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-Eight-

"Are you kidding me right now? This is the place we're going to rob?"

"Yeah, what did you think it was going to be?"

"I don't know. I didn't really think about it. I was just going along for the ride, but this…I did not see this one coming." I chewed on my cuticle, looking back and forth between Edward and Goodman's Jewelry Store.

He pulled my hand away from my mouth and frowned. "What are you so worried about?"

"I'm not worried."

"Then what? We can do this shit with our hands tied behind our back and fucking blindfolded."

"Yeah, sure, maybe, but this isn't a liquor store."

"So?"

"So, what? You just expect us to walk in there and 'stick up' the joint?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do. Look, baby, I've done my homework, okay? It's owned by a fifty year old widow, whose children live out of State. There are no employees to speak of. It's just her. This shit isn't any different than holding up a convenience store."

I shook my head in disbelief. "How do you know all this? We've only been here for two days?"

"I'm always on the lookout for potential employment."

I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Right."

Glancing back up at the front of the store, I noticed a thick, black metal cage on the door. It was different from what I was used to, and although Edward had done all the prep work, I still had reservations.

"And what about the alarm system?"

"Oh, that?"

"Yeah, that!"

"Top notch. It's a really good fucking system." He scooted closer to me and lowered his voice, eyes filled with excitement. "Check it out, baby, the store owner presses one button behind the counter and bam! The doors lock, a cage drops down, and we sit there, trapped, with our thumbs up our asses just waiting for the cops."

He was giddy and thrilled by the challenge it presented.

Only Edward would find something that could land us both in jail as impressive.

"Oh, well, okay, when you say it like that, what the hell was I worried about?"

"Fucking beats me."

"Here's a stupid question: how do you suppose we stop her from pressing that button?"

"Oh, that shit is not even a problem," he scoffed, leaning away from me and back into his seat and putting his hands behind his head. He kept his eyes glued out the dirty windshield, seemingly indifferent. "All we gotta do is ambush her at the door just as she's returning back from lunch."

The front of the building faced a busy highway, only obscured and hidden from view by a couple of trees. It was wide open, and anyone with eyes and a phone nearby could alert the cops in a second flat—long before our time clock ran out.

"The front door?"

"No, the fucking trap door," he mocked, shaking his head. "Jesus Christ, kid, of course, the front door."

"And what if people see us from across the road or wherever and decide to call—"

"You know," he interrupted, rubbing his forehead roughly, "for someone who randomly decided to rob a fucking store without bothering to check to see if the guy had a gun first, you sure are being overly cautious."

I bit my lip, forcing myself not to smile. The truth was simple: I was being difficult for the sake of being difficult.

It didn't matter where he took me or what chaos we caused. I was going to grip the belt loop of his jeans, keep in step with him, and stay firmly molded to his back, even if he was leading me off a cliff.

It was just fun to get him all riled up.

I folded my arms over my chest like a petulant child and shrugged. "Look, I'm just making sure that you have all your ducks in a row. I can't work if you're unprepared."

He looked at me like I'd grown an extra head. It was a foreign concept to him.

"Me? Unprepared?"

"Yeah, I'm talking about you! I mean, someone's gotta keep you in line—and for the record, Edward," I sat up in my seat, angling my body towards him, "there is nothing wrong with being cautious."

His jaw dropped, and he sputtered, completely thrown off by my comment. "Yeah, no fucking shit, Sherlock! I believe it was me who has been stressing that point since day fucking one. But, of course, you never fucking listen to me. You're a pain in my fucking ass."

I scowled at him. "Is that so?"

"Oh, yeah, you are the most exhausting girl I've ever met. Hands, fucking, down."

He thought he was so clever, and it was sexy when he demonstrated his dominant streak, but I refused to encourage that sort of behavior.

Okay, sure, that smirk he was giving me, a mixture of arrogance and playfulness, was hard to ignore, and it sent my attraction for him over the edge—almost to the point where robbing and thieving was the last thing on my mind—but I stayed strong.

Except when his teeth grazed that fucking lip ring, and he cocked his eyebrow ever so slightly, testing my limits and pushing me over the edge.

"Ugh! You're…" I growled, slowly becoming a laugh as I buried my face in my hands. "Shut up!"

Chuckling, he nudged me on the arm. "Here, crazy girl, put this on."

I spread my fingers open and peeked through them. "What is it?"

"What does it fucking look like?"

Dropping my hands and snatching the hard plastic from him, I stared at it in confusion. "What happened to our ski masks?"

He rubbed and scratched the scruff on his chin. "Eh, those things make my face itch, and well since Halloween is just two weeks away, I decided that we could be a little festive this time around."

"Festive?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "With these?"

He glared. "Don't fucking make fun."

The masks were a pair of cutesy Disney characters, hardly anything scary or intimidating about them—and nothing that Edward would choose over a ski mask.

I laughed, knowing who was behind this. "Alice did this to you, didn't she? You asked her to get a couple of masks—something tough and frightening—and she brought these back, huh?"

"Yes," he said, dropping his head in shamefully defeated by a girl half his size.

"Boy, oh, boy does she have your number."

"It's fucking ridiculous, I know, but I didn't have time to correct it, so we'll have to make do with what we have, alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine with it. I like the masks. It's not me who has to worry about losing their 'tough guy' card over it," I said, pulling the stretchy strings back and placing the mask over my face. It dimmed my sight considerably and smelled funny. It was unpleasant, and I frowned, sliding it up and resting it on my head. "Now, remind me again, why did you ask her to get these masks—the real reason?"

He was snapping the string on the mask, a compulsive tick. "I didn't want this robbery getting linked back to us. It's just too close to Chicago, and the whole point of enlisting our family was to lead the cops away from us."

It didn't slip by me that he actually said 'our family and it might have distracted me momentarily, losing my train of thought.

I shook my head, trying not to dwell on that minor detail.

"Okay." I cleared my throat. "But if it's too risky, why even do it then? It's not like we could go pawn anything we steal today."

Then it hit me.

A long time ago, way back when in the stolen Lambo, Edward promised to steal me something shiny and multifaceted. I swallowed thickly at the implications of this revelation, resulting in me choking on my fucking salvia.

"Christ!" He reached over and raised my arm, patting me on the back hard. It was painful and knocked the air out of me, bringing on a new round of choking spasms.

I had to pull away from him to fucking breathe. "I'm good, I'm good. You can stop now."

"Are you sure?" His brow was furrowed and fraught with worry.

I nodded.

"God damn it, woman, you fucking scared me. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I croaked, waving him off. "I just…"

"What?"

Edward was staring at me with a curious expression, yet rather an impatient one. I didn't know if I was totally off base with my line of thinking by being a hopeful and stupid girl, but I had to know.

"Um…" I glanced over at the building briefly and then down at my bare finger. "Is this robbery for business or it for...pleasure?"

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second as he caught onto my meaning, but like a whoosh of air, he relaxed his tense body, easing back into his seat. He smiled, all crooked and smug. "This is just a job, Bella, okay? Nothing more."

My face was red with embarrassment. We've only been dating for two months, and I was already seeking a proposal. No wonder my old man laughed in my face. I was out of my fucking mind.

Edward continued to ramble, utterly unaware of my humiliation. "This place just happens to sell what we need to do the bank job."

"Oh, shit, that's right," I groaned, closing my eyes and leaning back, wanting to bash my fucking skull with my gun. "I completely forgot that we are supposed to be married."

The rings were for Frankie and Cecilia Wallis—not for Edward and Bella Cullen.

Although, upon hearing our names together, even if it was just in my head, it made me grin like a moron.

"Here," Edward said, and I turned to face him. He was lifting his hips and pulling a pair of gloves out of his back pocket. He tossed them on my lap.

The leather clung to my fingers and was a snug fit, oddly comforting and familiar to me.

"So, since this trip of ours is all business…."

He reached over and slid his hand down my thigh, cutting me off mid-sentence. "Not everything we do is all business, Bella."

"Yeah…" My body was squirming under his heated touch, and I fought hard to stay on track. "But even if this is all for a sham marriage." He inched his hand higher and closer to where I wanted it most. My voice became more ragged and spurted, "Can I at least pick out my bauble?"

Edward pulled away, all lustful intentions gone, and the business-like tone was back in full force.

"You can pick out whatever your little heart desires, but you gotta be snappy about it, alright? No fifteen minutes of fucking browsing. We gotta be in and out." His eyes darted to the front of the store as a baby blue Cadillac pulled into the parking lot. "Fuck me! She's early. Get down!"

Slouching in the car seats, we kept our heads out of sight, and my breathing came out in rapid and shallow pants, the anticipation of what was to come flooded my mind. At every job we did, I would experience a sort of stage fright of emotions. But it was just my nerves, and by the time we were leaving with bags full of cash, I had usually calmed down.

"You remember our time?" Edward whispered, which was silly.

But I played along and whispered back. "We stay no longer than two minutes."

"You got the stop watch?"

"Yup." I patted my coat pocket. "It's right here and is all set to go."

He gripped my hand and squeezed it, gaining my full attention. "Are you okay to do this?"

"Of course, I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because of that prick, Caius, and how he put his dirty fucking hands all over you." He reached over and stroked the bruises on my arms, a deep purple color shaped like fingers.

I placed my hand over his and smiled weakly. "Baby, I'm fine."

The vein in his forehead was protruding, and he gritted his teeth, speaking in a low and menacing tone. "I'm going to kill that mother fucker for touching you."

I didn't doubt that he would kill Caius, and it was only a matter of time, but I needed to redirect him from all those murderous thoughts. He had to stay focused…

God only knows what he'll do in this unstable condition.

"Edward, listen to me," I said, caressing his cheek. "You gotta forget about all that, okay? We go in there and do what we came here to do. We'll deal with Caius later. You got me?"

Edward's eyes met mine, intense and penetrating. "I got you, baby." He looked away, breaking the connection, and lifted his head. He snuck a quick look over the dashboard. "Stay close to me. Do not, for any reason, leave my fucking side. You hear me?"

It was the same speech given to me before every robbery. Edward was all balls to the wall, even fearless at times, but when it came to me and my safety, his anxiety would increase to an impossible level.

But it was our ritual, and like always, I took hold of his hand and smiled, reassuring him with one sentence. "Nothing in this world, not even a fucking meteor falling from the sky could pull me away from you."

That did the trick, and he replied with a firm nod. "Lets fucking do this."

We exited the car and jogged up towards the side of the building, holding our positions with our backs flat against the brick wall. He placed his hand on my chest, protectively keeping me out of sight as he poked his head around the corner. After a minute, he gestured for me to take a peek, and we watched from a safe distance as the store owner parked her car.

She had some trouble staying within the lines.

Edward swung around, gripped me by the neck with both hands, that cool leather against my damp skin, and pressed his forehead to mine.

"In and out, two minutes."

"I know."

"Any signs of trouble?"

"Shoot them."

"That's right, baby. You shoot that fucking gun until that clip is empty."

"Then reload?"

Edward smiled and lowered his head, those fucking lips of his so achingly close to mine. He breathed, "I fucking love you."

I slipped my fingers in the front pockets of his jeans, clutching at the denim and yanking him towards me. "I fucking love you."

Edward kissed me, not deep, but still rough and full of want. But then, he was pulling away all too soon, and I chased him, needing more.

Chuckling at my greediness, he removed his grip from my neck and grabbed my hand, holding it tightly. "You drive me crazy."

"Same," I said.

"Alright, let's get to work." He took another step back and looked around the corner, reacquiring a visual of our target.

Luckily, we wasted no time with our declaration of love and hasty kisses. The heavier-set woman with the cane was barely making her way across the parking lot. It was painful to watch her struggle, and I felt sorry for her.

"Maybe we should go and help," I muttered.

Edward hadn't heard me and turned around with a questioning look.

"It's nothing," I said, brushing him off.

He smirked, taking the mask off my head and placing it on my face. "You ready, Minnie?"

I stood on my tippy toes and reached up, pulling down his mask and hiding all that handsome behind it. "I'm ready, Mickey."

It was cheeky and absurd; Alice was laughing her little ass off somewhere.

We stood still with our guns out, waiting for the perfect moment to ambush the poor unassuming store owner—who was taking her sweet ass time. It'd been nearly ten minutes since she returned from lunch. Edward was growing impatient.

"Come on, come on, already. Fuck."

When she finally got to the door and unlocked the metal gate, Edward seized that opportunity to charge her. He released his stronghold of my hand, but I kept a tight grip on his shirt, and together we bum-rushed her within less than a second.

It happened so fast, and she never saw us coming. She was only aware of anything when Edward put the Colt firmly to her temple. But by that time, it was too late for her to scream for help.

Thump, thump, thump…My heart pounded loudly in my ears.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," Edward said, leaning down and getting his face close to hers, "can the wife and I come in?"

Wife?

It threw me, and I shot my head up to look up at him, only to find Mickey Mouse staring back down at me. I couldn't see his expression, but l could see those beautiful green eyes and that obvious wink he'd given me.

I blushed and grinned like a lovesick fool, blessedly cloaked by this plastic barrier.

"Oh, my Lord," the lady gasped, her hands flying to her chest. "You're here to rob me, aren't you?"

"We just need a few minutes of your time," Edward said, signaling me with a wave of his hand. "Minnie, take her keys and open the door."

The lady's light brown eyes met mine as I approached her, and she handed me the keys willingly. She wasn't scared like I'd expected but delighted.

The shock of our pleasant hostage had frozen me stiff, and it took Edward's urgent voice to bring me back to myself.

"You might want to speed this up, Minnie."

"I got it!" I said, springing into action, and unlocked the rest of the gate.

Pushing the heavy metal door aside, Edward walked the lady forward and into the store. The lights were on a motion sensor, turning on automatically, and it illuminated the small room and the bright red and green carpet. It reminded me of a tacky casino instead of a classy jewelry store.

Staying behind to relock everything back up and securing the closed sign on the door, I looked outside one last time for any oncoming customers, but it was a ghost town. The only sign of life was the cars zooming by on the freeway.

Taking a deep breath to ease my nerves, I pulled out the stopwatch from my coat pocket and pushed start.

We had exactly two minutes.

"Okay, we're in the clear," I said.

Turning back around, I was brought up short by the scene before me. Edward's body was rigid, and our fucking hostage was chattering off like a parakeet on crack.

"Oh, my goodness, I can't believe that y'all are robbing me. I've been watching the news, and Nancy Grace says you two are the next Bonnie and Clyde. My friends are going to just die when I tell them."

She was excited about being robbed by two known criminals. The power of the media and how they made people like us, fucking low lives, famous was unreal. We weren't good people. We were money-grubbing thieves.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

That was our time running out. I stuffed my gun into my waistband and ran to the glass cases. There was a camera in one of the corners, and the red light was blinking, indicating that it was on and recording Mickey and Minnie, the gun-toting duo.

We were going to be on the news tonight.

The jewelry selection was overwhelming, and I glanced up at Edward, seeking his help, but he had his hands full with our hostage. The Colt on her head, she was still going on and on, completely unfazed by the treat we posed.

"Say, what sort of diamonds are you two kids looking for?"

"Ma'am, I really appreciate all the fanfare, but you've got the wrong people. We are not them." There was irritation laced in Edward's voice.

The lady turned her head, shocking me with her boldness, and gazed at him.

"You were here the other day weren't you?"

"No," he snapped.

"I would recognize those pretty green eyes anywhere." She turned her eyes back to me and gasped. "Are you here to get your wife a ring? How about the one I was showing you yesterday. I think it would be perfect."

"So, Mickey, we were ring shopping here yesterday, were we?" I teased.

"Minnie, you got one fucking minute," he growled.

I tried to suppress my giggles and refocus my attention on the cases filled with sparkly jewels, but it was hard. This lady was fun to listen to, and the excitement in her voice of having people stick a gun in her face and rob her blind.

I couldn't handle it.

"You know," the lady continued to talk Edward's poor ear off as I quickly browsed the beautiful rings, looking for the biggest and most expensive one. "They did this in-depth piece on your life last week, and I want to tell you that I think they got you all wrong. You aren't bad. You're just kids."

"Only one of us is," Edward said.

I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore that fucking comment. The stopwatch was counting down, and I had twenty seconds to decide.

"Fuck it," I said, lifting my gun and slamming the handle on the top of the case, breaking the glass away.

It shattered, falling and covering the jewelry. I reached in and carefully scooped up a big rock. It was a massive solitary stone that sparkled and reflected the light.

"You got it?" Edward asked.

"Almost," I replied, grabbing a diamond-covered band for me and a plain white gold one for Edward. "I'm set."

"Thank fuck," he said, pushing the lady to a chair and sitting her down. "Give me your cell phone."

"I don't have one," she said. "Besides, I'm not going to call the cops right away. I'll give you a head start."

Edward bent down and got face-to-face with her. "I really appreciate that, and even if I could believe you, helping us would only bring you trouble. You'd be an accomplice. So, I hope you understand that what I'm about to do is to protect you."

"Are you going to tie me up?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

He stood up and shrugged. "I've got no rope."

The stopwatch beeped loudly, indicating that our time was up.

"Close your eyes," he said, and she did, oddly trusting him just because she had seen him on TV.

Then, like many times before, he raised the handle of his gun and brought it down, knocking her out cold.

"I need to call Peter," Edward said, pulling the car into a gas station.

We weren't too far from the state line, our rendezvous point, and I was growing anxious. The last person I wanted to be in the tight confines of a car with was Caius.

"I wish there was a car we could steal," I said, glancing down at my ring.

Which brought me back to the lady we left on the floor, bleeding and unconscious. Edward tried to pretend that pistol whipping that woman didn't bother him, but he was the one who called the police two minutes after we left the store.

He acted casually and said he didn't want a murder charge looming over our heads. It would only make the cops more deadly and determined to arrest us.

"Our family doesn't need that kind of heat."

He would never admit it, but he didn't want that lady to die.

"I know what you mean," he said, shifting the car into park and running his hands through his hair. "I'm likely to just fucking kill that fucker having to ride with him for three hundred miles, and we still fucking need the worthless prick."

"Remind me again, why do we need him? I mean, can't we just steal his drugs? A dead man can't fight, Edward."

He laughed. "This is true, and if that were the case, I would've fucking blown his head off at the hotel, but we need him alive. He can get us into the senator's mansion."

"How?"

"He knows someone who works there. That's all I know-and it's the only fucking reason why he's still breathing."

It disappointed me that we would have to put up with him for a bit longer, but even so, I dreaded the car ride. It made me sick to my stomach.

"We gotta do something else, Edward. I don't care what. I just can't ride with him," I said, wincing in pain as the cramps in my gut intensified.

He chewed on his lip ring and looked around the busy gas station, searching for a solution.

Then it hit him. I watched with fascination as he smiled, glancing back over at me. "I got an idea."

"Oh, yeah?"

Taking out his phone, he dialed a number and pressed the receiver to his ear. "Peter, there is a change of plans. Yeah, it seems like me and my girl decided to find our own ride to Rockford." He paused and listened, and I could faintly hear Peter's disapproval. He was not happy. "I know, but Bella can't be around him and I'm fighting against the urge to kill him. It's just not a good idea." Edward looked over at me and smiled. "I'll do fucking anything when it comes to her." He scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, that's what I hear. Thanks man, I owe you half of Caius' share. Will do. Be safe Peter, alright? Okay, I'll call you the moment we get into Rockford. Goodbye."

"So, he's okay? They're not mad at us, are they?" I asked, nervously chewing on my nails again.

Edward shook his head, yanking my hand away from my mouth. "You gotta stop fucking doing that."

I sighed sadly. "I know."

Intertwining his fingers with mine, he kept my hand firmly in his lap. "They're not mad...well, not really. Peter understood, but he's not happy about having to chauffeur Caius around."

"I bet he wants to kill him, too."

"Peter is a pacifist."

"What? How...but he carries a gun."

"Peter might be a tree hugger but he's not fucking stupid. If he's pushed far enough, he won't hesitate to use it." Edward opened the car door and got out. He shouted. "Hey, kid! You want a car?"

There was a guy around my age standing over by the chip stand. He was with a group of friends, and they all came running over to us, curiosity piqued.

"You selling it?" the boy asked.

"Nope," Edward said, tossing him the keys. "It's all yours."

The boy bent down and looked through the window, smiling widely at me. "Does the girl come with it?"

Edward scoffed. "Yeah, right, fucking dream on, you little prick. That's mine."

The group of boys taunted their friend, all of them leaning down and checking me out.

It was uncomfortable.

Edward poked his head back inside. "You can get out of the car now."

As I turned to get out, I saw the boys crowded around my door and opening it up for me. It was a new experience to have males pay this much attention to me.

These guys weren't that much younger.

We would've likely gone to school together.

That's what made it weird.

I couldn't remember a boy's fawning over me.

They all reached in to help me but thought better when Edward came around and pushed them aside. He gripped my hand, and we crossed a two-lane highway towards a Tavern with rows of motorcycles parked out front.

The boys on the other side of the road revved the engine and squealed the tires, speeding out of the gas station. They were hooting and hollering as they drove past, celebrating their sudden good fortune.

"I would love to be there when they get pulled over by the cops."

I covered my mouth to stifle my laugh. "You fucking set them up on purpose."

"You're damn right I did. Those horny little shits were eye-fucking my girl the moment we pulled in."

I shook my head, biting the inside of my cheek. "Are we a tad bit possessive?"

Well, I couldn't say I blamed him. How many homicidal ideations did I have about Tanya before I knew she was his fucking car? Even afterward, I still wanted to roll her off a cliff.

"Fuck yeah, I am! I don't deny that shit," he said, gripping my hips and yanking me to him. "You're mine."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and sighed. "I'm yours."

We stood there for a moment. I had my eyes closed and listened to Edward's breathing. It was peaceful, and I was blissfully happy.

"Bella?" he murmured, tightening his hold and resting his chin on my head.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever ridden on a Harley before?"

I pulled away from his warm chest, gazing up at him. "No...why?"

He grinned, nodding to the line of endless motorcycles to our right. "Because you're about to."