A/N - So...erm...next chapter will be the last one...

Okthanksbye.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty Chapter 41

We ended up on the east side of Lincoln Park and I thought it was a strange place to open up a club but maybe Edward knew something I didn't.

I'd always seen Lincoln Park as more of a residential area so I was even more confused when he pulled up on Hudson Avenue. He stopped the car outside a beautiful 3 story red brick house.

"Are you sure this is the place she wanted you to see?" I turned to him and asked.

"Yeah, this is the place. What do you think?" he asked as he mirrored my position.

"I think it will piss off the neighbors if you open up a club here," I was pretty sure the confusion on my face was evident but he was giving nothing away.

"Let's go check it out," was all he said before he stepped out of the car. He walked around to my side and opened my door. As he held his hand out for me, a beautiful older woman stepped out of the house and beamed towards us.

"Edward I'm so glad you could make it on such short notice!" She said as she made her way down the stone steps towards us. She had strawberry blonde hair, gold chains hung around her neck, and pretty much every finger had a ring on it. She wore a peach pantsuit and nude-colored Louboutins.

Once she reached us, she leaned in and kissed Edward on the cheek, beaming at him once she stepped back. Edward rested his hand on the small of my back and smiled back at the cougar.

"Carmen, how are you?" He asked politely and she continued to beam at him.

"I'm good darling, I can't believe we're here again! And who's this?" She finally noticed me.

"This is my wife, Isabella. Isabella this is Carmen, our realtor," he made introductions and she held her hand out for me to shake. I watched the way she assessed both of us and there was a disturbing glint in her eyes.

"Ah so you're The Isabella our Edward couldn't stop gushing about, it's definitely a pleasure to meet you! Now come on you two, let's go inside!" I found her excitement comical. I know she was after a sale but this was a little over the top.

"Are there many clubs around here Carmen?" I asked as we followed behind her.

"Clubs? No, not as far as I'm aware. We're in the suburbs Isabella, it's mostly family homes, parks, the zoo, schools, and just a homey neighborhood. If it's the clubs you're after, you'd have to go further into the city," she rattled on as we reached the top and she opened the front door.

"I don't understand, I thought we were looking at a possible club space?" I whispered to Edward but the cougar had great hearing it seems because she was the one to answer me.

"Club space? No Isabella," she laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Edward had stayed relatively quiet through the whole thing as I shot daggers in his direction.

What the fuck was going on here?

As we stepped inside, my jaw hit the floor as I took in the place before me.

There was a door to the left as you walk in, it was ajar and I could see that whoever was currently living here, used it as a coat closet. I felt no control over my legs as they led my forward towards a black baby grand that sat nestled under a beautifully curved staircase. The floors were dark wood whilst the walls looked slightly outdated but I was still very much in awe of this place as I tried to take in as much information around me as I could.

I stepped away from Edward and went exploring further.

Onto the right of us was a French farmhouse kitchen that I fell in love with instantly with the share size of it. It was littered with top-end appliances, oak cabinets, a large island with more than enough prep space, and a cozy breakfast room. It has a full side of windows overlooking the large backyard.

There was a spacious pantry off to the side of the kitchen with gorgeous copper countertops and endless storage space. This kitchen would be my pride and joy.

As I walked around the kitchen, it warmed my heart to see a gracious family room opens to the kitchen and it looks perfectly informal. I could picture Edward and I just sitting here, watching TV and just relaxing together after a long day's work.

"Originally this was two separate row homes. The owner completely re-built and combined the two into a one of a kind family home with the absolute highest quality workmanship and finest finishes throughout," Carmen rattled off like she was reading from the brochure.

I was positive my mouth was open the whole time as I fell in love with the house – and I'd only seen 2 rooms and the foyer.

After nosing around the kitchen some more, we walked back out into the foyer. On the left of the staircase, the formal living room was alight with the setting sun and it was definitely for entertaining and hardly looked like it was used. A contrast to the rest of the house which looked more lived in with wear and tear signs all over the place.

The adjacent grand dining room has access through dark solid wood pocket doors and this room looked like it was hardly used as well. The huge 8-seater oval dining table dominated the room and that too looked outdated. Just like the green wallpaper with the exotic birds on it.

Straight ahead from the entrance there was a cherry wood office space that could fit both of Edward's offices inside. It doubled up as a library and held an impressive amount of literature.

"Do you want to see the upstairs?" Edward suddenly asked, making me jump at his proximity.

"Yes," I breathed out and took hold of the hand he held out for me.

"There is a total of four bedrooms all on one level. All bedrooms have their own private bathrooms. There's a bathroom on the first floor too for guests to use if they're not spending the night." Carmen commented as she followed us.

Once we reached the top floor, on the left of us was the master suite as it spanned the entire rear of the home. I continued gawking as I took in the magnificent room. It was spacious and illuminated by natural light. A queen-sized four-poster bed was the epitome of the room. Half the bed was decorated in tiny cushions and I can't imagine having to throw them off the bed at the end of each day, just to pile them back up in the morning. Most of the time, Edward and I hardly bothered to make our bed, let alone decorated it with cushions.

The master suite also overlooked the garden space and I couldn't wait to step out and see it fully.

On the wall adjacent to the bed was a huge walk-in closet that leads into the master bathroom. It held a large Victorian double ended chrome bath with extravagant taps. A contradiction to the rest of the bathroom was the walk-through shower. It had a ceiling waterfall shower head and I was desperate to try out. I walked over to the wall that held the controls and turned the shower on. I was pretty sure I moaned at the sight of it.

The bathroom was also fitted with his and her sinks and had a floor to ceiling mirror that spanned throughout the whole wall. The walls were a dark shade of green and the floor was terracotta.

"So, what do you think so far?" Carmen asked and beamed at us.

"I love it," I whispered as I turned the amazing shower off and reluctantly walked out of the bathroom, to see the rest of the second floor.

The rest of the bedrooms were the size that ours was now. They all had their own characteristics and I could picture the changes I'd make in each room if this was my house. The en suites were equipped with everything you'd need and it pleased me to see that only the master bathroom had the amazing shower in it.

I was in awe of the entire place and I couldn't believe there was another floor we had yet to see.

As we made our way back downstairs, I wanted to pull Edward aside and ask him what we were actually doing here.

"Let's just see the ground floor and then we'll talk," he whispered into my ear as he answered my unspoken question.

I nodded in response and followed him into the lowest level of the house.

Carmen pointed out the four-space garage as well as the media room and two more guest bedrooms adjoined by a nicely appointed bathroom. There was also a large game room that housed a pool table, a home cinema, and arcade machines. On the other side was the huge laundry room that looked like it had a separate machine for your whites, blacks, and other colored clothing.

"Can we see the garden now?" I asked as we stood inside the huge garage.

"Right this way," Carmen said and led us over to the far end of the garage that held a door to the outside space. We climbed a couple of steps and reached street level again and luckily, the space was gated off from the public footpath. We walked around the house and finally came into the concrete garden. There wasn't a patch of grass in sight but it looked pleasant enough to want to spend time out here. It had wicker seating and a table to match but it looked a little rugged from weather damage.

"Carmen, do you mind giving us a moment please?" Edward asked and she nodded and made her way back inside the house.

"What do you think?" He turned back to me and asked.

"I think you lied to me and I'm still trying to figure out what we're doing here," I said as I assessed him.

His hand shot to his hair as he ran his fingers through it and then rubbed the back of his neck as he looked up at me.

"Now, I know this is the sort of thing we should have discussed more and probably done together, but I've gone ahead and started the ball rolling into finding us a place to live. A home for us," I could see he was finding it difficult to gauge my reaction because I'd never seen him so unsure of himself before.

"Hell yeah, it's something we should have done together! Why didn't you tell me you were looking at something like this?"

"I wanted to surprise you. I've seen this place five times now and have fallen in love with it each time I've seen it. Obviously, if it's not something you like, then we can keep looking. I'm sorry I kept this from you but I genuinely just wanted to surprise you with it," his gaze lowered and I wanted to wrap my arms around him and kiss him silly.

"Want to know what I think?" I asked as I moved closer to him.

"Yeah," he breathed.

"We'd definitely need to change a few things about it, bring it up to this century at least. I also think we could have some amazing sex in that shower. I could also picture myself being bent over that pool table as you take me from behind. But I…love it, I love it, baby." I gushed and finally wrapped my arms around him.

"Yeah?" He asked, shocked.

"Yeah," I beamed back.

"Can I tell you a secret?" He whispered into my ear.

"Another one? Just what else are you keeping from me?" I teased.

"I've too, thought about bending you over that pool table the first time I saw this house," he nuzzled my neck as he tightened his grip around my waist.

I giggled and my imagination went haywire as I thought about how much fun we could have in this house.

"Once we finish with renovations, or maybe as we empty the house, we are definitely going to christen. Every. Single. Room," I punctuate each word with a kiss and we beam at each other.

"So, are we in?" He asked.

"We're in. I want this to be our home baby," I couldn't even hold in the excitement by this point.

"Then it's ours, Mrs. Cullen," his voice was husky and his growing need between us made me hungry for him once more.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we made our way back into the house. Carmen was standing by the kitchen island as she tapped away on her phone. Her head shoots up as she noticed us approaching.

"What do you think Isabella? Isn't it grand? I wasn't sure it would be up to scratch when Edward enquired about it but he was pretty adamant you would like it. Do you guys need some more time or-?" She hinted and I could practically see the dollar signs in her eyes.

"Why don't I call you tomorrow Carmen and we can look over figures then. I want my lawyer to look over a few things before we make any deals. This is important for us, we want to get it right. The last thing I want is an unwelcome surprise once we sign the contract." Edward's tone was authoritative and that strange look came over her face again.

"Absolutely. You know how to reach me," she plastered on another megawatt smile and motioned for us towards the door.

We followed her out and stepped back so she could lock up.

"What happened to the previous owners?" I asked. I've seen plenty of home shows and paranormal TV shows to know it's important to ask that question.

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith used to live here. It was Mr. Smith who did all the remodeling and renovations. They have a huge family that they raised here but all the kids have moved away so he and his wife decided to downscale and move to Miami. They were about your age when they bought the place and obviously back then, it hardly cost anything," she rolled her eyes slightly but then her expression became wistful.

I wanted to ask just how much this place cost but I think I'd rather hear it from Edward.

And I'd rather be sitting down when I hear it.

And, I'd rather have a drink in my hand too.

"I'll call you tomorrow Carmen," Edward finally said and stretched his hand out for her to shake. She did so but then reached forward to kiss his cheek.

I felt him stiffen beside me ever so slightly. If I didn't know him as well as I did, I probably wouldn't have noticed it.

She then turned to me and did the same. Her hands were soft but felt heavy with all the rings she's wearing. Her handshake is firm and my nose twitches from her overpowering perfume as she leaned in to kiss my cheek before she stepped back from us.

"It was definitely a pleasure to meet you, Isabella. I look forward to your call Edward. Have a good night you two," she gives us another one of her smiles and turns towards her car, her phone pressed between her shoulder and her ear as she unlocks it and climbs in.

"Want to hear something interesting?" Edward suddenly asks.

"Always!"

"She's a Domme," he says and I'm staggered.

"No way! How the hell do you know that?" I almost shout.

"I did some background checks on her before I hired her. She likes them young and isn't opposed to having both male and female subs," he says it like we're discussing the weather.

"That explains the look she was giving us!" I say and it finally makes sense.

"Yeah, she asked me if I dabbled in it the first time we met," my jaw drops at his revelation as he steers me towards the car and opens the door for me.

I climb in, still shocked as I process this information.

"She must have creamed her panties with the both of us here tonight," I say as he gets in and starts up the car. He laughs at my comment but doesn't deny it.

"What are you in the mood for?" he asks as we slowly drive around the neighborhood, checking out the places that will become our local eventually.

"You," I say teasingly and place my hand on his thigh.

"To eat angel," he says and shakes his head in amusement.

"What about Vinci? I heard Alice rave about it to Rose last night," I continue gazing around and smile at the number of young couples that are walking around.

We soon pull up outside the Italian restaurant and get seated straight away.

The restaurant is vibrant and luckily isn't too packed. There's a lot we need to discuss tonight and I didn't want to have to shout across the table the whole time.

We're of course sitting at the table that faces out into the restaurant and has a clear view of the outside, so Edward has all areas covered. Instead of sitting across from each other, he scoots my chair closer to him and wraps his arm around the back of my seat. He captured all of my senses and I get lost in the sight and feel of him so close to me.

"How much?" I finally ask.

"$5.5 million," he lowers his voice and tries to gauge my reaction again.

"Fuck," I whisper because that was a shit tonne of money.

"A drop in the ocean really," he says like it's no big deal.

"For some!" I try to keep my voice low but he's talking like he has that sort of money just lying around.

"Baby I make more than that a year. It's really not a big deal," his hand moves to my arm and he rubs soothing circles into it.

"You can't tell me you don't expect me to at least pay half!" He was ridiculous if he thinks I'd just let him buy it without chipping in.

"Isabella, the night you married me, everything that I have is now yours. I don't want your money. Hell, your money is my money so it's really a moot point right now," he shakes his head as I open my mouth to argue again.

"No," he says and our waiter appears with our bottle of wine. He lets Edward sample it and at his approval, pours us both a glass. We tell him our orders and he leaves us alone, probably sensing the uncomfortable atmosphere around us.

"But I have my own money, Edward. We're doing this together baby. It makes me feel inadequate when you're refusing to let me contribute," I finally tell him and his gaze softens.

"We are equal in this baby, in every way. But I still don't want your money. Think of it as my wedding present to you," he suddenly beams, like he's figured out a loophole.

"It's too much Edward," I hear myself say but I'm also too busy thinking about what I could possibly get him in return.

"Nothing is ever too much when it comes to you angel, when will you realize that?" He says reverently.

"You're all I need in this life Edward," I tell him as I reach up to run my hand through his hair before leaning in to kiss him.

For the rest of the night, we avoid talking about the cost of the house and discuss the things we'd like to change or update.

Edward tells me he'll get in touch with Jasper and find out who his contractor is so that we can get someone reliable to help us build our home. We talk about the features we like and the things we want to keep.

He tells me that he wants us to share the office and have his and hers desks in the impressive room. I ask him if he's sure about that as I don't want to disturb him whilst he deals with both legal and illegal businesses. He tells me he likes sharing his space with me and that I will be doing the same business he's doing when it comes to the club.

We both agree we want to keep the shower the way it is and just upgrade around it. I tell him the few kitchen ideas I've drawn up in my head and he just grinned at me as he listened.

I still can't yet believe this is happening.

We've only briefly spoken about moving out of the penthouse and I never realized how much he's actually been thinking about it. He then confessed the idea of living in a house was planted in his head the night we met Jasper and Alice at Nonna's and she made the comment about whether it was safe for me to stay there. He told me he wants something that is more stable.

He said he still wants to keep the penthouse as it's in a great location and will come in handy when we're out in the city to save us the drive home. Plus, it was also closer to the warehouse.

"Are you really having your lawyer look over the paperwork?" I ask as we wait for our bill to arrive.

"Yeah definitely. It's not that I don't trust Carmen and her company, I just want to make sure we're not blindsided with anything," he says and takes my hand that rests on the table.

"Who's your lawyer?" I ask. This was definitely something I didn't know.

"Your father works with him, Harry Clearwater," he tells me and I smile, remembering Harry. He was a zero bullshit kind of man and was a shark in the courtroom from the stories my dad has told me.

"Yeah, I know Harry. He used to scare me when I was little. Getting married definitely softened him," I add as I recall the wedding my parents dragged me to.

"Yeah well Charlie said he was the best in the game when it came to shit like this," he shrugs and finally hands the waiter his credit card.

"Who was your lawyer before him?" I continued to ask.

"One of the pricks my dad has in his pocket. He's too busy brownnosing dad to pull any stunts but I want someone who's been in the game longer. Who can smell shit a mile away and do his fucking job right, no matter the cost." He finishes off to say and glances up at our waiter who's lingering close to me.

I shuffle closer to Edward and the guy scurries away after handing him his card back. We both rise out of our chairs and make our way out of the restaurant to head back home.

It's definitely been one hell of a day for us and I wanted to tell him to take us home so we can celebrate but I didn't want to jinx anything before the paperwork has been read through. I'm no expert, but property is a risky business and we got to make sure all of our eggs are in the right basket before we rush to throw that sort of money away.

"Let's go home baby, there are things I want to do to that pussy that has been distracting me all night," he groans into my ear as he traps me beside the car.

When his lips descend on mine, he leaves me breathless and panting for more.

Yes…home.