You all ROCK!

We made it to 1k! Thanks to all of you for your kind words. They keep me going, especially during times like these when I find myself tossing and turning. A great friend of mine lost her battle with cancer and your reviews have brought some much needed smiles!

I think all of us are ready for Victoria to come clean with all her secrets. We found out in chapter 19 about the baby belonging to James, so we're one step closer to letting everyone know what we know! It's coming soon-ish. But there are some other more pressing things to address first. *wink wink*

Thanks to everyone!

"What did you just say?" Edward says in astonishment, stepping towards the bed where Victoria lies facing the wall.

Rosalie holds a hand up, stopping Edward from coming any closer. "She's asleep," she says, her voice lowered. She eyes Edward one last time. She knows what kind of night Victoria has had. "Let her be."

She motions for them all to leave the room and closes the door softly behind her. Isabella offers her room to finish their conversation, thinking of the serious nature of their discovery. It's all new to her. She never knew Victoria had been pregnant and had a baby in the first place.

"Did you know the baby wasn't Marcus'?" Edward asks once the four of them are standing in Isabella's room. He leans an arm on the wall and rests his head against it, the late hour after a long day not helping him digest this bombshell of a revelation from his sister.

"No," Rosalie answers, and Isabella can hear the surprise in her voice. "This whole time, I thought it was."

"Assumed," Emmett adds, thinking out loud. He crosses his arms across his chest before looking at Edward. "We knew Marcus was angry with her about something, and we all just assumed it was because she was pregnant."

"And because he was constantly hovering around her at that time," Rosalie says.

"Whose could it be?" Edward asks.

"She has a lot of regulars," Emmett answers with a sigh, glancing at Rosalie. He knows she has regulars, too, and it burns him not to be able to call her his own.

"I remember things slowing down for her a bit," Edward ponders aloud. Rosalie shrugs in response. "Maybe that was why Marcus was here all the time back then. Badgering her about getting back to work, not necessarily about the baby."

"She's careful," Rosalie adds with a hint of sadness in her voice, reminding her how dangerous their line of work can be. "If she knows it's not Marcus, then she absolutely knows who the father is."

"I think we can worry about this later. Right now, the important thing is knowing Marcus wants Isabella to work for him." Emmett redirects. He looks over at Edward. "What exactly did you hear?"

With a sigh, Edward tells them everything he heard and saw from the time he left The Lost Key to when he returned. By the time he's finished, Isabella takes a shaky seat at the small table in front of her mirror.

"She is not to be left unsupervised," Edward says firmly. He points in the room first and then toward the direction of The Lost Key. "Not here, not when she's at work. I will put Felix here during the day and Alec at night."

"We can be with her at work," Emmett adds before Edward says it himself. He nods at his suggestion, feeling better knowing Isabella will be under their watch.

He looks specifically at her now. "Someone will escort you around the city at all times," he says.

"Another protection detail?" Rosalie questions, her eyebrows raised in doubt at how it would be possible.

"I appreciate the sentiment," Isabella says softly to Edward before nodding toward Rosalie. "But Rosalie is right. It's unfair to everyone else to go through all this trouble for me."

Edward shakes his head and crosses his arms across his chest. "It's non-negotiable."

"It's unrealistic," Isabella argues. "There has to be another way for Marcus to know I won't be entertaining any of his ideas."

"There is," Emmett chimes in, meeting Edward's eye.

Edward nods his voice final. "There is."

They let the reality of their situation settle for a moment until Edward speaks again. "Until then, the plan remains. Rosie, keep a record of how many times you see him here. He's not supposed to come around, and he knows it."

"Sure," she replies, nodding her farewell at each of them before heading to the door. Emmett follows but stops at Edward's voice.

"Emmett," Edward says. "My office tomorrow morning at nine."

"You mean today," Emmett kids, reaching for his pocket watch to be sure. "Six hours from now."

"Get some rest. " Edward snaps his fingers when he remembers one final thing. "And tell Felix I need him here by eight."

Emmett nods and closes the door behind him, leaving Edward and Isabella in her room. She remains sitting in the chair at the small table, facing the mirror. Even if Edward weren't staring at her reflection, he would be able to see the exhaustion coming from her.

But he is staring at her right now in the mirror, watching her closed eyes and the lines of worry etched on her forehead. Exhaling softly, he walks over to where she sits and kneels next to her, her eyes fluttering open when she hears him approaching.

"You'll be fine," Edward reassures her, his eyes bouncing back and forth as they meet her steady gaze. "We won't let him anywhere near you."

"But what if he does?" Isabella asks quietly, aware that she sounds like some naive child who cannot protect herself.

With slight hesitation, he reaches for her hands, and they slide right into place just as easily as they did earlier in the night. She closes her eyes again at his touch.

"He won't," Edward says again, an assuredness in his words that makes her open her eyes and look at him suspiciously.

"How are you so sure?"

Edward clears his throat, dropping her hands gently back on her lap. He rises and slowly walks around her room, taking in the little things here and there she has placed to make this room her own. "I know Marcus a lot differently than the girls do."

She nods in understanding. "And you're going to use that to your advantage?"

He pauses his perusal and thinks for a moment before he answers. Maybe it's the late hour or the events of tonight, but he lets his guard slip just enough for Isabella to recognize those same feelings of her own as they slide onto his face. "I'll do what it takes to protect you."

Watching him in the mirror, she watches him loosen the tightness of his tie and feels the desire in her fingertips to do it herself. His sleeves are rolled to his elbows, loose now as evidence of the day, and night's, arduous work. He leans against the door, head resting on the wooden frame, staring at her from across the room in the mirror.

Her back to him, her eyes meet him in the reflection.

"Why?"

"Why do I want to protect you?" Edward repeats her question; she isn't sure whether it's to give him more time to think of a response or to avoid an answer altogether. She nods back at him in a way that makes him think of her that night in her robe in the hallway, and he has to remind himself of the boundaries he made for himself all those years ago.

But when it comes to Isabella, he is learning that any boundary he declares between them is moot.

Pointless.

Because all he wants is her, boundaries be damned.

And he hates himself for feeling this way, but he is passed the point where he can deny how he feels. He clears his throat and answers her as truthfully as he can. "Because, Isabella, you are worth saving."

See you soon!