, right cousin? After all, your position at the firm means more than anything else in the world to you, even Bella."
Peter moved forward and lunged at me again with his fist clenched, but I reached him first and my fist collided harshly with his stomach as he doubled over. "Get out, now. We never want to see you again"
"You two deserve each other," Peter spat angrily as he moved slowly towards the elevator, clutching his stomach as I noticed his cheek was a bit red from where I hit him earlier. God, I hope it got a huge bruise, or worse.
As the elevator door closed, Peter banged angrily on the grate and slowly descended to the main floor. I stepped to the window and watched with baited breath for him to get into his car and leave. When he finally pulled away, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and looked over to the couch where Bella was sitting with her head buried in her hands, her breathing erratic.
"He's gone. There's nothing to worry about," I said softly as I sat beside her and she titled to her left, resting her head on my shoulder.
"It's not that easy, Edward," Bella admitted as tears began to fall down her cheeks and I didn't hesitate to reach up and push them away. After all, she over the past few years she had had a rough go of it. She deserved time to be emotional about everything, especially now that she was completely separated from Peter. "Everything he said was true and it kills me that I let my life turn into that... that I let him lead me into such a disappointing and destructive life. I just... I want people to look past what I did and see who I am. Does that even make any sense?"
Yeah, I knew exactly how she was feeling. I had made shitty mistakes in my past but everyone continued to fixate on how my art career went downhill, especially my mother, who repeatedly reminded me that I was letting my talent go to waste. As I sat there, my fingers wet with her tears, I knew that, even though she didn't say it, she wanted me to see beyond her bad decisions and I did.
I was proud of her for how she stood up against Peter, regardless of how scared she was. I was happy that she was beginning to find her own way in the world, and I hoped that she would go back and finish her degree. But more than anything, I was ecstatic that she was with me.
I turned slightly, my fingers reaching up to brush her lips as I contemplated what I was going to do for about a nano-second. I couldn't help myself. I leaned in and kissed her softly, her breath hitching the moment I pulled away. "What was that for?"
"I just think you needed to know that regardless of everything, I see you."