Happy Sunday everyone! I'm sure you all are excited for this update! So you guys are sufficiently caught up. The next update will be Sunday. Hopefully you guys can wait until then! Enjoy!

Chapter Forty-Eight

"Hey Bella," Tanya said as she poked her head into the bedroom door. I sat a little straighter and pulled my pajama shorts down to cover more of my legs.

"Hey Tanya," I said.

"I was thinking since Edward was out tonight, you and I could have a little girl's night." She said.

"Oh, um, yeah I'm not busy," I said as I closed my book, "What do you want to do?"

"There's this new girly movie that just came out. I'm dying to watch it. We could make a bunch of junk food, watch movies, paint each other's nails?"

"Sure, that sounds fun." I said as I sat my book down.

We walked into the kitchen and made a bunch of junk food. I was planning on coming down here anyways and grabbing some food myself; I was eating constantly now. Probably due to the little thing growing inside of me. But at least I wasn't throwing up anymore.

"I've missed girls nights," She said as we settled down into the theater room, "My sister and I used to have them all the time, but then she got married and got pregnant."

I nodded, "I get it. Priorities change. But you're probably excited to be aunt."

She shrugged, "I'm not really a kid person. I mean I'll spoil him, but I'm not really going to be a hands-on aunt."

"I get that."

"So, are you a kid person?" She asked.

"I've never really been around kids, but I have always wanted a couple of my own one day. When I'm older."

We turned our attention to the movie. It was some girly chick-flick. Not really my speed but she seemed to be into it. And it wouldn't kill me. She was leaving in two days.

"So, is everything okay?" She asked out of the blue, pausing the movie.

"Huh?" I said.

"Well, I noticed something was off between you and Edward these past couple of days."

She wasn't wrong. Things had been a little off between us, but we weren't fighting. Edward was really wrapped up in his work and hadn't had much free time. He came to bed very late and was gone in the mornings. Paul had been picking me up in the mornings and taking me to the bakery. I knew he was just busy.

"No, we're fine. He's just been busy."

"It's not me being here is it?" She asked.

Truthfully, she had been fine. She pretty much stayed out of the way. I'd been seeing more of her lately than I had been seeing Edward lately. And this was the first time she brought up our relationship.

"No, it's not you. He's just been really busy lately. Aro left him those three businesses and he's been trying to get all of that under control."

"Okay. I just… I can't help but worry," She said, "I don't want to cause any trouble between you two."

I bit my lip, knowing I shouldn't pry and let her get into my head, but I couldn't help myself.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm sure you know we had a rocky relationship. He'd get bored and seek other girls during our relationship. It wasn't often, but I always knew when he strayed. He'd become distant and 'busy.' The way he's acting now reminds me of how he acted back then."

"I trust him." I said, "He hasn't given me any reason to not trust him."

"I know. Just be careful, okay? I don't want you to get hurt. Keep your guard up."

"Don't worry, it's up." I said, looking back towards the movie and ending the conversation.

Edward's POV

I pulled out one of my cigarettes while I watched the camera. Paul was sitting in the club, watching the dancing women with a bored expression on his face. He didn't look nervous, which was good. I was confident he'd be able to pull this off.

"Didn't the fucker say nine?" Emmett said, impatiently watching the camera.

"Don't worry, he's coming. He just wants to make a dramatic entrance." I said.

"There he is," Jasper said, "I got his plates."

I felt a surge of angry heat in my body. I wanted to run out of the building and confront him. Beat the shit out of him then kill him. But we needed this information.

"Is anyone with him?" I asked.

"Just a couple of guys. We can take care of them. Get them out of the way." Jasper said.

"Go ahead and do that. When James walks out, we'll grab him."

James sauntered over to Paul, a shit eating grin on his face. He probably thought he was hot shit convincing Paul to come here and listen to his offer. Paul didn't make a move to stand, he just looked over at James and nodded.

"You got the private room?" James asked.

"Yeah. Let's go." Paul said as he stood. There were private rooms in the back that you could rent and have one of the strippers dance for you. But I had Paul rent it out and just pay the club manager to mind his business. I also paid the manager to let me set up little cameras everywhere. He didn't fight so hard on that.

Paul thumped down onto the seat while James sat across from him.

"So, how the hell are you still alive?" Paul asked.

"I bet that idiot bragged about killing me," James smirked, "Too bad that dumbass didn't think to do a deep enough search of my family history. Turned out I had a twin brother. Met him when I was seventeen. It worked out in my favor. I knew sending my brother in to see Edward that day was the smart thing to do."

"Mm." Paul nodded, "And you're fine with your brother being dead?"

"I mean I'm not fine with it. But it's better than me being dead," James said, "I'll get revenge for my brother. Don't worry about that."

"So, what do you want?"

"I heard through the grapevine that your guarding that girl Cullen is fucking." James said.

"Who told you that?"

"Laurent. We still keep in touch," I made a mental note to take care of Laurent after this.

"Well, what do you want?"

"I want you to join me," James said, leaning forward, "Don't you think it's about time the Cullen empire fall? They've been running New York since the twenties. Don't you want a piece of it for yourself?"

Paul shrugged, "The Cullens have been good to me."

"Only because they're the reason your father died," James said quickly, "If the Cullens weren't around, your dad would still be alive."

Paul's eyes narrowed, "Maybe you have a point."

James smiled, "I do have a point. The Cullens are the reason your dad is dead. If I were you, I would've been planning this a while ago."

"So, what are you planning?"

"I want to take the Cullens down. I want New York. And I want to make that little bitch pay."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Paul asked, "The Cullens run a tight operation. There's no way you'd be able to take them down on your own."

"I'm working with Aro's brother. Caius. He wants to take New York."

I leaned back slightly in the seat. So. Caius was behind this. That explains Bella's attacker knowing the codes. Caius could get close and steal the information. Or he could've tortured one of Aro's associates who knew the codes.

"You're working with Caius?" Paul said, "From what I've heard, Caius is a loose cannon. How could you trust him?"

James shrugged, "I don't really have a choice. He has access to the codes and Aro's business." James shook his head sharply, an ugly expression on his face, "Well, he did have access to them. Until that pansy left his businesses in Cullen's name."

"I heard that that happened," Paul said, "It would explain why the Cullen's have bumped up security."

"And that's where you would come in," James leaned forward, "You have access to the girl. You know the security codes."

"So your only goal is to get the girl? Take your revenge on her? Then what? How do you plan on taking New York once she's out of the way."

"Edward is shoved so far up that girl's ass, he'd go crazy looking for her. He'd let his defenses slip. If I take her, I could string him along, thinking he'd get her back if he complied."

"How do you know Cullen would even pursue it? They've only been together for a few months."

"Come on Paul. You know how enamored the Cullen men get when they meet their wives," James rolled his eyes, "They're so hyper focused on taking care of them that they leave their business affairs to people they do very little research on. I mean, my brother and I worked for them for years and Carlisle didn't even suspect anything. And then Edward didn't even bother to do a thorough background check. 'Course, he wouldn't have been able to link my brother to me. We were separated at birth. Our mom dropped us off at separate hospitals with different names."

"He's cracked down on security and the people he trusts."

"And obviously he trusts you," James said, "I need a man on the inside. I can pay you big. Give you a cut of New York, and whatever else you want. What do you say."

Paul leaned back in his seat, as if he were considering it. I noticed James's hand sliding over his pocket; he obviously had a gun with him and was prepared to shoot Paul if he declined. Good thing we prepared for that.

"Alright," Paul nodded, "I'll work with you."

James smiled, his hand sliding away from his pocket, "Excellent. I promise you; it'll be worth it. I'll call Caius and he'll deposit the first payment into your account."

Paul nodded, "What do you want me to do?"

"For now, just observe. Learn everything you can without being suspicious," James handed him a burner phone, "We'll keep in contact with this. I'll be the only one who calls or texts, but it's going to come from different numbers."

Paul nodded, "Smart." He looked at his watch, "I gotta go. Babysitting duty."

"I'll walk you out."

"Get ready," I told Emmett and Jasper, "Just like we planned."

The men that had arrived with James had already been taken care of. They weren't important, but James certainly was. I got excited as he walked out into the parking lot. As Emmett ran around the building, I got out of the van.

Paul lead James right into our trap. James didn't know what hit him. Emmett grabbed him from behind and held him tightly.

"What the fuck!?" James snarled.

Paul smirked, "You obviously don't know me so well. I'm loyal to the Cullens. I'll always be loyal to them. And it was Caius who killed my father, not the Cullens."

"Fuck you!" James spat.

I smiled as I walked up to him, "You severely underestimate me James."

James just glared, his hand twitching towards his pocket. Paul reached in and grabbed the gun, and the knife he was carrying.

"Let him go Emmett." I said.

"What?" Emmett asked in confusion.

"Let him go, he can't get away," I told him, looking at my men who now had him surrounded "Before we take him to the warehouse, I want a piece of him."

I rolled up my sleeves, balling my fists. It had been years since I had been in a physical fight, but I've never lost my edge. I can still fight.

"What? You want to fight?" James snarled.

"No, I want to fuck you up before I take you to the warehouse," I snapped, "I'm going to make you pay for targeting my Bella. This'll be the first of many beatings I'm going to give you."

He balled his fist, blocking his face. I sized him up; he was slightly shorter than I was. But my few inches gave me an advantage over him. That, and the fact that he was disabled by Bella's bullet.

I moved my left fist towards his face, and while he went to block it, my right fist struck his unguarded side. He reciprocated by catching me in the chin with his fist, but he left himself unprotected and I caught him in the jaw. He swayed from the impact, but I gave him no time to recover as I hit the other side of his jaw.

He hit the ground, hard. He didn't fight as hard as I imagined he would, but I'm sure he knew that even if he did beat me, he wouldn't be able to get away.

"Take him to the warehouse in Yorkton. Make sure he's secured. I don't want him getting away."

James is caught! But, he's not the most dangerous piece in this game. Caius is still loose. Hopefully you guys like this chapter, anyways, tune in next Sunday! Have a great week, AND please wish me luck! I'm starting a math course for school and math is my weak spot *pitiful sobbing* I'm almost done with school, I just have like ten state tests and a few more classes before I get to be a teacher! Wish me luck!