A/N: I don't own anything. And I typed this chapter really slow…
EPOV
The car ride was silent back to the apartment. Rose and Bella sat in the back seat holding hands but looking at me and Emmett the entire time.
When the gun fire had broken out my first thought was that someone was there to leave a warning. But anyone that shot at me or Bella would pay the ultimate price.
Emmett and I had fired back enough times that the tires blew out on the car the shooters were driving. They'd crashed close enough to us that we ran to the car only to find a bloody Mike and Laurent looking like they were still in shock from the crash. I'd wanted to drag them out of the car and torture them for what they'd done, but Emmett suggested we just execute them. With the time we had, it was the best decision.
We put two bullets in each of their brains before walking back to where the girls and Jasper were standing. I didn't even fault Jasper for staying behind. I knew he wasn't armed and I knew he wouldn't have wanted to be involved in death like this any way.
We pulled up to the apartment and started to get out when my cell phone buzzed. It was Carlisle. Although I'd had the phone on vibrate, everyone else getting out of the car heard my phone and looked at me gravely. I answered while motioning for Bella to come towards me so I could hold on to her once more.
"Boss," I greeted. There wasn't really much more I needed to say to him. I knew why he was calling.
"Edward, I just got an emergency contact phone call from the morgue. What happened to Laurent and Mike? Why am I getting calls about them being dead?"
I hugged Bella hard thinking about how close I'd been to losing her earlier.
"There was an accident. They're both dead." I growled through my teeth at my boss over the phone. In response I heard him take a deep breath and sigh. There was a long pause between us speaking.
"Edward, is everyone alright?" when he spoke, he sounded like my uncle in that moment and I wondered all of a sudden if he hadn't put out a hit on me or Bella. "Mike called me earlier and said that he and Laurent had something important to tell me about a witness and that they had to run an errand. Do you know what they were talking about?"
Bella looked up at me as she must have heard what Carlisle said over the phone. Ten thousand pounds of worry and stress lifted from my shoulders as I realized he didn't really know about Bella from Mike and Laurent.
"Everyone is alright. Emmett and I took care of it. I don't know what they were coming to talk to you about though. They've been acting strangely lately."
I could hear Carlisle nodding and sighing. "Alright. Well I need to meet with you anyway. It's about the girl." I was confused and curious at the same time when he insisted that I go talk with him. I hugged Bella harder to me before I answered.
"That's fine. I need to drop something off and I'll be there for lunch. I need to talk to you too." Bella was looking up at me with question in her eyes as I hang up the phone.
"Edward? What's going on?" Bella and Emmett asked me at the same time. I looked down at Bella and then over at a very concerned looking Emmett.
"Carlisle wants a meeting. We'll take the girls upstairs and then we're going to go see him." Rose and Bella both looked at Emmett first and then me. I didn't want to explain to them why I'd made my decision in the parking garage. "C'mon…let's go."
I led Bella up to the apartment. Emmett and Rose followed. He and I walked in first and checked the place out before I let the girls enter.
Rose turned around and looked at me and I could tell she was pissed. "Edward, are you leaving to go see him now?" Rose was pissed.
I nodded. "We need to go find out if he put a hit on Bella as soon as possible." Bella gasped but didn't say anything. I hugged her tightly. I waited to see if either of the girls had any other questions before Emmett and I left to go see the boss.
Emmett kissed Rose and whispered something to her before walking to the door. I hugged Bella and leaned in to kiss her. "Bella, everything is going to be alright. I fuckin' promised you I'd watch out for you. I won't let anyone hurt you, baby. I'll be back in an hour." I ran my finger down her nose and kissed the tip of it as I repeated my promise to her.
Bella nodded and smiled. "I'll see you in an hour, Edward. I love you." Bella barely spoke the words as she said them, but I heard her loud and clear and couldn't help but smile.
"I love you too, baby." With that I walked out with Emmett to the car to see Carlisle.
When we pulled up to the restaurant Carlisle was sitting in we both let out a deep breath. I knew that this meeting could go one of two ways- either we could walk out of here and stay alive or we could walk out of here and end up dead within the week.
I walked in first and greeted Carlisle and then sat down next to him at his table. Emmett greeted him next and sat down next to me. The waiter brought in drinks and disappeared quickly. Neither of us started talking to Carlisle till the waiter left the room.
Carlisle took a deep breath looked at us both with a questioning look. "We have a few things to discuss today." Emmett and I nodded. "First off, did you leave any evidence at the scene?" We shook our heads. "I want the both of you to know that I didn't put the hit out on either of you."
"Did you put the hit out on Bella, then?" I practically snapped my question at Carlisle. He acted as if my snarky question was a run of the mill question, though.
"Edward, let me be clear, I didn't put a hit out on anyone you know in the last week." I was happy to hear his admission but I was still pissed off that there were no immediate words of regret for Mike and Laurent's stupid move.
"That brings me to my next matter that I want to discuss with you…the girl."
"You mean Bella." Emmett rolled his eyes as he spoke and chuckled. We both realized what he'd done as the words finished coming out of his mouth. Carlisle didn't make much of a facial expression at his comment.
"Yes, Bella…I've made my decision about her." Emmett and I looked at each other knowing that no matter what he said about her, we'd keep her alive. "Edward, you and Bella have my blessing to do what you will with each other."
I knew that Carlisle was aware of how attached to Bella Emmett and I were. And considering we'd come close enough to death today as we had, this was a wise decision on his part. Emmett and I nodded, smiled and mumbled 'good'.
"If you're happy with her, then I'll be happy with her. As your uncle and your boss."
Emmett and I didn't wait to hear anything else from Carlisle concerning Bella. We were ready to get back to the girls and wrap the day up with a little more success than it had started with.
A/N: Hope you had a lotta turkey!! Sorry for this taking so long. I've been swamped with work and school and family life. I'll have the next chapter up much sooner.
