Bella had walked over to the kitchen counter and pulled out an envelope. "This," Bella said, sitting down and tossing the envelope on the table, "is what we need to talk about first." She sighed and took the items out of the envelope. "I came home last night and found this in the back screen door. I don't want to hide anything from you so I think you should just read it," she handed the letter to her girlfriend who took it and visibly gulped, opening the letter and began to read quietly, her eyes roaming with frantic speed.

When she finished, she folded the letter and sifted through the Polaroids. She looked up at her girlfriend, wiped a single tear from her cheek and spoke quietly, "well, what do we do next?"

"We?" Bella asked with her eyebrow raised. "This is a me thing, pet not a we thing."

"From what I read, this doesn't just concern you. It concerns me, your sisters and Tonks as well." Hermione softened her voice when she saw the pain cross her lover's face. "I don't know what this guy is capable of but I'm guessing it's not good." Bella turned her head, refusing to meet eyes with her. "Look, Bella. I love you. With my whole heart. I'm in this," she reached across the table and grabbed her hand. The dark-haired woman finally looked at her, her eyes clouded with tears that were threatening to spill. "I can see that you are scared and I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. So," she squeezed the hand she was holding, "we will come up with a plan together."

"I don't deserve you." Bella sighed, standing up and coming over, bringing her lips down to gently brush against Hermione who tilted her head up to meet her in the soft, lingering kiss. "You are an amazing woman, dove, and I truly don't deserve your love," she rested her forehead against the younger woman's as she reached up and wiped away the few tears Bella had shed.

"We deserve each other, Bella. I will tell you that everyday if I have to."

Bella stood and pulled Hermione up, "I suppose we need to come up with a plan. I have an idea but nobody is going to like it." They walked into the bedroom and Bella immediately started to get dressed.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked, walking over to the closet trying to find something appropriate to wear.

"To see my sister," Bella said as if it was the most obvious answer. "Like you said, this involves all of us and before I carry on with my stupid plan, they need to know what's at stake." She put on a black lace bra and pulled a white ribbed tank over her head, she put on some black fishnets and pulled on a pair of black cut off shorts. She completed the look with her doc martens and threw her hair up in her signature messy bun. She turned around and saw Hermione staring at her with hunger in her eyes. "No time for that now, pet," she chuckled when she saw Hermione blush, "go on. Get dressed. You can ravish me when we get home," she winked at her and started to walk out the door when she stopped at the sound of her girlfriend's voice.

"Just how dangerous is your plan?" Hermione visibly swallowed down her nerves.

"There's no scenario that isn't going to be dangerous, Hermione." Bella sighed as she made her way into the living room to send a quick message to her sister.

11:15am

Hey. I need to talk to you and Andy. It's pretty important. Can Hermione and I come over?

11:17am

A text message from my oldest sister before the afternoon… it must be serious.

11:18am

Can we come over or not?

11:20am

Yes. 1:30? That'll give me enough time to round up Andromeda. Can it wait until then or is this like an immediate situation?

11:25am

1:30 is fine. We will bring Dora. I'll just close up this afternoon. Reschedule my clients.

11:27am

Reschedule? I'm worried now. Either something is seriously wrong or you actually proposed.

11:29am

No. This isn't going to be a good meeting. Just get Andy there. Please. We will see you soon.

11:30am

Okay.

11:36am

And don't even think about mentioning the proposal. We haven't talked about it yet. I'm afraid that it'll have to wait. Tell Andy. No funny business.

11:38am

Of course.

Bella put her phone away and reheated her cup of coffee, taking a long sip before taking her mug outside of the kitchen door, sitting down on the top step, lighting up a cigarette and taking a long drag. She held the smoke in reveling in the familiar burn that filled her lungs and cleared her head. "Fuck," she said as she exhaled the smoke, two streams leaving her nose. "Fuck," she said a little louder inhaling another deep drag. "Why now?" She asked nobody as she held the puff until it burned, finally giving in and exhaling. "This can't be happening again," she took a sip from her coffee when she heard the door open behind her. Hermione came out, carrying her coffee. She was dressed in a light blue sundress with lacy stars embellished over the dress, completed by a pair of white flip flops. "Do you always have to look so fucking adorable?" She smiled brightly at her girlfriend before stubbing her cigarette out on the step.

Hermione looked over at her girlfriend while taking a sip from her reheated coffee, "well, it's not everyday I'm in the company of all three Black Sisters. I always try to make a good impression. I don't want them to think I'm sullying the name of their eldest sister."

Bella let out a hearty belly laugh from deep inside of her. It felt good to be able to laugh. Hermione laughed with her, her heart swelling at the deep sound of genuine laughter coming from her girlfriend. "Oh pet. My sisters already love you. They probably even like you more than they've ever liked me. There's no need to dress to impress," she reached over and started to run her fingers over Hermione's exposed thigh. "If you really want the truth, they would probably rather have you over for tea than me." She laughed at her own self-deprecating joke though Hermione could see the pink tinge on her cheeks.

"No," Hermione stopped Bella's wandering hand, grasping it on her own and gently rubbing her thumb across the back of her hand, "I doubt that very much. Your sisters adore you." Bella scoffed and Hermione bumped their shoulders together. "You need to stop rubbing my thigh or else we are going to be very, very late for this meeting and then your sisters won't be too impressed with me," she laughed.

"Just as well," Bella said, leaning over to place an open mouth kiss just under Hermione's ear. She whispered, "later then." She pulled away, winked then finished her cup of coffee. "Come on, we have to bring Dora with us. Are you finished?" She pointed to Hermione's cup and the brunette nodded while Bella held out her hand to take her mug. "Let's go downstairs and make sure we didn't traumatize Dora last night." Bella chuckled while walking through the door and quickly washing the cups. Hermione grabbed her phone and handed it to Bella who playfully rolled her eyes and put it in the pocket of her shorts. "I see how it is," would always be the remark the older woman would make when Hermione would wear a dress but refuse to carry a bag. "Fine," the older woman would always roll her eyes and shove whatever Hermione needed her to carry in one of her pockets, "only because I love you and you give me those fucking eyes that I can't resist." The brunette definitely had Bella wrapped around her little finger and she was sure that she clung to that finger like it was her life support. "Oh hey," she called out when she was placing the cups upside down in a towel to dry, "I finished your sketch. I think. I'm still tweaking it but I'm almost ready to mark you for life, dove."

Hermione's face lit up, "really?! Can I see it?" She asked with so much excitement in her voice.

"No, not until after it's on your body." Bella smirked, "a lesson in trust, darling. I want it to be a surprise. Don't worry it's not obscene. Just trust the artist. You'll love it."

"You want me to let you tattoo me without seeing the sketch or stencil?" Hermione took a moment to think about the level of control that she would be relinquishing if she let Bella do that and she wasn't sure if she was comfortable with it but she also trusted her girlfriend with her life. "Okay."

"Okay?" Bella's grin turned into a full blown smile.

"Okay," Hermione nodded.

"Next weekend then. I'll clear my schedule for you, pet." She took Hermione's hand and walked her over to the door that led down to the shop, "ready?"

"I don't see why you won't just tell me why we are going over to Aunt Cissy's now." Tonk's called out like a petulant child in the back seat, "it's not any one's birthday that I missed or a random bank holiday."

"You'll find out soon enough." Bella rolled her eyes, "just be quiet, listen to the music and look out the window." Hermione suppressed a laugh at the family dynamics filling the car. "Now, be a good little Dora and I might stop to get you an iced coffee."

"That is rather tempting," Tonk's pretended to think over her options before adding, "I just don't see why I had to cancel my clients today. Is this going to take the rest of the afternoon?"

"It's hard to tell." Bella shrugged and looked at her niece through the rear view mirror, "it honestly depends on if your mum or aunt will kill me before anything gets settled."

"Oh a possible family murder," Tonk's smiled, "well why didn't you start with that. I'm happy to go now."

"This is the strangest family I've ever been around," Hermione rolled her eyes from the passenger seat.

"And you love us all the same," Tonk's said, earning a nod from her aunt.

"Exactly Dora," Bella agreed, "her life would be boring as hell without the Blacks." She chanced a glance at her girlfriend and smirked, "you love us and you know it. There's no denying it. You wouldn't fool anyone with falsifying the facts now, love. You are in too deep with us all."

"Yeah, look at her," Tonk's leaned forward putting her head in the front seat, "she's wearing a fancy sundress to your possible murder. She cares."

Bella cackled as Hermione turned and pushed the pink haired girl's head back into the back seat, "stay back there and for the love of god, put your safety belt on."

Tonk's grumbled and she reached up and pulled the seat belt over her chest and clicked it in place, "are you happy now?"

"Very." Hermione deadpanned when Tonk's stuck her tongue out at her, crossed her arms and looked out the window with a little scowl, trying not to smirk.

"Okay," Bella smiled. Her heart was filled with warmth watching the sisterly interaction unveil between her girlfriend and her niece. "Behave children. Look coffee," she pointed as she put on her turn signal and entered the drive through line. "Now, get whatever you want and I don't want to hear a sound for the rest of the drive." The car of women broke into laughter. The rest of the car ride to Narcissa's house was filled with happy conversation, bad singing and jokes.

Bella pulled up to the front of a large foreboding house tucked away on a corner lot in the suburbs of London. Hermione's mouth hung open. "You'll catch bird shit like that, pet."

"Cissy lives here?" Was all the brunette managed to say.

"Welcome to the Black family home," Bella said as she took the key out of the ignition, left the car and opened the passenger door, holding her hand out for Hermione to take, "or as I like to call it the land of nightmares and abuse."

"You grew up here?"

"Yes and I got out as soon as I could," Bella laced her fingers with Hermione as they walked to the door with Tonks leading the way. "I turned 18 and moved the hell out of here the first chance I got."

"Oh come on, mum tells me happy stories all the time," Tonk's turned around to join the conversation.

"Ahh but how many times have you heard anything good about your grandparents?"

"Well," Tonk's smile turned sheepish, "none that I can recall."

"Exactly. We did have a lot of good times here when it was just the three of us," Bella looked at the house and a tiny shiver went through her body which did not go unnoticed by the brunette who squeezed her hand a little tighter. "We should go in."

Bella walked the short distance to the door and went to knock on the door when Narcissa flung the door open, "it's about time." She stepped aside, "come on in. Andy is in the family room. We've been taking bets on what this is about." The three women stepped through the threshold, "Hermione. Welcome. Did Bella tell you this is where she grew up?"

"Hi Cissy!" Hermione hugged the blond woman before simply saying, "yeah we were just talking about it." She whispered to the youngest Black sister, "before we leave I need to see some baby pictures of Bella."

As if on cue, her girlfriend swept her arm around her whisking her away from her sister, "oh no you don't pet. I was an ugly little thing and I will not subject you to those horrors."

"Trust her. She was ugly," Andy said as they entered the living room. "You don't want to do that to yourself."

"Oh fuck off Andy. You weren't a cute baby either." Bella pulled Hermione over so she could smack Andy on the back of the head before taking them to sit on the love seat.

"Well not all of us could be beauty queens like our dearest baby sister." Andy and Bella glared at Narcissa as she followed Tonks into the room pulling the doors shut behind her.

"We can talk about my beauty another time," Andy and Bella both dramatically rolled their eyes but did not interrupt, "I believe we are here for a reason. Bella?"

Bella took a deep breath when Hermione leaned over and whispered so quietly that even she wouldn't have been able to hear if she wasn't listening, "you can do this. I'm right here with you."

"This letter was waiting for me when I got home last night along with the Polaroids in the envelope. I think it's in everyone's best interests here if we come up with a plan together on how to best handle this." She passed the letter to Andy who was the closest one to her at the moment. Everyone sat in awkward silence as the letter and Polaroids were passed around.

"So what's the plan?" Tonk's spoke first after she finished the letter. "We fucking shoot this fucker and call it a day?"

"Something tells me it's not that simple, honey." Andy looked over at her daughter with a half-smile.

"Yeah," Bella unfortunately agreed with her. "If we shoot him then there will just be another guy waiting in the wings to come after us. Tom is the highest Lord in the drug ring. We would have to somehow pull off getting him arrested and actually convicted this time." Bella scratched behind her ear, "unfortunately there's a whole new group of assholes following him. All the guys I knew are still in prison so I'm not sure who exactly we are dealing with but knowing Tom, they are no joke."

"So what do we do?" Narcissa asked with a serious nature in her tone.

"Well I have an idea," Bella shrugged, "but I'm sure nobody here is going to like it."

"What is it?" Hermione asked, reaching behind Bella and putting her arm around her shoulder.

"To meet with Tom, get myself back into the ring and somehow get him caught without him finding out and killing me or any of you."

"That's not much of a plan." Andy rolled her eyes. "Seems like it's only going to lead to someone dying.

"Well what do you suggest, Andromeda. Because I'm open to anything at this point." Bella was frustrated and Hermione could feel the tension in her shoulders.

"I still say we shoot the mother fucker and go from there," Tonks looked down at the pictures in her hands. "A sick fucker like this doesn't deserve to live."

"We shoot Tom, we all die." Bella deadpanned.

Hermione tried to speak up, she cleared her throat but nobody could hear her over the loud arguing that was going on between the four Black women. "Hey!" Hermione said a little louder than she would normally speak which caused all of the women to stop and look at her. The sudden attention caused her cheeks to turn pink, "I was just going to say that I'm good friends with a detective."

"That's something to lead the conversation with," Tonk's winked at the girl. "So who is this bloke and how do you know he isn't already in with Tom and his people."

"I'm pretty sure he isn't because he's new to the force and he's my age. We were friends in highschool and still talk pretty regularly. He's a good, honest guy. I mean… it wouldn't hurt to talk to him before Bella sacrifices herself to this plan of going all in."

Everyone sat as if thinking over Hermione's words, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to talk with this…"

"Harry."

"Harry," Bella eyed her girlfriend with only the slightest bit of jealousy. "We wouldn't be able to meet anywhere around here and I'm sure our phones are out of the question at least without using some sort of code."

"She could use a burner phone," Cissy stood up, walked over to the desk and pulled out an old flip phone.

"Do I want to know why you have that?" Bella asked, taking the phone from her baby sister.

"Probably not but I have a few of them if the need arises." Cissy smiled.

"Do you think the cabin is safe?" Andy asked.

"I think it's far enough off the grid that they wouldn't be able to locate us there while we are coming up with a plan. But we can't just abandon the shop. If we all just disappear, they will get suspicious." Bella handed the cell phone to Hermione for her to use to contact Harry.

"We could always close up for a long weekend, go to the cabin, plan and then come back. Everyone takes holidays in the summer. I don't think that'll seem suspicious." Hermione noted, then snapped her fingers, "we should talk to Minerva about this."

Bella nodded, "yes. I think that's for the best. She's probably no safer than the rest of us. She got me out of prison."

2:45pm

Harry, this is Hermione. Don't ask any questions but I need to meet with you. It's a delicate situation and needs the utmost discretion.

2:46pm

Hermione? I suppose you aren't going to tell me anything here. Are you safe?

2:47pm

For now. Can you meet me next weekend at a cabin a little ways out of town? I know this all sounds crazy but I really can't say much on the phone.

2:50pm

Text me the address, day and time. I'll be there.

2:51pm

Thank you Harry. I owe you big time.

"Harry's in," Hermione closed the flip phone and put it away. "He just said to text him the address, date and time. I trust him. He might be able to help us come up with a plan." Bella was about to interrupt but Hermione just kept talking, "help us come up with the safest plan that ensures we all make it out of this alive." She turned and raised her eyebrow at Bella to see if she still had something to say. "I won't let you sacrifice yourself to Tom because you think your life is any less important than the rest of ours. We will deal with this together as a family."

"Well said," Cissy commented, "tea?" She asked before she excused herself out of the room to make tea for her guests.

"You know," Andy spoke up after Cissy left the room, "I think you are the first and only woman Bella has brought to this house."

"Oh really?" Hermione grinned at her girlfriend.

"Don't look so surprised, Pet. Aside from Lily, you are my first real relationship. I didn't date."

"Yeah, what is it you used to say? You just enjoyed the company of women." Andy smirked when her sister shot her a glare.

"Shut it, Andy." Bella shot back.

Hermione knew that these women in Bella's past were some time ago but it didn't stop the jealous feelings from bubbling up inside of her, "well you are all mine now so none of those other women really seem to matter."

"Jealous Hermione is here," Tonk's laughed, "I love when she comes out to play. Careful mom. She might punch you square in the jaw."

Andy held her hands up in surrender, "no need. I quit. I value my life too much to get on Hermione's bad side."

"I'm glad you see the error of your words, Andromeda." Hermione let out a little chuckle that made the curly haired woman's heart clench. Bella absolutely loved seeing the playful interaction between her girlfriend and her family. This was something she wanted for the rest of her life. If they survived this whole Tom thing, she would definitely need to revisit the proposal.

————

The week went by with relative normalcy. Hermione wasn't sure what to expect with a drug lord threatening her life but the sun rose and set as it had everyday of her life for as long as she could recall. She did make Minerva aware of what was going on and was even invited to sit in with Bella during her Wednesday session which meant a lot to Hermione. The level of trust that Bella had to have to invite into her counseling session meant the world to the younger woman. The sheer vulnerability that Bella put out during her sessions was amazing to Hermione and honestly pulled her into her web even further. "I love you so much," she whispered to her girlfriend as they left the office together that evening.

Friday afternoon, she left the office early to make sure she was back at the shop before evening. She had worked it out with Minerva because she felt safer coming home to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. She walked through the front door to The Dark Mark and was shocked, unmoving as she saw Bella sitting at her station which was set up for a tattoo but the shop was meant to be closed for the weekend. "What's going on?" She asked though she had a fair guess as to what was happening.

"I promised you a tattoo this weekend." Bella smiled up at her while filling her ink caps with various shades of gray and black, a few random colors were aligned with the shades.

"We are leaving for the cabin in the morning. I just assumed this was put on hold until all of this other stuff was behind us," Hermione walked over closer, noticing the absence of a stencil.

"I don't want to wait any longer." Bella noticed Hermione looked at her set up and smirked. "I have the stencil in the back. A lesson in trust, love," she stood up and circled her arms around the taller woman's waist, "do you want this?" Hermione could only nod her consent and Bella's eyes twinkled with delight. "Perfect, then I'll trust you to not peek while I apply the stencil and once you lay down, it'll be out of your view until I finish." She kissed Hermione on the cheek before leaning up slightly to whisper, "this is going to be my favorite tattoo."

Bella walked back to the copier room as Hermione stood around with both nervous and excited butterflies filling her stomach. "Where's this going?" She asked, pointing to the stencil Bella was holding as the older woman made her way back over.

"I'm thinking on the front of your thigh, love. A little above your knee. I won't lie. That area will probably be a little sensitive especially since this is your first but you strike me as the pain is a pleasure type of client." She winked at Hermione whose stomach was doing flips now. "But, I have some numbing cream here," she pulled a little container out of one of her drawers. "We can put some on and wait a half hour. You probably will only feel the pressure then."

"No," Hermione said after weighing her options. "I want to feel it." Bella nodded and put the cream back but the younger woman reached out and stopped her, "but if it hurts too much, can I still have some?"

Bella chuckled and said, "of course. We will just keep it right here. Don't be too shy to let me know. Now, pants off love." She saw a look of worry cross Hermione's face. "No need to worry, pet. The shop is closed and we can lock the door." She reassured her girlfriend as she moved past her to lock the front door. Hermione had to use all of her willpower not to turn the stencil over. "I thought for sure you would've cheated," Bella laughed, coming up to stand next to her. "Come on now, pants off."

Hermione rolled her eyes but took her pants off standing in her dress shirt and black lacy knickers. "Do you have a shirt down here I can put on instead of my dress shirt?" Bella nodded and tossed Hermione one of her various black band t-shirts that were hanging on the back of her station. She brought the shirt up and inhaled. It smelled like her and it was an intoxicating scent. She made quick work of changing out of her button up and into the shirt. She stood in front of Bella in a shirt a little too short for her and her lacy underwear and the older looked like she wanted to devour her. "Like what you see?"

"Oh my pet. You have no idea how hard it is going to be concentrating on tattooing you instead of worshiping your body like you are the alter to my own personal god." She picked up the stencil and a bottle of liquid. She squatted down in front of the brunette, "this liquid will help the stencil stick once I place it. It might be cold but try not to move." Bella rubbed the liquid onto Hermione's leg and she closed her eyes. "Feel good?" Hermione hummed in confirmation. "Okay no peeking. I'm going to put the stencil on." She carefully lined up the stencil where she wanted it to sit on Hermione's leg, gently pressed down, smoothing the paper onto her and sat back on her heels. "Okay I'm going to pull it off slowly, then take a look to make sure it's where I want it. Then I'm going to need to lay down on the table. I'm trusting you here, pet." She winked up at her girlfriend who opened her eyes for only a moment to nod in confirmation and give her artist a loving smile. Bella pulled the paper off and it seemed like a lifetime to Hermione before she heard her say, "it's perfect." She stood up and took Hermione's hand. "All right, up you go." She helped her up onto the table and Hermione laid back, "the stencil needs to dry so it's going to be a few minutes still before we begin. Just remember to breathe so you don't pass out on me. And if it's too much just let me know, we can try the cream or just stop." Bella sat down on her stool and rolled it over to where her machine was and pulled the table and Hermione closer to her. "How do you feel?"

"Scared. Nervous and excited. Honestly a little exposed here in my lacy knickers." Bella laughed at Hermione's truth. "I'm excited to see the final product. How will it feel?"

"Hmm. Some people say it feels like little scratches. Some say it feels like a bad sunburn. Some say they don't feel it at all." Hermione contemplated Bella's words, "I guess you'll have to let me know when we finish." She rolled up to the head of the table and leaned forward, placing a soft lasting kiss on her girlfriend's lips. "Ready love?" Hermione nodded, "you'll be fine. I promise. We will just start with a few small lines so you get used to how it feels and we can go from there. And remember,"

"If I need the cream, then I'll let you know. I'm ready." Hermione reassured her girlfriend who seemed to be more hesitant than she would've thought. The first test buzz of the tattoo machine startled her slightly. It was a much more intimidating sound in close proximity wearing nothing but her knickers.

"Here we go," Bella said quietly as she leaned in close, wiped the stencil once, put on some ointment and looked up one last time for confirmation. When Hermione smiled at her, she brought the machine down and made the first pass over a small line. "How was that, love?" She looked up waiting for the verdict.

"Not the worst thing ever." She responded, causing Bella to laugh. "Carry on."

"As you wish," she replied and turned her attention back to her art.

After a while, the pain subsided and Hermione figured she had just gotten used to the initial shock. Of course some areas were more sensitive than others and the longer Bella stayed in one area the more uncomfortable it got but not once did she feel like she couldn't handle it. "So," Hermione was tired of listening to background music and wanted to engage her girlfriend in conversation, "how did you get into tattooing? All this time together and I still don't think I know the story."

"It's not really an amazing story, love." Bella looked up at her girlfriend. She grabbed a fresh piece of kitchen roll and washed down her work, rubbing it with the towel. She peered at her work and put some more ointment on before starting again. "Lily worked here and when we started dating, I asked her if I could apprentice because I've always loved art. Unfortunately that's also when I met Tom. And you know how it ended."

"How did you end up with the shop?" Hermione flinched when Bella hit a sensitive spot on the upper part of her tattoo.

"She didn't have any family. I found out after I was out of prison that this place was left to me in Lily's will. I couldn't believe it. I was lost when I got out of prison and to find out this place was waiting for me meant the world to me. There was no way I wasn't opening the shop back up. Cissy came and answered the phones for me and it was just me for a while until I let Dora be my apprentice and that's led us to where we are now." Bella smiled up at her. "I just hope we get this all workout out with your friend tomorrow so we can put all of this behind us for good." Bella went back to her work, "not much longer now, pet. We are nearing the home stretch."

After twenty minutes and then another ten excruciating minutes when Bella added the white highlight ink, she finally felt her artist clean her for the final time. "All done, love." Bella looked at her expectantly, "are you excited?"

"I'm so ready to see it. I tried to get a feeling of what you might be drawing from the way you moved the machine around but I got nothing," Hermione shrugged as Bella laughed. "Can I stand up?"

"Yeah," Bella held out her hand, "but go slow. That was a lot of trauma to your leg and you might be light headed. Here," she guided her to swing her legs around the side of the table and helped her to sit up. "All right. Are you okay?" Hermione nodded and loved the extra care her girlfriend was giving to her. If she saw Bella give this much attention to any of her other clients she would kill them instantly. "Come on, let's walk to the mirror." Bella guided Hermione over to the mirror with her hand covering the brunette's eyes. "Okay, I hope you love it." She removed her hand from her eyes, "well?" She asked expectantly as she saw Hermione take in the sight of her first tattoo.

Hermione stared at the tattoo in the mirror and swallowed, "Bella…"

To be continued…