TNMC
Chapter 48
EPOV
"So you believe her?" It was a straight forward question and Emmett knew I was just making sure. Well, I hope that he did. I was still in my office and the morning light meant I could see myself in the glass doors. I didn't need to have a quick sniff to know I needed a shower, a shave and something to eat to soak up all the scotch I'd consumed steadily throughout the night. I was glad I was talking to Emmett on the phone rather than in person.
"You only have to see the state she in to realise she is telling the truth. I could hear the anger in his voice and I knew he had the confirmation he needed. "Mother and Denali have done a real job on her."
"What do they want her to do?" I tried again to picture her but all I could remember was the blonde hair and the ludicrous giggle.
"Well they slipped up with my Rosie. They presumed she knew all about me and the rules that go with my life. When it became quite clear she knew fuck all they tried to get her to inform from here on in."
I felt, rather than heard him shake his head. "When she asked what they wanted to know about, they made it clear they were only interested in information about you and Isabella. She told them she had only ever really met Isabella once or twice and she was too frightened to talk to you, so they eventually gave up and told her not to tell anyone about the meeting or else." His voice softened. "Poor love doesn't even realise what 'or else' means."
The tone of his voice changed, no longer hard and angry. I detected a genuine tenderness and it was obvious that he loved Rosie just as much as I loved Isabella. My brother and I didn't talk about our feelings often and I felt strangely guilty, as if I was a voyeur looking in on their love.
"We need to keep her safe bro," he said. "If anything happens to my Rosie I don't know what I'd do…" I could hear my dad talking to Rosie in the background, calming her down and making sure she was okay.
"Get her moved into your house today," I told him, glad to move the conversation back to territory where I was comfortable. "Sort out protection for her and while you can't tell her what we do you can explain why she needs someone with her. Either that or you need to marry her pretty fucking quick."
"Fuck yes," he replied, as if I had given him an idea. "I wonder if they have someone here who could arrange that. I'll call you later." The line went dead. A short, incredulous laugh escaped my mouth, almost surprising me. I could only imagine what the hell was happening over there. Looks like Emmett was going to get the next Mrs Cullen. I would have to wait.
My next call was to see if there was a hit out on us. I spoke to Alex and he put the word out. We have our own network of gossips. They say women love to talk, well fuck me no one talks like a group of made guys when they are in a safe place and they have some beer or Jack inside of them. I'll know within a few hours just who put the contract out and who has taken it up, if there is one of course.
A tap on my office door almost startled me, I wasn't expecting anyone to be around, before I could even shout to whoever it was to come in the door started to open, alerting me to the fact it was Isabella. She was the only one who knocked and came in. I got up and walked to meet her in the doorway.
"Are you ready for some breakfast sweetheart?" I put my arm around her and swept her along the corridor, not really giving her a chance to object. I had a sudden craving for normality.
Mrs B had prepared a spread for us and left it in the warmer in the kitchen. I looked at my watch. Whilst it was too late to refer to this as breakfast, it was still brunch time. At least I could be sure all the security guards had already eaten so we shouldn't be disturbed. As I looked at Isabella I could tell she was getting ready to say something, something she was having difficulty getting out.
"We need to talk Edward, I've been thinking I..." I let her trail off because to me this sounded like she was going to say something I wasn't going to like. I really didn't need her freaking out, even though I would completely understand if she did. I needed her to calm down and understand this was her new way of life and she needed to adapt quickly. I made myself a plate of scrambled eggs and toast and poured a coffee for each of us. I passed a mug to her and she accepted it with a weak smile, watching me as I sat down at the table in my usual spot. My best chance was just to tell her everything I knew. I'd listened to her last night, to everything she could remember and now it was my turn to tell her everything that had happened.
"I've just spoken to Emmett and my mother and Denali are holed up in a resort in the next state over, they have just tried to recruit Rosie to spy on you and me so I think we can safely assume they are in this together. They will need to overthrow me, they need me dead and they need it done in such a way that doesn't implicate them." I delivered the information calmly and coldly, hoping she would understand the situation and talk to me about it.
"So you think they are planning to kill you?" She finally moved into the kitchen, sitting down opposite me.
"Not only me, they need to get rid of Dad too." I tried not to let worry infect my voice.
"Why?" I could see the confusion on her face as she picked up a rasher of bacon to nibble.
"We think they are together. "Her eyebrows raised. "We're not sure how long but Denali has been talking about divorcing my Aunt because he has finally got the love of his life and he wants to get married as soon as possible. I'm the first divorcee in the family and there is no way Mother would ever get divorced so we can only assume he will be taken out as well."
"How can you be so calm Edward?" A slight note of panic entered her voice. "Someone is probably plotting to kill you right at this moment and all you can do is eat breakfast." By the time she had finished the sentence her voice had risen at least three octaves and I could see the pinkness in her cheeks and neck blossom. She did care about me. I knew that even if she wasn't ready to say it.
"This is part of my life Isabella," I told her, in the same tone in which we might have discussed laundry or grocery shopping. "I have lived with this knowledge since I was old enough to understand what my family business was. I have always had a protection detail. I thought they were babysitters, it never struck me as odd my babysitters were all huge guys who carried guns and very rarely spoke." All the time I was talking to her I never took my eyes off her face, there was no point trying to play this down she needed to understand what she was getting into.
"Am I going to be a target, as your w… girlfriend?" She sipped her coffee as she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. My heart skipped a beat, I was sure she had almost described herself as my wife.
"Our women are off limits Isabella. There have been a few incidents but they have mostly come about when people have been playing in places they shouldn't have been." I sat back and pushed my now empty plate away from me. Isabella had only eaten one rasher of bacon so I was pleased when she reached across and picked up a piece of toast and after carefully spreading it with butter and strawberry jam finally ate something. I let her finish it, topping up our cooling coffee before I went back to what she was going to say right at the start of the conversation.
"So you said we needed to talk. Do I need to be worried about something?" I tried to look comfortable and at ease but my heart was beating out of my chest. If this was a 'thank you but goodbye' talk I wasn't sure what I was going to do. How would I ever let her go?
"I was just thinking I would like to go and visit my Dad," she said, taking another large bite of the toast. "I haven't seen him in a couple of months and even though we talk regularly I'd like to actually see him." She didn't have to say how much the incident with Jarvis had shaken her.
I relaxed instantly. She wasn't saying goodbye."You are coming back aren't you Isabella?" Doubts crept in, the dark thoughts in my mind hard to ignore. I pushed my plate away, the salty bacon suddenly heavy in my stomach. "You're not just saying it's a visit to get away are you?" It sounded childish and possessive even as the words left my mouth but I had to know she was coming back.
"Yes Edward I'm coming back," she smiled, genuinely. "I have appointments to re arrange and I need to look for some new properties to market. I just need to see my Dad."
"Okay, I'll speak to Quil he can go with you, maybe one of the others too." I was already thinking ahead, re assigning people and duties so she would be protected and safe.
"Are you happy with Quil after what Jarvis said about him yesterday?"
I'd been waiting for her to ask about him. She had delivered the information last night quite matter of fact, never questioning what she was telling me. She had every right to wonder, I knew Jarvis was playing with her head and I needed to put her straight.
"Isabella I'm going to break my own rules now and tell you something. Quil submitted to a test when he came back and he passed it with flying colours. I know he didn't tell them anything." I was hoping she wouldn't push this, to tell her the truth meant she would be an accessory to something. Of course, it was a catch twenty two, if I didn't tell her she would be worried I was sending her off with someone I didn't trust, either to test her or him.
"What sort of test?" Her eyes narrowed. "You mean like a polygraph or something?"
"I knew you would want to know. If I tell you it makes you an accessory you realise that?" She thought for a few seconds before nodding.
"We injected him with sodium pentothal, more commonly known as the truth drug." I delivered the information as dispassionately as I could. Quil knew what he was doing and he knew we needed to be sure he was telling the truth.
"Well I know you can't buy that at Wal-Mart so I won't ask any more questions," she nodded her understanding. "Thank you for being honest with me Edward, you have no idea how much that means to me."
With that she leaned across the table and planted a loud sloppy kiss directly on my lips. She tasted of strawberries and butter and I wanted her desperately. As my tongue started to taste deeper tones of coffee and toothpaste I was distracted by my cell phone ringing. I was tempted to ignore it and just take her here over the kitchen table but with everything that was happening at the moment I needed to keep my wits about me.
"Sorry sweetheart I need to take this." I looked at the screen and it was Alex, hopefully he had some information for me.
"Boss are you able to talk?" I knew he had something important to tell me.
"Yes go ahead Alec."
"You were right, a contract was floated two days ago. It's for a million dollars and to get it Carlisle has to have a fatal car crash and if it can't be arranged that you are in the vehicle with him, you have to be killed in public in what looks like a messy assassination attempt. Terms are one third one the first death, one third on the second and the final third when Carlisle's death is classed an accident. There is a bonus if your death starts a war between the remaining families" By the time he'd finished explaining all the different caveats my head was spinning. For a lousy million dollars, whoever had put the hit out would not only pave the way to take over the family but would also cause chaos with the other families. This would take months if not years to sort out meaning the streets would be a free for all.
"Who is the name behind the hit?" I asked Alex, fully expecting him to say Denali.
"Well that is the weird thing Boss," he paused, the silence thick between us. "Word on the street is that it's Emmett, but we both know that's not right." I could tell he was as surprised as I was that Emmett's name had come up. There was no way on earth my brother would do this to me or our Dad so someone was trying to be clever.
"Has anyone taken it up yet?"
This was the most important part, I needed to know who was coming for us.
"You are going to love this Boss, Jacob Black and his crew have taken it. Rumour has it he's been telling anyone who would listen, it's to avenge what you did to him and for James Hunter." He rung off and I mulled over the information.
I instantly felt better. Black was using so much of the product he was supposed to be selling he was cutting the remaining powder with anything he could get his hands on. I'd refused to do anymore business with him so he was dealing with the Romanians now and one phone call to Stephan and Black would be history. He'd soon realise he'd got off lightly with what Emmett had done to him.
I needed to speak to Dad and Emmett to make them aware of what was going one but also to find out what was happening at the resort.
"I need to work sweetheart, do you want to join me in the office?" I was offering her a huge olive branch as well as showing her how much I trusted her.
BPOV
As much as I needed to actually see Charlie as soon as Edward explained about the hit out on him and Carlisle I knew my visit would have to wait. If I went I'd be constantly worrying about him and he really needed Quil and the guys here looking after him. I knew I couldn't ask Charlie to come and visit me because he'd want to know what was happening. In the interim I was keeping Edward close. It was nice to finally be allowed access to his office. We were sat opposite each other, both still in what we'd thrown on this morning. I was finally enjoying a mug of hot fresh coffee and Edward was tapping away on the two laptops back on his desk. I watched his face as he looked between the two, his concentration total as he seemed to take information from screen and move it the other.
A thought suddenly struck me.
"Edward do you think the FBI will have informed Charlie I was taken in for questioning?" If they had he would be on his way here already.
"No I very much doubt it," he replied, coolly, "you are legally an adult and as this is a cross agency team of idiots, chances are they wouldn't risk have to explain to him why they showed you pictures of him dead."
I settled back down into the chair but couldn't help but notice the worried look on Edward's face and his constant checking that I was still there. It was almost as if he was making sure that I wasn't going to run out of the door at any moment. I swallowed, a lump suddenly in my throat. I loved this man, why couldn't I just say the words?
