Chapter Two

It had been a few days since dinner with the Cullens, and I haven't been able to get Edward out of my head. Why did my body react to him when our hands touched? Why did it look like the guys were constantly keeping an eye out for something bad to happen?

"Bella." I smiled as Lydia, my publisher, opened up her office door. She gave me a hug. "Sorry about that. The meeting with another author ran longer than what I was expecting."

"You're fine, hon. How are you doing?" I sat down on a chair.

She smiled. "I'm doing great." She handed me a small box. "Here are the copies of The Adventures of Eloise and Winnie." I ripped the tape off the top of the box and opened it up. I wanted to cry at how it turned out. On the cover of the book, Eloise was sitting on a picnic blanket with her pet unicorn.

My publishing company, Breaking Dawn, works with Seattle General when they have a pediatric patient who would like to be an author. Eloise, a patient bound to her bed with leukemia, told Dr. Rollins that she wanted to be an author. Dr. Rollins reached out to Breaking Dawn who reached out to me since I am one of three children's book authors that they have. Out of the three, I am the only one that chooses to do it. "I love it." Lydia and I caught up for a little bit longer. "I should head home to change then go to the hospital."

Lydia smiled. "Let me know how she reacts." She paused. "Let me know how Dr. Rollins is."

When I got home, I quickly made myself a little bit more presentable. I took off my leggings and blouse. I changed into a brown suede skirt and a cream-colored cashmere sweater that hung off one of my shoulders. I put my hair up in a bun, threw on a little bit of makeup, and put on my matching boots. I grabbed what I needed and left.

When I got to the hospital, I went inside. "Hello, Bella. Come on back." The receptionist said.

I went back to Dr. Rollins' office. I knocked on the door. "Come in." I opened the door to be shocked. Edward was sitting there with two people who looked like they could be his parents. "Bella!"

I smiled. "Hey, Doc." Dr. Rollins stood up to give me a hug. Edward's face scowled. "I'm sorry if this is a bad time. I can come back later."

"Were your ears ringing?" I shook my head no. "I was actually just telling them about the book donations." He moved to the side. "Bella, these are the Cullens - the hospital's biggest benefactors. Mr. Cullen and Mrs. Cullen, meet Isabella Swan. Also known as Isa Spano."

Edward stood up. "Sit down, Tesoro. Isa Spano?"

I smiled at him. "Thank you. Yeah, I use a pen name. Isa came from Isabella. Spano was Nonna's maiden name." I looked at Edward's parents. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen."

Mrs. Cullen looked between Edward and me. "Nice to meet you too." I shook hands with both of his parents. "Dr. Rollins was just telling us about the partnership your publishing company has with the hospital."

"Bella is the one that started this whole partnership." I blushed. "Oh, stop it," Dr. Rollins joked.

Edward put a protective hand on the back of my chair. "What made you want to do this?" Mr. Cullen asked.

I shrugged. "My Nonno passed away from pancreatic cancer when I was 18. My Nonna was the inspiration for me to be an author. I just put two and two together for this." I really didn't want to explain myself, but I felt like I had to for the sake of the hospital. I laid my eyes on the box. "I should get out of your hair." I grabbed two copies of the book. "Here are the copies of The Adventures of Eloise and Winnie for you."

Dr. Rollins smiled. "Thank you." He put one in his work bag and another on his shelf. "Are you going to see Eloise?"

"I was hoping too." I stood up. I grabbed six copies of the book. "I have my three. The family's three." I handed him the box. "Here are the rest that you like to put around the hospital." Dr. Rollins stood up. "See you around, doc. Call Lydia."

He blushed. "Go see your patient, Bella."

I laughed. "It was nice to meet you," I told Edward's parents. I looked at Edward. "See you around, Principe Azzurro."

EPOV

I couldn't help myself but stare at Bella's ass as she walked away. Once I knew she was down the hall, I turned my sights on Dr. Rollins. "Are you dating her?"

He shook his head no. "I'm not. I have just known Bella since her grandfather, Carlo, was a patient in the cancer wing. I was interning at that time. We became friends and three years ago, she came to me with this idea." He sighed and looked me dead in the eye. "I'm going to give you some advice, Mr. Cullen. Her mother didn't exist once she turned 3. Her father was murdered on the job when she was 16. Her grandfather died from cancer when was 18. Her grandmother died a year later from a broken heart. Be careful with her."

Did he just...

I shot up off my chair. The next thing I know, I had his shirt wrapped up in my fist. "First off, don't you ever give information out about her ever again. Second off, mind your fucking business." I pushed him back into his chair. "Do we have an understanding?" All the fucker could do was nod his head.

My Ma sighed behind me. I could tell that she wanted to reprimand me, but she didn't. "We need to get going. Dr. Rollins email Maggie when you get more details about the event." My dad just nodded his head. I grabbed two copies of Bella's books and left. "You better hand me one of those," my Ma said when we got into the car.

"Here you go, Ma." I handed one to her. "Is Phillip making lunch?"

She nodded. "Yes." She stared at me. "When did you meet your Tesoro?"

"Emmett invited Alice, Jas, and I out to dinner. I met her then." My ma screeched.

The bodyguards who were in the car and I pulled out our pieces ignoring the loud ringing in our ears. "Is everything okay, il mio cuore?" My dad asked as he grabbed her face to double-check for any injuries.

"Put those away," she demanded. Ma's right eye started to twitch. "Edward Anthony Masen Cullini, look at me in my eyes." I knew where this is going. "Did you or did you not meet Rosalie?"

I sighed. "I did."

"Good thing Alice and Jasper are already at the house looking at something for me. Emmett should be there by now or on his way. I want to know more information about the dinner. I have been asking and asking your brother to bring her around so I could meet her. You would think that his mother would meet her before the boss."

Dad just looked at Ma apprehensively. "My love, our children are also friends. Just think of it as meeting friends. Don't think of it as Emmett taking a step in the forever direction. You know how he is."

Part of me really wants to throw Emmett and my dad under the bus because it takes the heat off of me a little bit more.

Dad saw the look on my face. He immediately glared. I knew at that moment to keep my mouth shut.

We arrived at my parents' house. Emmett's car was not here yet. Ten minutes later, he showed up not realizing that Ma was about to rip him a new asshole.

Ma huffed. "Sit down," she demanded. All four of us immediately sat down at the table. I know that because I'm the boss I don't really have to listen to her, but I do. She is my Ma who is not afraid to beat my ass. "I met Bella today." Emmett gulped loudly. "Emmett Vincenzo Cullini, why have I not met Rosalie yet?"

"Ma, hear me out. Rosalie wanted me to meet Bella, so I thought that she could meet the people that I hang out with." He shook his head. "How did you meet Bella today?"

"She has a partnership with the hospital." She waved her hand to move back to the subject at hand. "I only know that your girl's name is Rosalie Hale and that she is Italian. I'm highly offended that I don't know more information about her than that. Yet, here we are. She met Edward, the boss of the family. Did you get your stamp of approval?" Emmett and I looked at each other. "You did! He told you that it was okay to bring her in. Emmett that means you are thinking about marrying her. You guys have been together for 4 months. And I have yet to meet her?" She looked at her husband. "Did you know about this?"

He sighed. "I knew about the dinner nothing about everything else. My love, you know I had Jenks make a file on her. You said that you wanted to wait for us to look through it."

Emmett's head shot up. "You have a file on her."

"I have a file on everyone you all bring into this family," Dad stated with his no-nonsense tone. "I haven't looked through it because your mother made me promise her that I wouldn't look at it until after you told her about Rosalie. I would start talking, Emmett."

"Ma, I actually have been seeing her for almost a year." Ma popped him on the back of the head. "Ow. Her name is Rosalie Lilliana Hale, and she is 26. Her birthday is next month. She lived in Forks, Washington all her life. Bella is her best friend. They have known each other all of their lives. Rose owns a clothing line called Rossa. Rosalie donates some of her Rossa earnings to the animal shelter. She lives in the apartment complex that Jasper owns. Her dad, Enzo, still lives in Forks with his father, Lorenzo. Her mom left around the same time that Bella's mom left." He shrugged. "Her favorite color is red."

Dad walked out and back in. "Should I open this?"

"If I tried to stop you, would you still open it?" Dad nodded. "Go ahead, I guess."

He opened the file. "As you said, her name is Rosalie Lilliana Hale. She was born on November 23, 1995, in Forks, Washington. Her parents are Lorenzo "Enzo" Hale and Katherine Walsh. She is an only child. She has a big family on her mom's side, but it is stated that she has no relationship with them. Her parents divorced with Rosalie was 3. Public records show that there was infidelity on Ms. Walsh's part. Her mother signed away her rights when Rosalie was 5, but Katherine got back in touch with her mother at the age of 19. She grew up with her father and grandparents, Enzo and Leona Rossa. Her father runs a construction company in their little hometown. Her grandfather owned a shipping yard in Port Angeles. She grew up with the Swans. Rosalie is actually the first female in her family for three generations. Leona passed away from a nasty fall when Rosalie was 19. She left a sizable inheritance for Rosalie which she used to start up Rossa. Each month, Rosalie donates some of the profit from Rossa to the animal shelter on Main Street. From the age of 21 to the age of 24, she frequented the Seattle General Emergency Room due to injuries sustained by clumsiness." Dad looked up at Emmett. "Explain that to me."

Emmett rubbed his face. "She had an abusive boyfriend from that time."

"Name?" I demanded.

There is one thing this family doesn't fuck with and that is the harming of women and children.

"Royce King. I had Jenks look into him when Rosalie told me. He can't find him. It's like he fell off the earth, and he is covering his tracks. He knows what he is doing."

"I'll have my guy look into it," Jasper said. He didn't necessarily grow up in an organization, but Jasper grew up with some shit. His guy can find a needle in a haystack.

Ma sighed. "Enough with the heavy." She looked at me. "What about you?"

Huh?