Chapter 6

Alice

Bella POV

After arriving at the mall, I found out fast that Alice was a shopping Nazi. I just really wanted to go to Wal-Mart and get a couple of things, barely even using this cash that Edward gave me or his card. Money that I hadn't earned made me feel uncomfortable but Edward said he had more than he knew what to do with and it wasn't like I was going to be earning any. I REALLY didn't feel comfortable with how much money Alice was throwing around. We had been in two shoe places, a jewelry store, and now we were in a boutique and I had yet to buy anything. Alice on the other hand had probably spent thousands and thousands of dollars. I looked around and saw some cute tops and pants but the price was a ridiculous amount, I mean, why spend $200 for a shirt? I also took a glance around, James and Benji stood outside the store's doors, while Laurent walked around the store while keeping his eye on me, he would make glances at Alice and make sure she was okay but mainly he followed me. I also noticed there weren't many people inside, but the saleswoman looked like she didn't mind. I guess she knew Alice and knew that she was probably about to spend a lot of money. I did really need some shirts and pants so I picked out a few and went to try them on. I was met however, with a locked dressing room. I then turned around and went to the saleslady. She however, was not focused on me at all, more on Alice and what Alice was doing.

"Excuse me?" I said, trying to get her attention. She still didn't pay me no mind.

"Excuse me!" I got a little louder and noticed Laurent making his way toward me.

She then finally noticed me. "What?" she said rudely.

"Could you unlock the dressing room for me, please?" I said sweetly even though I wanted to slap her for talking to me like that.

"I'm busy at the moment." She then ignored me and tried to look around me but I didn't budge. "Could you move please, there are more important people in the store and I need to make sure they don't need anything." Wow, just as I was about to go

off. I heard a voice.

"Linda." Said a cold voice. It was Alice.

"Yes, Mrs. Whitlock? Do you need anything?" She said so sweetly, it made me sick.

"Yes. I need you to quit being rude and treat Ms. Swan with some respect!" The saleslady, Linda, looked taken aback. I guess she didn't see me walk in with Alice.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Whitlock, I didn't know she was your guest."

"She's not a guest, she's like a sister, and you better be glad she wasn't here with my brother or you would be looking for another job!" Alice said matter of factly.

"Emmett's here?" I saw that bitch smooth down her outfit and adjust her breasts.

"No. Not the one you wish you could fuck. My other brother." Her eyes went wide after Alice's comment. I guess she realized who Alice was talking about, because she looked scared shitless. I also wondered why Alice had said I was like a sister, we had hardly talked on the way here.

"This is Edward's girlfriend. Now she asked you to open the dressing room door for her!"

"Y-Y-yess, Ms. Swan right this way." She then led me to the dressing rooms, with Alice hot on her tail. Laurent was a few aisles over so I guess he knew we had it handled and didn't intervene. "Here you are, Ms. Swan." She unlocked the door. "If there is anything else, let me know so I can be of service. I apologize for being rude." She then went back up to the front and I went into the dressing room. Alice said she was going to look some more but if I needed her just holler. I told her it was okay and closed the door. I tried on the nice blue jeans, along with a bunch of cute tops. This place also had a bunch of stretchy capris and maxi dresses that were beautiful. I never wore anything like it before but I decided to try it on. There were a bunch of lace tops too. After I tried on some, I went to put back some of the clothes that didn't look that great on me, but Linda appeared out of nowhere.

"Ms. Swan, I'll put these up. Are you done? I can ring you up."

"Yes, I am"

She then took the clothing to the counter and rang it up. Alice must have been done because she was on her phone talking to someone. Near the exit, I could see Benji her guard had taken more of a protective stance since she was near him. I knew Laurent wasn't far behind me, I could feel him. James was also at the exit and he looked around, his eyes everywhere. This was the first time I had seen him since that night. I know he was the one that knocked me out. I remember Edward yelling his name, and I saw black so I'm pretty sure that's what happened. I wasn't sure if I liked him or not. I knew he was doing his job and Edward was his boss and could probably kill him. I remember Paul telling me that night Edward was the underboss of the family. I didn't talk about it with Edward or bring it up because I would have probably been shot down. He got angry with me just asking about Jacob. He did tell me the night he proposed marriage that for him to become what he wanted to be, he had to be married so did that mean he would become the Boss then? Who was the Boss now? I remembered him saying something about his father. How he could kill me if I knew about Paul. Did that mean his father was the Boss? I guess it would make sense. The son takes over from the father. Edward did tell me he was the oldest of 3. I started feeling sick to my stomach like I had been for the past week. Edward would become boss, and I would be married to him. I was then brought out of my thoughts, by that snotty saleslady.

"It'll be $2,589.00, Ms. Swan." Whoa. My stomach dropped again, I couldn't spend that much.

"I'm going to put some of this back—"

"No, she will take all of it." Alice said coming out of nowhere.

Linda rang up all my purchases and I handed her Edward's credit card. For some reason I felt like having all that cash he gave me was a crime.

"Here you go, Ms. Swan, have a nice day." I took the bag and headed out of the store with Alice.

We walked down the mall with the three bodyguards a few paces behind, although Alice didn't seem to mind.

"Are you hungry?" Alice asked me

"Yes, I am."

"Come on." We then left the mall in Alice's Porsche, with Benji in the back seat, Laurent and James in the car behind us. We then headed to this nice Italian restaurant called Carmen's. Alice went up to the hostess's stand and gave the name Cullen and then we were led to a private section of the restaurant. We took our seats while the three body guards took a table near the entrance of the private section

a few tables away.

"Ms. Whitlock! So nice of you to come in." A older dark haired lady with olive skin came up to us.

"Carmen, you know I love your food." She rose up and gave the lady a hug. Carmen then took notice of me.

"Hello, I'm Carmen Denali, I own and run Carmen's"

"Bella Swan" The lady looked at me confused, I guess she was trying to figure out who I was, but she didn't act like she wanted to shake my hand or anything.

"This is Edward's girlfriend, Carmen." Carmen then took my hand and shook it like I was royalty or something.

"If there is anything that you need, Ms. Swan, don't hesitate to ask." She then said she would send a waitress right over and quickly exited. I noticed Alice smirking.

"I love how they freak out when they find out who you are, it's entertaining," she laughed.

"Is everyone afraid of Edward?" Alice then looked at me a little shocked.

"You act like you don't know your boyfriend at all, Bella. Edward's a very powerful figure around here." Alice said. That's when I knew Alice wasn't aware of how I "really" met Edward or maybe she knew too much and for some reason something was telling me not to say anything.

"We don't go out much," I said. "I guess he likes to keep me to himself," I added. Maybe she wouldn't become so suspicious now

"Oh, I get it! He wanted you to just know him, not the other side of him, that's why he has kept you a secret." She said all cryptically. Like I wasn't supposed to know what she was talking about. Of course I knew she was talking about the "Boss" side, the one that gives me whiplash from all his mood swings.

"He did tell me at lunch this past week about you, that you guys had been dating a few months."

"Yeah, it doesn't feel that long," I replied. I only knew Edward for a week now.

The waitress arrived, and took our orders. Alice ordered wine and the lasagna.."" I was going to order just water but I thought why the hell not, and ordered wine as well, along with the mushroom ravioli. She left and that's when I realized she didn't ask for my id. I guess when you were a Cullen, that was unnecessary, or if you knew the owner of this place. Not like I had an id in the first place anyway, the last time I had it was when I went to Midnight Sun. Not that I needed it then either, the bouncer let me and Rose right in. Now that I think about it, we didn't have any trouble that night either, we kept getting drinks, no one approached us until those slime balls did and that's when Emmett and Edward showed up. I had a feeling Rose was aware of the family too, she did tell me she thought I had killed someone when she and Emmett picked me up that night. She shook it off after I told her no but yeah I had a feeling she knew. I guess I can't be mad at her for it. I miss her like crazy though. I wondered if I could contact her somehow. I was suddenly brought out of my thoughts by Alice. I guess she had been trying to get my attention for a while now and looked a little alarmed. So did the bodyguards, and I had their attention as well.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" The guards quickly sat back down but did appear to look around like they were looking for some kind of intruder or something.

"I was wondering if there was anywhere else you needed to go after we ate?"

"Oh, well I need to go to Walmart?" Her face changed into one of disgust.

"WALMART? What would you need there?" I guess she didn't go to places like us common folk. That was wrong to think I was judging Alice just by a comment.

"Well my period is due soon, and I have no tampons or pads"

"Oh, gotcha, you could just send one of the guards out to get it or tell Mrs. Cope. She could pick it up when she buys the groceries, that's what I do with my cook."

"I don't really feel comfortable with that, Alice." I guess I was trying not to show my annoyance at her, especially if her father could kill me and all. I'll be damned if I let Mrs. Cope buy that stuff for me, she probably would get the wrong kind on purpose.

"Oh, I get it, well I could drop you off and one of the guards could go in with you. I would have to tell you now, being Edward's girlfriend, you wouldn't want to be seen in a place like that." I was really trying not to lose it on her but she made it hard. That had been my life and it was normal for me. I had to keep it in mind that Alice didn't grow up like that. She was probably given everything she wanted all of her life.

I just ignored her and the waitress brought our food. After the waitress left, I heard,

"Bella?" I looked up at Alice

"I'm sorry if I offended you. I know you just met me and I acted like some spoiled princess. I used to be worse if you can believe it. Meeting Jasper brought me down to Earth, some." She let out a laugh and then had a dreamy look on her face.

"It's okay Alice, I'm just not used to all of this. I didn't grow up with people doing things for me." I then covered my mouth, she apologized and I had to say something bitchy.

"I deserve that. Look you don't have to worry how you act around me okay? I actually like people who are real and not fake and like to kiss my ass." I giggled. "I know my brother demands a lot of respect, and I'm sure you can't exactly act the way you want to without it feeling like it would embarrass him especially in front of his men." She then turned serious, "Look, there's times where we can act like ourselves and times where no matter how much we want to say something, we can't. Usually those times are in public and when we're around very important people. But, like today, we do have to show who we are so we aren't treated like you were about to be today with that saleslady." I looked at her confused, she then smiled at me. "I've seen glimpses of you underneath, you will be a very powerful wife next to my brother, you just have to learn how to stick up for yourself." Wife? I laughed it off. She made me nervous on how close she actually was.

"Yes, wife, my brother he's serious about you. I have a feeling you will be my sister someday, maybe soon." She smiled, but I thought she was crazy. I didn't mean much to Edward, and he wasn't serious. If she only knew. I then remembered her saying something from earlier, when we were at the store.

"Is that what you meant earlier, when you told that lady that I was like a sister not a guest?"

"Of course, I have an extra sense, you and Rose will be my sisters someday!" I choked on my wine

"Rose? You know Rose?"

"Of course, I've met her a couple of times. She's with my brother Emmett. Has Edward introduced you already to Him?"

"I actually knew Emmett before I met Edward."

"Really? How?"

"Rose is my best friend. I've known her since I was 8." I knew I had to be careful on how I said things to Alice, I'm sure Edward didn't want people to know how we actually met. But then again, Rose knew the 1st night I met Edward, So I really didn't know how to spin this.

"That is so exciting! I haven't seen Rose since last week, when my father-" She looked like she wanted to cry, but quickly straightened her face. "Rose isn't really one to gossip though. I guess that's why I hadn't heard about you, or she knew better to say anything when Edward hadn't." I guess that confirmed Rose indeed did know who Edward was.

"Yeah maybe, I was with her at the club that night I met Edward"

"Oh, well then, I'm very excited to have you two as my sisters!"

We were about to finish eating when I remembered her saying something about her father. I felt like I shouldn't pry but I felt like I shouldn't have asked. Believe me I had some things in my closet I didn't want to talk about yet.

"Is your father alright? I don't meant to pry, if you don't want to talk about it you don't have to tell me"

"It's alright, I'm sure you don't know. Edward and my father don't exactly see eye to eye, so I'm sure he hasn't said anything yet. My father has brain cancer, stage 3. He started treatment this week, and we're not sure if he will pull through." Alice then wiped her tears. I grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry." I guess she was close to her father. I had to remember not all fathers were bad.

"It's alright." She wiped her tears away and put a smile on her face.

"Let's get out of here and head to Walmart."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, first time for everything right?" We both laughed.

After we finished, Alice and I headed for her Porsche, when we noticed 2 blondes getting out of a Mercedes. One had curly dirty blonde hair that looked like a bad dye job, like she was really dark haired underneath and the other one had strawberry blonde hair. They both looked like they had been loaded up with plastic surgery including their huge Double D tits.

"Oh God, come on hurry, maybe they won't see us." Alice must have known who they were because she then acted like a bat out of hell getting out of there. I must have tripped over my own feet, because I was about to hit the ground when arms caught me. Laurent righted me but me falling had definitely caught the attention of the two bimbos.

"Damn. Sorry." I looked to Alice

"Alice!" The one with the bad dye job came up to her running while the other one walked behind her

"Irina," Alice said. It didn't go unnoticed that she didn't answer with the same enthusiasm.

"How are you? It's been so long since we've seen you guys!" She kissed the air around Alice's cheeks.

"We're fine, heading out sorry we won't have time to catch up." Both me and Alice started to head to the car doors where Laurent and Benji had opened the doors for us.

"Oh, why is Edward's guard with you?" The one named Irina said as she looked at him hungrily.

"Yes! Why are you not guarding my Eddiekins?" Eddiekins? What kind of name was that?

"Because Tanya, he's guarding Edward's girlfriend." Alice said smugly like she had been waiting for a while to up one on the one named Tanya.

"Girlfriend?" She turned toward me "You?"

"Yes me" For some reason I was saying that made me feel smung

"No!" The one named Tanya screamed. "He would never!"

"Yes he would, Tanya, now if you'll excuse us, we have to go." Alice said as we both quickly climbed in the car with Benji climbing in the back while I saw Laurent running to James' car.

Alice pulled out and we were on our way to Walmart. "Sorry about that Bella, I knew there was a risk running into them eating there."

"Why?"

"Carmen is their mother, I'm sure they were going to get a free meal"

"Oh, gotcha" That explained the curly haired one's bad dye job. Guess she had dark hair like her mom and wasn't happy about it.

"So she knows Edward?"

"Oh yeah. Our families know each other. Actually, our fathers are good friends and I'm good friends with their other sister Kate. But those whores, I can't stand. Tanya is delusional if she thinks Edward is hers."

"Oh, I'm guessing Edward has been with her then?" Usually when someone thinks they are someone elses like that they have had sex. Plus, she called him Eddiekins."

Alice started laughing like I told a huge joke

"Trust me Bella, Edward wouldn't and hasn't touched her, he can't stand her," Alice laughed. "I can't say the same about Benji back there though"

I looked back at Benji, who had a bright red face

"It was definitely a drunken error in judgement, ma'am," he said.

Alice started laughing hard. "Yeah, especially when Emmett found you with her at the club that night."

"Yes, I thought Mr. Cullen was going to kill me, and I haven't gotten drunk since."

I laughed too. It was hilarious and then I noticed that we had pulled up to Wal-Mart.

Alice didn't act like she really wanted to go in but she looked at me and marched on ahead. We picked up what I needed and I noticed the Halloween costumes. I haven't dressed up in a long time and it was the middle of August and they already had costumes out!

Alice and I spent the next 2 hours trying them on and laughing uncontrollably until she said she needed to get home. She then asked for my phone so she could put in her number. I didn't want to tell her I didn't have one, so I told her I left it at home. She said it was fine and she texted "Eddiekins" to give it to me. We hugged and then she left with Benji on her heels. I climbed into James' car in the back seat while Laurent and James sat up front and we pulled away.

Sometime later, I knew we had to be near Edward's home because the houses near the water had disappeared and I knew from being outside that there weren't any houses near him. I guess earlier I never noticed with Alice talking. We pulled up to the gate, and waited for the guard to open it. The house came into view and even then I had to admit that it was beautiful. I guessed I never noticed it before because I kept looking at it like a prison. We pulled up to the garage and James opened my door, while Laurent had gotten all my shopping bags. After entering the front door, I noticed James pull away and leave while Laurent stood with me in the foyer.

"Where do you want these?" he asked.

"Um, I guess in my bedroom." He then went upstairs. I went up behind him but had only made it to the second landing when I saw Edward. He stood at the bedroom door in a white button down and blue jeans.

"How was your shopping trip?" He asked in a soft voice.

"Fine, thank you for inviting Alice. I really like her and it was nice to get out" He was being nice right now and I felt like I could be nice right now. I was in a good mood.

He smiled and asked, "How was Alice?" He then tried to suppress a chuckle.

"She's wonderful, you really have a good sister that cares about you."

He didn't say anything, he just stared at me

"We also ran into Tanya, Eddiekins." He then groaned while I tried to hide my laughter.

" I cannot stand that name nor can I stand that girl."

"Alice told me she thinks you're her's."

" I NEVER will be hers!" I saw his nose flare but when he looked at me again he smoothed his face into an unreadable expression.

"Um." Now I was all awkward with the way he was staring at me.

"Yes, Bella?"

"I found out Alice knows Rose, and I know you told Alice how we met, but I may have told her that I knew Rose and how I went to the club that night, but I didn't tell her anything else" I started mumbling and word vomit was coming out. "Also, since they know each other's story and what Rose knows may not add up and.." Suddenly he had his finger on my lip shushing me.

"Then you will just need to call Rose and tell her to come over tomorrow and talk," he said.

"How would I do that?"

He then smiled and pulled a phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. "That's yours, there's already contacts in there, those will be the only ones you can text or call…" I cut him off by hugging him. I guess I had caught him off guard, but then he slowly pulled his arms around me and hugged me back. He smelled so nice, and his arms felt comforting. I then heard footsteps coming down the stairs and I suddenly pulled away. It was Laurent, I guess he was done putting all those bags in my room.

"I guess I'll go call Rose." I went to walk away and he grabbed my arm and brought me back to him. He looked down into my eyes, and moved my hair out of my face. I thought he was going to kiss me but then he let me go.

"Have a good night, Bella."

"You too." I raced up the stairs but not before I swore I heard a chuckle.