Disclaimer: All Twilight-related material belongs to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all those that celebrate! Thanks for all of your continued support. For those of you who do no have me on author alert, you may want to do so. I'm posting something new tomorrow. :) xo

BPOV

"I'm still not too sure about this, you know."

I roll my eyes before I turn to face my always-worried fiancé. "I know you're not, Edward, but you trust me, right?"

He gives me my favorite smile – the smile that's meant just for me and nods. "Of course I do, love. That's why I'm here."

He holds out his arms for me, and I hug him tightly. I allow myself to take comfort in his warm, strong arms, even if its only for a few seconds. "Thank you for doing this. We just need to put all of this behind us, once and for all."

"We will, baby, I promise." Edward kisses my forehead. "And once this is all over with, I'm going to make you my wife."

I sigh, absolutely loving the sound of that, and hoping beyond hope that it will be a reality very soon. "I really hope this all works out."

Edward hums against my hair. "I hope so, too."

"Do you have everything prepped?"

He nods and steps back. "Yeah, it's all right here. Your dad dropped it off earlier."

I follow him to the table in the middle of the hotel suite. "Wow. That's quite a spread."

Edward chuckles. "Your dad is very prepared."

"That's the Chief for you. So, what's this?" I ask, picking up a small microphone.

"That one is going to go in the flower pot right there," he points to the end table near the bed.

My eyebrows rise. "Why near the bed?"

Edward rubs the back of his neck and bites his lip. "Well, um, I know how Tanya is… and…"

I can't help my reaction; my stomach sinks immediately when I realize just how far this can go. Tanya is, after all, a dirty whore, so I'm not sure why I didn't think of this sooner. Of course, she would try to use her body to get what she wants. Of course, she'll try to sleep with Edward, my damn fiancé.

Well, he's not my fiancé tonight, at least as far as Tanya knows.

"Oh," I mumble, not sure what else to say with these new horrible thoughts swirling around in my head.

Edward hugs me from behind tightly and sighs. "Bella… nothing is going to happen. You know that, right? Everything that I'm going to have to say tonight, everything you're going to hear, it's all an act. I'm doing this for us, for our happily ever after."

"I know," I sigh, looking down at all the spy gear on the table. "It's just hard."

"You are so strong and brave and perfect, Bella. I know if the roles were reversed, I wouldn't be able to handle it. I wouldn't be able to leave you alone in a room with James and listen to the types of things that I'm going to have to say. It's going to be hard, but it's worth it. We are worth it."

I turn around in his arms and smile up at him. "You are strong and brave and perfect, too. You'd be able to do this, too. You would be able to do anything for our family. I love you."

He smiles back at me. "I would do anything for you and Masen. I love you, too." He kisses my hair and I smile even wider when I hear him breathe in deeply. "My sister should be here soon. Do you want to help me set up the rest of the microphones?"

I nod and squeeze him tight one last time. "Sure."

.-.

"Are you okay?" Rosalie asks as I pace the bedroom in the back of the hotel suite.

"No," I answer honestly.

"Just remember what Edward said, Bella. This is all an act and hopefully, after tonight, we won't have to deal with this bitch ever again."

"I know… that's what's keeping me in this room right now." I give her a tight smile as I hug myself.

"Okay," she sighs. "Headphones on, 007."

She is so enjoying this; not the whole Tanya aspect of it, but the whole spy thing. I can't blame her, really. Alice, Jessica, and I had a blast when we spied on her at the bar. This time isn't fun for me, though, knowing that I'm going to need to hear things that I would otherwise never in my life want to hear.

I put my headphones in and take a deep breath. The second I do, Edward's voice crackles through. "I love you, Bella. Remember what I said."

Seconds later, there's a loud knock on the door to the suite. I can hear Edward shuffling to the door and I take another deep breath to attempt to settle my nerves. "Here goes nothing," I mutter.

Rose takes my hand and gives it a squeeze.

.-.

EPOV

Fuck.

My stomach is in absolute knots.

All I want to do, is wrap Bella up in my arms and kiss the shit outta her. I want all of us – Bella, Masen, and myself – cuddled up together on the couch, watching whatever ridiculous show Masen wants to watch. Hell, I'd even settle for Spongebob at this point. Of course, I can't have any of that, though, because I must deal with Tanya, once again.

I roll my shoulders, trying to lose some of the tension I've felt there all day long. I do the only thing that brings me comfort and relief; I talk to Bella. "I love you, Bella. Remember what I said."

I wish I could hear her, but this is a one-way transmitter. I hope she's okay. I hope the things that she's going to hear tonight don't hurt her, or damage our relationship. It would be ironic, if it did, considering that I'm going through all this bullshit for us.

I sit down on the too-firm sofa and run my hands through my hair, trying and failing, to figure out when this all got so fucked up. Tanya cheated one me… not the other way around. So why the fuck can't she just let go? Why can't she move on and alow me to do the same thing with my life?

Where is the girl that I thought I was once in love with? Was she ever who I thought she was? Was it all an act? It's so obvious to me now, that she never loved me; she loved my last name and the money and power that is associated with it… and that's what it comes down to; it all comes down to money and power.

If I didn't have so much pride and so much hope for my son's future, I'd just give in… I'd give her the money she so desperately wants, if it meant she'd leave me alone for good.

There's a knock at the door that interrupts my thoughts and my stomach fills with acid. My palms instantly begin to sweat. This is it. I make my way to the door and try to calm my pounding heart before I answer it. I slip on the best poker face I can before I open the door.

The sight of Tanya standing there in the door way shocks me… because she has an angelic, satisfied smile on her face. "Hello Edward," she says calmly.

"Tanya," I nod. I step back and allow her entrance into the suite.

"I'm so glad you changed your mind and decided to call me." She grins at me, her expression showing smug victory. She thinks she's won; she clearly thinks that she's scared me – that she has blackmailed me into giving her money.

I don't lash out in anger, like I normally would; instead I play the part as well as I can. I give her a tightlipped smile. "Me too." I motion for her to sit down on the couch and her facial expression shows clear shock when I sit down right beside her. She hides it quickly, but I saw it. "I want us to talk, Tanya. We have a lot of things that we need to discuss."

"Okay," she nods, biting her lip. It reminds me so much of Bella that my heart literally aches. "What do you want to talk about?" she asks.

I need to play this very carefully.

Bella and I met with Alec a few days ago after our meeting with James. We shared everything that James told us and Alec surprised me by believing James immediately.

James had told us that in the last few weeks, Tanya had changed drastically. As James so eloquently put it, Tanya had gone "bat shit crazy." He told us that she had started to express feelings of Bella being the clear source of all her problems. In Tanya's mind, if Bella had never come into the picture, she and I would have gotten back together.

The hardest part for me, that I couldn't swallow, that I refused to believe, was that Tanya wants us back; she wants us to be a family again. I just can't wrap my mind around why Tanya would want that now.

"Edward?" Tanya's voice breaks through my thoughts and I shake my head to clear it.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"What do you want to talk about?" she asks. "The last time I saw you, you weren't being very cooperative. If my memory serves me correctly, you were pretty cruel and aggressive to me."

It takes all my self-control to not roll my eyes at her. She's playing the victim, as usual. I'm going to have to put on an Oscar-worthy performance if any of this is going to work. "I'm sorry about that. I was, uh, not in the right frame of mind that day."

"Hmm," she hums.

"Everything that happened with Riley… it was very fresh that day. It was a really rough day for us all."

I watch her face for some sort of sign, for some semblance of guilt… but see nothing. "Oh, right," she nods. Her fake sympathetic smile is tight. "How is she?"

I blink, surprised by her question. "What?"

Damn. She's a good fucking actress. "She's okay… I guess. I'm not sure. I haven't talked to her for a few days, actually."

She looks surprised by this. "Really?"

I nod slowly. "We um… we broke up."

"Why?"

I shrug. "I just… couldn't do it any longer." I swallow, hoping that Bella knows what I'm saying is just for show. This is going to be the hardest part. "She led Riley on. He abducted her because she flirted with him, you know? She made him think that she wanted him. I don't know why she did it… but it put me and Masen through quite an ordeal."

"Wow," Tanya nearly squeals. It's like she's ecstatic about this bit of information. "So… you're done? For good?"

"Yes." I know that I'm lying, obviously, but the word still tastes like vomit in my mouth; I feel like I'm betraying my heart… my very damn soul by saying I'm done with Bella.

"I'm sorry, Edward."

"Did you mean what you said before… that day, outside? Or was that just one of your empty threats?"

Her eyes narrow at me suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"When you said that… when you said Bella doesn't need anymore enemies."

"Yes…"

"What did you mean by that?" I ask. She shrugs in response. "Come on, Tanya," I coax her. "Tell me. It's important."

"Why?"

This is the part that I need to sell. If what James said is true and Tanya wants us to be a family again, it can only mean one thing. She wants my money.

James told us that Tanya was planning on hiring a hitman to get rid of Bella… in any capacity needed. I need her to admit that to me. I need to get it on tape.

I take a deep breath and think about the saddest things I can to make myself cry. I think of losing Bella. "Tanya… Bella is important to Masen. He loves her very much. He calls her Mommy."

Anger flares inside me when that bit of information doesn't seem to have any effect on her at all. She doesn't care that her child considers someone else their mother, because she doesn't consider herself to be his mother.

I swallow the anger and use the sadness it brings to my advantage. "Masen will want to see Bella… and she'll want to see him. It'll be… messy to just break it all off with her. I'm afraid that if I see her all the time, I'll fall back under her spell; she'll somehow win me over. And with her being Masen's teacher… she's always going to be hard to avoid."

"So… get her fired."

"I can't. She's a good teacher… there's no reason they'd fire her." I take Tanya's hand in my own, feeling disgusted with myself. "If you meant what you said… if there's some sort of enemy that she has out there… please tell me. I need your help." I sigh. "I love you, Tanya. I've always loved you. You were my high school sweetheart. I thought we would be together forever and then… you hurt me, so much… so deeply. If you do this… if you help me… maybe I can forgive you for that. Maybe we can be a family again."

Tanya gasps. "Really?"

I nod. "We could… we could maybe try again, you know? If she were out of our way…"

Before I realize what's happening, Tanya launches herself at me. She covers my body with her own, raking her hands through my hair as she presses her mouth to mine. I groan, hating the taste of her, but Tanya mistakes my groan for passion, and shoves her tongue in my mouth.

After a minute, she finally pulls back. "Do you mean that? Really?" Her eyes are glistening with hope. I nod. "Could we… could we get a new house?" I nod again. "And…" she bites her lip, hesitating. "Could I… could we get a joint bank account again?"

And there it is. I want to scream. I want to toss her off me. I want to kill her.

Of course, she doesn't ask if we'll get remarried. Of course, she doesn't mention Masen at all. No. All Tanya cares about is property and money; all Tanya cares about is herself.

I don't know why I'm so surprised.

"I'll give you anything you want, Tanya. Just help me."

"Okay," she nods furiously and jumps up. She stands and begins pacing. "Okay. When I told you that, outside of your house, I wasn't bluffing. I know a guy. He's an old friend of Laurent's. I don't remember his name; it was a weird Italian-sounding name. Anyway, I actually gave him a down payment." She eyes me carefully, wondering if she should say more. I give her a smile and nod, even though what I want to do is wring her fucking neck. "That's why I needed the money, Edward, don't you see? I need to pay him his other half so he'll actually do the job."

"What job?" My voice is hoarse and shaky.

"The job to get rid of Bella, of course!"

"How?"

"I don't know!" she yells, throwing her hands out in front of her. She shrugs. "Who cares how? I told him that I didn't care; he could be creative. I just told him that she needed to disappear and that no one was to ever see her again. Whether he kills her, sells her, or keeps her for himself; it's of no difference to me, or to you, now." She smiles at me, like we're sharing some sort of secret together; like we're on the same team.

I'm wondering if that's enough for Alec. Is this enough for her to be charged? To be put away? I didn't realize it until this very moment, but I was hoping that what James said wasn't true. I wanted to believe that the girl that I had once thought I was so in love with, was somehow still inside of this cold, heartless woman standing here before me, but she's not. Maybe she just never existed at all.

I can't say that I wish I never met her… because even after everything she's put me through, she gave me Masen. I think any ounce of good that existed in Tanya was given to my sweet little boy, because the person standing before me is nothing but a monster.

I'm so caught up in my thoughts again, that I don't see Tanya's approach. Suddenly, she's on me again, straddling my lap and yanking on my hair. When her lips touch mine again, I want to vomit. I want to bleach my entire face, until there's no trace of her on my skin.

But then, as quickly as she was on me, she's gone. I hear her yelp as she's flung backwards. I sit up fully, completely bewildered. "What the fuck?" It takes a second for me to realize what's happening. "Bella?" I gasp out her name, watching as she climbs on top of Tanya and rams her fist directly into her face.

"Keep your goddamn psychotic hands off my fiancé. He will never be yours again, do you understand me, you stupid bitch? He is mine and I'm not going anywhere!"

I stand, frozen to the spot as I watch Bella continue to smack and punch Tanya wherever she can.

"Edward!" Rose yells as she runs into the room. "Help me separate them!"

I can't move. I want to, but I can't.

Rose runs over to the pile of flying limbs, and with great effort, pulls Bella off a sobbing, bleeding Tanya. Bella stands, panting heavily over her. When she tries to launch herself back onto her, Rose grabs her by the arm. "Enough, Bella! Enough! Edward!" she yells my name again.

Hearing my name seems to snap Bella out of it, and her eyes snap to mine. Still breathing erratically, she makes her way over to me. She shocks the shit out of me when she reaches up and grasps the back of my neck, yanking my lips down to hers.

Her kiss is rough, powerful, and unyielding. Her lips capture mine, making me groan into her kiss. Her fingers run up the back of my neck, making me shiver as they find their way into my hair. She grips it hard, pulling even harder, pressing my lips more firmly to hers. I groan again, the painful sensation running all the way through me and morphing to pleasure by the time it reaches my already-hardening cock.

One of Bella's hands leaves my hair, trailing down the side of my face, and lower toward my chest. She grips my shirt in her hand, pulling my body closer to hers. When she's satisfied at the position of me, her hand travels even lower, until she's palming my jean-covered cock. I moan, loving the feeling of her hands on me. "Mine," she grunts against my lips. I nod, kissing her again, more fiercely than before. She pulls away from me suddenly, her hands are gripping both sides of my face. "You are mine," her voice wavers, losing all the bravado from before.

I slide my hands down and around, wrapping them around her and settling above her plump ass. "Always."

"Edward," she whimpers my name. Her tone is filled with fear, anger, and a little bit of relief.

"I know, baby, I know."

I hold her against me, hugging her tightly as she sobs into my chest. I look down, behind her, watching my sister handle Tanya, getting a slap in herself before she helps her to her feet. She pulls out her phone and hits Emmett's contact information. "Baby, it's over. Get everyone here."

My sister grins at me, giving me a small bit of comfort. I try to smile back at her, but I can't. I'm just as overwhelmed as Bella is. My mind is swimming with everything that's happened in the last half hour and everything that I know is going to happen.

It's not over yet, but it will be.