Thank you to Team Harpy.

Chapter 33

*B*

"Hey, Nick? Can I hear that song again?"

He gives me the thumbs up and Masen's voice fills the room with his new song. Man, that song… I smile and suddenly can't wait for him to get here so lay down another couple of tracks.

This will be the first time the band has recorded or even been together in weeks. When Masen approached me about recording today, I stressed to him how important rehearsal was.

He stressed to me that if I wasn't living in the dark ages that I would know there are ways to rehearse without seeing each other. Something about Zoomin'.

However, he did humor me and record Someone You Loved as it didn't need accompaniment. While I was hesitant to leave out the guys, I was assured by all that it was fine and there would be more songs.

Who am I to argue? Well, I mean… nevermind.

Ali strolls in with a smile but stops cold when she hears the song.

"Is that Masen?"

"Of course it's Masen. It's not Jasper."

"But I thought we were working on Jasper's CD today?"

"His drummer is sick. Didn't he tell you?"

"No, but I haven't talked to him this morning."

"Fortunately, I got ahold of Masen first thing this morning and he agreed to clear his morning to do this. They should all be here any minute. Ooh, I should call Jasper and Rose and see if they want to come sit in. They can finally meet Masen." I grab the phone and Ali wrestles it from me.

I look at her. "What is wrong with you, Ali?"

"I just...um… want to call them myself. Jasper was acting a little odd last night and I just want to make sure everything is okay before he comes and sits in because I would hate for him to throw off Masen. Especially since it will be the first time they meet. Same with Rose."

"Okay, well see what you can do because I would really love for him to be here."

"Well, here I am." Masen walks in and holds his arms out to me and I willingly walk into them. I haven't seen him in a few days.

He looks up from me and says hi to Ali.

"Hey, Masen." Her tone is off and we both look at her in question.

"Ali was just about to call Mama Warbucks and Hot Texan.."

"Who?"

"Rose and Jasper," Ali says slowly.

"Yeah, she's gonna sweet talk them and have them come sit in on your session. Isn't that great?" To Ali, I say, "Call."

"I'm calling!" She laughs.

I turn back to Nick. "Hey, I wanna hear those levels again."

**E**

I wait until Bella disappears to nitpick Nick to death before turning to Alice. "No, Jasper or Rose."

She shoots me a look.

"I'll try my best."

I turn back to make sure Bella is otherwise occupied. " I want a guarantee."

"They come by here all the time. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to guard the door."

"No, I want to hear you record."

"You'll have plenty of time to hear me record unless Jasper, Rose, or God forbid, a member of my family strolls in here and blows this whole thing out of the water. Don't let me down. You have as much to lose as I do." I remind her. "Besides Bella can put the speakers on so you can hear from the living room."

"How do you expect me to keep people out? I'm not exactly a sumo wrestler."

"If worse comes to worst, just scream bloody murder and I'll… dive out of the window and run back to the mansion."

Ali cackles. "Oh, that's a great idea. How would you explain that to Bella?" She mocks.

"How am I going to explain any of this to Bella?"

She shakes her head at me. "I don't know."

With another dirty look at me, she is gone.

Bella walks back in. "Did Ali decide to make the call from the living room?"

"Yeah." I pull her into my arms. "So how about some spousal inspiration?"

She melts into my arms and happily obliges.

***A***

I listen to the guys recording from my post in the living room. I swear I would strangle that man if I could but that would only mess up those vocal cords of his. Obviously, I am focusing more on listening to him than the door because Emmett startles the hell out of me.

"Whatcha doing?"

I jump.

"Emmett, what are you doing here?"

"I saw the cars outside and thought something might be happening down here." His head cocks to the side. " Alice, this wouldn't happen to be the great Masen Whitlock, would it?"

I ignore his question. "Listen, no one is allowed in the studio while we are recording. In fact, the gatehouse is completely off-limits to you."

"And why is that?"

"I'm really sorry but I'm gonna have to ask you to lea…" I try to lead him to the door but he shrugs out of my grasp and there is a slight struggle.

"Uh uh. You can't do that."

"Yes, I can. I'm the A in BAR."

"And I am your landlord."

"You don't own the gatehouse."

"The Cullens do and I am a Cullen. So I have the legal right to inspect the property. That's in your lease which I am sure you know."

"Ha! If you knew anything you'd know we don't have a lease. Elizabeth wouldn't take our money. So why don't you go along and throw your weight around where someone cares before I tell your Grandmother on you!"

"Alright! Take it easy. I was just teasing you a little bit. Come on, I've heard so much about this Masen Whitlock character that I wanted to see what he looks like."

"See it isn't about the way he looks, it's about the way he sounds. So why don't you go listen to your download."

"Oh, I did. You know I could just wait around outside until he appears and get an autograph."

"That's a horrible idea. He values his privacy."

"Privacy is one thing. This guy is a hermit. Alice, he does live here, doesn't he? He does go out sometimes with his wife?"

"Bella," I interject.

"Of course Bella. What, does this guy have two wives?"

"That's not funny, Emmett."

It's silent and he notices. "Looks like he's done recording. I'm just gonna go say hi."

I throw myself in front of him. "You know, you just need to leave."

He looks at me, shrewdly. "You know, you're just making me that much more curious."

I am going to kill Edward!

"Leave. Now. Before I call Elizabeth."

"Fine, but this isn't over." He throws me another meaningful look as he slams the door behind him.

I'm nursing yet another headache when I hear Bella rummaging around in the laundry room. I get up and see what she's doing. I find her up on a step ladder digging through some things haphazardly lying on the top shelf.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for a pick Masen left at my old apartment. His just broke." Some more rummaging. "Here it is!" followed by a 'What's this?" She gives something a yank and I hear some paper tearing.

"What is it? Here let me help you down." She shrugs me off and storms past me into the kitchen.

"Bella?"

"Am I or am I not a happily married woman?"

"You're asking me?"

"No, I'm telling you. And I'm telling myself the same thing. So why does this bug me?"

She thrusts a photo in my face and I move her hand back so I can see it and I freeze.

"Um… this is Kate." I really wish I knew what he had told her about Kate.

"His ex-wife?"

Okay, that's good.

"Yeah, and it's ancient history. She and Edward divorced over a year ago."

"Edward? As in Edward Cullen? She married him too?"

Oh fuck.

"So did he take Edward Cullen's wife from him?" Bella prods.

"No, yes. I… you really should ask Masen."

"You bet I will." She stalks away from me and I sink into the sofa and resist the urge to cry in frustration. How the hell did I end up in this situation?

**E**

I grin when I see Bella enter the room.

"I thought my manager was supposed to stick around and watch the rehearsals to offer some insight?" I tease.

The look on her face makes my smile fall. "Take ten Guys." I murmur as I hesitantly walk to join her.

"What's wrong?"

She doesn't say anything just walks away heading towards the bedroom so I follow, shutting the door behind us. Then she thrusts a picture at me and I take it, look down then do a double-take. Fuck.

"Who's the blonde, Masen, and what's this doing here?"

I pause for a long time.

"Who is this?"

I falter for an explanation and stick the photo in my back pocket. "Ancient history," I mutter.

"Oh no, you can do better than that." She grabs the photo and looks at it again. "I want to know why she's looking at you in this possessive way."

"At that time, we were in love. Or we thought we were in love and she used to live in the gatehouse. Evidently, she has some pictures of us in an old box because she obviously didn't think it was important enough to put in a frame."

"Even old loves are important."

"Not to Kate."

"So it is Kate."

"You already knew who this was?"

"Alice might have mentioned her name." She sighs. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be duplicitous. It's just some things aren't addin' up and it sort of drives me a little crazy."

"Yes, this is Kate. We've been divorced a while."

"Before or after she married Edward Cullen?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Alice said she divorced Cullen over a year ago so I want to know if he stole your girl or if you stole his?"

I scratch the back of my neck and try to keep my anger at bay. Fucking Alice.

"I was before Edward." Cause that's gonna endear her to him, I mean me, I mean… nevermind.

"He stole your girl?" She looks dismayed on my behalf.

"He didn't exactly steal her. We were over before they started."

"What is it about Cullen? I mean, is he some kind of lady killer or somethin'?"

I laugh. "Maybe some women might think he's attractive but what goes around comes around because Kate dumped him and is off happily married to one of his family's attorneys."

"You know, I really can't stand this woman."

"Oh, I don't want to give you the wrong impression. Kate is a wonderful person."

"You are way too forgiving. I mean, she throws you over, she throws Cullen over and now she's married to some other galute? She is the type of woman who gives us all a bad name. So, what's her story? I mean, does she get off on collecting broken hearts of somethin'?"

"You know what, I was really mad at her too at first but once I got a little distance, I realized that we just weren't right for each other. If it hadn't have been Edward, it would have been someone or something else. Don't be too hard on her. I think you'd like her a lot actually."

"No, I don't think so. I could never like anyone who caused you pain. Unlike you, I'm not so forgiving."

Well, that sucks for me.

She walks to the bed and sinks down, looking morose.

I go to her. "Bella, what is it?" I ask gently.

"It's silly."

"Tell me anyway."

"It's just that sometimes I really wish that I was the only woman you ever loved."

I sigh.

"Isn't that the most selfish thing you've ever heard in your whole life?" Her laugh holds a bitter undertone.

I kneel before her and make her look at me.

"I want you to understand something and never ever doubt it. Not even for a minute even though one day you might want to. You are the only woman I've ever loved. All the rest was just practice for me to love you with the passion I do."

"Do you really mean that?"

"I do."

She leans forward and kisses me sweetly. Then she sniffs and backs away, clearing her throat and wiping her eyes.

"Okay, we are wasting prime rehearsal time so I'm gonna need you to get back to work." She stands up, slaps my ass then marches to the studio.

God, all I want to do is bury my head in the sand but instead, I do as my wife orders and get back to work.

We knock out a few songs and call it a day. Bella decides to go soak in the tub as she's apt to do and I go find Alice.

She looks up at me then back at the computer screen. I sit down next to her and stare until she notices.

"What?" She gives me an impatient look.

"You and I need to have a talk about that big mouth of yours."

"I'm gonna tell you something. Do not order me around. I am not one of your wives." She hisses with an ever mindful look towards the back of the cottage.

"No, you're not and you never will be. Alice, what are you using for brains these days? Or was it the devil that made you tell Bella about Kate and Edward, Kate and me, Kate and Edward!"

"You see, this situation is so out of control you don't even know who you are anymore." I shoot her a dirty look. "And what was I supposed to do? She just asked me point-blank. I was caught off guard."

"You don't have to tell her. You just.."

"But she knew that I knew, I think. I don't know. There is something you are not understanding here. There is a limit to the number of lies I am willing to tell for you, okay? Because when this blows up in your face I'm gonna have enough problems to worry about without having to explain every single thing I've ever told her."

"Alright, I need you to promise me you will hang in there just a little bit longer."

"How did I know you were going to say that? Have you looked at a calendar recently? It has been almost two months!"

"I know, I know, I know." I get up and pace the room.

"And what were you using for brains when you told Bella you're almost ready to give up your other life? You have no business promising her something like that until you are rid of Angela. Are you rid of Angela yet? Cause that would be very helpful." She's up and stalking me, not letting me get away from her lecture.

"Well it just so happens I am in the process of accumulating some rather interesting info."

"Mac found something?" She stops short.

"Yeah, but I don't know what. I'll have the report in a week or so. I just need a little more time. Please."

She sighs. "Fine but when you tell her the truth you will tell her I was bound by that NDA to do most of this. You are going to protect me or so help me God, Edward…." Her threat hangs in the air.

"You'll run me down in your car."

"No, I'll run you down in Angela's. It's lower to the ground."

We share a brief smile.

"Just a little while longer, I swear."

"I hope for all our sakes, that's true."

So do I, Alice, so do I.

Playlist- Who's Zoomin'- Aretha Franklin

You Don't Own Me- Lesley Gore

I promise for all your sakes, the jig is almost up.

See you Wednesday.