AN: Who owns this? Steph Meyer, that's who.

Chapter Three

Rose's voice was like nails on the chalkboard. The last thing I wanted was for her to be interrogating Bella. I told Emmett to give her a heads up about our guest, but also inform his woman that I won't tolerate her catty behavior. The message was not received, and I'm waking up to her accusing the kid of sleeping with me for drugs.

"This isn't an after-school special, honey, and he isn't a role model. He's a hardened criminal."

"You should fucking talk, Rose."

I was up, but barely. My head was throbbing, and I needed a cigarette. The reality of my decisions was standing awkwardly in the hallway, wide-eyed and cute. It was necessary to fog my bloodstream with nicotine and pretend I didn't give a shit about anything.

Thankfully, Rosalie made it easier to be an asshole.

"How many fucking arrests do you have under your corset?" I looked up at her as the smugness faded. We knew each other's deep, dark secrets. "Armed robbery, trespassing, assault and battery, drug possession."

The list goes on, but Rosalie, who sees herself above us criminals, bit back.

"Yeah. Yeah. We got it, asshole. But you see, they never convicted me of those things, sooo…"

Cops in the majority were men, and all men were idiots. They let her go because of her pretty face and kicking body.

"Fucking hypocrisy."

"Call it what you will, Edwina." My head snapped up, and I glared at her. She did that shit to undermine me. I saw the callous bitch behind the smirk. "But you'll still be the documented criminal around here."

Like there was a difference.

I rolled my eyes. "What-the-fuck-ever, Saint Rosalie." She was going to hell along with me. If there was a god, he didn't care if Rose had a record or not, she still sliced-up the girl who was dating her ex-husband. "Why don't you do us both a favor and go unload some of these dime bags? Be fucking useful for once."

If she weren't my best friend's girl, I'd kick her out of this apartment, but I'm forced to be nice.

"Later. I'm busy," she said, and I scoffed. That's the answer I always get from her. "It was nice to meet you, little Bella."

The kid mumbled something in return, but I wasn't paying attention.

It pissed me off how Rosalie made everyone uncomfortable. She was no help to me, and on most occasions, distracted Emmett. I used to get shit from him because he didn't want to cut the drugs or sell them, as I wanted. No, he preferred to get high and fuck his girl all day and night.

All of them, aside from Jasper, were worthless.

"Goddamn hassle." I popped a cigarette in my mouth and lit the tip. The smoke hit my lungs when I allowed myself to glance over at Bella. She looked good. A vast difference from the overwrought girl I found the night before. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah!" she yelped, and as if someone pushed her, she came stumbling at me a few steps. It was the oddest thing, and for a second, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Bella recovered and got her body and voice under control. "Um, sure. I guess. I must have, you know? I don't remember much from last night or how I got in that bed."

As suspected, the kid had a black-out, and would never know about the line I crossed. It was a relief, but even though she had no memory of it, I felt a strange, unprecedented strangling on my chest.

Jasper would later tell me it was guilt.

Inhaling deep on the cigarette, I calmed my nerves and filled in all the missing holes. "You passed out on the chair, and I carried you to my room."

I guess it was her room now.

Bella fidgeted for a good minute. "So…"

"So…" I parroted back, but she stared, waiting for me to say something profound. "What?"

"So, what happens now?"

"Beats the fuck out of me, kid."

The first time in my life, I decided on a course of action without a concrete plan attached to it. Everything from the moment I've met the girl has been me on autopilot.

"Shit!" Bella cursed, and caught my attention. "I'm so stupid."

"What is it?"

She poked at her eyes and gritted her teeth. "I left my backpack at Jake's."

"You did what now?"

"It was stupid, I know…"

"That's a fucking understatement." I laughed; highly amused by her mini-panic, but it wasn't the end of the world. Only a minor inconvenience and an hour out of my day. I'm up from the couch and throwing on a shirt. "So, what was in it, anything worth saving?"

"I had some clothes in there and personal belongings from home," she said, and rambled off some other stuff, but I heard enough.

"Yes, then?"

Even if she told me no, I had my mindset ongoing. Jake crossed the wrong fucker, and his actions had consequences. I'm collecting my gun, checking the mag to make sure every bullet accounted for, and all seventeen were there. Bella's lucky a few didn't shred through her body last night.

It was a close call.

"Wait. You're not thinking of going over there, are you?" Bella's voice high-pitched and filled with disbelief.

"Doesn't look like I got a choice. You need your shit. It shouldn't be a big deal." Both of my shoes were on, and I had my wallet, keys, and gun. I'm solid to ride, but was she? "Are you ready to go?"

She glared at me. "Are you serious?"

"What's the problem?" I assessed the situation and realized we both just woke up, and neither of us had breakfast yet. "Do you need to eat something first? We can stop and get something on the way."

"I am hungry, but no. That's not what I mean. I can't go back there. Jake will kill me. Remember? That's what you said. I go back empty-handed, and I'm dead."

I might have oversimplified things a bit last night to scare her into staying. Not that it wasn't true, but Jake wasn't a killer by traditional means. He was a shitty drug dealer and sold trash that killed his clients.

But I stayed the course.

"Not with me there to protect you." Just in case, I grabbed Emmett's Glock in the side drawer by the couch. These should be enough to shake up some assholes. "Trust me."

"Trust you?" Bella stepped back and further away from me. "I don't even know you."

That fucking stung.

"What do you mean you don't know me? I'm the asshole who could've killed you but took you into his home instead." Not only that, she took my fucking bed. The couch made my goddamn back ache, but I dealt with it because she deserved to have a room to herself. I'm a fucking saint at this point. "What else is there to know?"

"You wouldn't have killed me," she said in a soft, timid voice. The confident, stubborn eyes flitted away from me and looked down.

I made her nervous.

She was vulnerable.

I decided to play with her.

Just a little.

"No. Maybe not." I closed the distance she created with two strides. Putting the gun flush against Bella's chest, right between her breasts and directly on the sternum, I made it very clear to her. "The point is, I could have."

I expected her to flinch, or pull away, or anything to show me that she feared me. Guns scared Emmett, and he hated when I pointed an empty one at him.

Not kid, though.

She leaned into the barrel and looked me dead in the eyes. "Just like I could have stolen your car?"

Not too many people surprised me. I could pinpoint what they'll do and say next, but this girl was an enigma. Nothing she did was making fucking sense to me. One minute, Bella was a submissive, insecure little mouse in the corner of my apartment, and then in a second later, she's confident, fucking fearless, and urging me to do things that would end us both.

But I smile because she was a liar.

Kid tempted the devil and knew I wouldn't shoot her because she trusted me.

"Nah, not even close," I said about her lack of skills in the boosting department. My piece gets tucked, and I break the rules by throwing my arm around her shoulders. As we walk out the door, I make her a promise. "But I'll teach you."


My history with Jake wasn't complicated. I met him a year ago at one of Jasper's parties. A few of our clients knew him because the product he sold was cheap. It was shitty quality, but when you're strung out and strapped for cash, any hit will do.

I didn't think much about him. He came in with his crew and made the rounds, but as the liquor flowed more and more, Jake got loose at the mouth and his dealings. It was a business for me. I wasn't there to socialize, and it made a rule not to drink. So, when he crossed the line by selling his cough syrup meth to my regulars, I kept calm and asked him to leave.

Jake threw the first punch. I got a sloppy hit to the jaw, but he ended up in the hospital. It was over from that point on, and since that night, the guy has been undercutting me and killing customers. He even tried to steal my cartel connection, but he had a mouth and showed no respect.

He was lucky to escape Mexico with his life.

Bella worried needlessly. I tried to convince her this trip wasn't a big deal. I'd only brought my guns to liven up the potential monotony.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

The kid was back to her screwdriver. She picked it from my floorboard and shoved it down the front of her pants—the sharp edge first and dangerously close to her...my point was, the girl was a menace.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I need something to, you know?" She pretended to knife my dashboard. It was cute and comical. "Just in case."

"And you're going to use that thing?"

"I don't know. I might."

I tried to imagine the itty, bitty kid jumping up to jab Jake or anyone taller than five feet with that screwdriver, and it was ridiculous.

As a public service, it was best to disarm her.

"No, you're not."

I didn't think about where my hand was going until it was there. My knuckles grazed Bella's skin. The heat of it distracted me for a moment, but I pushed past it and removed the screwdriver. Throwing it in the back seat, away from Bella's reach, I soon realized that leaving her without a false sense of protection made things worse.

Or maybe I just wanted to see her hold my gun.

I placed the Glock in her hand and asked a stupid question.

"You know how to use one, right?"

Bella was bugged-eyed and speechless. The slight shake of her head told me she was listening.

"Just aim it at some fucker's head and pull the trigger."

Easy directions, but not so easy to follow.

I watched her reaction to the gun and my words. It aroused me by how responsive her body was. The kid was too wrapped up and fascinated by having the steel in her grasp that she didn't see me staring at her chest. A blush of blood rose to her skin above the curve of her breasts, slowly worked its way up her neck, eventually flushing her cheeks.

Bella was a gorgeous girl, and my attraction for her was getting more and more difficult to ignore, but my usual 'hit it and quit it' didn't apply in this situation.

"Hide it in your pants," I told her as Paul and Jared came out to the porch. What a joke. "Look at those fuckers. A bunch of first-class pussies."

They pointed and alerted Jake. He was inside shitting himself and assuming I brought Emmett with me. The last time he fucked with my Hulk, it didn't end well.

This trip was going to be more fun than I thought.

I grinned. "Let's go."

As we got out of the car and walked towards the shitty cardboard house, I kept Bella close to me. My protection thinly laced with this selfish need to put my hands on her. She didn't shy away and stayed in step with me. We were a pair of soldiers going into battle.

Paul looked relaxed when he saw it was just the kid and me, but when he saw my face, and how unfriendly I was going to be, he went on the defense.

"Hey, fellas," I said with a cheery, yet I'll fucking murder you, greeting. "I'm here to see Jake."

"He's busy," Paul said.

Busy being a coward, but that shouldn't keep him from having a little chat with me.

"This will only take a second," I said and took a step toward him.

My approach was a purposeful catalyst. The intent was to give me a reason to pull out my gun. All I had to do to ignite it was put my hand on Paul's shoulder. The dumb fuck fell for it.

He pushed me back into Bella. If I weren't aware of her, I would've toppled her to the ground and hurt the girl. That threw me into a fury; more than I expected. I took out Emmett's Glock, pulled back the hammer, and jammed the muzzle to his neck.

"Don't fuck with me, man." I seethed. "I'm not in the mood."

Paul gulped. He had a piece, but the idiot didn't know how to use it and underestimated me. I saw his mind working and trying to figure out a way to get the upper hand. He turned to his colleague.

Another amateur move.

"Jared," he whimpered.

I had Bella still tucked to my back, and she had my gun tucked in her jeans. Pulling it out, I was unable to cock it, but when you got a piece pointing at your fucking skull, you stop using your critical problem-solving skills.

"Don't even fucking think about it, asshole."

Jared glared and mumbled under his breath but kept his hands where I could see them. Both these fuckers made shit way too easy.

"What do you want, Edward?" Paul asked.

"I want to talk to Jake."

Nothing happened. Paul got brave and tested me. I had to remind him with a little nudge of the pistol.

"Call him," I said.

"Fuck you!" Paul, the fucking balls on this prick, spit on me.

"Call him," my finger slowly eased down on the trigger, "or I'll unload a bullet in your goddamn throat."

My words weren't a threat, but a promise and I mouthed out the seconds left in his life: five, four, three, two, one.

"Jared!" Paul finally got smart. "Go get him."

"I'm here," Jake said and stepped out from the house.

He nodded for Jared to go inside. That was a mistake, but these guys were hacks. They might run their Rez with an iron fist, but outside of that, they were a bunch of kids, no older than twenty, playing with the professionals.

But I wasn't a moron and shifted my aim from Jared to the middle of Jake's beady little eyes.

Jake smiled, but he forced it, and probably alcohol-induced. "Relax, Edward. We're all friends here."

"Friends?" I laughed. Who the fuck was he trying to convince? "Is that why you tried to steal my fucking car?"

Then he acted dumb. "Someone tried to steal the Chevelle? No kidding?"

Jake's innocent act was strange, but I lost my patience when Paul spit in my face, and I was on the verge of emptying both mags into their chests.

"Cut the bullshit. We're here for Bella's stuff."

"Bella?" Jake looked confused.

Did she mean that little to him?

"The girl you sent to steal my car."

"Oh, yes." Jake nodded. "The cute little taco?" The fucker put his filthy eyeballs on her. I tried to keep my composure. "Well, by all means."

"Bella," I called to her.

She stepped out from behind me but kept her warmth close. It was hard telling her to leave my side, but I needed a word with these assholes.

As I waved her forward, Jake blocked her path.

"Not so fast," he said. "Will you please remove your gun from my brother first?"

It was a gesture of good faith.

"Oh, sure," I agreed with a smile. Lowering the Glock, I bent down and put my mouth to her ear. "Go get your stuff."

"Okay," she whispered and rushed inside.

The smell of her skin and hair lingered in my nose. It gave me a purpose and a sense of calm.

"What is she to you?" I asked.

Jake shrugged. "Nobody."

"Then why did you want her dead?"

Paul snorted.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You got something to say?"

"It was a botched boost. Jake doesn't care about the girl," he said. "He just wanted the money her friend owed."

"How was sending a kid to steal my car supposed to settle a debt?"

Jake chuckled. "Well, she didn't want to prostitute the money for me."

How I managed not to shoot him, right then and there, was divine intervention. I've fucking killed men for less.

"So," Jake continued, "I asked her what she was good at, and she told me she could steal a car. Yours just came to mind."

"And her being caught by me? What were you going to do if I killed her?"

"Shed a tear?" Jake said like my question was stupid.

Paul laughed.

"No, I go home. What do you fucking think?" He eyed me with sudden curiosity. "But you didn't kill her, did you?"

Paul said some shit in Hopi.

Jake continued the conversation in the native language.

I didn't have to be a linguist to know what they were saying. The girl was important to me. I was the idiot for being obvious about it. My aim got precise, and my anger more pronounced.

Bella exited the house and brought me back to my senses.

"I got it!" she said, running up and bringing her body close to mine. "We're good."

I nodded, but never dropped my guard and kept the guns pointed as we walked back towards the car. "Well, fellas, I would like to thank you for your hospitality."

"Try not to split the taco in two your first time out with her," Jake said and officially signed his death warrant.

It was that quick for me. I wasn't planning on impulsive manslaughter, but first-degree premeditated murder.

Moving in front of Bella to protect her from his gaze, I made my intentions clear to him. "I'll be seeing you soon."

He laughed and blew it off.

I liked that he underestimated me.

It'll be his last mistake.

Once we were in the car and driving away, I watched all the tension in kid's body disappear. She was fucking strong in ways but worried too much.

"Well, that was fun," I said, only poking her to elicit a reaction, and it paid off big time.

"What?" She threw herself back in the seat. I'd never seen somebody's eyes get as wide. "You call that fun? They could have killed us back there!"

Now my girl was underestimating me.

Was she not paying attention? At what point did Jake and his crew of idiots have the upper hand?

I scoffed at the absurdity of her statement. "Those assholes are a bunch of pussies."

"Then why pull your gun out?"

"Just to watch Paul shit his pants. Why else?"

She just shook her head. "You're completely unhinged, do you know that?"

"I know."

I liked that word. Unhinged. It made me sound unpredictable and irrational. I wasn't any of those things. When I left the apartment, I knew how that shit with Jake was going to go down. The only person in this car that fit that description was the deranged beauty next to me.

And that's what I told her.

The kid acted offended. "What? No, I'm not!"

"Bullshit! When I put my gun in your hand…" My words affected her breathing, and I couldn't look away from her breasts. Without that fucking hoodie, they were fantastic. I was starting to see the point she tried to make to me only twelve hours prior. When I looked back up at her face, she was a deep red. "I saw the way your body reacted." And still reacted. "It excited you."

"It…it did not," she said with a slight quiver of her lip.

"Deny it all you want, but you can't hide the truth from me. Face the facts, kid. We're all criminals in one way or another."

She pouted by crossing her arms over her chest and slumping down in the seat. "You're wrong."

"Okay, fine. I'm wrong." I wasn't, but there was only one way to prove it to her. The thought came to me as we passed a gun store on the freeway. "I guess there's no point in taking you out shooting."

She shot up from her seat and smiled at me. "You would do that?"

Fuck, man.

That smile could ruin any man.

"Of course. But only if you want me to."

"I do," she said with shame.

I burst out of my skin and pound my fist into the car's ceiling. "I fucking knew it."

She bit her lip and gave me a bullshit lie. "I hate you."

"No, you don't," I said as my exit came into view. My excitement to see Bella's smile again and to teach her how to be healthy, independent, and fearless with a gun made me reckless. I turn the wheel too hard and cut across several lanes of hectic traffic.

Kid flipped out and screamed. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm taking you out shooting."

"What, now?" She was terrified.

I don't know if it was because of me or the near-death experience I'd given her with my driving, but I wanted to assure her that she would be safe with me.

"Why not?" I touched her again. It wasn't big. Only a gentle squeeze of her leg, just right above the knee. It wasn't inappropriate but friendly. I wanted to be her friend. "There's nothing like the present, right?"

Bella relaxed into me. "Right."