Capitolo Dodici

To exact revenge for yourself or your friends is not only a right, it's an absolute duty.

A/N: Incoming NSFW moments.

In the morning, I woke up to an empty bed. Last night, Edward was completely different than he had been that first night we slept together. I knew that he was frustrated and upset about what had happened with his sister, and the roughness mixed with the complete adoration that he treated me with was something that I really could get used to. I stretched, taking stock of what felt sore, then I flung the blankets off me, grabbed Edward's robe, and went into the bathroom. I took care of my morning needs and then turned the water on in the shower to warm up. While I waited, I brushed my teeth and grabbed a towel out of the cupboard, hanging it up with the robe.

I was halfway through my shower when I felt warm arms wrap around me, and I jumped. "You scared the crap out of me, Edward. I didn't even hear you come in."

He chuckled and kissed me on my back at the top of my spine. "That was the point. I'm pretty good at stealth."

I giggled and turned so that I was facing him. Locking my arms around his neck, I kissed him. "Good morning, cucciolone."

He smiled when he got over the surprise of me talking in Italian. "I thought you said you couldn't speak Italian."

"Just a few words. My mom called my dad that all the time, and it always stuck with me. I like it when you speak it more though. It's kinda hot."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. "Tu sei la mia principessa."

I laughed. "Okay, you're gonna have to help me out there. I know you said princess."

He gave me a quick kiss. "You are my princess."

I cupped his cheek, giving him a bright smile. "I am, for a very long time, I hope."

I pulled his lips to mine again, and rough Edward was back. He pinned me against the shower wall, the cool tile on my back in direct contrast with the heat of his body. I moaned at the sensation and felt like I needed to come up for air after his breathtaking kisses. He kissed down my neck, gently nipping the skin along the column of my neck, biting a little harder at the hollow of my throat. I cried out in a mix of pain and pleasure. He soothed away the sting of the bite with his tongue, running it along my skin, traveling to my right nipple. He swirled his tongue around the peak, his hand kneading my left breast and rolling the tip with his fingers, plucking it into a stiff peak so he could lick that one too. He went back and forth, licking and rolling, before taking them between his teeth, driving me crazy with ecstasy.

I ran my hands across his defined torso, enjoying the feeling of his ridged and cut muscles. I drug my nails down them, not trying to cause pain, but just catching his attention. He gripped my hair and pulled my face to his. "Are we getting impatient, bambina?"

I smiled because I knew that one. He had just called me little girl. "Next, you'll be asking me to call you Daddy."

"I'll also accept Master," he teased.

I smiled and weaved both of my hands into his hair, tugging. I caught him off guard and pushed him into the other wall of the shower. "Just make love to me, Edward."

He lifted me up and turned us, pinning me against the wall so that he could slide inside me, causing both of us to groan at the feeling. He started thrusting into me, and I had nothing to anchor myself, so I just kept my hands in his hair. "Oh, fuck, Edward. That feels…Jesus!"

"Just say it, Bella. Master."

"The best you'll get is a sir….holy shit." I squeaked as he changed the angle and slid inside me deeper, hitting spots I didn't know I had.

We were both panting, the steam in the shower making everything seem hazy and dream-like. "Put your arms around my neck."

I disentangled my hands from his hair and did as he commanded, and he pulled away from the wall. He brought us back under the spray momentarily, moving us so that we were still being misted. The water beaded on our skin, and I watched the droplets roll and fall. Our skin slid together better with the extra lubrication, making the sensation stronger. I could see that the strain of holding me up was starting to affect Edward, his legs shaking and his arms muscles tensing.

"Put me down."

He nodded and set me down on my feet, like I'd requested. Without hesitation, he turned me around, guiding my hips and resting his palm on the small of my back. "Put your hands on the wall so you can bend over." I looked at him over my shoulder, wiggling my ass at him before bending at the waist, my palms flat against the wall. He smacked my ass, and I gasped, looking back at him, surprised and incredibly turned on. He chuckled at my response and thrust inside me again, burying himself to the hilt in one move. I pushed against the wall as he started to thrust, offering some resistance. I was glad I did; otherwise, I'd have been worried he would thrust me through the wall. I was experienced enough in that I had a few sexual partners when I met Edward, but most of it was missionary and really fucking boring. In a just a handful of times with Edward, I was having some of the best sex in my young life and trying positions I had only heard of.

I had never had shower sex before either, but I could see the appeal when people talked about it. Edward pulled me to him by my shoulders, and I was so close to climaxing; I just needed a little something extra to push me over the ledge. I reached down, rubbing my clit, my fingers grazing where we were joined, and he groaned. "Fuck, that's hot. Watching you play with yourself. You gonna make yourself come, ragazza?"

I moaned and nodded. "Yes, don't stop, Edward."

Our moans, pants, and sound of pleasure mingled with the sounds of our bodies moving together, skin slapping against skin, made my arousal ratchet higher until I finally fell apart in Edward's arms. He wrapped them around my torso, holding me slightly up, and when I orgasmed, I convulsed and shook in his arms. He continued to thrust into me, prolonging my climax, riding me through it. I had finally started to come down when he rubbed my clit furiously again.

"Give me one more, Bella." His breath fanned against my face as he leaned over my shoulder, his chest pressed up against my back.

It felt like his words had a direct effect on my body because I fell apart moments later, and he soon followed me. I felt him spurt hot ropes of cum inside me before he slowly slid out of me. We took a few minutes to catch our breaths, and then with the little hot water that was left, we cleaned off, taking turns soaping each other up. He helped me wash and condition my hair, running his hands through the silky strands as he rinsed the soap out. When we finally toweled off, I was blissed out and ready to go back to bed for a nap. I looked at the bed longingly before walking to the dresser, grabbing my clothes for the day. Once I had my underwear and bra on, Edward openly ogled me as I went to the closet to grab a sundress I planned on wearing. I shook my head at him when he finally started getting changed.

When he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, we walked down the stairs, holding hands. Ted was sitting at the kitchen table, and when he said good morning, I could feel the cool way that Edward greeted him back. I saw Ted's brows tighten in confusion, but he seemed to brush it off. Emmett and Demetri walked into the house from the back door as Elizabeth came into the kitchen, pouring cups of coffee and offering them to the two guys without missing a beat. Ted looked even more confused. "Is something going on, Edward?"

"Just have some stuff to take care of with Emmett, and Dem is gonna stay here while we do." He said all this with nonchalance, like it was no big deal. Rose appeared in the entryway to the kitchen, and that was when everything went to hell.

The front door opened, and I heard Royce's voice before I saw him. I pulled Rose toward me, moving her so that she was behind my back. Royce saw all of us gathered in the kitchen and headed over to us. I walked forward to meet him halfway before he could make it any closer to Rose. "Don't. That's as close as I'll let you get to Rose." I turned to see that Emmett was standing in front of Rose, and Edward was a few feet back from me.

"Let me? That's my fiancée. Move out of the way, girl." His face twisted in anger, and I just wanted to junk punch him.

"Not a chance." I stepped closer to him. "Go ahead. Let's see what happens when you push a girl who decides to push back."

Royce looked around the room. When he met someone's gaze, he nodded minutely and looked at me again with a cold expression. "Move. I won't ask again."

I crossed my arms in defiance. I knew it was coming before I felt it, but the sting of the slap on my cheek hurt like a son of a bitch. My eyes started to water from the force of it. Before I could even react, Royce had four guns pointed at his face. Emmett and Demetri were aiming their handguns at his head from either side, and Edward had his twin Glocks trained at him straight on. Rose reached forward and pulled me back over to her, and Elizabeth, who looked like she was about to faint, gave me a bag of peas to hold up to my burning face.

"You just made a bad move. First, you abuse my sister, and then you slap my fiancée," Edward said, that emotionless face back. The menace and absolute anger in his voice chilled me.

"Dude, you are so dead," Emmett threatened.

Emmett was right because if he walked out of this house alive, he would be living on borrowed time. Emmett and Edward both loved Rose. Demetri was family. I was also now part of that family too, and I was about to marry Edward. Royce had messed with the wrong girls. I smirked evilly at Royce and flipped him off covertly. Elizabeth yelled at Ted to do something. He snapped out of his shock and walked over to the group of guys, trying to get this settled peacefully. They talked for a few minutes and after Emmett, Edward, and Demetri all holstered their weapons, Demetri escorted Royce out of the house.

Edward turned on his father. "You knew this was happening and you didn't do shit to stop it."

"What are you talking about? I just told him he was out of line for hitting Bella." He looked shocked and upset this had happened.

"You knew he was abusing Rose, Dad. Your own daughter." Edward was angry and looked ready to hit his dad.

"I didn't know," Ted feigned innocence.

"You saw him hit me and you walked away like nothing," Rose accused.

Elizabeth gasped and I saw tears swimming in her eyes. "Is this true?"

He shook his head, playing up the sorrow for Elizabeth. "I saw him slap her, but I didn't know that he was abusing her."

"Come on, Dad. If he slapped her in front of you, obviously he would escalate to other things," Edward replied, the frustration plain.

"I swear, I didn't know. Rosalie, angelo mio, I would never have let it continue if I knew." He stepped toward Rose.

She looked like she was unsure how sincere he was being, and Elizabeth left the room, crying. Rose nodded to her dad. "Go after her, Dad."

Edward walked over to me, grabbing the bag of peas I had pressed on my face. "Let me see, principessa." I lowered the bag, and he inspected my face, his finger lightly tracing over my cheekbone. "The redness is fading. No swelling." He took the peas from me and walked over to the fridge, throwing them back in the freezer. "You took that hit like a champ."

"That was the first hit I ever took, and it stung like a bitch."

Laughing, he pulled me into his embrace and kissed the side of my face that wasn't throbbing. "I will make him pay, Bella. No one, and I mean fucking no one, touches you without catching a bullet. You understand me?"

I nodded seriously. "Yes, Master," I said and smirked, our banter in the shower coming back to me.

"Smartass." He cupped my chin and kissed me. "Will you be okay if Dem stays here for a little bit while Em and I go handle this fucker?"

I looked over to Dem. He was joking around with Rose and Em. "Sure, but he'll probably have more fun with us than you guys will."

"I don't doubt that." He chuckled. Edward kissed me again, and I gestured with my head for him to take off. I knew he was chomping at the bit to go get his pound of flesh. He let go of me, heading toward the front door and calling Emmett after him. While I should probably have some moral qualms about my future husband going off to most likely kill someone, I really couldn't feel bad about this one. Rose had become my sister, and anyone who fucked with my family, fucked with me, and I was lucky that I had some serious fucking backup to handle some of the dirty work.

"So, Dem, how do you feel about comedy and ice cream?" I asked him, winking at Rose. He smiled and nodded.

While Edward and Emmett were away, we ate massive amounts of ice cream and potato chips and drank wine. Demetri joined in on eating the snacks but refrained from drinking, not wanting his reflexes to be impaired. We watched slapstick comedy movies, none of us being fans of rom coms, and needing some fall down laughing moments to distract us. As we laughed and joked around, I got to know Demetri a little better, and he was actually a pretty fun guy. I knew that he was stuck with us because he was acting as bodyguard, but I still felt like I was gaining another friend.

Ted and Elizabeth stayed away from the front room where we had congregated to hang out. I assumed they were either fighting, not hanging out with each other, or doing things together that I didn't want to know about. By the time Edward made it home, Rose and I were pretty toasted. I could barely keep my eyes open, but I remembered Edward having to carry me up to our room. He lay me in bed so that I could sleep it off, then he left to go meet with his entourage. I fell asleep before he made it back to the room.

The next week was a flurry of activity. Rose and Royce's engagement was called off at Elizabeth's insistence. She was formidable when she was pissed, and I felt a sense of giddiness watching her dress Ted down. There were calls to get all the wedding stuff canceled. Since Elizabeth had to deal with all that, I was free to plan my wedding with the details I wanted. I called Alice to see if designing a wedding dress was in her wheelhouse. She told me that she had already started on it. She also accepted being a bridesmaid since Rose had already been slotted in as my maid of honor. I knew Jasper and Emmett were going to be groomsmen, and I was fine with keeping the wedding party small.

When Elizabeth had a few minutes, she showed me the bridesmaids' dresses we had to choose from, and I agreed with the one she thought we would like the best. However, the color had to be tweaked a little since she picked a weird orange color. Our wedding was a little more rushed than usual because we wanted to get married soon, instead of waiting forever. We were only doing a huge wedding for the sake of the family; Nonnie and Elizabeth would probably both have heart attacks if we didn't have a church wedding. It was a given that we would get married where the entire family went to church, and there would be a reception held at a hall in Brooklyn that had already been booked.

Elizabeth went through the flower choices and helped me select ones that didn't mean I was mourning the loss of my freedom or some other weird faux pas. My favorite parts of the whole wedding planning were the cake tasting and seeing my dress design from Alice. She would have to work with a few other people to get it done in time, but it was a white dress that hugged my body until it hit the tops of my thighs, then it flared out. It had a beaded floral design that incorporated iridescent ivory flowers, silver threading, and beadwork of sundrop flowers, like the ones from the movie Tangled.

Other than the wedding stuff, I got cooking lessons from Nonnie on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Esme came along with me because she wanted to spend time with her nephew's future wife. Dem had become my constant shadow, acting as bodyguard whenever Edward wasn't with me, especially whenever I had to go somewhere outside of the house, so he came along too. We stood around the kitchen, Nonnie showing me the secret to making good tomato sauce, which she constantly referred to as gravy. She was so loving and patient, and I tried to reconcile how she could have a son like Ted. As she instructed me to keep stirring, I hesitantly asked a question that had been plaguing me for a while. "Nonnie, did you know my father?" I knew that Ted said they were best friends for a long time, so it would make sense that she would have known him as well.

Nonnie looked over at me, a soft smile on her face, crinkles forming around the corners of her eyes. "Your father was such a good boy. I'm so sorry, piccolina for your great loss."

"Can you tell me about him, from when he was younger?" I asked, trying to keep the tears at bay.

Apparently even though my dad came from a lower income part of New York and Ted grew up wealthy, it didn't seem to make much difference to them. Not long after they met Nonnie made Charlie an honorary member of the Cullen family, and he and Ted were thick as thieves, almost like brothers at times.

"You would never see one without the other. Those two boys were joined at the hip. My Ted always would try to get Charlie into mischief, and I was so grateful for your father acting like the voice of reason." Her tone was wistful as she spoke about the antics of their youth.

She went on to tell me how their differences eventually started to pull them apart. When it came time for them to decide what path their lives would take after high school, my dad chose to walk the straight and narrow, deciding to become a police officer. Ted, on the other hand, didn't have a choice. Eleazar had been grooming him to take over the family business, and honor and commitment were ingrained in him from a young age.

Nonnie said, "The only thing I saw your father more passionate about than the law was your mother. I know what my son gets up to behind Elizabeth's back, and trust me, I don't approve, but it's not my place to say anything. So when your mother met Charlie, she had stars in her eyes, and I was so happy that they both had a chance at real love. Your father was frantic to get away from the city, away from the life that Ted was trying to convince him to embrace."

"My mother—she said they wanted to have a family in Washington, but she didn't say why." The more Nonnie spoke, the more questions I ended up having. "Do you think that's why they left so quickly? Or did something happen?"

Nonnie didn't know exactly what had happened, but for them to have left so suddenly, not even three months later, something must have spooked him. I was glad that she had shared this information with me, giving me a glimpse of my parents from before I was born, but now I was desperate to fill in the missing pieces, to better understand what it was that had my parents fleeing.

With a pat on my hand, and a nudge to keep stirring, Nonnie went over to help Esme with the rest of the meal, leaving me lost in my thoughts.

I enjoyed hanging out with Esme and Nonnie so much that I almost didn't want to leave at the end of the night. However, when I got home, Edward gave me plenty of incentive to stay home with him. We also won what apparently turned into a bidding war on the house we wanted, and I made Edward promise that he hadn't threatened to ice any of the other potential homeowners. He just laughed at me at first but then promised it was all above board and he just was more persistent than the others.

When we moved to our new house, Demetri would be promoted to my permanent bodyguard. He seemed happy with the gig, so I didn't even try to argue the point about not needing to be babysat 24/7.

We were moving to the new house in a week, getting married in two weeks, and immediately taking a one-week honeymoon to Italy. Edward was working a lot of overtime, trying to get his many business affairs settled so that he could take a week off without shit going haywire. That meant that I was left to pack and order furniture and everything we would need to make our house feel like home. Rose called in the calvary to help; Alice, Esme, Victoria, Irina, and Corin all showed up with tablets and wine a few nights before we were set to move. Together, we managed to get Edward's and my room packed in record time. Before we cracked the wine open, we went over to my new house. The painters had finished earlier that day, and the girls needed to see the colors so we didn't order stuff that clashed. After taking a bunch of photos, we headed back to the house, where we spent the rest of the night ordering furniture and housewares.

At around midnight, I was extricated from Rose's lap, where I had fallen asleep, and carried to my bed by Edward. "Hey, sleepy girl. How was your night?" Edward asked as my eyes slipped open while he helped me get undressed and changed into pajamas.

"Hmmm. It was busy, but I had so much fun." I gave him a sleepy smile and climbed back into the bed after I finished with my pajamas.

"Yeah. Esme told Carlisle and me that everyone came together to help you." He took his shirt and pants off, getting into the bed with just his boxers on.

"I really love all your family and friends," I told him as he pulled me to him, settling my head on his chest.

He kissed me and smiled at me. "They are your family and friends now, too. Honestly, they aren't doing this just because we're getting married. They actually all really like you, Bella. They aren't required to like someone's wife."

"Well, I'm closer with Ro, Ali, and Es but the rest of them are all pretty cool chicks too."

He chuckled and I loved the way his laugh made his chest rumble. "I think it's funny that you have little nicknames for them already. They all call you B because of Rose."

"My favorite nickname is the one you call me," I whispered.

"Oh, the dirty one or the sweet one?"

"Both of them."

He chuckled because when we were around other people, or in public, he called me principessa as always. When we were alone, he started calling me bambina sporca. He told me it meant 'dirty little girl.' It had made me laugh the first time I'd heard it, but now it just turned me on. Hearing him speak Italian was hot as hell, and the fact that he had his own pet name for me made me feel special. There was still the occasional tesoro or cara mia, but it was mostly the other two. I'd gotten into the habit of calling him cucciolone often.

"Go to sleep, principessa. Tomorrow is one more day closer to the real beginning of our life together."

"Good night, amore mia." I yawned and fell asleep completely and quickly.

Translation:

Angelo Mio - My angel

Cucciolone- literally big cub. Another term of endearment.

Amore Mia- my love

A/N: So ding dong, the dick is dead. Well at least one of them. How do we feel? Leave a review and let me know. Thank you so much for reading. Later lovelies!