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.

Marco Moretti was a powerful man. He was the sort of man that demanded respect the moment he walked into a room. He was feared man. But no matter the power Marco thought he had, or the fear others held for him, he was nothing compared to me, compared to us.

He was feared, but I was feared worse. He held power, but I held it all, and I had only become more vicious over the last three years, but anger and betrayal did that to you. It will take you and mold you into the perfect monster until you don't recognize the reflection staring back at you.

I should have refused to the sit down with Marco, but curiosity got the better of me.

I knew I should have gone home instead. It would be the fourth night now that I had been away.

I've spoken with Garrett over the phone and he assures me she is fine, but I'm not buying it. She refuses to speak to me whenever I ask for her and I can't say I blame her. I had done what I said I would not do. I had taken her from Ragusa, taken her from her freedom and locked her up in my house. I had broken my promise to her yet again and what was worse is I left her alone.

I hated myself for doing it, for breaking my promise to her. There was no doubt she hated me more.

The way things were, were just the way things were. I didn't have anyone to blame but myself for the mess I was trying to sort out now. When I ran off to Ragusa, I had left my work, I left everything behind unfinished and now I needed to sort it all out before things got any more out of control.

I thought with Emmett helping me, I could work through things quicker, but there was more to do, more mess to sort out than I had first anticipated and before I knew it twenty-four hours had gone by and then thirty-six and now ninety-six. But it was easy to lose track of time down here underground. It was easy to forget what day it was, if it was morning or night, because to those that came down here, time did not matter.

"Marcos's arrived," Emmett said, popping his head into my office.

"Alright," I said. I had been down here in my office all day, or what I assumed was all day, trying to figure out what to do with Victoria and the rest of the girls. I had a location in mind, but that would be plan b if I could not come up with anything else.

I had someone here who had been helping me. They could have done this themselves, but refused to. This person was beginning to get on my last nerve, but right now I needed them to sort this mess out.

"Want me to go in your place?" They asked.

"Funny," I said. "Fix this shit up." I picked the file up and put it in front of them more roughly than I had intended to, causing the papers inside the sprawl out.

'Now look what you've done. You're moody this evening."

I flipped them off as I picked my jacket up and headed out the door.

"You know you've got to do something about that," Emmett said, motioning with his head towards my office door.

"Not now." That was not a problem I wanted to deal with right now. It was not even a problem more of an inconvenience I could not get rid of.

I had arranged for Marco to meet us at the Russian Tea Room, which so happened to be conveniently located atop of my underworld, part of it at least.

Funny, to the outside world Italian's meeting in a Russian restaurant in what they believed to be their territory would have been a cause for concern, Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if this would leave the feds scratching their heads. I wondered what they had to be thinking as they sat in their car across the road.

But what no one knew about the Russian's and us, I had a deal with them, if you want to look at it that way. We helped each other out, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. I like to keep my enemies on my right side, close.

Emmett and I along with two of my security walked into the empty restaurant. I had contacted Vlad earlier, I told him I needed a little privacy. He was happy to clear the place out for us and close it down for the night, that and Vlad did not particularly like Marco ever since he found out that Marco's son was sleeping with his niece.

"My friend, how have you been?" Vlad greeted me, shaking my hand and kissing my cheeks.

"I've been better," I said.

"Haven't we all." He laughed as he leaned in close to my ear. "If you need an extra hand, you give me the sign, I have people all around."

"Will do my friend."

Leaving Vlad, Emmett and I made our way to the last table in the back. My father was already there, so were a few others. Marco had come prepared, he was surrounded by his own men. It still amused me to think he thought he could be safe with someone like me no matter the effort he put in.

"You are late," he said.

"So I am." I shrugged out of my jacket and sat down next to my father.

"Are you doing business with the Russian's?" Marco asked. "That's...rather interesting."

"Let's not waste time with small talk, Marco," I said, waving my hand dismissively. "You asked for my time, here I am, talk."

He didn't take to kindly to my tone. Marco lived by old traditions. He was the head of his family and that's how it would be until he died, which is why he refused to hand over the reigns to his son. Marco was only a few years older than my father and he believed that with age came respect. That might be the reason he did not take too kindly to me. I was younger than his son after all.

"Leo approached me," he said, watching my reaction carefully.

"And."

"And he asked for my family's protection."

"Did you offer it to him?" My father asked.

"I wanted to speak here first before I made my decision."

"Wherever you offer Leo protection or not, is not my concern," I said. "However, you're aware of the consequences of what will happen."

Leo had no idea what he had just done asking Marco for his protection. Marco could offer it, yes, but he was well aware that if the need came I would not only take down Leo, but any one of his men or family that stood in my way. It was not a war, not to me anyways, it was more a duty.

"I want to know what he did before I offer him anything," Marco said.

"That is not your concern," my father said.

"He killed your brother-in-law didn't he?"

I was not about to air anything out to Marco. When it came to matters such as these, I preferred to keep things on the low down, it was easier, better.

"Very well. I guess I have my answer."

~MINY~

It was quiet as I entered the apartment, the only noise a hum of a TV that had been left on somewhere.

It was now well past two in the morning. Isabella was probably asleep and no doubt so was Garrett.

I took my shoes off and left them by the elevator door, not wanting to make any noise as I moved around and wake Isabella up.

As I made my into the living area, the TV was on and Garrett was sitting on the couch with his arms stretched out across the headrest. He had the balcony door wide open, letting the cold breeze in.

"Aren't you cold?"I asked, noting that he had his jacket on.

"Boss. Shit, sorry," he said, quickly taking his feet off the coffee table and standing up.

"It's freezing in here, shut that door."

"I can't," he said, sounding nervous and worried as he scratched the back of his head.

"Why not?" I asked, curious as to why he felt the need to have it open.

"She's outside. I tried everything I could, but she refused to come in."

I left Garrett and stormed out onto the balcony terrace. I was prepared to rip her apart. What was she thinking sitting out there in that cold?

Did she have a death wish?

Did she want to catch pneumonia?

But my anger subsided when I saw her laying there on the lounge with a heavy blanket covering her. She was fast asleep, seemingly not bothered by the plummeting temperature. Her hair was a tangled mess around her face, but her cheeks were bright red. Even with the thick blanket on it was clear to see that she was freezing.

"How long has she been out here?"

"All night," Garrett said.

"Why in the hell did you leave her to sleep outside, to freeze?"

"I'm sorry, boss. I didn't know what to do, if I should pick her up or not. I tried to get her to go inside, but she's...She's mad."

"How mad?" I asked, but I knew the answer to that already I didn't need Garret to confirm it for me.

"That depends. Do you want the buttered down version or the cold truth?"

"That bad?"

"She's sleeping out here isn't she."

Damn! "She's been doing this every night? You told me everything was okay," I said, more louder than I should have, causing Isabella to stir.

"No, this is a first. She usually sleeps on the couch. She said she refuses to sleep in your room, in your bed," he said.

I knew what I had done hadn't been the best. It had never been my intention to stay away for so many days, but it's just how it is. Things happen sometimes beyond my control and she would have to learn to deal with that, she needed to understand that some days, nights I would be late or not come home at all, it was part of the business, part of how this life was.

I removed the blanket off of her and scooped her up in my arms. Leaving Garrett to head off into his room, I carried Isabella upstairs into my room, our room.

Before I could pull back the covers and place her in bed, she had woken up, but nevertheless I carried on with the task. Putting her down on the bed, she did not say a word, she did not make a sound, to be honest I was sure she had stopped breathing.

I leaned over and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead before I stood up and headed into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

I had purposely left the bathroom door wide open. I wanted to know if she left. I wanted her to know that I was watching her even with my back turned. I wanted her to know she could not walk away, that we needed to talk.

I needed to apologize and hoped that she would forgive me. I hoped that somehow I might be able to salvage whatever little trust she had left in me, hopefully.

I quickly showered and threw on a pair of pyjama bottoms. Taking a deep breath I turned around and headed back into the bedroom and sat down beside her on the bed. I was tired, it was late and all I could think about was crawling in bed and letting my head hit the pillow but we needed to sort this out now.

Isabella was in the exact same position I had left her in. She was staring aimlessly in front of her, out the window, I don't think I noticed her blink. She was lost deep in her thoughts.

I cleared my throat, hoping to draw her attention, but I got nothing. She was going to ignore me, but I guess I deserved that.

"I'm sorry," I said, shifting closer to her, right up close in her personal space, but she did not react. "I didn't mean to leave you here like this with Garrett. It was never my intention to stay away for so long."

But there was still nothing, no reaction from her at all. She continued to stare blankly out the window unaffected by my presence right next to her until I ran the back of my fingers along the side of her face. She blinked rapidly and turned her head to face me.

"Hey." I offered a warm smile.

"Why are you here?" She finally spoke, asking a question that stabbed away at me.

"I am sorry, dolcezza. I don't know how many times I can say that until you believe me."

"You lied to me."

"I didn't lie to you." I defended, even though it was a lie. She was right, I had lied to her, not intentionally, but I had still done it.

"Yes you did and you're doing it again," she said, as she shuffled away from me to the other side of the bed.

"I am sorry about that."

"Stop apologizing," she yelled, jumping up off the bed. "Do you even know what you are apologizing for anymore? Do you even mean it?"

"Of course I mean it," I said. I stood up and went around to where she was. But with every step I took towards her, she took one back until she was at the foot of the door.

This wasn't how I had pictured this going, although I don't know what I was expecting from her. I knew she was mad at me, but the look on her face right now, it was something I didn't recognize, a look she had never had.

"Dolcezza," I tried.

"Stop calling me that. I am not your anything," she yelled. "I'm not mad at you. No, I'm mad at myself for being so stupid as to think that anything that came out of your mouth was actually true."

She laughed bitterly, shaking her head as she stared at me with what I could only describe as pure hate, before she backed out of the bedroom.

"Where are you going?" I asked, following after her.

"You can force me to stay here, but you cannot force me to sleep in that bed next to you, not anymore."