Screaming, crying, perfect storm. I can make all the tables turn. Rose garden filled with thorns. Keep you second guessing like, "Oh my God, who is she?" I get drunk on jealousy. But you'll come back each time you leave. 'Cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream. ~ Taylor Swift, Blank Space
EPOV
My cheek still stung as I walked out of the theater with Aiden. I kept a stern frown on my face, though every time I felt the sting of Bella's slap I wanted to smile. The fight might have been planned, but the slap sure as hell wasn't. It probably shouldn't have turned me on as much as it did. On any other day it would have been fine, but tonight was the start of our separation of sorts.
Bella would be living in the penthouse for a while, playing the part of disgruntled wife. I, on the other hand, would have to play the part of frustrated husband. It was fucked up, but we needed time. Time to find every fucker that was working with Petrov and time to find the hole in his plan.
He was a sadistic bastard and knew how much my wife meant to me. Showing him he was winning would hold him off. Hopefully.
Aiden was quiet as I dropped him off at home. I didn't have to ask to know what was going through his mind. He was blaming himself for what his mother was about to go through. I was doing the same thing, so I didn't have many words of encouragement.
"Will you be okay on your own for a while?" I asked him as we walked in the house. It felt cold and empty without Bella.
"Yeah… where are you going?"
"I won't be gone long. You should check your room; your mother left you a present."
I knew sitting on his bedside table would be a tiny wrapped box that held a USB drive. One with songs she had written about him, for him. As much as I wanted to see his reaction as he opened and listened, I knew it was an emotional thing. Bella was a wonderful songwriter, an award winning one, and it was a heady feeling knowing she wrote those words for you. It was why some of my most coveted possessions were the ones she gave just to me.
She never let me listen to Aiden's, telling me if I wasn't going to let him listen to mine, he deserved the right to keep his to himself. I went on to point out every sexual reference she made in mine, but she kept her ground. The only song she had written for him that I heard was the lullaby she would sing to him as a baby.
My mind wasn't on my destination as I drove. This was something I should have done years ago, and I wasn't quite sure why I never bit the bullet. Maybe it was because I knew Alice had a somewhat okay relationship with her, or maybe it was because somewhere deep inside of me I wanted my mother to give a shit. Or, maybe I was just too fucking busy to ever deal with her.
Esme and her new family hadn't left the city yet. The men I had following her told me she seemed to be enjoying being back, showing her husband and kids where she lived most of her life.
No one was there when I entered the lavish hotel suite they were staying in. She wasn't stupid enough to be staying at one of my properties, but that didn't stop me from being able to have a key made to this room. They were having a late dinner in the city and would be back within the next half hour.
I took my time wandering the suite. It was large enough for each of the children to have their own room. None of them had anything interesting. Esme and her new husband, however, were a different story. There was a small glock in a bag in their room.
With my time running out, I went to sit on the couch in the main room. It was dark enough that they probably wouldn't even notice me for a few seconds after they walked in. It was facing the door, though, so I would see everything.
The electronic click of the key card being read made me smirk to myself and realize that Bella and Ben had been right. We did get soft. It had been a long time since I allowed myself to relish in the feeling of causing complete and utter chaos. Too long since I saw the absolute terror on a man's face because he knew I was going to be the last thing he ever saw.
I missed it.
They all walked in, obviously slightly tipsy and happy after their time out together. It was the youngest daughter, Ellie, that saw me first and froze in her tracks. Everyone else had similar reactions to seeing me, except for Esme. She had the nerve to smile at me.
"Edward," she sighed. I took a minute to look at her. She was showing more obvious signs of aging these days, signs that would have popped up years ago if it weren't for the thousands she spent to delay it. There was nothing natural about her anymore. She wasn't my mother anymore.
"You always made it blatantly obvious you disliked Bella. All of the fake smiles and backhanded compliments, despite the fact that she was nothing but polite to you. I got it, too. She had the life you always wanted. She wasn't trapped in a loveless marriage and had free reign to have her own life. It was a fucking miracle I didn't ruin her, considering I was raised by Carlisle."
I leaned back against the couch, enjoying the terror that rolled off of the group in front of me. "But, it was a new low, even for you, to invite the widow of the man she murdered to dinner."
"I thought it was an accident?" she huffed back.
I smiled. "Accident or not, she put four bullets in his chest and you invited his fucking family over."
I doubted she knew about the Tony situation. It was probably just another notch in Petrov's plan, planting the seed of inviting Aro's wife to dinner in Esme's mind.
"She's an old friend, Edward. It wasn't done to hurt Bella in any way." The way she said Bella's name, like she was something dirty and unwanted, made me accelerate my plan.
I pulled out my own gun, aimed directly at my mother's chest. Finally, the group behind her reacted.
"Hey, now we can work something out," Alexander said, his hands slightly raised as he not-so-subtly started moving toward his bedroom. No doubt going to the gun he had stashed in his bag.
"Don't bother," I told him, tossing the pathetic glock on the coffee table in front of me.
"If it's money that you want – "
"You think I want or need your money? Do you know who I am? Who I'm married to? My wife was making more than you by the time she was twenty."
They all stood frozen for a minute, eyes on me. I savored the feeling of absolute control, knowing I had every fucking person in here at my mercy.
Everyone had different reactions to life or death situations. Some men thrived and showed their true selves, others pissed their pants. Literally. I'd seen it happen one to many fucking times.
When I pulled the trigger, the women screamed. Alexander and his son fell to the ground, saving themselves. Esme screamed, flinching and grasping her chest for a good thirty seconds before she realized she was fine.
"Next time I see you, it won't be a blank," I said with a smile.
Alexandria, Alexander's oldest daughter, looked at me fuming. "You'd kill your own mother?"
I stood from the couch, shrugging and buttoning my suit coat. "I killed my father. It was quite… cathartic, actually. Especially since he had just nearly killed my pregnant wife."
I hid my gun in my waistband and emptied the bullets from Alexander's into my pocket, just in case. "Any of you left in the city in twelve hours will be dealt with. Any of you that try to go to the press or try to talk about my family will be dealt with. Do not try to contact us again."
Esme was silent, not that I expected a heartfelt goodbye from her. Alexander and his family all looked flabbergasted. They formed an opening between them for me to get to the door. I stopped beside Ryan and couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Grow some fucking balls, man," I said, slapping him on his shoulder and eying the obvious piss stain he was sporting.
My body was wired for the rest of the night. When I got home I walked quietly down the hall toward Aiden's room, and heard soft music coming from it. I left him alone, glad that Bella found a way to comfort him even when she wasn't here.
It was a waste, having this pent up energy and no Bella here to expel it with. I checked my phone for the first time tonight before I got in the shower, smiling as I read her text.
Excellent acting, Mr. Cullen. Sorry about your cheek. I love you.
I sent a quick reply. I'll return the favor to your cheek(s) next time I have you all to myself. Love you.
Even though I had a perfectly solid marriage, and even though we both wished we were going to sleep in the same bed tonight, the promise of a night together in the future was all we had for now. Maybe there would be spanking involved, maybe not. It didn't really matter as long as she was there.
…Dark…
It didn't take more than a few hours before every online tabloid was 'breaking' the news that Bella and I were supposedly headed for a nasty divorce. It was still mindboggling to me, that people cared this much about her personal life. It was one thing to care about her music and career, but whose fucking business was it whether we were getting a divorce or not? Why did anyone care about whether or not we had a prenup? It was the holidays, there were millions of stories across the world that deserved more attention than our apparent marital issues.
This kind of attention was what we wanted, but I loathed it. Every time I heard her name on the television I tensed, remembering a time when it was usually followed by words like 'maximum prison sentence' or 'life behind bars'.
It had been two weeks since our public fight. Christmas had come and gone, but the whole family decided to ignore the holiday all together. I would make up for Bella missing her favorite holiday in one way or another when all of this shit was finished.
We knew more now. I had a detailed list of people working for Petrov and I had people working on hacking into his computer to see if they could find what evidence he had against Bella. I talked to the mayor and police commissioner and warned them people were digging into the Volturi brother's murders, hoping that would be enough for them to see that if Petrov planted anything against Bella, it was fake.
Tonight, I was waiting in my office. Petrov had the upper hand on me one too many times, and I refused to give him that satisfaction again.
I wasn't surprised when Roman Orlov walked in. He was cocky at first, thinking he was catching me off guard. His steps faltered the smallest bit when he realized I was waiting.
"How are things with the missus, Cullen?" he asked, taking a seat opposite of me. The Orlov's were a fairly new family to the area. They moved here about ten years ago and only dealt in low-level crimes. They were the farthest thing from a threat to us, but it wasn't surprising that they were working with Petrov.
I was silent, because he knew very well how things looked. Bella came and went from the penthouse that was (un)fortunately usually surrounded by a dozen or so paparazzi. They caught Aiden going in every once in a while, but there was never a sighting of me within two blocks of the place.
"I was surprised at how… fragile she was. She put on such a good face during that trial. She must be more fucked up than I realized if she believed the lies so easily."
"Watch how you speak about my wife," I grunted, wanting to say so much more.
"Maybe she won't be your wife much longer. Maybe she'll come to her senses, then who knows who'll get a chance with her."
His words were vile, and his smirk revolting.
"She had lunch with your sister the other day, talking about how tired she was of the secrecy and the lies."
I knew of the lunch, of course. It was all planned, but I still let my nostrils flare as he spoke.
"Did he send you here to gloat?"
"No. He sent me here to remind you that no matter how many people you have tailing him, you're going to lose." He got up and left quietly.
The tails were never supposed to be a secret. I'd be a fucking piss poor boss if I didn't have anyone on him, and he knew it. This was all a big mind-fuck for him. The only reason he sent Roman here was to gauge my reaction to what Bella had said.
I left shortly after Roman, not looking forward to what the rest of the night held for me. I called to check on Aiden as I drove, though I knew he was spending the night at Emmett and Rosalie's. He spent a night here and there with Bella, but most of his nights were at our house. It fucking killed me that part of our plan was making her seem like she was abandoning her family, abandoning Aiden.
Everything that was written about her in the last few weeks, I read. Usually on nights like tonight.
In order to keep up the façade that Bella and I were in trouble, I had made sure I was seen at a few of the various strip clubs I owned. It had been years since I really had to go to them to make sure things were running smoothly. Even longer since I ever wanted to go for the purpose of seeing women. Now, it was just to tell the public that I was looking at women that weren't my wife.
Except I spent the time I was in there on my phone, reading all of the shit people said about her.
Isabella Cullen's Midlife Crisis.
Isabella Cullen Spotted out with Peter Clark Amid Cheating Rumors.
Fall from Grace: Isabella and Edward Cullen Separate After Over Twenty Years of Marriage.
Shit. Shit. More shit.
I missed my wife. We talked on the phone whenever we could, but it wasn't enough. She had to have seen some of this. Even though I knew she cared more about our family than her reputation these days, I was sure she was hurt by how quickly the public flipped on her yet again.
"Fuck it," I mumbled to myself, finishing my drink in one sip and heading out. I tossed the keys to the car I drove here to one of my guards, and slipped out the back door with another. He drove in silence and I drummed my fingers on my leg, suddenly more anxious than I realized.
She should hate me. There were a million things for Bella to hate me for, and it felt like I was pushing my luck every time shit like this happened. It didn't matter how many times she told me she loved me or how often she rolled her eyes when I brought it up. Isabella Cullen was far too good to be associated with me.
We parked in the garage connected to the building, but at this point I didn't care if Petrov knew I was here. He could think I was coming to fight with her over what Orlov told me for all I cared.
Ben was standing outside of the penthouse door when I arrived. He had trained Alistar perfectly and he was more than qualified to take his place now, but Ben was refusing to retire until this whole thing was done with.
"Get some sleep," I told him before I walked in, locking the door behind me.
I felt more calm than I had in weeks when I walked in. There was a light on in the kitchen, but before I could walk in Bella emerged. Her eyes were on the mug in her hands as she blew lightly on it so she didn't notice me at first. I took her in, smiling at the glasses perched on her nose and the messy knot of hair on top of her head.
She was wearing one of my button-down shirts with a tiny pair of shorts peeking out underneath. Her legs were long and lean and I craved them wrapped around me. I was too distracted by her legs to realize she had stumbled and frozen.
"Jesus Christ," she shouted, clutching her chest and breathing heavily. "That's a great way to give me a heart attack, Edward."
Bella smiled at me as I walked toward her. I grabbed the warm mug from her hands and set it on the nearest table. Even though my instinct was to grab her and kiss her and do all of the wicked things I wanted to her, I wrapped my hands around her slim waist and squeezed gently, like I was making sure she was real.
I pressed a kiss to her forehead and sighed, feeling all of the stress from the last few weeks fade away. With my hands around her thighs, I picked her up quickly and sat in the nearest chair.
"I miss you," I whispered against the soft skin of her neck. "I miss you so fucking much."
It wasn't our longest physical separation by any means. Bella had spent months out of town filming on many occasions, then there was the time she spent incarcerated of course. This was different, though. This was us pretending that my worst nightmare was coming true, and it was fucking me up.
Bella pushed me back against the couch softly and framed my face with her hands. Her thumbs gently caressed what I was sure were deep, dark circles under my eyes.
"You're exhausted."
I couldn't argue.
"Come on," she said, sliding out of my lap and grabbing my hands to pull me up. "Time for bed."
When I smirked at her as I stood, she shook her head. "To sleep."
As much as I wanted to convince her there were more fun things to do than sleep, especially as she started undressing me in the bedroom, I was more exhausted than I realized. Sleepless nights were common for me, especially years ago when things were more uneasy, but I was ten years younger then.
I sighed as we got into bed, pulling Bella into my arms and burying my face in her neck.
"I miss you, too," she whispered, wrapping herself around me as tightly as I had myself wrapped around her.
"When all of this is over and Aiden's at college, we're going away together. Just you and me."
Bella sighed against me, nuzzling her head against my neck. "Where are we gonna go?"
I hummed to myself, thinking and running my fingers through her hair. "We could go back to the island. Or we could go somewhere we've never been. Spend more time sightseeing than locked up alone."
"I don't mind being locked up if it's with you."
…Dark…
The days following my impromptu visit to Bella were fine. Good even, considering I got a full night's sleep next to my wife. Would have been better if I hadn't had to rush out the next morning and got to have the reunion I had wanted, but the sleep was a close second to sex in that instance.
Our plan continued to slowly unfold as the days went on. Bella had Heidi leak a demo of a song online and it quickly made the rounds. News channels were dissecting the lyrics, fans were illegally downloading it, and my tail told me Petrov was smiling as he left lunch the afternoon it was released.
Now we're standing in the ring and you make the first swing and now we're fighting dirty.
Let me remind you for a minute why we're not fine. Is she here? Is she standing on the sidelines?
I never wanna hurt you but I'm tired of taking all these blows. And so, I'd rather be on your side, but if you wanna fight, baby, let's go.
It was a brilliant song. There were hits obvious enough to capture the attention of the public, let them think it was about our falling out, that we were battling each other. I knew, though, that the battle she was talking about wasn't between the two of us at all.
It was only about a week after my night with Bella that things went to hell again, starting as soon as I walked in the house after work. Aiden was in the living room, hunched over on the couch while the news played.
"A police report has been released, revealing details about an arrest made months ago in downtown Chicago. The report describes a member of the Cullen family getting arrested for illegal drug possession late one night. They were released hours later while no charges seemed to be brought up against them."
Fucking hell.
"While the Cullen described in the report could be a number of people, we have sources close to the situation leading us to believe the person arrested was Isabella Cullen, award winning actress and wife of notorious crime boss Edward Cullen. Isabella has been pushed back into the spotlight lately as her marital and family issues have come to light. With this latest development and the possibility that she's turned to illegal drugs, it's no wonder her world seems to be crumbling around her."
I sat next to Aiden and quickly turned the television off.
"We need to tell them it was me."
"No, we don't."
"They think Mom's a drug addict!" he shouted, looking at me like I was crazy.
"And I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that she would rather the world think it was her that got arrested than know it was you. The second news gets out you were the one using you'll never be able to hide from it. You could lose your spot at Northwestern, you could lose a million opportunities later in life because of it."
It was fucked, but the world immediately put a target on anyone that didn't seem perfect. The world knowing Aiden once had a drug addiction would put him at an immediate disadvantage for every opportunity that came his way.
"I can't believe everything is just so, so fucked up."
I sighed, knowing there was nothing I could do to dispute that fact. Things were fucked up, and our plan was working but progress was slow. We knew it would be. My meeting tomorrow was what everything was leading up to, but until then we had to live through this shit.
"Change out of your jeans and meet me in the gym."
"What?"
"It's time to get rid of some of that pent-up anger."
We spent a few hours in the gym, both of us getting disgustingly sweaty but feeling marginally better about everything.
"Be ready in thirty minutes and we'll go have dinner with your mom at the penthouse."
I hadn't seen Bella in a week, and it would play out perfectly in the media for us to visit her after this story was out. Our plan was unnecessary, though, because as we came upstairs from the gym there was a pretty little brunette walking in the front door.
She walked over to us immediately, then stopped in her tracks and scrunched her nose.
"Oh. You're both pretty gross. We'll save the hugs for after you shower, then."
"Mom, I'm really – "
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault. We'll talk more after you shower," she told him with a soft smile. The workout had obviously eased some of Aiden's tension, but not like Bella's few words.
I leaned against the wall and watched her for a minute until she caught me.
"What? Do I have a stain or something?" she asked, looking down at herself. She was in blue jeans that hugged every curve of her legs and ass, and a black turtleneck that hid far too much of her from me.
"Just trying to decide how I want you."
Bella raised her brows at me, smiling. Cutest fucking smile I've ever seen. "Who says you can have me now?"
"Well, that's what I was deciding. I could drag you upstairs with me, press you against the shower and make you come so fast your head is spinning. Or I could wait until I have time to savor you, until I can draw out your pleasure for hours and you're begging for me."
"You've never been big on delayed gratification," she whispered, her breath starting to come a little faster.
"No, I haven't. It could have its pros, though. Because from this moment on, I'll know you're thinking about it. Constantly. If I take you in the shower, you'll be satisfied for a while."
"I don't know about a while."
I smiled at her, because she was always on the same page as me. Always just as desperate for me as I was for her. And she had a point. I was never big on delayed gratification, especially where Bella was concerned.
Then I remembered how quickly things could take a turn. How even this morning things weren't as bad as they are right now.
Without much more thinking I lifted her quickly, ignoring the soreness in my muscles from the two hours Aiden and I just spent in the gym. As soon as she was within reach her lips were on mine, both of us groaning instantly.
With her legs around my waist I carried her up the stairs, stopping a few different times to press her against the wall because we both needed more. More skin to skin, more squeezing hands, more friction as I ground my aching cock against her.
The second our bedroom door closed behind us Bella had her sweater tossed over her head. She kissed her way from my lips to my chin, across my jaw and down to my neck. I dropped her on her feet, my hands immediately unbuttoning her jeans and roughly shoving them and the scrap of lace underneath down her legs. I wanted to take my time, taste every inch of her before I lost myself inside of her, but we didn't have that kind of time. Soon.
She stood in front of me naked, save for her bra, and focused so intently as her hands skimmed along my bare chest. She left burning trails as she moved, eventually pushing the sweatpants I was wearing down.
"Fuck," I grunted when she wrapped a firm hand around my cock, her eyes locked on her movements.
I pushed her back a few paces and fell onto the plush couch we had in the corner of our room. Bella stood between my legs, hesitating for just a second. I ran a hand down her abdomen, enjoying the way her muscles tensed as I went, and slid my fingers along, but never in, her pussy.
She was soaked.
"Do you miss me, Bella?"
"Always," she whispered, her voice far too sad for the moment. I knew it wasn't just sex she missed. It was our lives, our life outside of acting like we hated each other.
I played with her for another minute until I was rewarded with a deep moan, hoping to get her to forget the sadness.
"Take whatever you want, baby," I told her, pulling her into my lap. I skimmed my hands along her thighs, rubbing the tattoo of my name that she had on her hip.
With a hand on my shoulder for balance she guided my cock to her entrance with the other, slowly sinking down until we were complete.
"Oh, my God," she groaned, dropping her forehead against mine and casting her hair down around us like a curtain. Her movements were slow for a minute, her hips gently rocking against mine. Then she found her rhythm, her breath coming in huffs with every bounce of her hips.
My head fell back against the couch and my eyes squeezed shut because fuck if she didn't feel better than I remembered. Every time.
I ran my hands down her waist, stopping only to give her ass a light smack. "For the slap," I said, smiling up at her.
She was fucking gorgeous. Her cheeks flushed, her hair falling around her, and her eyes staring at me with more passion and love than I deserved. I had watched her ride me more times than I could count and would never tire of the way she lost all inhibitions when she was working us both toward our release.
I kissed and sucked and nibbled on her collarbone and the tops of her breasts, smiling against her skin as she moaned. As much as I wanted to sit like this with her for hours, we were on a time limit.
I could feel her getting close, feel the way she clenched around me with every movement. I grabbed one of her hands off of my shoulders, squeezing it between us.
"Feel that, Bella? The best damn thing in the world," I told her, savoring the feeling of her stretching to take me. I pressed my thumb to her clit and groaned when she immediately came.
"Fuck," I grunted, tossing my head back with my release.
Bella collapsed against me, her arms locked around my neck. "Tell me everything is going to be okay."
"Everything will be okay," I told her immediately, squeezing her waist and hoping I was telling the truth.
I carried her to the shower, removing her bra and holding her against me under the spray of warm water. We didn't talk, just let our hands wash each other and make up for lost time.
Twenty minutes later we were showered and dressed. Aiden was already in the kitchen, laptop on the counter as he stared intently at the screen.
Bella gave him a hug from behind as soon as she saw him. He could roll his eyes all he wanted, but I knew he missed his mother nearly as much as I did.
"Ma, I'm really – "
"What did I tell you about apologizing?"
"I just – "
"It's better this way. Something like this can royally fuck up your reputation for the rest of your life. I don't want you having to deal with that. Ever."
"I should be the one having to take responsibility for it, though."
Bella stood beside him and stared. With him sitting, they were nearly eye to eye. It was easy to figure out what she was thinking, because the same thing was running through my mind. Just a few months ago he was blaming everything on us and refusing to take responsibility for anything. Now, he was willing to throw himself under the bus to help his mother.
With the state he was in then, it would have been easy for things to never get to this point. We were pretty damn lucky to be here now, all things considered.
"In a normal situation, you would be right. For now, things have to appear a certain way, though."
Aiden looked like he wanted to say more, but kept quiet. The next few hours were better than the last month combined. We cooked dinner and talked about everything except what was going on around us. Aiden told Bella about the classes he wanted to take at northwestern and they talked about him starting school again in a few days.
Emmett and Jasper came over and I left Aiden and Bella to themselves while we talked in my office.
"No one is even considering the possibility that it isn't Bella," Emmett said.
I nodded.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Jasper asked me.
Leaning back in my chair I scrubbed my hands over my face. Was I ready? "Yes."
There was a soft knock on the door and Bella peeked her head in. "Can I talk to you guys for a minute?"
"Of course."
Emmett stood and gave her his seat in front of my desk, going over to sit on the couch to the side.
"I got a call from Heidi this morning. She sent me this script and… someone is trying to make a television show about me. A supposed detailed insight into everything; our marriage, the trial, all of it."
"They're remaking your movies into a show?"
"No. My movies are accurate. This show makes me out to be a monster." Fuck, she looked sad. Devastated.
"We'll make sure it's never made," I told her.
"There's nothing we can do. Shit like this happens all of the time, biopics that aren't endorsed by the actual subject. It's going to be a long time before it's actually made, the scripts are still floating from studio to studio, but I thought you should know."
Damnit. I wouldn't be surprised if Petrov was part of it, but it was just as likely it was a coincidence it was coming around now. I would have Liam look into it.
Bella sighed, looking up at me. "I should go."
I wanted her to stay. I wanted to fall asleep next to my wife, wake up to her beside me. I missed hearing the piano drift through the house while she worked, missed coming home to seeing her cooking in the kitchen with Aiden.
This entire night had given me a glance at just how much Petrov was trying to take away from me. I wasn't going to let him win.
…Dark…
While my family had been the biggest, most successful organized crime unit in Chicago for decades, that didn't mean there weren't plenty of other scum like us around the city. Successful scum, too.
There was Patrick Chen, whose parents had brought him to Chicago when he was a teenager, broke and starving. He now ran a highly successful money laundering operation that most of the city's biggest businessmen used to steal money from their companies.
Derek West had a quiet house in the suburbs with his wife and newborn daughter and was one of the best hitmen I had ever met. He got his start working for Aro and quickly jumped ship when he realized how psychotic he was. He'd been freelancing since and had taken out more people than I could keep track of.
Stella Giovanni took over running her family business after her father died when she was twenty. She was lucky the Volturi empire had crumbled by then, because she was quickly working up quite the reputation for her and her family. Something Aro surely would have put a stop to.
There were twenty more people in the room, all with similar stories. All of which lived in the area and detested following the rules just as much as I did. Some I had worked with in the past, others I hadn't.
We were in a warehouse about two hours outside of town. On the outside it looked like a rundown, forgotten place. Inside it was nearly as bad, except for the one area I turned into my conference room of sorts for today. It was dark, only lit by a few small lamps scattered around. The oval table was big enough for everyone attending, looking entirely out of place in the dilapidated building.
It was good enough for this clientele.
They were all waiting for me as I walked in. I gave them a curt nod before I took my seat at the head of the table.
"What do you want, Cullen?" Chen asked, looking entirely displeased with being here.
I couldn't blame him. Meetings like this rarely happened. None of us trusted the other, for good reason, too. Personally, I had fucked over at least half of the people here more than once.
"We have a Russian problem," I told them.
"I believe you have a Russian problem," Giovanni said with a smile.
"I have a plan. A damn good plan that I can't execute because Viktor is watching me like a fucking hawk."
"Still doesn't explain why we're here," Chen said.
"We're here because I need all of you to do it for me."
Some people laughed, others huffed and looked at me like I was insane.
"What in God's name makes you think we'd help you?" West asked.
"You wouldn't be doing it to help me. You'd be doing it for my wife."
"Your wife?" Giovanni questioned.
"My wife. The woman who could have taken every fucking one of you down in the blink of an eye. Who was stronger on the witness stand than I've seen half of you be."
"You and that fucking actress have caused a lot of trouble, Cullen."
"My wife," I continued. "Who got rid of the biggest threat to all of us when none of us were brave enough to."
Everyone was silent.
As much as I hated to admit it, Aro was very close to overtaking the Cullen's thanks to Carlisle's fuck ups. Hell, he had Emmett, Jasper, and I locked up for his disappearance. To this day I still wondered what his end game was with that plan, wondered what would have happened had Bella not lured him out.
We weren't the only ones he pestered, either. Aro had his hand in a lot of shady deals, deals with the people surrounding me. I was confident their dealings with him were about as unpleasant as mine.
"Shit. She really did plan it," one of the men further down the table mumbled.
It was my turn to remain silent.
"Of course," I continued, after letting them all think for a minute. "There's also the fact that if Petrov wins and my wife or son get harmed in any way, I will burn this city to the fucking ground. All of you included."
It wasn't an empty threat and they knew it. Again, everyone was silent for a moment before conversations broke out around me.
"She is almost… insufferably kind."
"She talked to my niece for half an hour at an event a few years ago, and she still talks about it."
"Volturi beat the hell out of her. Did you see the police report? If she really did plan it, she was fucking committed to it."
"You're all falling for this shit? He's just trying to get us to do his dirty work."
"Yes, I am," I admitted. "I'd do it myself if the second Petrov showed up dead every member of my family wouldn't be arrested."
That was one of the new pieces of information we had. Petrov had plenty of plans in place, many of which included evidence and eyewitnesses that would place any member of my family at the scene of the crime, should anything happen to him. He seemed to be taking a page out of Aro's playbook, just to fuck with me.
"Think about your lives without me, and with Petrov in my place. Now, I know I'm a ruthless bastard but have I ever gone after anyone's spouse or child?"
To me, wives and children were always off of the table. It was, surprisingly, a rule the Cullen's had followed long before I was around. Well, the Cullen's before Carlisle when insane. It was something I was even more passionate about once I had Bella.
In most cases, wives were just a bystander in the whole thing. Did they deserve to die because of their husband's wrong doing? Did the children deserve to live without a mother, or God forbid, get hurt because of their father? No.
This was obviously a rule Petrov had no qualms about breaking.
"Fuck it. I'm in. I've always had a crush on your wife. It'd be a shame for her to rot in prison," Giovanni said with a smirk. Perhaps it was sexist of me, but hearing a woman say she had a crush on my wife didn't result in the same rage it would have if one of the men at the table said it.
"Thank you, Stella," I told her sincerely.
This wasn't a position I liked to be in, asking others for help. My pride was inconsequential at this point, though.
"I thought you and your wife were getting divorced, anyway?" one of the men to my right asked.
"It was obviously just to distract Petrov, you bumbling idiot," Giovanni grunted.
I couldn't hide my smirk. I had worked with her on a few random things over the years, but I never realized how similar she was to Bella. Sarcasm and callousness all wrapped up in one observant package.
"Damnit. Fine, I'm in," West sighed. Out of everyone, I knew the wives and children speech would hit home for him the most. Several of the men here made it no secret that they had multiple women on the side.
With two down, I knew they were about to drop like flies. Because this life was like one big high school cafeteria; you were either in or out, and no one liked being on the outside.
…Dark…
I had to do a double take as she walked in my office. "You cut your hair."
It fell just above her shoulders now, swaying with every step she took. It reminded me of the time she did the same thing, right before we went away together after the shooting.
"Nothing says full mental breakdown quite like cutting off eight inches of hair."
I frowned, wondering if she was struggling more last time she cut her hair than I realized. Thoughts for another time.
I rounded the desk and pulled her to me. It had been two months of sneaking around, seeing her only a few times in between. Months of reading articles and comments from people constantly tearing her down. It was all paying off, but that didn't make it any easier. Petrov seemed to believe the lie completely, thanks in no small part to the lengths Bella was willing to go to sell the story. Like chopping off eight inches of hair.
"Are you ready for this weekend?" I asked her, leaning against the edge of the desk with Bella pressed against me.
"Yes. I just… I need all of this to be over with." She sighed against me, burying her head in my shoulder.
Bella never complained. She never yelled at me for putting her through hell again, and she never got upset over the lengths we had to go to get this done. She put on a smile for Aiden every time she saw him, even though I knew it killed her that she didn't see him more.
"Soon. Finally. Have you decided where you want to go?"
It would be months from now, but once Aiden got settled at Northwestern I was taking her away. Not for too long, because I knew she wouldn't want to be away from Aiden for months on end, but for a few weeks at least. If there was one thing I knew about my wife, it was her need to decompress after shit like this.
"Yes. Somewhere in a snowy mountain. Maybe a small cottage with a fireplace and a hot tub and a king size bed for you to make love to me in all night."
I peppered kisses along her forehead down to her cheeks and chin. "Done."
We stood like that for a while. Not saying anything and just enjoying a few minutes alone while we could.
"Was there a reason for your visit?" It wasn't planned, but it was greatly appreciated.
"I just needed you to tell me everything was going to be okay again."
"It will," I told her, hoping she could hear the determination in my voice. "Aiden is beside himself about this weekend."
Finally, I got a small smile out of her. "Good."
"You're leaving tonight?"
"Yes. I was on my way to the airstrip. We drove by your office and I just wanted to see you."
I squeezed her tighter to me. "This weekend." I told her.
This weekend we would finish this.
Bella sighed against me, backing away and straightening herself. Her eyes skimmed my desk and she picked up a crystal pen holder.
"Do you like this?"
I shrugged. She threw it at the wall, the holder shattering into a million pieces, and winked at me as she walked out. I could barely hear her muttering something about me being a selfish bastard under her breath.
…Dark…
It was the perfect alibi. The cops would see it as planned, but the fact remained we were all seen blatantly in public on the other side of the country when shit went down in Chicago.
Bella's friend Peter was having a sort of goodbye show in Los Angeles. The stadium was sold out and he had invited Bella to not only perform with him, but also arranged for the label to finally be signed over in her name before the show. It all worked out quite well; him making a few visits to Chicago to meet with her about the label and show led the press to rekindle rumors of their supposed romance. And the show was a spectacular alibi for everyone in the family.
Bella had arrived in Los Angeles a few days early to rehearse with Peter, while Aiden and I were flying out the night before so he didn't miss any school.
"We've got to convince Mom to go on tour again," Aiden said, sitting across from me on the jet.
"Why do you want her to go on tour?"
"Well… it's what she does, isn't it? She lets the public go through their faze of hating her, then puts out an album to shut them all up and set the record straight. Plus, it'd be pretty fucking cool to see her perform in front of seventy thousand people."
"You'll get to see her perform in front of about sixty thousand tonight."
"Yeah, but it's Peter's show. It's different."
It was different. I had been to plenty of her shows in the past, and there was an air about them that I didn't feel anywhere else. It was hard to describe.
"Is school still going okay?" He had been back for nearly a month, but things seemed to be going fine. Jackson, the friend that had introduced him to Tony, got sent to live with his uncle in Florida thanks to his drug issue so we didn't have to worry about him. I wasn't sure who is friends were these days or even if he had many thanks to his time away.
"It's school. I go, I learn, I go home. I'm just biding my time until I start at Northwestern."
"I'll walk you around campus when the weather is better."
The rest of our flight was uneventful. It was fairly early in the evening when we arrived, thanks to gaining a few hours on the flight over. Considering we were a few time zones away, we saw no issue with staying with Bella at her home in Los Angeles for the night. The rest of the family was in a nearby hotel. Bella's house was what most would consider a mansion, but it didn't have enough room for our entire family.
It was a flash of Déjà vu as we pulled up. Bella was sitting on the steps waiting for us, looking nervous and excited. She stood as soon as the car pulled up and watched as we both got out. It wasn't exactly the same; the first time I was here she ran into my arms then we went inside and I claimed her as mine for the first time.
This time she sat there and watched Aiden and I walk over, smirking at us.
"What's so funny?" I asked as we got closer.
"You two. You're my two favorite people in the world." She gave Aiden a quick kiss on the cheek, and me a quick peck on my lips before turning around and going inside.
I had been a little apprehensive bringing Aiden back here, considering this was where we stayed after getting rid of Black, but he didn't seem anxious or upset at all as we walked through the house.
I quietly watched Bella and Aiden most of the night. We ate dinner, talked about what our day tomorrow would be like, and went to bed fairly early. Bella got herself ready for bed while I showered. When I came out of the bathroom, running a towel through my hair, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, mumbling to herself, her wrists in handcuffs.
"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice more angry than I wanted it to be.
She looked up at me, her eyes wide and a little scared before she started fumbling with the key. It fell from her hands and I knelt at her feet, grabbing it and quickly unlocking her wrists.
"What were you doing?"
"I didn't like it. When you grabbed my wrists. I just… thought I should be prepared."
I didn't respond because I didn't know what to say. I let the cuffs and key fall to the floor and got us situated in bed, Bella with most of her body draped over mine.
"We're almost there, Bella."
"I know," she sighed. "I don't want to think about it anymore."
She curled up next to me, and fell asleep in just a few minutes. I laid there all night, playing everything out in my head and hoping there wasn't something I missed.
We got to the stadium early the next morning. Aiden flashed his All Access pass whenever he could. He was wandering around while Bella got ready for her meeting with Peter to sign over the label. She'd already sat through having her makeup done and was straightening a pale pink dress down her front. It was tight down to her knees and fell off of her shoulders.
Aiden and I watched as Bella signed the papers with a smile for the small crowd. Claire, Heidi, and Kate showed up then, right as a few reporters started asking Bella and Peter questions.
I had only met him a handful of times, but Peter seemed like a good man. Never judged Bella for anything, never butted into other people's business. I was glad Bella had him on her side, especially now.
Bella walked a few steps ahead, talking with Kate and the other women while Peter walked with Aiden a few steps behind. I kept to myself and kept an eye on both of them, while an overwhelming sense of foreboding threatened to consume me.
Every what if invaded my mind and I wanted to grab the both of them and get out of the country. That could be my plan b, I supposed. My worst case scenario.
My plan is solid. It'll work.
I repeated that to myself as the day wore on, as Bella's dressing room filled with family and she got ready, going from her pink dress to black leather leggings with a white, slightly roomy, button down white shirt tucked into the front.
Everyone else left when Peter's set started. Bella wasn't set to join him for a song for about an hour and a half, so we had some time to ourselves.
"Tell me you don't want to do this," I told her, sitting down beside her on the couch.
"What?"
"Tell me you want to back out. Tell me to find another way."
"If there was another way, we would have found it already," she said carefully. "This has been the plan from the beginning. I'm okay with it, I trust you."
It was the two months of constant stress, I think, that made me snap. "Christ, you shouldn't, Bella! I'm the reason you're constantly caught up in this shit."
"Edward –"
"Don't tell me I'm not. And I can't… There are very few things that terrify me to my fucking core, Bella, and seeing you go through all of this again – "
"I do trust you, Edward. Even when you don't trust yourself." Bella pulled my hands from my hair, situating herself on my lap. "We'll be okay. Right now, Petrov and anyone who was doing his bidding are being picked off one by one, and that's all that matters."
Before either of us could say anything else Kate peeked her head in. "Time to get moving."
Because kissing was very much off limits once her makeup for a show was done, Bella pressed two fingers to her lips softly, then pressed them to mine before she followed Kate out. Heidi and Claire walked with me out to the crowd, to the area where Peter had his friends and family sitting for the show.
I stood beside Aiden, leaning over the guardrail and watching everyone around us.
Peter started talking to the crowd, telling him about a surprise he had, and Bella appeared. It never failed to astound me, that the girl that would blush if I said the right thing could go up on that stage in front of sixty thousand people without batting an eyelash.
And, in a way only Bella could, she made me feel better even though I was only one of the thousands of people she was singing to.
Took you like a shot, thought that I could chase you with a cold evening. Let a couple years water down how I'm feeling about you. And every time we talk, every single word builds up to this moment and I gotta convince myself I don't want it even though I do. You could break my heart in two, but when it heals, it beats for you.
I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and knew it was time. I nodded to Emmett and Jasper where they sat, and leaned down to talk to Aiden. "Stay with your Aunts, okay?"
Emmett and Jasper followed me back to Bella's dressing room. She was pacing the small space and froze as soon as the door opened.
"Are they here?" she asked quietly, so quiet I could barely hear her after the screams from moments ago.
"Yes."
She nodded, fidgeting with her fingers. "I know I was all confident before, but I –"
I was across the room in a second, my arms around my wife. "It'll be fine. I promise, Bella, I won't let what happened before happen again."
There was a knock behind us, and we all angled ourselves toward the door. Emmett and Jasper flanked Bella and I on either side. I kept my arm securely around her waist.
The police officer spoke softly but confidently. "Mrs. Cullen? We need you to come with us."
A/N: Here we go… next chapter posted as soon as humanly possible, I promise.
Song lyrics used in the middle of the chapter are from an unreleased Taylor Swift song called Battle (the chapter 35 song). Then the lyrics toward the end are from Back to You by Selena Gomez.
