Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Edited by Sjdavis84 and StillDreaming85.

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Edward Cullen.

Watching my wife interact with another man wasn't an easy thing to do. Seeing the smile on her face, the way she relaxed and hung onto his every word, it ate away at me. It made me curse myself even more than I already have. But at the same time, it also made me angry. After all she was my wife and right now she was not acting like my wife.

Should I be upset? Or better yet, did I have any right to be upset with her knowing that I was no better?

The truth was no, but I was a possessive bastard and what was mine was mine and that included her.

It was Stefan, one of her guards, that had called my father and informed him that this was the fourth time in one week that Isabella had met with this man, this stranger. All that we gathered on him was that his name was Michael O'Laughlin and he was an Irish national, that was all.

Could he be a harmless tourist that has taken an interest in my wife? Probably.

But tourist had backgrounds, family history and friends, whereas this Michael had nothing, not even a bank account linked to his name, no talk of his birth, not even a credit rating.

"Si può ottenere molto ... permaloso," Stefan said. That made my blood boil. What right did he have to put his hands on my wife.

"Bastardo," I spat.

I left Stefan outside and walked into the small bistro taking a seat at a table close to them. I was seated so close to her, and yet she hadn't noticed me. She was so caught up in her conversation with another man, laughing with him and smiling, that she had not noticed me staring right at them, but he did. Whoever he was, was staring right back at me, smirking almost taunting.

I felt as if I knew him. I had seen him before somewhere, but I could not think of a time or a place. He looked familiar to me and yet he didn't.

Something about him made me uneasy, and it wasn't the fact that he was able to make my wife smile, no, it was something more.

I lost it when he reached out and touched her, brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek. I shot up out of my chair, making it land hard on the floor with a loud thud. It was then that her attention turned in my direction, it was then that she noticed me. I watched her face fall as fear, possibly anger spread across her features.

"Is there a problem?" The bastardo asked.

I didn't entertain him with an answer. I knew very well that I could kill him right here right now and no one would so much as bat an eyelash. In fact, they would even clean up my mess and dispose of the body. But I was not willing to do that in front of Isabella.

I simply walked up to her, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. She made no move to fight me at all, but her face, her eyes were burning with anger. I had never seen this side of her.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" She finally asked.

"Me? What hell are you doing here with another man?" I spat back at her.

"What I do and who I do it with is none of your concern."

"I beg to differ."

"Let go of me, Edward," she said, trying to wriggle her way out of my grasp. "You're hurting me."

"Let go of her," Michael finally spoke. Although he did look rather pleased, he hid it well.

"You would be wise to sit yourself back down," I said. "I am having a conversation with my wife."

"Wife?" He said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I am sorry, I did not know, but we are only friends I can promise you that." He had a thick a Irish accent, dark blue eyes, and I was tempted to rip the collar of his shirt to find a clover tattoo.

But that was absurd, it couldn't be. Liam had died many years ago, I was sure of that, it was us that killed him after all. But that didn't shake the feeling I had about this guy.

"What did you say your name was?"

"Michael," he said, holding his hand out to me.

"Michael, make sure you do not stick around here too long," I said, walking away and dragging my wife along with me. I was tempted, very tempted to signal Stefan to go and take Michael out, and that would have been my plan had Isabella not elbowed me in the gut.

"Fuck, dolcezza," I said, one hand holding onto my gut while the other refused to let her go. "What the hell was that for?"

"Really? What was that for? What the hell do you think that was for?" She yelled, as I pushed her into the passenger side of my car. "You had no right to do that." She continued.

"I had every right," I said, climbing in. "You are my wife, mine, and I don't appreciate my wife going around with another man, especially when everyone in Ragusa knows who you are."

"Is that your problem, what people would think? Then how about I tell them how my so called husband kidnapped me? How he me put me in a brothel and used me?" She said.

I slammed my foot down on the brakes and stopped the car in the middle of the road. I got out of the car. I went around to her side and pulled her out, pushing her up against the car.

"I did nothing to you, nothing," I said, getting right into her face. By now people on the street had stopped and were staring at the spectacle that I had created, but I was too far gone with rage to care. "I wanted to help you. I tried everything I could to help you, but you wouldn't let me. You ran away and hid from me thinking it would be the best for you."

"It was my choice," she said.

"You have no idea what you have done, none."

~MINY~

"Nipote," Eleazar said, waving his hand in front of my face. "Are you still with us?"

"What?" I asked.

"I said, Leo sent Janina here," my father informed me.

"He what?" I yelled.

Janina was the daughter of Leo Orsani, a man my father had done business with for many years. They were very good friends, like family almost. The problem with Leo was, his mother wasn't Italian so he wasn't full blooded and was never able to be initiated if you will into the family. But that didn't mean he didn't have his part within the family.

For a long time, Leo had tried to force his daughter on me. Maybe he thought it might open a door for him. Leo and Janina refused to take no for an answer and after numerous attempts to have them both back off I gave up and may have taken Janina up on what she was offering.

It was only meant to be a one time deal, just to get her off of my back. But it turned out it was the worst mistake I could have made because she has not left me alone since that one night.

"Why would you let Leo do that?" I asked my father.

"I did not do anything. It was Carmen who invited them for her party." He shrugged. "What's the matter figlio, are you afraid your wife will find out about your mistress?" he chuckled, taking a swig of his scotch.

"You," I said, pointing at him. "Are a piece of shit."

"So I am correct."

"There is nothing to find out. She is nothing but a...a putana who won't leave me alone."

Isabella was already beyond furious with me. She has not spoken a word to me since that morning at the cafe with her so called little friend. She hasn't seen him since, either, but she has also been ignoring me as well. She even locks her bedroom door now every night.

"Then you better make sure you keep her and your wife apart," my father said. He was enjoying this situation way too much. If it were his call, Janina would be my wife only because he believed she suits the roll and he has told me many times over the past years that I should stop searching for Isabella and move on with Janina. For all I know, this was my father's brilliant planning, my punishment because I had uncovered his secret. A way for him to get what he wanted without lifting a finger.

"If she comes anywhere near my wife, I can't promise you that you will not be digging her grave," I said.

"Don't do something stupid, Edward," Eleazar said. "Don't ruin your zia's party."

Having enough of the both of them. I pushed my chair out and stood up.

"I have moved a shipment over and I don't feel like heading out to see it arrive tonight. Why don't the two of you make yourselves useful and do something productive with your time," I said, as I walked out of Eleazar's office.

As I walked down the hallway towards the front door, I heard the one voice I didn't want to hear. She was standing in the foyer with Carmen wearing a tight black dress that showed all of her curves.

She said something to Carmen that I couldn't make out and then she laid eyes on me.

"Amore," she said, giving me a seductive smirk. "I missed you."

"Janina, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked, not in any mood to deal with her.

"Do not be so mean to me, amore. Come here and give me a hug," she said.

"I do not have time for you, Janina."

Janina never took no for an answer and she never backed down. As I walked towards the front door, she latched herself onto me, throwing her arms around my neck. As I turned around to push her off, her mouth and her arms flew around my neck, almost suffocating me.

"Get the fuck off of me," I said, pushing her away.

"Is that anyway to treat me amore." She pouted.

"Marie," Carmen said. She was just as shocked as I was to see her standing at the top of the stairs.