Chapter 36

BPOV

I hated working Saturdays. In fact, I was starting to hate my job altogether. The hours were unpredictable and the assignments weren't that interesting. To be honest, being a journalist wasn't the dream job I thought it was going to be. But, how could I just quit after working so hard to get there? What else could I do with my college degree?

As I was being chauffeured home, I considered asking Edward for my old job back since he needed to hire a new assistant anyway. It was a tempting idea, but I soon dismissed it, knowing that I wouldn't be content with a secretarial position even though I would love to see Edward at work everyday. I loved writing too much to abandon the field completely, but reporting facts for the Times didn't allow me to be very creative. Too bad I couldn't get paid for writing fan fiction with my literary students. That would be the perfect job!

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't even realize the ride had ended until Peter opened the car door and waited for me to exit. He escorted me upstairs and checked in with Edward before he said goodbye for the night.

I was surprised to find Edward and Bethy in the kitchen cooking dinner together since it was a little late in the evening already. After the long day at work, I assumed that they would have already eaten and was prepared to settle for a quick sandwich, so it was a welcome surprise to see Edward stirring a pot of sauce while Bethy ripped a head of lettuce into tiny pieces for a salad.

"Izzybelwa, you're home! Me and Daddy are making spasketti. Are you hungry?" little Bethy asked.

"I sure am. It smells really great too," I replied, walking over to taste the sauce after giving Edward a hello kiss. I made my way over to give Bethy a kiss on the head and asked, "So, what did you guys do all day while I was at work?"

Her reaction was not what I had expected. Her eyes suddenly went huge, and she popped her little hand over her mouth before running out of the room. A little concerned, I asked Edward if she was alright.

"Uh…she umm…" he stuttered, clearing his throat and strangely adding, "She's fine. Kid's are weird like that sometimes." He shrugged his shoulders as if that was the only explanation needed.

"Okay…" I drew out my one word response while staring at Edward like he'd lost his mind. Something was definitely going on with the two of them, but I decided I was too exhausted to try and figure it out at the moment.

"Yeah, well…dinner's ready. Do you want to set the table while I go help Bethy wash her hands?" Edward asked, rushing out of the room before I could answer.

When we all sat down to eat, Bethy was all smiles and Edward focused the conversation on how my day went instead of filling me in on theirs. I knew sooner or later I would find out what those two were up to, so I didn't pry any further.

After Edward and I cleaned up the dinner dishes together, he offered to read Bethy's bedtime stories to her while I grabbed a shower and got ready for bed myself. I started to protest, not wanting to disappoint Bethy by skipping our story time, but decided that a hot shower sounded good after the long day I had. It also occurred to me that Edward may have been missing that bonding time the two of them use to share, so I graciously accepted his offer.

The next day was spent much like a typical Sunday, relaxing at the Cullen's and enjoying Esme's wonderful cooking. It was the perfect break before jumping into another stressful week of work.

Unfortunately, the peaceful day also gave me a false sense of security which left me totally unprepared for what happened after work on Monday. Edward and I arrived home at the same time. Minutes after we walked through the door, he received a phone call from the lobby. At first Edward seemed confused by whatever information was being relayed to him via the person on the other end of the line. Within seconds his look turned murderous. His grip on the phone tightened so much that his knuckles were turning white while his other hand fisted into a deadly weapon. Following that, his voice rose to levels I had never known possible as I tried to decipher what was going on from the one side of the conversation I could hear.

"What the hell do you mean 'it was delivered earlier today'?" he shouted into the phone. "Why the hell wasn't I notified when it happened? And who the fuck accepted the delivery?"

Upon hearing her father yelling, Bethy came running from her room, looking terribly concerned and bit afraid. When she noticed he was on the phone, her eyes quickly found me and she asked, "Is Daddy okay? Why is he yelling?"

I scooped her up and started carrying her back towards her playroom, making sure to assure her everything was okay. "He's okay. I think something went wrong at work, and he just got a little upset for a minute. Try not to worry about it."

The front of my shirt was bunched between her small fist as she clung to me, resting her head against my chest and nodding that she understood. "Maybe you should go back to work for my Daddy so you can make sure stuff doesn't go wrong like that."

I gave her a small chuckle and a kiss on the head, touched that she thought I had the power to make everything all better. "I'm sure your Daddy will be able to fix it. He's a very smart man. And I know he didn't mean to yell and make you worry."

I gave her a big squeeze before setting her back on her feet and pushing play on the Princess CD player. Before the music had a chance to start playing, I heard another loud comment from Edward.

"Don't do anything else! I'll be right down after I contact the police and my head of security to join us."

Music began to fill the room, and I busied Bethy with her toys before I decided to slip out and check on Edward .

"Okay, now that we've picked out which dolls want to have a tea party we need to get them dressed in their fanciest clothes. Why don't you start getting them ready while I go check on your dad real quick. I'll look for some cookies for our tea party while I'm out there too," I told Bethy with an encouraging smile, and she happily agreed.

As I stepped out of the playroom and closed the door behind me, I could hear Edward talking on the phone. He still sounded angrier than I've ever heard him, but the volume of his voice was more controlled.

"I hired you because you're the best. Bella's safety isn't something I'm willing to take a gamble on. This shit never should have happened. The police are already on their way, and I'm heading down as soon as we hang up. I expect you and Alec to meet me there with an explanation and a solution," he barked before ending the call.

"Edward, is everything okay?" I asked in a quiet voice, afraid to get caught on the shouting edge of his mood.

When he turned to see me standing there, his features immediately softened as he answered, "I'm sorry if I scared you. Thank you for taking Bethy out of here. I'm sure I scared her as well."

"Well, maybe a little, but we'll be okay. I told her something at work went wrong and you were just upset for a minute. I think she'll forget all about it once you reassure her everything is okay. But what happened? Why are you so upset?"

His expression turned to one of pain and sorrow as he hesitated to answer. "Something from James was delivered to the building today. It should never have been accepted as a normal delivery. With all the extra security, the front desk knew to call in Alec to deal with it. Instead, they let the guy walk right out the door and sat on the delivery for hours until we got home. Apparently, the regular guy at the desk was sick today, and had a sub from another building take his place without proper instruction."

I was almost afraid to ask, but I had to know. "What kind of delivery was it?"

Edward had already moved closer to me and wrapped me in the protective cage of his arms, answering, "I don't want you to have to worry about this shit, baby. I've got to go downstairs and deal with this. We'll talk about it later, okay? I don't know how long this will take, so why don't you and Bethy go ahead and get started on dinner. I'll eat something when I get back."

Even though I didn't know exactly what was going on, I wanted to cry and scream at the same time because it wasn't fair for our lives to be interrupted by shit like that. We shouldn't have to be worrying about catching some crazy criminal who was plotting some sick sort of revenge. Instead, I gave Edward my trust and support with a hug and a kiss, telling him dinner would be waiting for him when he got back.

He went to check on Bethy before he left, and I headed to the kitchen to score a couple of cookies for a tea party and lay out something to cook for dinner. Bethy was happier after seeing her dad was okay. We enjoyed a quick tea party before she helped me dump a bunch of canned vegetables into a pot for soup while I cooked the beef tips to add to the mix.

An hour of simmering and a couple of grilled cheeses later, Bethy and I sat down to eat without Edward. Successfully, I put on a happy face, while internally I worried about Edward and the situation downstairs.

I had just tucked Bethy in bed after reading three stories for the night when Edward finally walked through the door. He looked beat, but still managed a small smile when he said, "Something smells great. Your vegetable soup?"

"Yeah. Sit down, and I'll get you a bowl. You want me to make a grilled cheese sandwich too?"

"No. It's late, and I don't have that much of an appetite. Just the soup is fine," he answered, dropping down into the chair to wait.

I placed the soup in front of him with a side of crackers and a glass of milk before I sat next to him while he ate, waiting patiently for him to fill me in on what happened.

"This is really good, baby," he commented between bites, remaining otherwise silent while he finished eating.

I followed him in the kitchen when he went to wash out his bowl, hoping he was finally ready to talk. After a long sigh, he turned from his position at the sink and reached out for me to join him.

"I'd really hoped I could spare you the details in this, but Garrett thinks it's important for you to be aware of everything. I don't know if I agree with him. I just want to protect you from it all, but I don't want to keep information from you either," he began, holding my hand as he led me to the couch to sit down.

"Honey, don't worry so much about protecting me from hearing unpleasant things. We're in this together. We're stronger when we have each other. Just tell me," I encouraged.

"James had a dozen roses delivered to the lobby, addressed to you. They were black roses, and there was a handwritten note attached. The note said…it doesn't matter what the note said. The police and Garrett have copies of the security tapes and they'll track down the company that supplied the roses. They'll catch James before he has a chance to do anything else."

"What did the note say, Edward?"

He started to plead with me to drop it, but seeing that it wasn't going to happen he relented. "It said: See you soon, James."

"Okay…that's not as bad as I expected," I started to say.

"Not as bad as you expected? Baby, are you crazy? That's a direct indication that he plans on acting on this soon. God, I don't even want you leaving the house until he's caught! I know that's not feasible, but shit! I can't let anything happen to you."

"We've all got security and they know who to look out for. We'll be extra careful. Maybe he isn't planning something just yet. Maybe he's just fucking with us. Trying to scare us," I tried to reason.

"No. Garrett thinks that was his intention with the first package. To scare us. This delivery was more personal, more direct. It came to our home. It was addressed to you. It was handwritten and signed. He knows we've already figured out he's the one behind this, and he wants us to know it's him. This note was meant to send us into a panic before he gets what he wants. Can you at least take a few days off work? A week maybe? You know you don't have to worry about money, and I'm sure they would understand the urgency under the circumstances."

Having it all spelled out to me that way made me realize that Edward was right. It was a serious threat. And even though locking myself away wasn't exactly the answer, putting myself in danger for a job wasn't the way to go either.

"I'll call in the morning and let them know I need some time off."

As soon as the words left my mouth, Edward's whole body seemed to relax. He pulled me onto his lap and held me tight, breathing out a 'thank you' as he nuzzled against my neck.

The next morning I called the Times and made them aware of my plans to take at least a week off. They weren't exactly thrilled with the idea, but understood it was necessary for my safety. After my phone call, I snuggled back into the crisp sheets of the bed and decided to sleep in late for a change.

Edward had already left for work, dropping Bethy off at school on his way. I had expressed to Edward that I was worried about sending her to school, suggesting that James' plotting may have been more devious than we thought. What if he was purposely focusing his threats on me in order to create a diversion while he actually targeted Bethy? Edward had already considered that possibility, which is why security around the school had also been amplified. There was no way in hell anyone was getting on or off of that property without being caught.

That evening Edward was a little late coming home from work due to a meeting with Garrett at the end of the day. He did have some news about the investigation though. Through the security video, they tracked down the florist that the flowers came from. Upon viewing the security feed from the florist, they saw that James had actually came into the shop to order the flowers himself. The counterperson remembered him easily, due to the unusual nature of the order. James assured them that his girlfriend's favorite color was black and she would love the arrangement. He paid cash and filled out the note card himself.

That discovery didn't give them any leads on finding him, but it did solidify the theory that he was getting braver and closer to making his move. I was very thankful for Edward's suggestion of taking time off work.

Later that night when Edward and I were lying in bed, he surprised me with some more information. This time it was the good kind.

"So, I've been thinking…you already have a week off from work and Valentine's Day is next week…" he started, turning on his side so we were facing each other. "I remember having a conversation with you in the very beginning of our relationship when you told me how awesome it would be to travel around the world on a whim. To go wherever you wanted without worrying about time or money. Do you still think that?"

"Of course I do. Who wouldn't want to be able to travel like that?" I answered.

He gave me one of his devilish smirks and replied, "Good. Because I wanted to do something special for you since it's our first Valentine's together. Pick a place. Any place you've always wanted to visit. I can promise you that money's not an issue, but time…well, that may be our only stumbling block this time around. Mom and Dad are more than willing to watch Bethy, and I know she'll be safe with them, but I don't want to be away too long with everything that's going on. A four day weekend would work out good though. So, keep that in mind when you choose."

"What? Are you serious? We can't just up and leave on some romantic getaway…" My rambling was cut off by the sound of Edward snickering.

"Why not?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because…because we…I…well, I don't know. Don't you have to work?" I answered in a feeble attempt to make sense.

"I own the company. I can take off whenever I want. We have our own plane, so we don't need airline tickets. We both have passports. Pick a place," he replied, leaving little room for arguing.

I smiled, delighted for once to be spoiled by my rich boyfriend. "Okay. But are you sure you don't want to take Bethy with us. I don't mind, you know."

"Next time. This is your Valentine's gift. We'll buy Bethy a stuffed animal while we're gone. She'll be happy with that."

I actually giggled and kicked me feet, getting them twisted in the sheets during my excitement. "God, I love you! But I have no idea where to go. Got any ideas?"

Edward laughed again and easily answered, "Anywhere you want. First decide what kind of vacation you want. What kind of stuff you'd like to do. Keep in mind that traveling overseas will take a lot more travel time and might cause a little bit of jet lag, so your actual time there won't be as fulfilling. It's still doable if that's where you want to go, but the options are endless. We can also plan a longer vacation another time."

"Hmmm," I tried to think. "How long do I have to decide?"

"I'd like to leave Thursday or Friday if possible, so…a day to decide? It really shouldn't be that hard. Do you want to go skiing in Aspen? Spend the weekend in a cozy cabin by the fire? Or maybe gamble all my money away in Vegas. If you want a warmer climate, we could spend our time on a beach in the Bahamas somewhere or act like kids at Disneyworld," he suggested.

"Edward, all of those things sound like so much fun! And I definitely want to do all of them with you someday. But I think I already know which one to choose this time. I'm sick of the cold weather right now. Sand and sun sound good. Romantic walks in the moonlight…watching the sunrise while we have breakfast on our balcony…swimming with the dolphins. The Bahamas!"

Edward rolled on top of me, tickling me with kisses as he laughed and said, "Good choice. You in a bikini, dripping wet with sand stuck to your feet…mmmm, very good choice."

I was so excited, I couldn't sleep. We discussed all the different things we'd like to do while we were there, until Edward's head on my chest felt heavier and buzzed with tiny snores between breaths. I however, couldn't fall asleep at all.

We're going to the Bahamas! I get Edward all to myself for four days…in the Bahamas!