One more banked chapter, and I'm working on getting Chapter 6 started soon. So the next chapter will post as scheduled in 2 weeks and I hope to build up a few more of these. Enjoy!

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.

Chapter 4

We shouldn't have been surprised, since people talk, but within a few days of Alice being in New York, Maria knew.

Alice wanted to pick up some additional things for the apartment and convinced me that I couldn't live as sparsely as I was planning to. So with that, she and I spent one morning running to whatever stores she said were essential. I quickly learned that we had different ideas of the meaning of that word.

Maria and her mother Nettie were shopping like she hadn't been served divorce papers a week ago, but the moment she saw Alice, her eyes blazed.

"Don't start a scene, Maria. It will only hurt you," I said as I stepped in between her and Alice.

The pair stormed out of the store, and I knew it would be a problem when Jasper dropped Peter off. I went to the store owner and asked to use his phone.

"Jasper, Maria just ran into me and Alice, so be prepared."

I heard his groan through the receiver. "Thanks for the heads up. Peter is staying overnight, but I doubt she'll wait until tomorrow. Thank God he's only three so he doesn't understand too much of this. She's told her lawyer to refuse everything we suggest to resolve this divorce quickly and quietly."

"We'll get it done, don't worry."

Hanging up the phone, Alice and I called it a day. On the way home, I made a point to drive past Maria's house and when a few of the neighbors were sitting around on the porch across the street, I stopped the car. "Wait here."

I approached the women, all of them smiling up at me, but it was Mrs. Copelli who spoke. "Is that your girlfriend, Edward?"

"No, just a friend of the family who moved from Chicago recently. I promised her mother that I would help her out. Now, I have a favor to ask you all."

"Sure, Edward, how can we help you?" Mrs. Copelli asked.

"I'm worried about Peter. With Jasper moving out…"

"Maria has been all over the place. Male visitors when the boy is home, and none of them are good people. I wouldn't let them in my house. Mrs. Copelli shook her head.

"If you see anything concerning, or any neglect of Peter-"

"We'll call the bar." The women all agreed.

"Thank you." I nodded and then returned to my car, starting it up.

"You know, as scary as you can be when provoked, you're also a very thoughtful and considerate man. And it is clear you love your family."

Alice's comment had me turning to her. "What, because I'm the de facto heir to the Volturi family and the Organization even though I'm only Aro's godson, I shouldn't have a heart?"

"No, but my father is Marcus's consigliere and he is … maybe cold is the right word. There isn't a lot of affection. Maybe because I was born a girl so I'm of no use to him. But I've known what they do for a long while. I think his one hope was that I would marry someone involved in this life, preferably in the Cazo Organization. He is proud of being a Volturi, so me helping out the future of the Volturi Organization is as good as me marrying within the Cazo Organization."

"Aro is more demonstrative. His father was killed in prison during the last big war between the families out here in New York and when Aro took over, he told his men to protect their families and not to go and look for a fight. He knew Caius had crossed a line with a hit he carried out so Aro refused to bring that to our Organization. He contacted the other bosses and told them he knew why Caius had to pay and he wanted to establish some peace. His refusal to continue the war was what allowed us to survive. Now we're respected for how we strike forcefully, but only when necessary. Caius's consigliere did the same thing, made amends and kept trying to keep the family together until Marcus came of age. That was why Aro reached out to his nephew when he took over."

"And you want to continue that?"

"Yeah, we steal and offer protection. We don't run games or deal drugs. That is for some of the bigger outfits. Sometimes we run guns, but only if it falls into our laps."

"For that reason alone, I'm going to like New York more than I did Chicago. You won't look at me like a liability, the fact that you trust me with this young woman you see a possible future with means I have value."

"It is nice to not have to be guarded all the time. You grew up in it. If I try and lie you'll see through it. That doesn't mean you'll know what is going on most of the time, but I won't lie to you either. I'll just say it's nothing."

"And I can respect that, I don't want all of the details," Alice said.

I pulled up to Alice's apartment and she got out, walking into what would be her cafe where the crew was finalizing their plans.

That afternoon I returned home and from that conversation with Alice, time seemed to speed by.

In what felt like no time at all, it was two weeks since Alice arrived and still no word from Isabella. I was beginning to think she would never come looking for me.

One morning I was sitting at a table in the back of the bar when Aro walked in, his daughter Jane hot on his heels.

"Enough Jane," he ordered.

"I cannot believe that you're shipping me off," Jane argued back.

"I've let this go on long enough, you're twenty-nine and not even dating someone. You are going to Italy to find a good young man and that is the end of it."

Jane glared at her father before shifting her gaze to me. "You're enjoying this, aren't you Edward?"

"It makes no difference to me, but I have always loved my time in Italy. I hope you do too."

With a huff she stormed out and Marco approached the table. "Sorry for interrupting Boss, but there's a call for Edward. Mrs. Copelli?"

I shot out of my seat. She'd called a few times to inform me of the comings and goings, but I had just spoken to her yesterday, so it was too soon for another report.

Following Marco to the bar, I answered the phone. "Mezzano's, this is Edward."

"Edward, thank God you're there. Peter is with me. He climbed through a gap in the fence after that Puttana locked him out of the house without his coat."

I looked outside and saw the snow falling. "Shit. I will be right there. Thank you, Shelly."

I ran back over to the table, snatching up my coat. "What's wrong?"

"Maria locked Peter outside, Mrs. Copelli let him in when she realized and called me."

"Bring the boy back here. I want to see that he's okay with my own eyes," Aro said.

Nodding, I swung by my parents' house and grabbed one of Peter's coats before I pulled up to the house. I knocked on the door, but when there was no answer I started looking in the windows. That was when I saw it. Maria was laid out on the living room floor, her body in an awkward position.

Running over to Mrs. Copelli's, she had the door open waiting to let me in. "How bad?"

"Call the cops. Tell them about Peter getting locked out but you know his mother is home and you're concerned."

"And Jasper?" she asked.

"He's up in Boston, has been for the last two days."

Mrs. Copelli did as I asked and we were soon dealing with the cops.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Masen?"

"My sister-in-law's neighbor called our family bar when she saw Peter outside without his coat. He said he couldn't get back inside."

"And why wasn't your brother the one to come over?"

"He's in Boston. Has been since Saturday."

"Did you enter the house?"

"No, I had stopped at my father's to get him a coat since I'd been told he didn't have one. I knocked and she didn't answer so I came over here. That was when Mrs. Copelli told me she'd called New York's Finest."

Another officer approached at that moment."Mrs. Masen is dead, apparent drug overdose. The coroner is on his way."

"Since I wasn't the person to call it in, can I take my nephew away from here before all of that happens?"

"Fine, if we have any questions-?"

"I'll give you my home phone number," I told him.

Once they had what they wanted, I picked up Peter and buckled him into the front passenger seat and then we drove to the bar. Peter was out like a light so I lifted him out of the car and locked it up.

As soon as I walked into the bar, my father was on us. "How's my little man?"

"He's confused, thankfully he fell asleep on the drive. She's dead, cop said it was probably drugs."

"We'll need to make sure the bar is squeaky clean until this blows over," my father mused.

"I didn't want to involve them, but -"

"No, good thing you did. It will shut down her parents and they won't find what isn't there. I need to call Jasper tonight so he knows what is going on."

I nodded and looked around for Aro since he wanted to see Peter.

"Where's Aro?"

"He's at the Sugar Bowl. A young woman turned up here asking for you, so he took her to get something to eat. Looked like she could use it." My ears perked up at that.

"All right. Should I still bring Peter?"

"Yeah, he fell asleep with you, and he's had enough confusion. Plus you know he's going to want some fries when he wakes up," my dad said.

I thought about my options, but decided to just walk the three blocks to the diner Aro had gone to. Peter was just waking up when we walked in and his eyes lit up.

"Can I get pie?"

"If you eat something for lunch first. Do you want a burger or chicken?"

"Chicken!" He declared and I laughed.

The waitress saw me and waved me over, so I followed her to the booth Aro would be seated at. He liked sitting in the back corner away from the kitchen, that way no one could sneak up on him. As we drew close, Aro threw his arms in the air and Peter wiggled in my grip. I lowered him to the ground.

"There you are, Edward. And you brought Peter with you, how wonderful."

I saw Isabella turn in her seat and the slightly shocked look on her face when our eyes met. Aro had already scooped up Peter and sat him on the inside of his side of the booth, so I gestured to Isabella's bench and she slid in to make room for me.

"I hope you don't mind, Edward, when Isabella came to the bar asking for you, I didn't know how long you would be. So I thought I would take her to lunch until you returned."

"Mama's dead," Peter announced quietly.

I felt Isabella go stiff beside me and at Aro's questioning glare, I nodded.

"Looks to be a drug overdose, according to the cops. Dad is trying to get ahold of Jasper in Boston, but he might not reach him until tonight."

"I'm so sorry Peter," Isabella said.

Peter nodded sadly before the waitress returned. We ordered for Peter and I and soon we were all eating. Nothing was discussed, just polite conversation. When the meal was done, Aro turned to Peter with a smile.

"What do you say, Peter, should we pick out a pie for dessert for you and Nonno and Nonna tonight?"

"Yay, pie." His eyes met mine and they lit up. "You too?"

"No, Peter, I have to work. But you're going to stay with Nono and Nona until your dad gets home."

Aro stood and Peter ran around to my side of the booth. I gave him a big hug and then watched as the pair walked over to the pie case next to the register.

"Your nephew is adorable," Isabella said.

"He is. Doesn't deserve what is happening to him, but he'll be okay. We'll make sure of it." I looked at her before I turned in the booth to face her. "I was beginning to think you were never going to contact me."

"I'm sorry, but I had a lot to think about. But you told me that I should come to you if I needed help, and I think I do." She looked down at her hands, so I reached over and took one of them.

"My car is back at the bar. How about we walk back there and we can go for a drive?"

"Sure, I think it would be a good idea to talk in private," she said.

We left the booth and as we reached the front of the diner Isabella moved towards the register. "What's wrong? Did you want to get dessert too?"

"No, Edward, we have to pay."

"Aro got the check, trust me, we're good."

She nodded and then we walked out the front door. We were partway down the block when she turned to face me slightly.

"I don't even know where to start," she muttered.

"Why don't you let me start? I want to apologize for scaring you the way I did that night. I've been hoping you would come to find me just so I could tell you that I wish I had done it differently."

"It's okay. That bag was obviously important, and you didn't really hurt me. Believe me, I've had worse."

"Now, you know you can't say something like that to me and not be asked to explain," I told her.

"When …" She stopped her sentence, taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly before she turned to look at me. "When I was young, I lived in a small town on the coast of Washington state. My mom and my grandfather didn't talk, so I had seen him a handful of times in my life until I turned fourteen. My parents were killed in a car accident and I had to move in with him.

"He sold my family home and took that money and put it aside along with any insurance money because he didn't want to spend a dime of his money on me.

"When I got older, I started noticing that these young wise guys from the neighborhood would always be around. I think he was trying to set me up with one of them, but I wasn't interested. This one guy was always around, but no one ever introduced him so I had to ask myself. Apparently his sin was not being Italian."

"Was your grandfather involved in that business?" I had to ask.

"No, but since he had a full-blooded Italian girl to offer up, I think he believed that would make him an honorary member. But when Jimmy and I began dating he was irate. Threw me out, so I just moved in with Jimmy. That was a fucking mistake, and not just for the scandal that it caused with his neighbors."

By this point we'd reached my car so I helped her inside and then jogged around to my side. "I'm not sure I'm going to like this next part."

"Probably not. I saw a lot more of the business side of Jimmy. By this point I knew he was in the business so I saw things. When he found out I was in the family way I was already three months along. He went right to his boss and told him that his woman was Italian and that I was pregnant. He came home that night pissed because knocking up an Italian woman doesn't make you Italian. His dream of being made was blown to pieces."

"So, he was trying to use you as leverage too?"

"Yeah," Isabella said.

"So how did you get away?"

"He went on a job so I packed everything that was important into two suitcases, withdrew all of my money from the bank, and booked my flight."

"Are you still at the motel?"

"Yes, but I need to get out of there."

That, combined with how she said she needed my help worried me. "I have a friend you can stay with. But I need to ask, do you think you're in danger?"

"It all depends on how pissed Jimmy is. He found me."

"You've seen him?"

"I just thought it was him at first, but then the desk clerk made a comment about me having plenty of boyfriends…"

"Okay, change of plans. We're going to the motel and getting your stuff now."

"Shouldn't we talk more first?" Isabella asked.

"No, because I got into your room with a $20 bill and a flash of my gun. I don't want him to have a chance to get in there and surprise you."

"Okay," she whispered.

"What's Jimmy's last name?" I asked, my hands gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Bricker, but his nickname is 'The Bloodhound' because he can sniff out anything. I don't know why I thought I could escape him."

"Hey, I'm going to take care of everything. You just work on taking care of that little one," I said, reaching across the console and taking her hand.

"I don't want you to get hurt because of this-"

"Isabella, don't worry about me. Considering what you've told me about your past, I'm guessing that you've figured out that I work for Aro's family business. But I can promise you two things right now. First, women aren't property or bargaining chips for us, we respect the women in our lives. Second, as long as you are loyal to me, I will protect you in any and every way I can."

"Edward," she said, her eyes pleading, "I don't want you to take a bullet for me."

"It wouldn't be the first time I took a bullet for someone else." At her glassy eyes and questioning expression, I shook my head. "I'll tell you that story another time. Now, let's worry about getting your things. I want you out of that motel and staying with Alice."

"Who is Alice?" Isabella asked.

"Aro's great niece. She moved from Chicago recently and I may have mentioned that I knew someone who would need a place to stay."

"Confident?"

"Hopeful. And now that I know Jimmy is sniffing around it is even more important."

The rest of our drive was relatively quiet, but when we pulled up to the side door of the motel, Isabella grew nervous.

"What if he's in there?"

"Then I will handle it. Give me your key."

She did as I asked and we entered the building, making our way to the fourth floor. When we were outside her door, I took my gun out of my waistband and slid the key into the lock. I pushed open the door and made my way inside. It didn't take long to see the room was empty, so I called for Isabella.

She quickly moved around, packing the last of her things and then we locked up and made our way to the stairs. I put my gun away as Jimmy hadn't been around so far and carried Isabella's bags so she could walk carefully down the stairs.

We were soon back out at my car and I loaded her things into the trunk before we went in the front entrance to check her out. Isabella seemed annoyed when I settled the bill, but she said nothing until we got in the car.

"I told you that I have money, Edward. Speaking of which." Isabella reached into her purse and pulled out the wad of cash I had thrown to her that fateful night.

"Keep it, for the baby," I said.

We drove back to Bensonhurst, and when we got to the neighborhood, I headed straight for Alice's apartment.

"So, are you coming in?" Isabella asked when I put the car in park.

"I'll come up to carry your bags and introduce you to Alice, but after that I need to go meet with Aro and my father about Jimmy. He's part of another Organization, even if he isn't a made man. So he has to decide how we're going to handle that."

"Be careful."

"We will, now, enough stalling. It's time to get you into your new home."

I exited the car and got her belongings out of the trunk. Once we reached the side of the building I fished the keys out of my pocket and handed them to her. I told her which key opened the outside door and then we climbed the stairs to the apartment. Bella knocked, and the door opened not long after, Alice's smiling face coming into view.

"Edward, hi. Is this Isabella?"

"Hi, Alice," Isabella said with a wave.

"Come in, and I'll show you around."

"Alice, I'm going to put these in Isabella's room and then I have to head out. But I will check in with you both tomorrow."

Alice looked at me, nodding at my decision. "See you then."

I placed the bags just inside the bedroom door and as I was turning to leave, Isabella was standing behind me. "Thank you, Edward, for everything. I hope in the end I'm worth the trouble."

I reached out to take her hand, bringing it to my lips so I could kiss it. "You already are."

Puttana - whore

Nonno/Nonna - Grandpa/Grandma