Chapter Fifty Three

Bella

I could hardly believe my eyes when I recognized Alice Cullen as she glided in smiling broadly to stand beside Jane and Alec.

Aro nodded acknowledgement of her presence before continuing.

"This is the person you were hoping I could locate for you, isn't it? So you see, I have already fulfilled my side of the bargain."

He gestured to her.

"Alice my dear, come and greet our guests."

She walked forward, her smile more fixed now until she was within touching distance of us.

"Jazz, I bet you didn't expect to see me again so soon."

Before either of us could react she darted forward and planted a kiss on his cheek before retreating out of reach once more. I felt a snarl building in my throat but swallowed it back down, now was not the time to react to her little games.

"Well, Alice. Gone over to the dark side have you?" I asked.

She looked at me with her sweet smile back in place.

"Oh, Bella. Don't be so bitter, after all, you got what you wanted, Jazz."

I nodded and grinned partly to annoy her.

"Yes. I did."

Her smile dimmed a little but she wasn't giving much away.

Aro, meanwhile, was enjoying this scene just a little too much for my liking. He rubbed his hands together and beamed at us.

"Well, now we have concluded the pleasantries perhaps we should 'get on with the show' as they say. Alice, my dear. Would you please be so good as to stand with Alec and Jane."

She moved over to stand at the side of the twins, now looking down at the floor.

"Isabella, I am going to ask my friends here to use their gifts on your friends and I'm sure they, in turn, would be grateful if you would use your gift to stop them. Just as you did when your mate fought Felix."

His eyes glittered as he looked at me then he gestured to the twins and Jasper fell to his knees gasping in pain. Thinking quickly I stretched my bubble out, but not to cover Jasper and Peter, instead to block Jane and Alec.

Jasper and Peter jumped back to their feet as the gifts lost their power and watched in amusement as the terrible twins went down under the onslaught of their own terrible gifts.

Aro clapped his hands in glee like a small child.

"I think you were being too modest about your gift, Isabella."

I looked him straight in the eye determined to ensure my message was received and fully understood.

"I could just as easily have directed that at you, Aro, remember that."

His smile faded and he studied me closely before speaking.

"I see, and just what is it you are looking for, Isabella?"

I allowed a few seconds to pass before answering him.

"We just want to be left in peace, Aro to live our own way, without any threats. I'm sure you'll agree that isn't too much to ask for? And in exchange for that undertaking, I will make an undertaking in return. I will never use my gift against the Volturi unless you force my hand. You've seen what I can do so you know you this is not an empty threat."

I stopped and turned to look at Alice.

"There is just one other thing. I want your word that Alice Cullen will either be kept in Volterra permanently or handed over to us. She is my one exception to the undertaking I offer. If I see her again then I will kill her, Aro, and then come looking for you."

As the silence lengthened I turned back to him, studying his face now grave.

"It's a good deal Aro, you should take it while it's still on the table. I'm not ambitious, I don't want power. All I want is my family's safety guaranteed."

Aro

I had to admit that Isabella was an even better negotiator than I had first thought and she had a point. If she decided to return there was very little the Volturi could do to stop her although with Renata's help I would, of course, be immune to her gift.

So, Alice Cullen would stay here in Volterra, her gift would be most valuable. And as long as the Whitlocks weren't a threat to us, there was no advantage in them seeing the Volturi as a threat to themselves.

"A compromise between the Volturi and the Whitlocks? A novel idea! There is just one thing I would like to clarify, the safety of Edward Cullen."

I looked at her inquiringly and she, in turn, glanced at Jasper.

For a moment I thought he was going to speak but instead, he merely shook his head and she turned back to me.

"I'm sorry Aro, but it seems we might have a problem. Neither of us has him at present and I cannot and will not guarantee his safety should we find him first.

I could see her musing on her options and decided to lay out my offer first.

"If Edward Cullen arrives here begging sanctuary and agrees to stay indefinitely then my hands are tied. I can do nothing but offer him a safe haven."

She nodded her agreement.

" If, on the other hand, as I anticipate, he returns to our area then he forfeits your protection and we will mete out our own form of justice."

She was very good and would reward close scrutiny, I expected great things from Isabella Whitlock, especially with the Major at her side.

As for the new Whitlock coven, well, so long as it remained small and quiet there would be no necessity to renege on our deal.

"I will obviously need to consult with my brothers but I see no problem with such a deal... in principle. Please excuse me for a few moments."

I went through to my chamber to give myself space to think. I had no intention of talking this over with my brothers, besides, it was not necessary. My word was law.

Bella

I hadn't expected it to be so easy to leave Volterra and only once we were safely in the air and on our way back home did I relax my vigilance. We were under no illusion that the matter was closed but we were free at least in the medium term. The Volturi would need watching but Aro understood what the repercussions would be if he crossed me.

As for Edward, I anticipated seeing him before too long, either at Carlisle's or on his way there. Unlike Alice, he wouldn't run to the Volturi, he would rely on my sense of fair play and the fact we were once in a relationship. He would see himself as already having been punished and therefore free, he was just stupid enough to let that fly. But what he wouldn't take into account was my love for Jasper, and no one threatened my man without paying… and in Edward's case, the price would be his life.

Rose, Charlotte, and Emmett were waiting anxiously at the airport for us when we landed and Peter was showered with kisses by a very relieved Charlotte before we were grilled about every second of our time in Volterra. I think that while everyone was relieved the danger was over, they were also scared about the future. Especially Rosalie and Emmett who now had no permanent home and no family. They had gone their own way over the years, living apart from the rest of the Cullens, but there was always the knowledge that they had a family who loved them and a home to return to whenever they wished to do so. The cold reality now was that they felt cast adrift.

We spent that first night in a motel just talking about the past, Edward, Esme, and Alice, and the things they had done. It was crazy bringing it all up again but somehow it helped, we all felt better afterwards. Alice was now beyond our reach as was Esme but Edward... well Edward could wait, but he would always be that one piece of unfinished business that you couldn't forget about.

"How about we take a break and come back fresh to hunt down Eddie boy? I could do with some sun, sand, and sex, how about you Em?"

Emmett looked Peter up and down then slowly shook his head.

"Sorry man, you're just not my type."

The joke broke the tension in the room and we began discussing the possibility of a holiday, somewhere far away from all that reminded us of the past, especially the recent past. To me, it was all a slowly fading nightmare. I had a new life, a new family and that's the way I wanted it.

Jasper had said he had something to tell me before we left for Volterra but wanted to wait until our return to talk about it and when he did I understood why. His friendly lawyer, Jenks, who had been so helpful with information regarding Oscar had come through again.

He had finally tracked down Renee who was living in Singapore with Phil. They had adopted a little boy called Simon and had a good life. She worked in a school teaching English and Phil was a sports instructor at a gym.

"I have their address if you wanted to get in touch but it's not going to be easy now you're a vampire."

I shook my head.

"No, Bella Swan died three years ago, let her rest in peace. Renee has a family, a good life and I'm pleased for her. I have my own life, my own family, and a great future, let sleeping dogs lie."

"As long as that's what you really want, Bella."

I nodded moving closer to Jasper so I could snuggle up against him,

"Yes, it's what I want. That and you."

After much discussion the following day we decided to hold fire on the holiday idea. Rose and Emmett decided they needed to find a base to call home and said so in Peter's hearing which was like a red rag to a bull.

"Oh, right. I guess we were good enough for you when there was trouble but now everything's fine, fuck us, you want something better."

Rose stared at him open-mouthed in astonishment.

"What? No, Peter. We appreciate you offering us a refuge while everything was going crazy but we can't expect to impose on your hospitality indefinitely."

"Why? Did you get a better fucking offer? Fancy something more swish? A lowly ranch house not good enough for you anymore?"

Shocked myself by Peter's sudden anger I decided to wade in before something was said that couldn't be taken back.

"Hey, time out, Peter. Rose just told you she and Emmett don't want to impose, that's all."

He glared at me for a moment then relaxed a little and shrugged glancing back at Emmett.

"Do what you want, but there's plenty of room at the house for you both if you want to stay on. I just thought we were family now."

Rose looked as if she would be crying if she was capable of doing so and I understood how important it was to her to have a family, she had never been alone. First, she had her human family, then Carlisle, Esme, and Edward, and finally Emmett. It was as true of her as it was of me, we both needed the warmth and security of having a loving family and however much he tried to hide it Peter did love us and experienced that feeling too.

"Well, I guess that's settled then, we should probably get going."

We all stared at Emmett in disbelief, was he really going to leave and take Rose with him?

"What?"

She looked at him stricken, then saw his smile.

"We should get back home before Peter changes his mind, you know how ornery he can be. Oh yeah, Peter, I expect some help building our cabin just like Jazz and Bella got."

Peter mimed thinking about this for a second then nodded slowly.

"I guess that'll be OK, but in return, I need some help with the cows."

We all stared at him mystified while Charlotte grabbed him by the arm looking alarmed.

"What cows, Peter? We don't have any cattle."

"Didn't, Charlotte, but seeing as I have plenty of free help I think I might get some, be a real rancher."

I shook my head, it would be just like Peter to suddenly decide he wanted to become a cattle rancher and I could see Charlotte feared the same thing.

"Maybe horses instead, Peter?"

He glanced at Jasper and nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, maybe that would be better, I've never liked cows much, too noisy, remind me of women."

He made a run for it hotly pursued by Charlotte and Rose but my money was on the girls this time, he might be fast but they were more determined. As far as I was concerned it was good to be together again and making plans for the future although it seemed just when we were looking to settle down something usually happened to ruin our plans, would this time be different?