AN: And now for Volterra and the confrontation with Alec.

My apologies for having been MIA, work has been brutal for the last month. I hope it will start to slow down a little now and give me back some brain power - I miss writing!

Unfortunately, I've had to split this chapter in two as it was heading toward 7K words. I thought you'd prefer half of it updated now rather than wait for a double length one next week

My thanks to everyone who has faithfully reviewed and stukc with me and to all those who still favorite and follow

MeteorOnAMoonlessNight has been a star despite difficulties in her own life and is the best beta I could wish for. MissLiss15 pre-reads

Disclaimer: I don't think Edward will ever be mine :-(

Chapter 37

Now, Edward

Bella never ceased to amaze me. She was clever, daring, brave, innovative and, above all, sexy. Her having taken off after Aro may have been foolhardy, but her every action had paid off. In every way, she showed me what an ass I'd been to keep secrets from her. Almost everyone admired and respected her, a feat almost unheard of in crime families.

Seth had developed a deep admiration for her and insisted that wherever she went, he followed, although it took her some time to accept that it was also actually a necessity now that her status was out in the open. The Volturi brothers were dead, one by her own hand, the other by mine, and we were here in Italy to make sure the rest of the family had no chance to come back and wreck everything.

I had been shocked when she was the one to propose to me, and I couldn't be more eager to be married to her. The only people now standing between us and that point in time were Caius's offspring Alec and Jane.. We'd heard whispers that Kate Denali had also found her way here to Volterra, but even if she hadn't, she would be sure to surface at some point, and then she would die, too.

Now, here we are. Garrett and Seth, who refused to stay behind in the States, and Bella and me, standing at the underground entrance to the castle. So far, everything Caius had told her had been true, but we still had to be on our guard just in case there was something he had omitted from his forced confession.

"Where did Caius say these led?"

It was Bella who answered. "He said into the catacombs and directly into the center of the castle. Do we have any lights, Seth?"

Wordlessly, Seth dug into his backpack again and produced four small flashlights, each of which gave out a very bright light. Switched on, they illuminated the steps, which were worn but in good condition, showing that they had been used frequently.

"Well, here goes." Bella took a deep breath and set her foot on the first step. I followed her, then Seth, with Garrett bringing up the rear. He didn't bother closing the trap door; if someone noticed the damage to the outer door, there was only one path the individuals would have taken.

Surprisingly enough, the steps and the floor of the tunnel when we reached it were both dry and a little dusty. When we reached the bottom of the steps, Seth stopped. "Wait a minute, Edward." He pulled two top-of-the-range bulletproof vests out of his backpack, handing one to me and one to Edward. "Put these on; they should give you some protection."

Edward didn't look surprised, and took mine from me. He slid it over my head, pulling the waist straps tight around me.

"Thanks, Seth. I didn't know you'd brought these with you." Bella adjusted the vest so it sat comfortably over her shoulders while I pulled mine on. "What about you and Garrett?" she asked.

"Already wearing 'em, Bells." Seth grinned and lifted the front of his t-shirt to reveal a vest over his undershirt.

Proceeding along the tunnel, my first thought of them having been used frequently proved to be right when the light of our flashlights showed that there were sconces along the way that had been in use not too long ago. After thirty minutes of careful walking, we came to a two-way split in the tunnel. "Damn, Caius said to take the central one? Now what do we do?"

Garrett stepped forward around the three of us, taking a look at the tunnels up close. "What are you looking for, G?" I asked.

"Any signs that one is used more than the other or maybe something that'll tell us that there were three at some point." He sounded frustrated as he took a few steps back to look up at the roof of the tunnel. He shook his head and turned back to face us. "No idea, Edward. It could be either of them."

"Hmm, Caius said there'd be a set of steps leading up at the end, so maybe we should split up and take one each. Hopefully they won't be too far along the tunnel." I liked Bella's suggestion but I wasn't happy about letting her out of my sight at all.

"We really need to stay together, Bella."

"What other alternative is there, Edward? We have no way of telling which is the right one."

I looked at each of the tunnels and then at Seth and Garrett, both of whom were waiting for my decision. I sighed, realizing that we had to do something, and giving up was not an option. We had no idea what Alec and Jane were planning, and Kate Denali was a loose cannon; as mad as Aro, from the sound of it.

"You and Seth take the left-hand one, and Bella and I will take the right." I could see that Seth was about to argue and I held up my hand. "No offense, Seth, but I prefer that Bella stay with me. There's no telling what's at the end of either tunnel. Maybe Caius was lying, maybe not; we'll never know until we see for ourselves."

Garrett nodded. "Makes sense, Edward. Both Bella and I heard what Caius said, so each of us is in the same position. If either tunnel leads upward, we head back here. It's"―he looked at his watch―"almost eleven-thirty, so let's say we give ourselves thirty minutes, and if we haven't found anything, we should meet back here." He looked pointedly at me. "No heroics, Edward. If we're to be successful, we'll need all four of us."

I contemplated calling Garrett out for telling me what to do, but eventually I nodded once, realizing that he was right. The right-hand tunnel was wide, so I held my hand out to Bella, who took it, placing herself in my care. "Thirty minutes." Garrett inclined his head and he and Seth started down their chosen tunnel.

Ours proved to be clean, clear and well-used. The flashlights lit the way well, again showing sconces holding sooty torches, pinned to the walls at intervals. The only sound was our breathing and soft footfalls. We'd only been walking for twenty minutes or so, the only sound accompanying us the sound of our breathing and shuffling feet on the dusty tunnel floor, when the tunnel began to lighten a fraction.

"There." Bella's quiet call broke the silence, pointing up ahead at the sight of a steep flight of steps leading upward. "Just as Caius said. Who knew he had an honest bone in his body?"

I grumbled, knowing that Caius had only been trying to preserve his own skin, but said nothing. It was completely unlikely that he'd told the complete truth, but we had yet to find out what exactly he'd lied about. "Come on, Bella. We should make our way back and wait for Garrett and Seth."

"But we've only been gone twenty minutes, Edward. We have a bit of time to spare, so maybe we could find out a bit more. I'm sure that when Seth and Garrett get back, they'll be able to catch up to us pretty quick."

I had to admit that I didn't want to waste time hanging around and waiting an hour or more for them to finish checking out their tunnel, make their way back to the junction, and then follow in our footsteps. The memory of Garrett telling me to wait came back to me, along with the irritation I'd felt when he was telling me what to do. Before I knew it, I was agreeing with Bella.

Given that there was now enough light, she stowed the flashlights in her backpack and we set off up the steps as quietly as we could. They were much steeper than those we had already climbed to reach the village streets, and we were both breathing a little hard when we got to the top. I stopped as the corridor widened out at the entrance to what appeared to be a room carved from the rock. It was lit by two electric lights joined together with thick black cable, which disappeared through a gap over a door situated on the other side of the room.

I stood listening for any sounds until Bella pushed herself under my arm and slid in front of me. In silence I squinted at the door, looking for a lock.

"Do you think it's locked, Edward?" Bella's whispered question echoed lightly. I held up my hand, stopping her from speaking, and listened again. I couldn't hear anything from the other side of the door, and reached over to take her hand before we made our way across the room.

It seemed as if we were in luck; it didn't appear that the door was locked with anything other than an ordinary key. "We have a skeleton key which should open this," I whispered. "But we have no idea if the door has an alarm."

"We also have no idea if the door at the entrance was alarmed either, Edward. If it was, the game's already over and they'll be waiting for us," Bella whispered back.

Taking her arm, I pulled her back into the tunnel and down a few steps so that we would be out of direct sight of the door if anyone should open it from the other side. "The Volturi are arrogant but impractical. They might believe that no one can get in with all the guards they have on each gate, but make no mistake, they will be armed and ready for anything. We really don't need to take any chances; waiting for Garrett and Seth would be more prudent."

She leaned back against the wall and I recognized her stubbornness in her stance. "Alec probably thinks that since we've made no attempts to deal with him, he's safe behind his castle walls, but he's as arrogant as Aro," she scoffed. "I think we should use that arrogance and do the opposite of what he's expecting."

"He might be an arrogant ass, Bella, but theoretically, he could mount an attack against us to take back the Volturi territory. It would take him some time to gather the right forces to come at us in the States, but here on his own turf, that won't stop him. We have the time to wait, Bella; to plan."

"What about Kate? She's insane and she was furious when Aro wouldn't even consider her his heir. That means she's dangerous, and if she's here, she would be pushing Alec to take action. If they didn't have an alarm on that door, we should take advantage of the element of surprise."

"I agree Kate's a loose canon, but neither Alec nor Jane knew about her, did they? You said that even Caius was shocked when he learned about her, so they probably won't believe her, and Alec is arrogant enough to ignore any warnings she might give him."

She was quiet for a few minutes, mulling over what I'd said. Eventually, she took a deep breath and looked at her wristwatch. I could tell she'd decided that she would accept my suggestion. "We've been gone forty-five minutes now, so they should be back at the junction soon." She stopped for a few minutes before reluctantly saying, "So, we're waiting for Garrett and Seth?"

I nodded. "If we're not there, I'm pretty sure Garrett will figure out we found something and make his way up here. Going back now is a waste of energy, so we wait for them to catch up. Agreed?"

Bella looked back up the steps and I could see her contemplating the idea of finding out what was beyond that door. "We need to wait, Bella," I repeated. She sighed and then nodded, leaning back against the rough wall behind her.

The silence enveloped us as we listened for footsteps coming our way. Bella looked at her watch frequently and sighed with impatience each time. I smirked at her frustration. "Time won't pass any faster for looking at it."

"Shut up." She scowled and I grinned at her, biting back the words that would have wound her up more. Another glance at her watch later, and the silence was eventually broken by the sound of voices and heavy footsteps coming from back the way we'd entered. I knew that there was no way either Garrett or Seth would be unprofessional enough to make that much noise; it had to be some of the Volturi guards. We stood, and I pushed Bella behind me, pulling my gun. Bella's breath was hot on my back as we waited.

The footsteps and voices faded until they disappeared, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "My guess is they are headed for the outside. Come on," I said, "it's time we found out what's beyond that door."

"What about Garrett and Seth?" Bella whispered. "Shouldn't we find out what's happened to them?"

I faced her and shook my head. "There's no telling what problem they ran into, but both of them are capable of taking care of themselves. They'll find us soon enough." I slid my gun back into the waistband of my jeans and took her hand, starting back up the steps. Listening before stepping into the room, I could hear no sound from whatever was behind that door, although that didn't mean anything at this stage. We'd come this far, and going back the way we came was out of the question; the only way to go was forward.

"Wait." Bella's hand pulled on my free arm until I leaned down. "What should we do if there is someone on the other side?"

I leaned down and put my mouth right next to her ear. "Caius said there wouldn't be anyone on the other side, didn't he? He said it led out through a panel into the central hall."

"I know, but he didn't mention this room or the door between the top of the steps and the panel, so we really don't know what there is behind that door."

"We have to go forward, Bella; we can't go back. Stay out of sight behind me and I'll keep myself behind the door for as long as I can. That and the vest will give me enough protection if there's someone on the other side of that door. Anyone in the room will have their eyes on me, so as soon as I open the door, slide under my arm and fire at anything that moves."

Bella bit her lip, looking concerned that I would be in the line of fire, but eventually, she nodded.

I held out my hand and she placed the skeleton key in the center of my palm. I kneeled and quietly inserted it into the lock, listening to the sound of the key turning, waiting for the click that would tell me it was successful. What seemed a lifetime passed before I heard the tumbler fall, unlocking the door. I stood and nodded at Bella, and took hold of the handle, ready to push it down. The slight sound of the door opening echoed off the walls around us. We waited for a minute; when there was no reaction from beyond the door, I pushed it open an inch at a time.

Peering around the edge of the door to both the left and the right showed an empty room. Somewhere in the distance I could hear voices, but they didn't seem to be coming closer. According to Caius, there was a security room close by so I assumed the voices were coming from there. I looked back at Bella, who was leaning around me, and put a finger to my lips. I opened the door wide enough for us to walk through and into the room. The central hall was opulent with marble covering the floors and flowing half way up the walls. The room was hexagonal and had no windows on any side, but was flooded with light from the glass dome high above us. Slightly to one side of us was a raised platform with two large seats, which looked like thrones. I had to quell a snort at the thought that Aro and Caius had certainly thought of themselves as royalty in this place.

Bella and I moved further into the room, looking around at the priceless paintings that adorned the walls and the marble benches situated at intervals in a half circle. A soft snigger came from beside me as Bella took in the ostentatious display. Alternate walls were hung with long red velvet curtains, seeming to not have a purpose. The one directly in front of us was drawn back to show a set of tall, grand double doors. I hoped that at least one of the others led to a different way out of this room. I had the feeling that the double doors would be guarded on the other side.

We quietly stepped around the platform, Bella heading to the left to explore whatever was behind that curtain. and me to the right to do the same. A small scream from Bella, which cut off sharply, caused a sliver of panic to slide down my spine. I whirled around to find that Vladimir had her pulled up against his chest, her feet dangling, a beefy hand over her mouth and his other gripping her around the waist, trapping her arms at her sides.

"Let her go, Vladimir," I growled as I took a step toward him. Her eyes met mine, widening in fear. She knew I wouldn't let him get away with anything, but she didn't want me to get hurt, No doubt, her mind was flicking back to the injuries he'd inflicted on me a few short months ago.

I narrowed my eyes as he allowed her body to slide down his a few inches. The arm slung around her waist rose until it settled across her breasts. His smirk told me that he was fully aware of not only who she was, but also what she meant to me. He lowered his mouth to her neck and licked her skin, all the while keeping his eyes on mine.

Red hot fire engulfed me as fury sped through my veins. "I said, fucking let her go, Vladimir. Don't touch her." I took another step forward and I could see Bella wince as his hands tightened on her.

"What if I want to?" he taunted, his tongue laving the side of her face this time. "She's a hot piece of ass. Alec has other … interests ... shall we say, so he'll take what he wants and then discard her like he does all the rest. I don't mind his sloppy seconds. Or is it thirds?" he mused.

While he had been talking, the absolutely fury died down, leaving a cold fire in its wake. Vladimir would not live; he'd signed his own death warrant the moment he laid hands on her.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the great Edward Cullen. Come to offer your condolences, have we?"

I spun around, pulling my gun out and holding it steadily in the direction of a familiar voice―Alec. He grinned boyishly at me though it didn't quite reach his eyes, which were a hard, flinty grey. They glared at me despite the smile his mouth offered. When I didn't lower the gun, he sighed theatrically and rolled his eyes. "Be a good boy, Stefan, and take their weapons, and make sure you search them both thoroughly." He turned his back on me and stepped up onto the raised platform and took one of the seats. If the situation hadn't been so dangerous, I would have laughed at the spectacle of Alec pretending to be king of his little domain. "And no heroics, Edward." His voice hardened. "Your sweet Bella has a gun aimed directly at her and even if you had a mind to try and kill me before we could disarm you, that wouldn't be good for her, would it?"

I closed my eyes for a second, defeated, before my mind was picking over the situation and trying to find a way out for both of us. It looked hopeless but, knowing Garrett, he would have evaded capture and be looking for a way to rescue us right now.

** Dangerous Secrets **