Chapter 27

A/N: So, we are down to the final three chapter. Next Friday will be the posting of the last chapter. Super sad, but we're not there yet. Loved that y'all were on board with Liam's end. Thank you so much for the reviews, love, and Facebook comments. Thanks to our prereaders and beta, they are amazing ladies. Let's see what Bella has to say.

Songs- Flames by Mod Sun ft Avril Lavigne, Renegades by X Ambassadors

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BPOV

The following days with Edward were interesting. I wasn't scared or weary of him. Everything that happened in that barn, I thought was justified, and Liam had brought it on himself. I found myself even more attracted to Edward, not because of some sick fascination with watching him torture people, it was the lengths he would go to protect his own. I was Edward's, and anyone who wanted to try to hurt me again would be writing their own death warrant. I was completely at peace with my safety being in his hands.

Even though we were moving on from all the shit that happened a few days ago, there were still some loose ends to be tied up. One of them being my dad. I wasn't happy when Edward had admitted that he'd tied my dad up while they went and rescued me, but I kind of understood it. Apparently, my dad and Dylan had been staying at Emmett's house because they weren't really ready to let my dad out of their sights, and Dylan didn't know what he wanted to do yet. Edward had spoken with his mom and assured her that he would watch Dylan's back.

I told Edward that I wanted my dad gone but that I wanted to talk to him first. Edward balked and wanted to come with me, but I knew the male pissing match would only be worse with Edward there. He wasn't happy about it, but he conceded.

When I arrived at Emmett's house, he marched my dad into the living room, and then stood against the wall, his arms crossed across his massive chest. I looked at him expectantly. Yeah, he wasn't leaving.

"Em, can you leave me and my dad alone?" I asked, knowing the answer before I asked, but I had to try.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Not gonna happen. I know you can take care of yourself, little one, but I'm not taking the chance."

"I came with Dylan to tell you where she was. I care about my daughter. I won't hurt her."

"You're one of the reasons those assholes took her. The only reason Edward hasn't put a bullet in your head is because it would hurt Bella. Watch your fucking mouth, old man."

My dad was glaring at Emmett, and they were in some sort of stare down. I pulled on my dad's arm so he would sit down. "Dad, he's right. You trusted and worked for some bad people. You put my life at risk. Not only that, but you also lied to me. You used the law as a tool to control me."

"I just wanted you to be more than I was. When your mom … passed, I ran into money problems, and I needed help. I refused to borrow because that would have caused more problems, so I earned it."

"You stole it, from other people who lost their lives because of your greed."

"No, they lost their lives because of your boyfriend—"

"I'd think about how you want to finish that sentence," I interrupted him, my voice cold and angry. "I love that boyfriend, so tread carefully," I said, the harsh tone startling my dad. He shook his head, indicating he wasn't going to argue with me. I sighed. "I love you, Dad, but I can't forgive what you've done, and I can't trust you. Maybe I'll change my mind in the future, but right now, I need you to go back home. I need you to stay out of my city. If I find out that you're working for the Italians again, I'll be the one to put the bullet between your eyes."

Both my dad and Emmett looked uncomfortable at that statement. My dad never really knew me; my entire life, he just hoped for me not to embarrass him or give him too much trouble, so I wasn't worried about his comfort. Emmett and I were like brother and sister, but he seemed to be uncomfortable lately with me. When my dad left to go get his things together, I decided to address the elephant in the room.

"What's up with you Emmett?"

"What do you mean?"

"Since you guys came and saved me, you've seemed really uncomfortable around me."

"It's not you, Bella. It's Edward. I don't think he should be involving you in all this stuff, especially with what happened to you, but it's not any of my business."

"Emmett, I made him let me come the other day. He didn't want me to come, but I want to be his partner in everything."

"Do you even understand what you're getting yourself into?"

"I don't care, Emmett. I love him, and he loves me. Not only that, but I trust him 100 percent. I will never question his intentions or loyalty again."

"I just wanted to make sure that you're okay with all this?"

"Do you really think Edward would force me to do something I wasn't okay with?"

He shot me a dimpled grin. "No. Sorry, little one. Just trying to look out for you."

I gave him a hug because, aside from Edward, he was one of the only people I trusted. I pulled away and kissed him on the cheek. "All right, I've got a date with my man. Don't rough my dad up too much before he leaves, got it?" I asked, giving him a stern look.

We both cracked up laughing when he mock-saluted me, and I left. After we got back to Edward's house the day we dealt with Liam, Rose and Alice were both there with clothes and about went hysterical when they saw my face. They fawned over me like mother hens, and Edward went and hid in his office. We hung out for a little bit, but soon, I was exhausted and wanted to just relax with Edward. I told them we would hang out in a few days, and they understood.

It took a few days, some nightmares, a lot of orgasms, and a lot of little spats, but I was more emotionally stable now. I hadn't gone back to work yet; I wasn't ready to be around a lot of people, and I still questioned everyone's intentions. Being around drunk people and perverts really wasn't a healthy place for me to be. When Edward mentioned I didn't ever have to go back to work, that ended up being a big fight. But in true Edward and Bella fashion, we yelled, and then had sex. Then the fight was over.

I entered the penthouse and called out for Edward. He yelled out that he was upstairs, and I hurried up to our bedroom. He was just finishing getting dressed when I came into the room.

"Hey, baby," he said and stood to pull me into his arms and gave me a searing kiss. I sighed and rested my head against his chest. "How'd it go with your dad?"

"I told him that I loved him but that I couldn't trust him or forgive him. Said he needed to leave my city. I also told him if I found out he was working with the Italians again, I'd plant a bullet between his eyes."

"I have no doubts about that, my queen," he said, kissing me again, nipping playfully at my chin. I giggled happily because I loved when he called me that. I pulled away from him. He smiled. "So, I was talking to Dylan, and he thinks he can help expand your self-defense skills. I know I've shown you a lot of stuff, but we always end up distracted," he said, grabbing my ass and pulling me into him.

"That's because you enjoy my thighs around your head way too much," I said, chuckling.

"Oh, I do, babe. Anyway, tomorrow. Then in a couple days, I want to take you for target practice, and with that in mind, we need to get going," he said, linking his fingers with mine and leading me from the room.

"Where are we going?" I asked, confused.

"Well, to go target shooting, you need a gun. Time to get you a piece," he explained.

"I get my own gun?" I asked, excited.

"Damn, baby, it's easy to please you."

"Aw, you wanna make me happy, handsome?'

"Insanely."

I kissed him on his neck and playfully bit at his jaw. "Already there."

We got into his Aston. He tried to take it out less, preferring his Miata for around town, but I told him how much I loved that car, and he seemed to drive it more often since then. We were relatively quiet as we drove. Edward and I didn't need to fill the silence with small talk, and there was no desire to do so. It didn't stop me from teasing him, and he dished it back just as much.

When we arrived at the gun shop, I was a little overwhelmed with the sheer amount of weaponry surrounding me. I looked through the display cases with Edward as my shadow. He told me to find something I liked. I browsed for a few minutes until my eyes fell on a thing of beauty. I got closer to the case and told the man behind the counter I wanted to see that one closer. It was purple. The slide and barrel a metallic purple with sig Sauer P238 etched into it. The grip of the gun was a pearlized purple color, and I looked at Edward over my shoulder, smiling at him. He smiled back at me and came up behind me, his hands falling to my hips as he looked over my shoulder.

"My baby is a Sig girl," he said, his face in my hair and his lips brushing my neck. To most people it would just seem like we were an affectionate couple, but Edward was extremely turned on, seeing me excited about a gun. I could feel his erection poking me in the ass. I chuckled and wiggled my ass just to tease him.

I popped the magazine out. It was a standard six-round clip. I slid the chamber open while the guy talked about the compact size, the low recoil, and other details with Edward. I really liked it. It wasn't heavy and was smaller, but it felt substantial. It felt good in my hand, and I obviously loved the color.

"What do you think?" Edward asked.

"I like it. It feels good in my hand, and it's not too heavy," I said.

Edward smiled at me and chuckled. He told the guy we would take it, and he bought some extra ammo for it and his gun at home. Normally, in Washington you had to go through a waiting period and background check, but Edward was a special client, and this gun wouldn't be registered. Soon we were finished, and Edward and I picked up some takeout on our way home. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and spending time together.

*DS*

True to his word, Dylan worked with me on self-defense skills. He was impressed with how far advanced I was, but I smiled because Edward was a good teacher. He and I sparred well, and I had a hard time not liking the cocky teen. He was a lot like Edward in a lot of ways, but he was also jovial like Emmett. I was a little concerned for him that day in the barn. Planting a bullet in a parent's head had to be hard, but we all knew what kind of person Liam was, and I understood it. Children usually had to pay for the sins of their parents, but he'd forced Liam to meet his maker to answer for those sins.

One day when I walked into the gym to meet Dylan, I saw Emmett there. Dylan was offering Emmett pads, and in true Emmett fashion, he rolled his eyes as he shooed Dylan away. "I don't need pads. Little one is pretty badass for a chick, but she won't be able to hurt me."

I smiled confidently on the outside, but inside, I was a little intimidated. Emmett was a big guy, and I was wondering why Dylan was having him step in for himself. Edward and Dylan had shown me a lot, but Emmett was the muscle in every operation that Edward and he performed. Dylan came up behind me, and I soon found out why.

"Emmett's a big guy; you're going to use that to your advantage. He's tall, so go low and be fast; you're petite and can move faster than him. Guys like him think their weight and height are an advantage. Make it his weakness." I nodded my head to let him know I understood and heard him. "All right."

"Don't hold back, Em," I taunted him.

"Not in my nature," he said, smiling slyly. He lumbered toward me, and I ran toward him as well, but at the last minute, I dropped to my legs, sliding past him. It took a minute for him to realize that he had missed me, and I took that time to climb up on his back and locked my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. Emmett grabbed my arms, ready to pull me off him. I just held on tighter and pulled back, using Emmett's momentum to pull us down. As we fell, I swung my legs and body around to his front. When we landed on the floor, I sat up to straddle him. I grabbed his gun that was holstered, and with the safety still on, I held it to his head.

"Bang," I said, and then laid down on his chest, completely exhausted. That was definitely a workout for sure. Emmett was stunned speechless, and he just reached up to rub my head.

"Good job, little one. I'm pretty damn impressed."

I rolled off him, and we both started laughing. He got up with an impressive agility for a big guy and offered me his hand. He pulled me up, and my feet actually left the ground for a second. Emmett and I sparred a little more, with Dylan giving me tips and moves to try. He told me that the whole point was being comfortable defending myself against someone bigger than me because anyone with bad intentions would see a smaller girl like me as an easy target.

We kept going until Edward came to pick me up. He and Emmett started wrestling around, and Dylan and I laughed at the two of them. It was interesting because it would look like Emmett was about to get the upper hand, but my man was sneaky and crafty, so he would pull a move that Emmett wasn't expecting. Eventually, they called a truce, and we all headed out.

*DS*

Before Edward and I had a chance to do much more that week, we had to pay our respects to his brother and the former boss of the Celtics. Seamus' body was never recovered, and it seemed that Liam was telling the truth about getting rid of it. So, we had a private service and buried an empty casket in the Murphy plot. It was laid to rest right next to his father. Once everyone started to disperse, Edward pulled me aside.

"What's up?"

"I wanna show you something," he said, linking our fingers and walking me to a grave that was covered in the shade of a tree.

"Wow," I said, looking up at the weeping willow. It seemed that it was almost bending to protect the tombstone. I looked at the tombstone, and it read Esme Cullen. "This is beautiful. Is this your mom?"

His nod was minute, but I knew he was confirming it. My heart clenched for him. "Connor chose this spot for my mom. He took care of her burial and paying off the right people so she could have a resting place. My dad's body was taken care off with no special treatment, but my mom was an innocent."

"Then why did they kill her?" I asked, brushing some dust and leaves from Esme's grave.

Edward smiled at me, then looked sad. "Because they told my dad if he didn't pay the money back, they would come back, and he would have to watch his wife die first, hoping that would be enough to make him do the right thing. When they came calling, they made good on their threat. There's no room in this life to show any weakness. Even though Connor didn't want to kill her, my dad left him with no choice. After that though, Connor made a rule not to involve women or children. That was something Seamus and I honored."

He didn't have to say anything more for me to understand what was going unsaid. Liam wasn't planning on upholding this code. He had kidnapped me to hurt Edward, and though he was hoping Dylan would kill Edward, if it had gone another way, Edward would have killed a teenager and broken the code.

I got close to him and gripped his hair, pulling on the hair, and I rested my forehead against his. "Edward, you are an honorable man. This is not the life for everyone, and only the strong survive. Liam tried to dishonor this family—our family—and you did what was necessary. You made him pay for his mistakes, and I respect you for showing everyone that you expect loyalty and will make anyone pay if they disrespect anyone in this family."

Edward's green eyes locked with mine, and the emotions that surged between us didn't even need to be spoken. "I fucking love you, Bella. You ground me, and I'm enjoying watching you grow by leaps and bounds."

"I have an amazing teacher. I love you too, Edward Cullen."

He pulled something out of his pocket—a small jewelry box. "Ah, did you buy me jewelry, handsome."

He gave me a little smirk. "Open it, woman."

I opened the box and was surprised to see a ring. I pulled it out, and it was a design I had seen before but didn't know much about. It was a simple silver ring. There was a pair of hands holding a heart, topped with a crown. The heart was an amethyst. Edward gently grabbed my hand. "This is an Irish Claddagh ring. The hands represent friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty. This is a promise, Bella. You are the only person in my life I trust with absolute certainty, and I trust in us. For right now, you wear it on your right hand with the point of the heart pointing toward you, showing that someone has captured your heart." He grabbed the ring, ready to place it on my finger. "Can I keep your heart, baby?"

"It's yours, Edward. Until the day it stops beating," I said with absolute sincerity.

He placed the ring on my finger, and I gripped his shirt, pulling him to me for a kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he surprised me by picking me up, bridal style. I squealed and laughed. He buried his face in my neck and carried me to the car. I wasn't a deeply religious person, but I believed that Edward's mom was with us in that moment, and I couldn't help but hope that she was proud of her son because I knew that I was.

*DS*

I followed Edward from the car, grabbing the case for my gun and the targets that he'd told me to grab. I pulled my disassembled gun from the case, putting the pieces together while he set up the targets. I screwed the silencer on and licked my lips seductively just to fuck with Edward. He laughed, knowing what I was doing. When he was done, he came over to me and yanked on my ponytail and smacked my ass. I was wearing a baseball cap, my hair pulled through the back in a ponytail. I had the safety googles on, and my shorts were shorter than was absolutely necessary. He came behind me and ground his denim-clad erection into my back.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"It's a possibility"

"Shoot the target, baby," he whispered in my ear huskily. His breath on my neck caused goosebumps to break out, and he dragged his lips and nose up the column of my throat. I sucked in a breath, raised my gun, squeezed one eye shut, aimed, and fired. It went wide, and I swore. "Having a hard time concentrating, babe?"

"You are so gonna pay," I said, hip checking him to get him to back up. I aimed again and hit right in the middle of the target. I turned around and stuck my tongue out at him. I planted a few clips in the targets; this gun was pretty badass.

Edward pulled his Beretta out of the trunk and put it together. It was his turn. I stepped up behind him, pressing my tits right up against him. I licked the shell of his ear and moaned. He aimed, hesitated, and shot. He wasn't even close.

"Oops," I said with a fake pout.

We took mercy on each other and both shot our separate targets. I started to feel a lot more confident with this gun, and Edward had me shoot a few targets with his gun, just so I could get used to a larger gun, in case I ever needed it.

Once we were done, I unloaded both guns, took the silencers off, and put them in their cases while Edward took down the targets. I put the guns in the trunk, and Edward stepped beside me to put the targets in. I closed the trunk and turned to get in the passenger seat. I was pulled back by my hips into Edward's hard chest. I moaned at the contact, and he turned me in his arms to kiss me—the kiss was raw passion and desire. It felt like fire had erupted over my entire body, and I was constantly blindsided by the fact it never waned with time. It only seemed to grow stronger, and I knew I would never get enough of him. Our tongues explored and devoured each other. Edward pushed me up against the side of the car. I sunk my fingers in his hair, sliding down to his strong shoulders, and he kissed the corner of my mouth, then slid down my neck with open-mouthed kisses. He nuzzled that spot behind my ear and lightly bit it. I shivered and felt the goosebumps erupt again. He looked me in the eyes and smiled. It was a smirk born of true love, joy, and ecstasy. I was blown away by how utterly beautiful he was in that moment: kiss-swollen lips, hair in a messy array, green eyes burning with desire, and that smile on his face that was the complete polar opposite of the first smile I ever saw on his face.

"Come on, babe. I have an idea," he said, the mischief obvious in his eyes.

I chuckled and got in the passenger seat after he opened the door for me, and when he got into the driver's seat and peeled out, I knew whatever his idea was, I was all in.

Please Review

A/N: Ah, I just love these two! How are we feeling. How do we feel about Bella slowly changing? What was your favorite part? Let us know and leave a review. Until Monday, later lovelies!