Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, I just use their creations to have my wicked way with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

Jadsmama deserves my undying love and gratitude for putting up with my wonky words and making them pretty. Love ya!

Chapter 32 – The City that Never Sleeps

Where I got what I never knew I was looking for….and so much more.

I smiled, leaning back against the door as I ran my hands over my tired face. What a weekend!

When the call had come, Friday afternoon, telling me my little baby niece was ready to come into this world, I'd never had a single doubt or moment of hesitation. I had to be there. I had to meet her.

So I did.

Lucky for me, there'd still been a few seats left on the six-thirty flight out of JFK and with the frequent flyer miles I'd been racking up and my newly developed packing skills, I managed to get to Forks that same night, one of my dad's colleagues from the force picking me up and dropping me off at the hospital when I arrived, just in time to meet Daisy Makenna Swan.

Yep. Makenna. Apparently it was a name that ran in Emily's part-Native-American family and she and Sam had chosen it as their little girl's middle name to honor a long line of strong female relatives. Still, the look on dad's face when he heard the name...It was simply priceless.

As soon as he saw the little bug, though, he fell in love with her, just as we all did. Because she rocked. Hardcore.

Seeing my big brother all but glow with pride as he presented his baby girl to our family was was the best thing in the world and in that moment I was so proud of him and Emily for defying popular opinion and choosing love. I mean, it had brought them the best things in the world: love, happiness and the most beautiful little person I'd ever set eyes on.

Not that I was biased or anything.

Seeing them together; the picture of a happily ever after, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if that had been me. Edward and I, cradling a little bundle of joy, a life we had created. Somehow the thought of it turned my insides into mush even though the more rational side of me knew that we were still a long way away from that. Hell, we weren't even living in the same country yet, though if Edward was to be believed that was about to change.

I smiled, letting my purse drop to the floor as memories flooded my brain. It had been hard, prying myself away from little Daisy and the rest of the family earlier that day but with a meeting with Jane scheduled for early Monday morning and two articles to put the finishing touches to, I knew I had to.

The ringing of my phone in my hastily discarded purse pulled me out of my thoughts, my smile falling when the name on the display was not the name I hoped to see.

"Hey," I spoke, crossing the apartment as I talked to dump my bag on top of my bed.

"You sound disappointed," Jake snickered, his cheerful voice already lifting my somewhat dour spirits. "I'm hurt."

"Sorry," I chuckled apologetically. "I thought it might be someone else."

"So, lover boy is being negligent in his attentions to you?" Jake fished, before jokingly adding, "The rat bastard!"

"Nah," I shrugged, flopping down on the bed next to my bag. "He's just busy, you know?" He was. With his plans slowly starting to take shape, Edward had a lot of things to wrap up in Europe before he could make his way across the Atlantic and knowing it would probably be some time before he'd have a steady income again, he wanted to sell as much of his stuff as he could so that the money he made could tie him over until he found something new. It was a good, sensible plan but I hated that it meant he had less time to spend with me on our webcam.

"Do I ever!" Jake groaned. "Between Jane breathing down my neck like a rabid hyena and that hot man hunk of a colleague of yours I can barely find the time to breathe!"

"Yet somehow you still manage to call little old me!" I teased.

"Of course!" he stated, matter-of-factly. "With little miss Alleycat out of town and the divine Miss H all loved up, someone has to make sure you're not lying dead and half eaten by German shepherd dogs somewhere in your apartment."

"I don't even own a dog, Jake, so I suppose the risk of that ever happening is rather small!" I laughed. "Seriously Jake? You really have to stop watching those Bridget Jones movies."

"Anyway….you have to get out more," Jake pushed on. "Me and Riles are going to check out this fabulous place that just opened in The Village later on. You should totally tag along!"

"Thanks but no thanks!" I smirked. "I have a lot of pre-work to do before my meeting with Jane tomorrow so even if I did feel like checking out a gay bar, I still wouldn't be able to come." Besides, the prospect of being a third wheel on what was obviously a date didn't feel all that appealing to me.

"Aww, Bells. Come on!" I could almost see his pout through the line. "It will be fun. The divine Miss H and that delicious piece of arm candy of hers are coming too. It'll be like our last hurrah before we'll all be too busy with our careers and getting laid to bother about our friends."

"Well, if you put it like that…" I grinned, holding the phone a little further from my ear when Jake squealed loudly on the other end. "I'll see you in a few?"

He quickly rattled off the address and told me to meet them there in an hour, leaving me just enough time to quickly change out of my traveling clothes and into a little black dress before hopping into a cab to Greenwich Village before Jake would call in the cavalry to collect me. Because he definitely would.

oOo

"Look at you!" I was almost afraid he would make me do that thing where you spin around and have everyone gawp at you as Jake's arms closed around me while we kissed the air next to each other's faces. "Ally really did manage to work her magic on you!"

"I beg your pardon!" I huffed in mock outrage. "This was all me!"

"Yeah, right!" Rose snorted, her brow arched as her discerning stare traveled along my body. "You may have been the one to put the end result together but let's face it, buttercup: neither that dress nor those shouls would ever have come within a five mile radius of you and those pretty long legs of yours if it wasn't for Alice and her pushy ways."

I smirked. "You might be right about that." Ever since I'd finally caved and let Alice have free (or better said: freer) range over my wardrobe, I'd found that as long as I didn't stop and wonder what all of my new pretty dresses, shoes and purses cost and how I was basically living on Jane's hand-me-downs, I was starting to rather enjoy wearing the type of clothes I wouldn't have gone within a mile radius off a couple of months ago.

They made me feel more confident, more feminine. I liked it. And judging from the looks my new and improved me was getting, so did everyone else.

It took a little getting used to, the whole 'men staring at you like you're actually worth a second look'. Back in Forks, the only reason people had for looking at me was because I had snot hanging from my nose or because I'd accidentally bumped into them. Three years in The Big Apple hadn't really changed all that much in that area. I wasn't the type of girl who liked 'putting herself out there' in whatever which way possible.

But I'd changed.

I'd grown.

Finally.

Standing on that mountain in Rio, backed by Christ the Redeemer and with my eye on the horizon, I vowed to no longer let anyone or anything hold me back. I was a woman of the twenty-first century, dammit, and no Mike, Jane or even Charlie was going to stand in my way of getting what I wanted out of life.

I may not have been quite sure about what that was – and I still wasn't, to be honest – but I knew that if I was going to stand by the sideline and let other's decide what I wanted for me, I was never going to get it.

Of course reality was ever so slightly more complex meaning that where the voice of Mike ("you're not good enough") or dad ("are you sure you're not going to end up dead in a ditch somewhere?") were easily shushed, Jane's was a little harder to get rid of…most of all because my future depended on her good opinion of me. Literally.

"You look like someone just sucked all the happy out of you!" Emmett chuckled, putting a fresh pint of beer in front of me. "What the heck were you thinking about, woman, to put that look on your face?"

"If you really want to know…" I sighed, taking a big sip from my glass. "I was thinking about Jane."

"What on earth for?" From the look on Emmett's face you'd think I'd just announced a secret desire to bone Marilyn Manson.

I shrugged. "Got a meeting first thing tomorrow."

"Then you're going to need more of those!" he smirked, pointing at my beer.

I snorted, raising my glass to him "A-men!"

"Seriously, Bella," Rose grimaced, looking at our beers in disgust as she daintily nipped from her dry white wine. "I don't understand how a girl like you could drink that disgusting stuff!"

"It's easy," I shrugged. "Growing up in Forks it's much easier to get your hands on an illegal can of beer than it is sneaking a bottle of wine out of the house without anyone noticing. Besides…it's cheaper, not that your privileged, Upper-West-Side ass would know!"

"My, Miss Swan, is that your bitchy side showing?" Riley cooed, looking rather proud. "I never thought you had it in you, girl!"

"She'd do a lot better if she still wasn't so afraid of hurting anyone's feelings!" Rose remarked. "But I have to admit that she's come leaps and bounds."

"Now if only she'd use it against Jane!" Jake chimed in.

"Practice what you preach, painter boy!" Rose sneered. "I didn't see you dishing it out to Jane when she was burning down your new show."

Jake's eyes narrowed as he glared at her. "Says the girl who gets paid to let Jane walk all over her whenever she fucking chooses!"

"See Bella?" Riley grinned, nudging me in the side. "That's how it's done."

"Jeez guys!" I grumbled, stepping in before they'd bring out the scorecards and judge me like I'd just been on Dancing with the Stars doing a so-so foxtrot. "When did this turn into pick-on-Bella-night? I thought this was going to be a relaxing night on the town!"

They all had the good grace to look at least a little guilty, their grumbled remarks muffled by their glasses as a waiter brought around another round of drinks.

"So…" Emmett broke the ice. "Jane, huh?"

"Yeah." My face turned into a sour, tense line. "I wonder what she wants me to change this time." Over the last few weeks, nothing I came up with could stand her scrutiny; my articles being too long, too short, too bland, too outspoken or simply 'not good enough'.

"And still you haven't taken Aro up on his offer," Jake spoke, shaking his head. "Really, Bella, I'm beginning to wonder of there isn't a twisted masochist lurking under that cutesy face of yours!"

I shrugged, picking a non-existent piece of fluff from my little black dress. "It's better to stick with the devil you know…."

"But Jane." Emmett made a face as he spoke her name. "Sure, she's the devil you know but Aro can't be that much worse. I don't think anyone can be that much worse."

"I don't know," I admitted. "I mean…I really can't see myself working for the guy. He gives me the heebie-jeebies!"

"Yeah, he has that effect on people," Riley, chuckled. "But if you took him up on his offer, you wouldn't be dealing with him nearly as much as you will be with Jane if you stick with the magazine."

I sighed, nervously pursing my lips as I trailed my index finger along the edge of the glass. "I don't know…."

"Don't know what?" Rose pushed.

"I don't know if I can do it," I explained with yet another shrug of my shoulders. "And I don't know if I even want to."

"You don't know?" Emmett frowned. "Why the fuck not? If it were me, I'd jump at every chance to get out from underneath Jane's rule I get. Hell, I did!"

I sighed. "It's one thing to be away from home for a week or so and writing a small article about it but a whole book? I'd be away for months and with all the research and writing…" I sighed, shaking my head. "I know I promised myself to be more daring and not let my fear of 'what ifs' get in the way of life but this…it feels like jumping into the deep end without even bothering to learn how to swim!"

Jake nodded, listening to my words. "Did you discuss this with lover boy?"

The look on my face told him more than a thousand words could ever do, his brows arching into a meaningful look as he added. "With everything that's behind you, don't you think you should?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think it was a big deal….not when I don't actually want to do it."

"Yeah, but put yourself in his shoes, Bella," Emmett chimed in. "How do you think the guy will feel when he finds out by accident?"

I smirked, guilt creeping up on me with a vengeance. Probably much like I did in Berlin.

"You have to tell him before he gets here," Rose nodded, agreeing with her man. "It wouldn't be fair if you didn't."

I nodded guiltily. "You guys are probably right." I'd been a fool for never really thinking about it. The whole thing had only been really set into motion after we broke up, with Aro accosting me at the charity ball and after that…it just never came up and with all of the other stuff going on…Aro had been the very least of my issues.

"How long will it be until he gets here anyway?" Riley wanted to know. "Didn't you say he was going to do one more job in Europe before heading out here?"

I nodded. "It was the only job that had already been fixed. After that, he's free to go. Well, as far as he's concerned that is." I had a feeling Jane might have had a completely different idea about that but hey…what Jane didn't know, couldn't hurt her. Or us.

"Are you excited to have him close?" Emmett asked, flagging down a waiter for some refills.

"Yeah." I smiled, the thought of being able to see him whenever I wanted instead of once or twice a month filling me with hope and warmth. "I can't wait for the day when we won't be living against the clock anymore. There's part of me that still can't believe it's really happening...that he's really going to be in New York and that we can be together..like a real couple. But I have to admit: it also scares the shit out of me."

"I can imagine!" Jake snorted. "Having him all up in your business will take some getting used to. Until now you've always had that safety of distance between you for most of the month, which means that you could save your best behavior for when you were together. So, is he going to move in straight away or will you be keeping up the pretense of living apart?"

"We'll be doing a whole lot more than just 'keep up the pretense of appearances sake'," I chuckled. "I already have a roommate, remember?"

Jake looked puzzled. "But I thought that with the little pixie cat getting married you'd be looking for a new roomie?"

"She's going to stay at the apartment at least while Jasper's out in Europe with the NYC Ballet," I explained. "We'll see what happens after that."

Riley sat back, grinning knowingly as he put his arm around his boyfriend. "I have a feeling that by that time, a certain pretty Brit photographer will be chomping at the bits to fill in as your new roomie!"

I grinned back, raising my fresh pint of beer at him in salute. "God, I really hope so!"

Because as scary as the prospect of it all was, I couldn't wait for it to play out. Lazy Sunday mornings spent holed up in our apartment reading and just hanging out, Saturday night on the town not just with the people who were with me right then but with Edward, stealing kisses and sneaking in stealthy touches under the table whenever he had the opportunity, waking up every morning with him by my side, knowing that come nightfall he would still be right there, beside me….I couldn't wait for that to happen.

For the rest of the night, my mind was trapped in happy imaginings as I drank and danced and talked with my friends, making it back home only right on time to catch a few hours of sleep and straighten myself out for my meeting with Jane, early in the morning.

oOo

"Come in."

Sometimes I wondered why, after almost four years and countless of visits to this office, the voice of Jane ordering me to enter still had that same effect on me that it had the first time I stepped foot inside it: blind, unadulterated fear.

But then I remembered why: because the woman occupying this beautiful, light-filled corner office was a complete and utter bitch.

"Y-you wanted to see me?" I asked, pussyfooting inside.

"You wouldn't be here if I didn't." Jane pursed her lips, silently letting me know what she thought of my question. "Sit down."

I did as she told me, meekly sliding into one of the club chairs opposite her desk, my mind still completely boggled with dread, over what was to come, and confusion caused by a very cryptic text message I'd had from Edward earlier this morning.

Keep an open mind. It had said. No name, no explanation….nothing that would even give me a clue what I was supposed to keep my mind open for.

Did he know what my meeting with Jane was about? Somehow I doubted it. Jane was never the one to play open card with anyone, least of all one of her 'minions'. Besides, I had the feeling that Edward was as much in the doghouse as I was right now.

Apparently Jane's thoughts had taken a stroll in the same direction because, as she opened her mouth, Edward's name was one of the first words falling from it. "I had the most unpleasant conversation the other day with Edward Cullen." Her small, beady eyes scrutinized my every move like a predator honing in on its hapless prey.

I swallowed difficultly, the great big lump sprouting up in my throat making it very hard to appear unaffected. "D-did you?"

"Hmm," she nodded, sitting up straight in her high-backed leather office chair. "It seems he is growing tired of Europe and wants to move to New York."

"D-does he?" I stammered, feeling more and more uncomfortable under her stare.

"I'm not stupid, Miss Swan, even though apparently you seem to think I am!" Her voice picked up a hard edge as she rested her elbows on her desk, her head resting on her folded hands. "I know who the inspiration behind this sudden urge to expand his horizons is and if I know then you surely cannot be in the dark!"

I let out a deep breath, pulling my shoulders back in a vain attempt to build up some confidence. "Okay….yeah….I'm the inspiration behind his move. He's moving here to be with me. It's the only way we can make our relationship work." I wasn't sure why I was telling her that but in my mind, it seemed a good thing to do, maybe appeal to her kinder nature (if she had one) by explaining how much of my happiness was riding on Edward's move.

It was no use, though, her eyes cold as she snapped her reply at me. "Uninspired him."

"What?" I let out an incredulous laugh, my mouth falling open when I met her dead-serious stare. "You can't seriously ask me to-"

"I'm not asking," she interrupted me. "I'm telling."

"You….what?"

Her eyes hardened as she realized I wasn't going to budge so easily. "I warned you – more than once even – that if you ever messed with my magazine, there would be only one possible outcome," her voice was low and measures as she spoke, never twitching a nerve in her face. "If you want to remain employed, you will make sure your boyfriend stays where he is."

"You can't fire me because of that!" I cried, completely outraged. The fact that she could just stand there and demand for me to go against my happiness made me see red with anger.

"Maybe not," she shrugged, seeming more amused than disconcerted, "but I'm sure that if I dig deep enough, I'll be able to find something that will hold up in court. The choice is yours."

"It's already been made," I spat, getting up from my chair, "but thanks for making it easier for me to go through with it. You'll find my resignation on your desk first thing tomorrow."

I didn't wait for her to come back with a snide reply or dismiss me as she had done so many times before, Instead I marched out of her office, riding on the wave of anger and indignation that had just caused me to quit my job.

Oh dear.

Rose looked up, confusion flashing across her face as she watched me march out of Jane's office. "Bella, wha…"

"Miss Hale. My office. Now!" Jane's thunderous voice barked.

"Later," I whispered, the enormity of what I'd just done only now starting to hit home with me.

I'd just quit my job.

My job: the place that had kept me busy for the past three – almost four – years and that had prevented me from fighting the homeless for a prime spot under a bridge somewhere.

The thing was, though, that the dominant feeling as I made my way back to my cubicle wasn't confusion or dread or even fear of losing my apartment and having to move back in with my mom and dad.

No…it was relief.

"Wow." I didn't realize I'd muttered the word out loud until Riley slid out of his cubicle on his office chair, his brows pulled up in confusion.

"From the looks of it, you just came from one of Jane's mindfuck-sessions," he grinned, sticking his pencil behind his ear. "How did it go?"

Charlotte's head peeked out from above the partition wall. "It looks like she at least made it out of there with all of her limbs attached to her body so it can't have been that bad."

I snorted, only adding to their confusion. If only they knew…

"Swanny?" Riley rolled closer.

"Well," I grinned stupidly, "Let's just say that Jane just made the choice between her and Aro a whole lot easier."

Charlotte's eyes grew to twice their size. "She fired you?"

"Nope." I shook my head. "I quit."

"Way to go, Swanny!" Riley cheered. "Oh, what I wouldn't have given to be a fly on the wall for that conversation!"

I sighed, throwing my seemingly boneless body into my soon-to-be-ex-office-chair. "I'm glad my misery at least offers you some form of entertainment," I groaned, trying to rub the onset of a killer migraine from my temples. "Any suggestions about how to proceed?"

"Go up," Charlotte immediately suggested. "See if Aro's free to see you right now."

Riley nodded. "It would be so much better if you could get to see him before he hears from Jane."

"Oh and if I were you, I'd clear my desk before I went up," Charlotte added, "because if Jane finds out what you're up to…" A further explanation wasn't needed, all three of us perfectly able to come up with a scenario ourselves.

"Smart thinking," I nodded, immediately setting to the task of clearing my stuff out of my drawers before Jane could send someone from security to 'assist' me, meanwhile thanking my lucky stars for the fact that I always kept backups from everything I'd written for my travel section on my laptop at home.

My nerves grew as my bag got fuller, my mind going over a million possible scenarios of what I was going to say when I went up to me Aro. That was, if he was even in residence at the moment.

How would he react? I'd never even given that much thought to his offer to even stop and wonder if it had been made out of an earnest belief that a Bella Swan book deal could be profitable or just to thwart his stepdaughters plans. Would he even want me now that…

The ringing of my phone – the landline, not my mobile – pulled me out of my thoughts, my eyes mimicking those of a rabbit caught in the headlights of a monster truck when it was Aro Volturi's assistant asking me if I was free to meet her boss.

As in: right at that moment.

"I'll be up in a minute," I managed to squeak before hanging up, muttering a quick explanation to Riley and Charlotte before taking my overstuffed bag and meeting my doom.

Yeah….melodrama had always been my strong suit.

Reaching the top floor – a floor decorated much more opulently that Epicenters somewhat Spartan décor - I was immediately shown into the Big Chief's office, where 'his creepiness' welcomed me with a warm (or what was supposed to pass for it) smile and a firm handshake that send chills along my spine.

"Miss Swan, I'm so happy you could come to see me on such short notice." Aro slithered through the room, indicating an easy chair in the 'cozy corner' of his office and taking his seat across from it.

"I was…erm….honored to be invited," I stammered, trying desperately to find out if he knew about my most recent encounter with his stepdaughter.

"I realize that you're probably busy fulfilling your engagement to my…to Jane and her magazine," he started, the disdain in his voice leaving me in no uncertainty of what he thought of Epicenter and its editor-in-chief…and that he didn't know about the most recent turn of events yet, "but when mister Cullen contacted me the other day I knew I had to move fast if I wanted to outmaneuver my stepdaughter."

I frowned, my mind trying desperately to catch up and make sense of what was going on. "Mister Cullen?" Hs announcement completely threw me for a loop. Where I'd expected Jane's name to come up and had spent most of my elevator ride up trying to come up with a suitable way to explain my situation, I'd never in a million years expected this.

How could Edward be involved in all of this? As far as I knew, he and Aro had never met or even heard of each other's existence. But then why did Aro just speak his name?

"This is too good an opportunity to pass up on," he went on, apparently thinking I was in 'the know', "even if it will probably cause quite a ruckus in my family." He chuckled, his eyes briefly flittering to a family picture on his desk. "I'm sure Jane will resign herself to this new situation eventually, though. Don't worry."

He looked at me expectantly, probably waiting for some kind of acknowledgement when in reality, all I could offer was confusion. "You…you spoke with Edward?"

"Yes?" Aro seemed genuinely baffled by my ignorance. "He contacted me yesterday. I assumed that given the…personal connection between the two of you that you knew all about his plans."

I shook my head, my mind spinning so fast with all the strange things that had been happening over the last few hours that it couldn't even decide what to think of all of this. "This is all new to me."

"Ah," Aro nodded as understanding dawned on his face. "Well, my dear, then let me start by living you a full explanation…." He crossed the space of his office in a few long strides, placing a phone call to his assistant to cancel all of his meetings like it was nothing – like I wasn't probably costing him more money in one afternoon than I would ever make in my entire life – before joining me again, his eyes having taken on a mischievous look of conspiracy as he took a seat next to me. "As I was saying, it all started with a phone call…"

As he went on to explain what had been going on and how his original plans to offer me a book series had now been ameliorated to include Edward as my regular photographer and writing partner, I fell from one surprise into the next. And when he finished I just sat there, gawping at him like a fish on dry land while my mind was franticly scrambling to put two and two together and come up with something faintly resembling the number 'four'. I guess this means that Edward had somehow found out about the book deal Aro had offered me…..but how? And had he been angry or disappointed that I'd kept it from him?

"So you see, Miss Swan," Aro concluded, looking more smug than ever as he neared the end of his sales pitch, "you and Mister Cullen will be in excellent care within the Volturi Family and I hope that – should you choose to sign with us – this will be the start of a long and fruitful collaboration, both on a personal and professional level." His knowing wink made me feel both nauseous and ecstatically happy. The possibilities of this opportunity he was now presenting me with…they were everything I could have dreamt of but never thought I'd have.

"It….it doesn't bother you?" I finally managed to speak. "You know, the fact that me and Edward are together?"

"Not in the slightest, my dear," Aro cried out, laughing as if I'd just said something funny. "In fact, coming from a PR point of view, things couldn't have been better! And should things ever go awry between the two of you – though let's hope that will never happen – we can always think of some solution that will make both of you happy."

"Oh." I bit my lip, still wondering whether to be insanely happy or remain safely on my guard. There was something about Aro's words that made them seem too good to be true. Something that made me feel like I'd be signing away my mortal soul to the devil if I went along with this.

"Think it over, Bella," Aro, probably picking up on my hesitation, spoke. "I took the liberty of having my legal team draw up a contract that details what we expect from you and what you, in turn, can expect from us."

I nodded, my hands closing around the huge, overstuffed manila folder he slid towards me. Wow. This was really happening.

"There's no rush," he went on. "This is a big decision for you so we at Volturi Publishing will completely understand that you need to take some time to read through this information package and discuss it with your family and your lawyer. Just know that our doors are always open when you decide you want to do business with us."

I nodded, still feeling completely overwhelmed and apprehensive but also compelled to lay my own cards on the table. "First of all I'd like to say that I'm really grateful for the offer but I think I should tell you that Jane-"

Aro's hand waving my concerns away stopped me mid-sentence. "That is of no significance, my dear." So apparently he did know but just didn't care.

"But…." I started, "I thought the offer was to blend in with my work for Epicenter?"

"Initially, yes," he answered, "but that choice was made mainly to appease Jane. The fact that you're now free to focus on your work for us, is a bonus to me. I'm sure Jane will, in time, resign herself to the fact that she's only a small cog in a very big wheel."

"You mean," I sucked in a sharp breath. "We're still going ahead with the deal-"

"As proposed and brokered by Jane herself some months ago, yes." Aro's mirth at being able to one-up his stepdaughter was palpable. "Don't worry, though," he was quick to add. "I'll make sure that your dealings with her will be cut down to a bare minimum."

"Okay." My shoulders sagged in relief. At least I'd be spared more torture from Jane. "Good."

"Good!" Aro's eyes danced with glee as he clapped his hands. "Then I hope to see you soon, Isabella."

I nodded, swallowing around my discomfort as I somehow managed to conjure an at least partly genuine smile on my face. "Thank you, again. Your trust in my abilities…it means a lot to me. I hope I won't let you down." Because, seriously, as much as I needed some time to get my head sorted out, there was really no doubt in my mind that I was going to take this offer. I mean, it was everything I never knew I wanted but now that it was within reach…yah, I wanted it alright.

Aro smile, his pleasure at being able to one-up Jane as he dismissed me with a benevolent gesture of his hands should have worried me or even creeped me out a little.

But it didn't.

All it did was make me even more grateful for the fact that even the devil herself had a higher power to answer to. And that higher power seemed to be on my side.

oOo

After my meeting I somehow managed to pick up the box of stuff I'd dropped off with security on my way upstairs and make it home….but how? My mind was a complete fog, still trying to wrap itself around the drastic change that had taken place in the few hours since I'd left my home earlier that morning.

I'd lost my old job, been offered a new one and found out that my boyfriend – the same boyfriend whom I'd thought to be oblivious of all developments on the job-front – had been detrimental in bringing all of this about. Who's mind wouldn't be spinning after that?

By the time I'd arrived back at the apartment and had taken some Tylenol against the headache, all that remained were the questions – and lots of them – and so knowing that no amount of staring at the wall was going to give me the answers to those questions, I fished in my bag to call the one person who could.

"Sweetheart." I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the wall as I let his voice wash over me. So close yet so far away…. "How did your meeting with Aro go?"

"Did you suddenly develop a new talent for clairvoyance?" I snorted. "Because if not, then I'd like to know how the hell you managed to pull all of this off!"

"Are you mad?" He asked, his voice hesitant and more than a little wary.

"I-I don't really know," I muttered. "I think it all depends on your explanation."

"Then I'd better do a good job at it, huh?" he chuckled. "So where do you want me to start?"

"Silly question! At the beginning?" I answered. "Or let's start at how you even knew about the book deal? I don't remember I ever told you about it, even though I probably should have."

"Alice told me," he explained, "and don't worry about it. With the way things have been going between us I can understand how this never came up….though I would have been nice to know."

"I know. And I'm sorry. I know I should have told you about it but I guess…it was just never a good time to bring it up." I cringed. Yeah…I'd have some making up to do when he got here. "Wait….Alice?"

"Yeah, the plan…it's all her." He laughed softly. "I wish I'd been the genius thinking all of this up but alas."

"Then why didn't she tell me?" I frowned, wondering why Alice could have kept all of this a secret from me. Why tell him and not me?

"Don't get mad at her," Edward was quick to state. "She knows your acting skills aren't exactly legendary so she thought this whole thing would be easier to pull off if I was the one doing the legwork."

"Ah." I nodded, knowing the truth in his words even though I didn't like them one bit.

"There's a lot riding on this for her as well," Edward went on. "If Jane finds out that she played a part in all of this..."

"She'll lose her job," I finished.

"And probably the prospect of ever finding a new one in the fashion industry," Edward added.

"Probably, yeah, but I still don't understand how all of this came about. I mean, how did she even contact you?"

"She just showed up at my apartment one night," he told me. "I don't know how she got my address but suddenly there she was, threatening me with bodily harm if I ever hurt you again."

"Yeah, that sounds like her!" I grinned. "She must have dropped by in between saying goodbye to Jasper in London and joining Jane in scouting for new talent at the Milan Fashion Week."

"I don't know," Edward said, "but what I do know is that by the end of the night our plan was set and all I needed to do was contact Aro Volturi to put the game in motion."

"And you never thought to give me a little heads up?" I pouted. "I could have really used the knowledge of what the two of you had been cooking up behind my back when I went into my meeting with Jane this morning!" Jane who was now on her way to meet with Alice, completely unaware of the fact that her little pixie fashion editor had just pulled the rug out from underneath her. Was it very wicked of me to really like the thought of that?

"Sorry!" Edward chuckled apologetically. "I did send you a message, though."

"Ah, yes," I huffed. "Not that that did anything but add to my confusion. Seriously, Edward? 'Keep an open mind'? How the hell was I ever going to make sense of that?"

"Hey! It was all I could do!" he defended himself. "Alice made it perfectly clear what she'd do to me if I blew the whistle and frankly, she's kind of scary for someone so small!"

"Don't I know it!" I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at the thought of Alice cornering the much taller and more muscular Edward with her iron glare.

"The question is, though, what you're going to do now that all the card are on the table," he went on.

I sighed. "If you'd have asked me that yesterday, I would have told you there was no way I was every going to work for Aro." I smiled remembering my late-night conversation with my friends the other night. "But now…."

"Bella," I could hear him breathe out through the phone. "I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything. Not for me, not for Aro, not for Alice."

"But it's your career on the line as well," I argued.

"And I'll be perfectly able to find something else if you really feel so strongly against working for Aro," he countered. "All I want is for you to be happy."

"You make me happy," I muttered, "and working with you, It will make me so happy….."

My words were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. "Wait a minute….there's someone at the door." I walked over to the other side of the apartment, the phone balancing between my shoulder and my ear as I slid the locks away and opened the door to reveal my mystery guest.

His lips pulled into a smile, his eyes partly hidden by a few locks of reddish brown hair that had grown out of control. "Bella."

The only sound that followed his voice was the noise of my phone crashing to the floor as we stood there; me inside and he outside, hovering on the edge of something huge.

I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth when he was there, standing on my doorstep with a huge weekend bag hanging from his shoulder. "You…..you're here!"

"I'm here, sweetheart," he repeated my words, his green eyes searching mine with a love and honesty in them that made me sway on my feet. "I'm all in. I know this is a gamble and, hell, maybe it will go wrong in the end….but I'm willing to take the plunge. How about you?"

I didn't have to think for even a second, a small tear escaping from the corner of my eyes as I looked up at him, my voice thick with emotion as I spoke. "I'm in."

Because really….was there any other thing I could have said?

I knew that there were many difficult conversations in our future and that we were still a long way off from being what we had been, let alone what we could be…but in my heart I knew that there was only one road leading to happiness

It was him, it had always been him and it would always be him.

Forever.

His grin widened as he pulled me into a tight hug, his voice sounding like liquid sex as it purred in my ear. "Alice also told me not to worry about living arrangements since she planned on moving in with her husband anyway. She'll be by next week to pick up her stuff."

I squirmed out of his hold, wanting to see his face to know if he was simply relaying a message or if he really wanted this. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," he nodded, his face solemn and sincere. "It took thinking I'd lost you to finally see just what you mean to me but now that I have you again, I never want to let go. I-I don't want to be apart from you ever again, Bella."

I bit my lip, stealthily pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming as I leaned against the door frame in a hopefully seductive manner even with tears running down my cheeks and my heart pounding so fiercely I was afraid it was going to burst with happiness. "Well, if that's the case, then…welcome home."

Thoughts?

Only the epi left. Reviewers will get a very small teaser for it. In the meantime, I've already posted the prologue for my next story which is called 'Any Way the Wind Blows'. It's very different from this one but I hope you'll give it a shot (if you haven't already). You can find the link on my profile page.

Happy holidays everyone. See you next Wednesday!