DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the intellectual property of the respective author. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

-Chapter Thirty-Two-

It was a ritual, but never the same. Each day we would pack our bags, check out of whatever hotel we were staying at, and drive off into the unknown in Edward's cherry-red Chevelle. That was the life of perpetual lawbreakers, always and forever on the run.

Three weeks into our road trip, we were somewhere in Iowa at this fleabag hotel. Criminals and sleazy people squatted there. The managers didn't care who we were or what law we broke, cash spoke their language, and that was all they wanted. It was the safest place to be for the time being.

The scandal in Illinois had spread nationwide, looming over our heads, and it was hard to avoid.

Everyone was talking about it:

All the news stations.

The radio.

Random people were chit-chatting in the booth next to us at a diner.

They had put our faces out there for the world to etch into their brain.

They didn't want them to forget. They didn't want us to forget. How could we fucking forget? It was impossible to hide from it—if that's what we were doing, but we weren't, not even in a little bit.

Edward had a different set of plans, and it involved fucking shit up.

"Yeah, you son of bitch, get that last fucking vote. You lying sack of shit!" He cussed at the TV, flipping it off.

I'd been watching him rant and pace, clenching and unclenching his fists for an hour now. A murderous glare in those dark green eyes frightened and aroused me. I'd never seen him so angry, and this violent behavior shouldn't have turned me on, but it did.

"Fuck you," Edward growled, hauling off and putting a hole in the wall. He aimed for the Senator's face but redirected it at the last minute. "FUCK!"

That was likely coming out of the security deposit, and I needed to defuse him before he destroyed the room.

"Babe, let's take it down a notch," I said, jumping to my feet and rushing over to him. He bent over, panting with his hands resting on his knees. My eyes caught a glimpse of red, and I panicked. "Shit, baby, are you okay? Did you hurt yourself? Let me see it."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, holding his hand out and halting my approach. "Just give me a sec to cool down, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," I said, slowly retreating and sitting down on the bed.

He stared down at his bleeding knuckles, splaying and wiggling his fingers, ensuring he didn't break them. "I promise you, baby, we're going to make that fucker regret this."

"Come here," I said, grabbing his hand and taking him over to the bathroom sink. I dampened a washcloth and dabbed it on his open wound. "I don't think a man who can turn on his own son—no matter how bad that son is—has a conscience, baby, and you need a conscience to regret things."

He chuckled dryly, staring at me through the mirror. "He'll regret it when we destroy his fucking empire."

"So, you're going to release those photos?" I asked, somewhat relieved.

The Senator had been downplaying his indiscretions, lying to his wife, making Edward and me look like money-seeking thieves, and sitting up in his ivory tower thinking that Edward would cower in the corner and not make good on his word.

Well, he underestimated his son.

"I think that's the best thing to do, honestly. If nothing, your mom will know the truth and maybe she'll convince him to drop the charges, you know?"

"Bella, my mom is so high on drugs all the time I doubt she knows what day of the week it is. I'm not counting on her to do anything for us. It's me and you. That's it."

"Then what's the plan? You send those pictures to CNN or whoever and you tarnish his reputation, maybe get him out of the running, but how does that help us?"

Edward kept his eyes locked on mine. "I want to show them how big of a criminal I am and who I fucking got it from."

I glanced away from the intensity of his gaze and turned my attention to his injured hand, wiping away the blood. I tried to sound indifferent. "Now, when you say 'Show them', what do you mean by that?"

"We're going to do whatever the fuck we want."

I snapped my head up and tilted it to the side, confused. "Which means what? That we stop running? Stop hiding?"

"No, we go on a crime spree and make ourselves a household name."

I rolled my eyes, shoving the washcloth into his chest. "You're fucking crazy. We'll be caught after the first robbery."

He shrugged. "Maybe not."

"Yeah, maybe you oughta sleep on it," I said, leaving him at the sink gaping at me.

Now, I wasn't opposed to his plan, robbing for fun, but he was making it a suicide mission. We needed to lay low for a while or leave the country. We do not need to go out there with the world watching us, flashing huge ass smiles, and racking up criminal charges.

The guy must be delirious or high.

He followed after me, grabbing my arm and spinning me around to face him. "Tell me why you think this is such a bad idea?"

"It's the worst idea, Edward, and it'll never work."

"Why?"

"Because…" I paused, placing my hands on his cheeks and forcing him to look at me and pay attention, "Listen, as much as I want to go out there and raise hell with you, I don't think it's the smartest thing we need to be doing right now. We've already caused enough trouble. Why continue to push our luck? Just stop and think about what you're suggesting."

"I've thought about it, and what I've realized is that, we is fucked."

"Yeah, I know we are. That's what I am trying to tell you, but you're not—"

"No, baby, you don't get the severity of it. Do you know what the prison sentence for extortion is, especially when it involves a US senator?" he asked, and I shook my head. "Twenty-five years to life, alright? Life! You understand?"

"Then why even bother running? If it's a done deal, why waste their time and ours?"

"Because if they want us, they're going to have to fucking catch us first ..." he lifted my chin, kissed me softly on my nose, and smirked. A devilish flicker behind those eyes, "which they will, but I figured, fuck it! We might as well have some fun and go out in a blaze of fucking glory, you know?"

What he was proposing was ludicrous, suicidal, but deep down in the pits of sin, so fucking tempting.

I shook my head and laughed. "Again, and I mean this in the most loving way possible, but you're out of your fucking mind. Jesus! Do you have any idea?"

"Tell me what you're really worried about? Is it the possibility of going to prison?"

"Yes," I said, but quickly rethought my answer.

The idea of spending the remainder of my life behind bars wasn't appealing, but I'd survive. I'd been in worse places. What I wouldn't survive was separation from Edward. That was what prison promised if the law were to catch us.

"I mean, no, that's not the only reason," I said, covering his hand with mine. "I'm afraid of losing you not my freedom."

"I promise you that I won't let that happen," he said.

"But you just told me that…."

"Forget what I said, alright? I'm promising you now that I won't that happen, okay?"

"Okay." I wanted to believe him, but the odds were too stacked against us.

If we'd never stolen that damn Lamborghini, we wouldn't be headed down this road of self-destruction.

That was when it hit me, like a fucking ton of bricks, and I realized that I did this to us. It was me! I brought this on by my immaturity and this insatiable need to be badass.

I was fucking selfish, plain and simple.

"Holy shit," I said, stumbling backward, "this is all my fault."

"What?" Edward asked, slowly watching me sink into a black abyss of guilt. I was falling fast, but my old man was quick. Taking one giant stride across the room, he swooped in and gripped me by the back of my neck. "Listen to me, Bella; this shit is not your fault. I'm the one who caused all of this, alright? Me. Not you."

His hold on me was strong, and the more I tried to pull away and perish further into a self-loathing depression, the tighter he held me.

I shook my head, refusing him to sway me. "But if you never met me, Edward, you would be at home with your family. You wouldn't be on the run or have your face on constant rotation in the news."

"I don't fucking care about that."

"I know you don't, but I do. I'm the problem," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "That's the truth."

"No," he growled, pressing his forehead to mine. "If you're the problem, then I'm the problem." Deep and endless green burned into me as his fingers slowly crawled into my hair, sending shivers down my spine. "And what I had before you, I could hardly call a fucking life, alright? At best, that shit was just filler. You, my beautiful and crazy girl, you're the one who makes this piece of shit life worth living. Don't you ever fucking doubt that! Do you hear me?"

I nodded and clutched the back of his shirt, needing to feel him. "I love you."

He smiled, caressing my face with the back of his hand. "You see, I can't be that big of a piece of shit if someone like you loves me, right?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and spoke sternly. "You're not a piece of shit."

He stared at me and chewed relentlessly on his ring. My eyes followed his tongue as it peeked out and licked his bottom lip. It was an invitation, one I was happy to accept.

I rose on my tippy toes and threw my arms around his neck, kissing him with passion and intensity. He responded in kind, opening his mouth to me, and stroking his tongue with mine. It never ceases to amaze me how a simple kiss could set my blood on fire, hot lava flowing through my veins. Every nerve ending was set ablaze, and I couldn't get enough.

It would shatter my body, mind, and soul if I lost him through incarceration or death.

Edward pulled away, leaving me gasping and chasing after his lips. He smiled with a smug and lustful look in his eyes. "You were on board the moment I suggested it, weren't you?"

"I'm sorry?" I raised an eyebrow, playing coy.

He laughed. "You make me jump through hoops for the fucking fun of it, don't you? I'm not crazy."

I sighed, nodding. "I will follow you anywhere, Edward. You know that."

His beautiful face turned somber. "Even if it lands us in jail or dead."

"Is that the only options you're giving me, or are we going to fuck this town up and do the impossible?"

"Which is?" he hedged.

"We get away scot free and live happily ever after."