Edited by Stilldreaming85.
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.
Edward Cullen.
I watched her from afar. I knew that she would be perfectly fine here and with my mother, but that did not ease the nerves that she was not by my side.
I could not pay attention to what those around me were saying. I did not partake in the conversations started even though I knew they were directed at me.
I had one focus and one focus alone, her.
It was fascinating to watch the way she would interact with others. The way her brows would knit together.
The way her facial expressions changed at something she liked or didn't like or at someone.
The way she bit the inside of her lip when frustrated or confused.
She was by no means perfect, none of us were. But she was my vision of perfection.
I do love her. No matter how many times she claims I don't. She does not know what is in my head and in my heart.
I do love her, because if it wasn't love that I felt then what the hell was it?
"You seem distracted tonight, mio figlio," my father said, as he handed me another drink.
"What?"
He snickered as he took a swig of his glass. "You know where your attention needs to be."
"I am well aware where my attention needs to be. I do not need you to remind me," I snapped.
"Then stop staring at her as if she is about to disappear and focus your attention to those around you."
"You know all about making her disappear, don't you."
"Are we back to this again?" He asked, clearly irritated that I had brought this up once more. I do not think he will ever be over the fact that I uncovered his secret.
"I hadn't realized we had ever taken a step off."
"I owe you no explanation, Edward, and no apology. You can hate me all you like, but all I did was attempt to fix the mess you and your brother created."
"As your Don, you do owe me an explanation," I said.
"I am your father. Do not attempt to pull that on me," he said.
"And I am your boss." I shrugged. "This was the role that you handed down to me, the life you wanted me to have. Blood or not, if I say jump, then you fucking jump because I own you," I said, watching as the vein in his neck began to bulge. His face stained red and his hand balled into a fist while the other was about to break the glass at any moment.
"Amore."
I heard the one voice I did not want to hear. It was a face I had not seen since the incident a few days ago. A face I would have been grateful to never see again.
My father's bitterness suddenly faded, replaced by a sly smirk as Janina approached us.
This was not what I needed right now. It was not what I wanted Isabella to see, me with her, after everything. I hoped she wouldn't turn around. I prayed she would not see this.
Janina put her hand on my chest and leaned her head in as if she was expecting me to kiss her.
I gripped her wrist roughly and shoved her away, not caring if those close to me saw wt I was doing, or what they thought about it.
I have said it time and time again, but Janina was a mistake that should have never happened. A lapse in my judgment that I wish at the time I could have controlled. There were plenty of other ways for me to get what I wanted from Janina and Leo without her having to warm my bed.
We had always suspected that it was Leo who had taken the money from my father's Monte Carlo account.
At the time that Leo was shoving his daughter in my face, was also around the time the money had started to go missing. Little bits at first, nothing too noticeable. But the amounts grew larger and larger over time.
Leo was a slightly stupid man in that he gave his daughter access to all his accounts. I thought if I could get to her, I could have her hand me the accounts. That was the easy part, she did do it, but I didn't find what I was looking for.
I could have taken them out right then and there, but my father insisted that it would not have been the best of plans. He wanted his money back and I wanted to know how the hell Leo had done it, how he had made all that money disappear. From the moment it had left my father's account, it became untraceable, the bank itself could not retrieve it.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I spat.
"I was invited," she said defensively. Janina did not take rejection very well.
"Where is your father?" My father asked, looking around the room for any sign of Leo.
"He is around here somewhere," she said. "But amore, you owe me a dance."
"I owe you a bullet to the head for the stunt you pulled the other day," I said, placing my glass down on the table beside me.
"Do not be so dramatic," she said, licking her lips. "Do not pretend you did not like it. I know better, amore."
"You would be very wise to turn around and leave right now," I said, taking a deliberate step towards. She made no move at all. She showed no fear. My father had put his hand on my shoulder pulling me slightly back and away from her. It was a very good move on his part because if I would have gotten my hands on her right now, I would not have stopped until she had no breath left in her.
"Janina, why don't you…" My father started but his sentence was interrupted by the sound of gunshots coming from all around us. People dropped to the ground, covering their heads and trying to find shelter from the shower of bullets.
There were four of them, possibly more, but only four that I could clearly see. I pulled both my guns out of their holster.
Our men had already taken them out but not before they had managed to do some damage. There had to be more of them, I was sure of it. No one would ambush us with only four men, not unless they were stupid.
I saw Isabella on the other side of the room as she took in the horror around her.
"Don't let go of her," I told my father. I don't know who was stupid enough to do this. I doubt that Leo was, but I was not going to take that chance.
I ran up to my wife as those around us frantically tried to get out. I reached her and pulled her to me.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked, looking her up and down for any sign that she might be injured and was so thankful that I could not find any.
"Eleazar," she said, her attention on the large doors leading out onto the balcony. I followed her gaze to see my uncle on the floor with a hole in his head. His eyes wide open as my mother tried to pull Carmen away.
As quickly as the gunfire had died, it had returned, only this time it was directed in our direction. I covered Isabella with my own body and managed to get us out of the ballroom unharmed.
"We need to get out of here," I said. Whoever this was, they were after me, or her, or maybe both of us.
"What about everyone else?"
"Don't worry about them. Whoever this is, they are coming after us."
We reached my car. I took the keys and threw them to her, as I went around to the trunk and removed my rifle and an AK-47.
"Get in the car already," I yelled at her.
"Are you out of your mind? What the hell are you doing with those?" She yelled.
"Shh, keep your voice down. Now is not the best time, Isabella." No one had spotted us yet and with a little luck, we might be able to make it out of here before they see us.
"What the hell is going on, Edward? Who are they? Why were they shooting at us?"
"Not now. We need to get out of here," I said, climbing into the passenger seat. Gun shots rang out behind us. They were getting closer.
"Damn it, Isabella, get in the fucking car. I can't shoot and drive at the same time," I yelled, as she fumbled with the keys. "Get in the damn car." What part of our lives were in danger did she not understand?
She finally climbed in, but not before our friends had caught up with us. They sprayed us with bullets as Isabella started the car and drove us away from them. I just prayed they had not taken a tyre out.
"Where am I going?" She asked.
"Out the front gates and left onto the main road," I said. She nodded, taking a few deep breaths. I was proud of her that she was holding herself together right because I knew the moment we were safe and out of this car she would fall to bits. But right now she was out only way to safety.
The car pulled out of the estate and onto the main road. So far there was no one around. But I was not going to celebrate just yet. I knew we weren't out of the clear just yet, not until we reached the safe house.
No sooner had I thought that luck might be on our side, a car appeared behind us and it was coming fast.
"What do I do?" Isabella asked frantically.
"Keep your hands steady on the wheel," I said, as I loaded my rifle. "They are going to rear end us. Don't slow down or lose your grip or you are going to spin this car."
"We are going die," she cried.
"We are not going to fucking die, not tonight." I got my rifle ready and opened the sunroof waiting for them to get closer so that I could have a clearer shot. "Keep your eyes on the road and speed up," I said, as the car behind us got closer.
They managed to rear end us before I could get a clean shot. The car was dark and their lights were off. There were no street lights on these roads so having a clear visual was almost impossible. But Isabella had been amazing, she did what I said and managed to keep control of the car even as they were trying to run us off the road.
There were four of them in the car. I managed to take out the front passenger when he stuck his head out the window.
"Docezza, I need you to go faster," I said. They were too close to us for me to get their tyres and that was about the only option I had if we were going to lose them.
She sped up, but they kept up, bumper on bumper. I needed to lose them before we reached the town or we would never make it to the safe house.
"God damn it, Isabella. Fucking floor it," I yelled. And she did. The car jerked forward and so did I. The rifle slipping out of my hands. I fumbled to pick it up and climbed out the sunroof aiming it at there tyers. I had taken one out and that was enough to slow them down and give us the advantage to lose them.
We had put some distance between us and them. I fumbled for my phone in my jacket. I messaged my father, telling him of our location and to send someone out to collect them or what was left of them. Hopefully they will still be there when our men reached them.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Did we lose them?"
"Yeah, we did."
"Where am I going now?"
"Drive into town and around the back of your studio," I said.
I didn't know who did this. We weren't at war with anyone. I wasn't at war with anyone. They had come after me, after us...After us?