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We arrived at Liam and Siobhan's penthouse in the early evening. We covered our faces to avoid being recognized since no one knew if Edward had survived the explosion.
Edward had a hoodie with the cowl up, and I had a scarf folded like a hijab around my head.
He tapped his foot impatiently as we rode in the sleek elevator. Once we reached the seventh floor, Edward guided me out and to the left. He knocked three times, looking both ways, making my anxiety skyrocket.
The latch was pulled, and a woman in her late fifties opened the door. Edward strolled inside, dragging me along.
He sighed loudly when the woman seemed frozen in place, not even moving to close the door. He did it for her with a loud slam before he turned to lock it.
Then he lowered the cowl and leaned to kiss her cheek. "Hello, Si."
"Oh, Lord!" She hugged him tightly. "Oh, child. I was so worried."
"No idea why," he mumbled, wriggling out of her arms. "Do you remember Isabella Swan?" He wrapped an arm around me, squeezing me into his side.
"Of course." I couldn't help but notice how hostile her voice was. "Though, she was this tall when I last saw her." Siobhan made to show the height she remembered me to be. Apparently, I could barely reach her knees back then. "And she had hurt you."
"Some things never change," Edward chuckled. "I mean, she's still tiny."
I made to punch him in the ribs.
"And just as violent," he added, still laughing.
"What's going on, sweetheart? When I saw the news…" Her blue eyes welled up, and I could feel a touch of compassion for her. She still hadn't made any attempt to acknowledge me.
"That's why I'm here. Is Liam home?"
"He's trying to find out what happened. He reminded me that you're always careful. He insisted you were alive and hiding."
"He wasn't wrong," Edward admitted. "Is he in the office?"
I clung to his hoodie, preventing him from leaving my side. Despite the fact that Siobhan remembered me, I had no recollection of her. And she didn't seem to like me much.
"You know the way," she told him. "I'll get ready something to eat."
"Just water for me. I'll get Liam because we have to talk." He turned to me, cupping my shoulder. "I'll be right back."
I wanted to tell him to take me with him, but I wasn't like that. I couldn't let someone who was practically Edward's family scare me.
I didn't let thugs scare me, yet Siobhan had the power to destroy us. I worried Edward would listen to her if she somehow decided I wasn't suitable for him. He respected her.
I fidgeted in the spot where he left me in the foyer.
I chose to put my big girl panties on and join Siobhan in the kitchen. I hovered by the table, watching as the woman who had acted as Edward's mother when he lost Elizabeth flitted between the counter and the refrigerator.
"Can I help?" I could barely hear my own voice.
"Come here." Her voice was guarded, which made my anxiety skyrocket.
I stopped next to her at the counter. She had a knife in her hand; the salami stick had been abandoned on the cutting board. Siobhan surprised me by snatching my right hand and slamming it to the counter.
"Spread them."
I held my fingers as far apart from each other as I could, my heart galloping in my chest.
"How close are you with your mother?"
"We're estranged," I admitted.
"Do you speak often?"
"We don't…" I hesitated. "But she called me recently, out of nowhere."
"You were a better liar when you were five." The knife's sharp tip slammed into the counter between my little finger and ring finger.
I snatched my hand away, my little finger grazing across the sharp edge. Blood oozed, but I kept my eyes on the woman who seemed incapable of hurting a fly if you judged her by her looks. Siobhan appeared to be a lovely little old lady, yet she could put Rambo to shame.
"I know Renee. She got in all sorts of trouble and came out clean because she never dirtied her hands. It seems you're not as sharp as her."
"Siobhan," Edward's authoritative voice resounded from the kitchen doorway. His eyes met mine; then he noticed my finger bleeding. "What the f…" He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, steering me to the bathroom.
We passed the open door of the living room, where Liam was looking at us, confused.
"It doesn't hurt," I mumbled when Edward pointed to the closed toilet lid before ransacking their medicine cabinet.
"Humor me, Kitty." He kept muttering profanities under his breath as he tended to my wound.
"Let me deal with Siobhan. I'm sorry for abandoning you," he whispered, kissing my forehead.
We returned to the foyer, where Edward then led me into the living room. He fell into an armchair with a groan. I saw him rubbing his injured leg, his jaw clenched. I chose to sit on the arm of his chair.
There were sandwiches on the coffee table and four glasses of lemonade.
"I don't know what got into you, Si. Bella is not her mother, just like I am not my father," he spat.
I choked on my spit at his admission. So we were diving in head-first.
"Your father was a good man," Liam interjected.
Siobhan's narrowed eyes glared at me, then finally moved to Edward. "Care to elaborate?"
"You knew," he gasped, leaning forward in his seat.
"Should I repeat myself?" She dared to smile.
"I came upon something I was better off not knowing," Edward hissed. "And it looks like you knew," he yelled.
Siobhan blanched at the news. "God knows how many times I tried talking sense into Lizzie. There were other options; she loved your father so much, she was willing to step all over her dignity to give him a child." She turned to look at Liam, who seemed to catch up. There was pity in his eyes.
"Lizzie only told us – the family. The only other person who knew she was pregnant was her best friend, Renee Higginbotham."
I squirmed, feeling like I was responsible for all of Edward's pain.
"They had always been competitive, yet after Renee made it public she was pregnant, something shifted in their relationship. Lizzie was able to see her for the vile person she was. It didn't take long for all the nasty stuff to resurface. Poor Charlie tried to keep it all under a threshold, but even he was unsuccessful."
I felt bile rising in my mouth.
"No one knows this, but Lizzie had discovered Renee had a torrid affair with senator Whitmore. It soon became obvious to be more than that since her game to seduce and then squeeze Charlie Swan for child support failed. It turned out she wasn't cut out to be a mother – not to Isabella," Siobhan nodded to me, "and definitely not to that punk and troublemaker … James."
I cupped my mouth, doing my best not to vomit.
"James Whitmore is related to Isabella?" Edward shouted, getting up on his feet.
"He's the senator's son. His mother died in childbirth," Liam explained.
"We've told you countless times to leave him alone because he was trouble," Siobhan added.
"He used to hit on me," I admitted in a small voice, grimacing.
"That sick son of a bitch." Edward clenched his hands into fists at his sides.
"James doesn't know any more than you did until a minute ago," Liam said gently. "The day I saw you at the gallery…is that when you found out?"
"Yes. What were you doing there anyway?" Edward sat back down, pulling me onto his lap.
I felt Siobhan glaring my way, but I couldn't move. Edward's arms loosely folded around my waist gave me a sense of comfort.
"I was curious what one had to do to get inside the closed-door auction."
"You need to be invited by me," I whispered. "I'll add your name to the list."
"Why?" Edward pressed.
"I had a feeling shit was going to hit the fan. But it happened sooner than I expected," Liam said thoughtfully.
"The queen has yet to make a move, yet the king is in check-mate," Siobhan added. "You have to stay out of this."
"Carlisle tried to kill me. I don't know what he has to do with anything, but he's on my shit list," Edward explained.
"You mean the bomb? It wasn't Carlisle," Siobhan groaned. "He's just a pawn in this whole game. He's more bark than bite, but like all rats, when the water rises in his house, he's trying to save himself."
"Would you stop talking in riddles?" Edward protested, and I couldn't agree more.
"What about Volturi?" I dared to ask.
"He's more like the bishop, to continue my wife's analogy to chess." Liam smiled at Siobhan.
"Wait…the queen…you mean Renee?" I gasped.
"There might yet be hope for you," Siobhan said tersely.
"Who's the king then?" Edward frowned, but as soon as he spoke, I knew.
"You, dear boy."
"What? Why?" He blanched.
"I'm sure you can imagine that after such a fall-out between Lizzie and Renee; the mean, vicious woman wasn't going to sit around and wait for her former best friend to rat on her."
"My mom would have never…" Edward started but stopped when Liam shook his head.
"Lizzie kept telling Charlie he had no idea who was sleeping in his bed. She begged him to protect Isabella at all costs and keep her safe. So under the guise of household help, he hired two retired CIA agents."
No one had fully explained to me why Emmett and Rose came to live with us, but now everything made more sense.
I felt woozy. "I was told Renee never wanted me."
"Some lies are told to protect you," Siobhan said. "I see now I was wrong. I had this image of you following in your mother's footsteps, but it seems you are more like Charlie."
Edward cleared his throat. "Isabella is…she's my partner in crime."
"Daddy's girl, through and through," Siobhan laughed.
"You never mentioned it. When did you find out? You always said how impressed you were by that girl's skill, but you had no idea who she was," Liam insisted.
I lifted a brow at Edward and was amused to see his cheeks pink.
"I felt you'd flip, so I never told you. I knew the vigilante girl was Isabella Swan the first night we crossed paths."
As funny as it was to see Edward stumbling to explain to his parents' figures, I wanted to know more about my so-called mother.
"Back up a little. From what I know, Renee is married to Phil Dwyer. He's a minor league coach."
"And that's the perfect alibi for her to travel. Maybe you should ask your housemates about her flight miles and the people she meets during her traveling," Siobhan said.
I felt sick to my stomach. "You mean…Senator Whitmore?"
She shrugged, yet her gleaming eyes confirmed my suspicions.
"Housemates?" Edward inquired, curious.
"Rose and Emmett. They are indeed retired CIA agents. What do you think we were talking about when Rose offered to reactivate themselves?"
"Fuck if I know, but not this. CIA? What the fuck has Renee done to bring the fucking CIA on her trail?"
"The less you know, the better," Liam interjected, silencing his wife when Siobhan looked ready to delve into an explanation.
Edward threw his arms in the air, nearly punching me in the process. "I want to know."
"The only person who knows all the background is Carlisle. We know only bits and pieces from what we heard or what Ed used to tell me," Liam continued. "Edward, for your own good, stay out of this."
"Then how the fuck are we going to stop them if we don't know shit?"
"The auction," I gasped.
Liam nodded, smiling my way. "I'd like to talk to your friends about this and create a solid plan."
"Okay, I'll let them know," I agreed.
"What am I supposed to do in the meantime? Everybody thinks I'm dead," Edward muttered.
"I have an idea, but you might not like it," Siobhan said slowly.
"Keep it to yourself if it's stupid, Si."
"We can ruffle you up; you're messed up enough to still look authentic enough to have crawled from under the collapsed garage…"
"And?" Edward barked, breathing harshly.
I was curious about her plan because nothing seemed to make sense. Should Edward go into the nearest hospital, seeking help and alerting everyone he was still alive? Should he go to some random person's house near his work building?
"Go to Carlisle. Lay low. Have a chat with him."
Siobhan barely had the words out when Edward pushed me off his lap and sprung up. "Absolutely fucking not!"
"Would you stop cussing?" she demanded, standing as well. "Think about it. This is the best option."
She had a point. I could see it…vaguely if I squinted, but Edward would never accept it.
"Keep your enemies close," I whispered, not realizing I actually said the words out loud.
"He's the devil, Isabella!" Edward spat. "And if I agree, which I won't…what's your plan?" He glared at Siobhan.
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