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Intensity
Chapter Forty
Bella's POV
The silence after Carlisle finished his story was so overwhelming, you could hear a pin drop. With the exception of Eleazar Denali, every single face stared at him in stunned amazement. I, myself, was shocked by this new information. I did have one pressing question, though.
"Carlisle, it was prophesized that you would protect me in my darkest hour. Has that happened yet?"
"Of course, it has happened, Bella," Jasper stated. "Carlisle protected you from both James and Edward."
"No, Jasper. You killed James," I reminded him. "Well, Emmett, and you did."
"Yes, but it was Carlisle's idea to go after you. He knew you would end up turning if he didn't come after you, and you almost did. He was the one who suggested Edward suck out James' venom, and he was also the one who told him to stop. He made sure you remained human."
"Why didn't you just do it yourself? He almost killed me by taking too much blood." I asked Carlisle.
"Because I had never partaken in human blood—I still have not, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to stop. It was better to monitor Edward and have him do it. Had Rose been at the ballet studio, I would have had her suck out the venom because she has tremendous control."
"Rosalie doesn't like me. She probably would have snapped my neck."
"Rose adores you. Back then, she envied you because you had everything she wanted."
"Which was?"
"You were and still are a living, breathing human female, capable of birthing children. She simply couldn't understand why you'd want to date a vampire. She was concerned you would become one of us and throw your humanity away, but now she's happy you are still human and living a normal life."
"Ah, well, perhaps you can tell her I appreciate how she was concerned about me back then and let her know I'm happy. Tell her I hope she's happy, too."
"I certainly will. Now, do you have any more questions?"
"I do, but it probably doesn't have anything to do with the prophecy."
"Go ahead." Carlisle nodded his head.
"I'd like to know about the sale of your house in Forks. Who did you end up selling it to?"
"To the Quileute Nation, of course. I assumed you knew. I was honored when I was approached by the tribe asking if I would drop the selling price so the Quileute's could increase their landholdings." Carlisle beamed in pride.
"Was it Mr. Tony Fuller who approached you, perchance?" I asked, just to make sure.
"Yes, the transaction was handled by Mr. Anthony Fuller."
"And was the name of the company La Push, NPO?" my husband asked curiously.
"As a matter of fact, it was."
Paul apparently had further questions. "During the transaction, did you deal at any time with Quileute Chief William Black or Elder Quil Ateara the Third?"
Carlisle looked down at his toes and shook his head. "Sadly, no. I would have enjoyed meeting them because I knew Ephraim Black and Quil Ateara the Second, but I wasn't given the opportunity to meet them face to face. Mr. Fuller stated he was the sole representative of the Quileute Nation because the others did not want to deal with my kind."
"More like he didn't want the others to know," Paul muttered. "Carlisle, would you happen to have the paperwork pertaining to the sale of your property?"
The vampire nodded. "Of course. Jenks, my lawyer, has all the pertinent paperwork on file at his office."
"Excellent. I'd like to take a look at the paperwork with you in the presence of my attorney. We have reason to believe that Fuller purchased the property using funds stolen from the Quileute Nation. If you can assist us in our quest to uncover the truth, we'd dearly appreciate it."
"Of course! You will have my full and complete assistance in your endeavors. But are you sure about Mr. Fuller? He seemed like such an honest and caring sort of chap."
"He might appear that way, Carlisle, but he is a snake in disguise, a practiced liar and manipulator," Paul assured him with a nod of his head. "For some reason, his main quest seems to be the destruction of La Push."
"If that's the case, I will certainly assist in any and all ways. Father's legacy must be preserved." Carlisle nodded with determination.
"Thank you," Paul reached out to shake his hand.
"You're welcome, my friend," the good doctor replied earnestly.
"Now that Carlisle has agreed to assist us with the Fuller situation. Can we get back to the story of the three shamans?" I asked. "How are the predictions relevant to us today?"
"I don't know, honey, but I have a feeling we're already in the thick of it," my husband replied ominously. Sadly, I thought he was absolutely correct.
Paul's POV
Three Days Later…
Last night, at Roy's suggestion, we held a pack meeting with the Arizona members to introduce everyone to Carlisle Cullen and have him tell his story once again. We had everyone in La Push phase in from there rather than having them travel here. I phased into wolf form so they could listen to the story. While the coyotes weren't really affected, the wolves were stunned by the knowledge that Carlisle knew Taha Aki in person. I wasn't surprised by their reaction. Hell, I'm still trying to rationalize everything I was told.
One exciting thing that occurred was the interesting reaction Carlisle had when he met Jared. The vampire stood and stared at him for a good minute before finally saying, "You look so much like Taha Aki did. The two of you could be twins."
I think Carlisle Cullen won over Jared as a friend for life because the wolf had always felt a connection to Taha Aki.
On Monday, I finally returned to work. Everyone who wasn't in the know about the pack kept asking me if I was feeling better. Apparently, Crispy had spread the word that I had a horrific case of the flu because he couldn't exactly tell them I was in a supernatural coma caused by the inadvertent introduction of vampire venom into my shapeshifter body. In any case, my non-supernatural employees weren't surprised I had the flu. In fact, they thought it was about time I caught a dreadful virus since they had seen me show up at work, day after day for years, without so much as a sniffle.
Upon returning to my office, I reviewed paperwork from the previous week. Surprisingly, I wasn't far behind in my work. My employees had done a fantastic job of keeping everything on track, so I wasn't swamped with catch-up work like I thought I'd be.
Bella was starting work at the clinic on the Wa-Ya Reservation next week. She was currently out tying up loose ends for us. Number one on her list was to check on our home renovations, which I could have just as easily done, but my wife wanted to do it personally. At my request, she was also meeting with our realtor to select a condo for us to purchase because living at the hotel while our home was being renovated was grating on my nerves.
"Mr. Lahote?" my secretary's voice called through the intercom.
"Yes, Lorna?"
"Mrs. Lahote would like to know if you're currently busy."
"No, I'm not. Is she online…" Before I could finish asking my question, my new tracking gift suddenly decided to make its existence known. I opened the office door to find my wife sitting across from Lorna, chatting.
"Hi, Honey," Bella greeted, standing up.
"What brings you to my office?"
"We need to chat."
Alrighty. "Have you had lunch yet?"
"No, but I accept."
"I didn't say I'd take you to lunch. Both my wife and my secretary arched their eyebrows at me. "Okay, I'll take you to lunch."
"Excellent." Bella had a self-satisfied smirk on her face.
I glanced at the clock. It was only noon, but I really didn't have much to do since my employees had been so thorough during my absence. "Lorna, I'm going home for the day. I'm still not a hundred percent. Take the rest of the afternoon off."
"Are you sure, Mr. Lahote?"
"Absolutely. You held down the fort for me while I had the flu last week. You deserve a break."
"Thank you, sir." She shut down her station quickly, grabbed her belongings, and left immediately before I could change my mind. "See you tomorrow."
I walked into my office and put some work to review in my beat-up business bag. Bella stood watching me from the doorway.
"You know, Paul, it's interesting. You want to purchase a multi-million-dollar condo to use for a few months while we wait for our house to be renovated, yet you're carrying around a messenger bag that has seen better days. Why is that?"
"Alright, babe. What happened with the realtor?" I questioned because I had a feeling the condo I told her to look at and buy is why she was here.
"I asked you a question first."
"I like this bag. It's still functional, and I see no reason to replace it. Now, you go."
"I see no reason to spend several lifetimes of average salaries on a condo we'll only use for a few weeks."
Oh, so this is what this is all about. "Well, I do. Renting is ridiculous. We're just paying the landlord money."
"Honey, we are not buying any of those freaking condos you suggested. Do you realize that one of them was 3.5 million dollars with a two-thousand-dollar monthly maintenance fee? You are out of your mind if you think we're paying that! We are not so high in the instep that we have to live in that kind of luxury." She walked into my office and huffed.
Yep, I knew it. I knew Bella was here to argue with me about the condos I looked into.
I shut the door to my office, sat down on the sofa in my office, and patted the seat next to me. My wife sat with a flourish, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and then glared at me. I really hate when she glares at me. It makes me feel like I did something wrong.
"You did do something wrong!"
She's a mind reader now?
"I never said I did anything wrong!" I argued.
"But you were thinking it! I can tell by your expression—you start rolling your eyes and pouting."
"I do not pout!"
"Go look in a mirror. You're pouting right now," she huffed. "Anyway, the condos you suggested to the realtor were outrageous!"
"The realtor didn't think so! She agreed I had great taste."
"Of course, the realtor agreed. She gets to split the commission with the seller's agent. The higher the sale price, the more money she makes." My wife waved her hand as if she were dismissing me. "Anyway, I fired her, so she's not a part of this discussion anymore."
"You fired our realtor?"
"Honey, she's not our realtor. You talked to her over the phone a couple of times, I met with her once, she and I clashed, ergo she is no longer our realtor."
"How did you clash?"
Bella sniffed her nose. "She didn't take my suggestion into consideration."
"And what exactly was your suggestion?"
"That your idea to purchase a temporary home in a luxury neighborhood is ridiculous, Paul! Seriously, this is a temporary home we're looking for. We don't need to live in a luxury penthouse. Why can't we just live in, say, Camelback East? Why do we have to live on the waterfront? And just so you know, the waterfront isn't really a waterfront. We live in the desert, for God's sake!"
"We are not moving to Camelback East! I have an image to uphold."
"I can't believe you said that! Paul, you're turning into a veritable snob! There is nothing wrong with Camelback East! Have you become so accustomed to living in luxury that you need it twenty-four-seven?" She had an expression of hurt mingled with anger on her face.
What the hell was wrong with her now?
I sat down to think before I came to the realization that I was an asshole! There really was nothing wrong with Camelback East. It was a nice neighborhood with some very genuine down-to-earth people living there. Dr. and Mrs. Greenbriar lived there, so did Barry and Cheyenne. Heck, Jared and Sam lived there, too. Sam rented an apartment there, and Jared lived in the house my wife grew up in. Damn it! I just insulted the town my wife grew up in. What's wrong with me?
I sighed, letting out a deep breath, before turning to her. "I'm sorry, babe. I don't know why I said what I did. I really don't. I guess being displaced from our house because of that asshole Vandenberger is getting to me."
"It should get to you. He really threw a curveball into our lives, Paul, all because of his quest for power, but we can't let him get us down because that would mean we let him win." She cupped my jaw between her palms and kissed me softly on the lips. "This year has been tough, Paul—not just because of Vandenberger, but because of all the supernatural BS which has been thrown our way, not to mention that jerk Tony Fuller. For God's sake, we still haven't gone on our honeymoon. Through it all, you've toughed it out and taken the lead in everything, and I'm proud of you—so, so proud of you. You're a born leader."
"But?" I asked because I knew there was a but coming.
"But nothing, Paul. Absolutely nothing."
"You were going to say something. I know you, Bella! You were going to tell me that I don't have to prove myself to you by purchasing an ostentatious, over-priced condo!"
"Now, why would I need to tell you that if you can figure it out for yourself?"
I turned to my wife with an aghast expression, and she was smirking at me. She was literally smirking at me. Grrrr… I hate it when she's right.
"But you know, Paul? You really don't have to prove yourself to me. I love how you're humble most of the time, and even those times when you're a bit arrogant and pig-headed, I still love you. I also love how genuinely caring and kind you are and how you take your responsibility as president and as alpha seriously. But most of all, I love you for loving me because I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Aww, Bella, I'd be lost without you—you know that."
"Yes, you would be. Now I want your humble, loving ass to take me to an arrogant, over-priced lunch so we can figure out our housing situation together."
"Sounds like a plan. We always make better decisions together."
"Exactly." She got up to leave. I pulled her onto my lap, gave her a solid kiss, and then her stomach started growling. She started giggling. "I told you I was hungry."
"Let's get you fed, and then we can work on deepening that kiss later."
"Mmm… Now you're talking."
XOXO
Bella and I enjoyed a nice, private lunch together at a cozy French restaurant in Scottsdale. Afterward, we hit the tile store so we could pick something out for our kitchen. We decided on a beautiful, azulejo style tile imported from Seville, Spain, for the walls, which would contrast nicely with the new hardwood flooring we selected.
We were about to hit the appliance store when Jeff called, asking if we were free to stop in at his office. So, the two of us headed over and were surprised to see Crispy waiting for us, too.
"What's up?" I asked as soon as I was seated. I knew this had to be about the Vandenberger case; otherwise, why would Jeff ask to see us both, and why would Crispy be here.
"Vandenberger wants to settle," Jeff stated. "The Feds offered him a plea bargain, but it will only go through if we make some concessions on our part."
"What kind of concessions?"
"They want us to drop the attempted murder charge to simple assault and battery."
"Are they fucking serious?" I snapped. "My wife was shot and nearly died!"
"Just listen, Paul. I think Jeff has more to say." My wife took my hand in hers to keep me calm.
I noticed Jeff acknowledging her with a nod of thanks. I suppose phasing in the middle of Jeff's office would be a bad thing.
"I told them I highly doubted you'd agree to a simple assault and battery charge, especially because Bella was injured so grievously. The Feds knew it would be a long shot but asked me to present it to you anyway, so here it goes. Vandenberger will plead guilty to all criminal charges, including coercion, intimidation, bribery, and six federal racketeering charges, if Bella drops the attempted murder charge to assault and battery. There would be no trial in exchange, and he would serve a minimum of five years and a maximum of fifteen years behind bars. He would also need to forfeit ten million dollars of his profits."
"Which is a drop in the bucket for him," I pointed out.
"Not really, Paul. Compared to you, he is heavily in debt. Anyway, that's neither here nor there, but there's more, and I'll let Crispy take over."
"I received a call from Vandenberger's personal attorney. In exchange for dropping the civil case, he would like to settle for three hundred thousand dollars. I, of course, told him that the paltry sum offered added further insult to injury and wouldn't even begin to cover the medical fees, pain and suffering, home displacement fees, repair fees, and legal fees. After going back and forth over several days, they put a new offer on the table—five million in cash plus your legal fees are taken care of, which means the five million is for you to keep free and clear. Keep in mind that the civil case is wholly separate from the criminal case." Crispy had a satisfied expression on his face.
"Alright, between friends—not attorney to client, what do you suggest Bella and I do?"
"To own the truth, I think you should settle in the civil case, but not in the criminal case. I don't see any reason why you should assist the Feds with their criminal case, especially because Bella was so seriously injured," Crispy said.
"And I agree." Jeff nodded his head.
"But I really would prefer not to go through a lengthy trial," Bella said.
"I realize that, but settling for a simple assault and battery charge will send the wrong message. You were grievously injured, and you could have died. Besides, I have serious doubts the judge in the case will accept the plea. My recommendation, Bella, is to put an offer on the table in which we up the ante. We have Vandenberger charged with attempted manslaughter, and his prison term lengthened to correspond with the charge. I frankly don't give a damn about the racketeering charges because that's all on the Feds. I'm only concerned with the fact that my alpha's mate almost died. Besides, the reason why he's desperately trying to settle is because our case is locked down tight, and there's no chance of acquittal for him."
"Honey, I agree with Jeff. He almost took you away from us. I thought I'd lost you, and when I think back to that day…" I couldn't continue without choking up. The day Bella was shot was, quite possibly, the worst day of my life. I felt like my entire life was taken from me in one fell swoop.
"We'll go with Jeff's suggestion," Bella said, giving my hand a squeeze. "There's still a chance Vandenberger might agree to our terms, and even if he doesn't, I'm ready for a fight."
"Excellent, I'll work on the case tomorrow." Jeff had a look of determination on his face before turning to me. "It's 6:00 pm—an hour past quitting time. Where are you taking us to dinner tonight?"
That definitely added some levity to the severe atmosphere of the room. I loved how Crispy and Jeff were like family and were comfortable enough to suggest dinner.
"Alright, guys, how about we go for Italian?" I suggested. We all agreed it was a good idea. We ran into Eric Yorkie, who was still plugging away at his temporary work station, made him shut down, and took him along with us.
The five of us had a great dinner—chatting, laughing, and thoroughly soaking in the camaraderie. I was lucky to have such wonderful, supportive friends who had my back every step of the way. We didn't talk about the trial; we didn't speak about Fuller or any other pack business. It was nice to forget about real life for a few hours.