13

"I can't believe I agreed to this," I muttered, nervously fidgeting with the silver bracelet dangling on my wrist. Carlisle laughed, his hand covering mine. "It's not funny!"

"Oh, it's plenty funny," he scoffed. "You act like I'm leading you to your death."

"Aren't you?" I asked, looking at him as he drove through a greenlight and took a right. "I know this is important to you, but I don't know. I feel . . . uneasy about leaving the boys with Alice and Esme."

Carlisle nodded, but didn't offer a reply. I knew he was annoyed by me, by my inability to let go of my fears and have fun, but how could I? A madman was after me, someone who had already proven they were willing to kill innocent babies if that meant he could get to me. The news that Gabriel Varner was really Aro Volturi had me spiraling even more than I already had been, and nothing Carlisle did was helping. And he'd been trying a lot. My body had never ached so much from our many, many rounds of love making.

Demetri was working hard with Detectives McCoy and Hitchens, trying to find my crazed stalker, but so far, it was like he had just vanished. But I knew he was out there, biding his time, waiting until me and my loved ones were at our most vulnerable, and then he would strike, ending all of us. Every day I left the boys at school, fearful that they wouldn't be there when I returned. I couldn't focus on my own classes, either. How was I supposed to study when every noise had me terrified?

I shivered, automatically bringing my hand up and placing it over my heart as I looked out the window of Carlisle's new car. After the police had to confiscate his as evidence of Gabriel/Aro's numerous crimes, Carlisle had refused to drive it again, so he signed it over to the police for auction, and bought himself a new car.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?" Carlisle asked, pulling my attention back to him.

I smiled. "You did when I took off my clothes to shower. And then again when I got out of the shower, when I tossed my towel in the hamper, put on my panties, but said you preferred me not to put my dress on because you wanted, and I quote, to bury yourself in my pussy and fuck me until I was screaming your name."

Carlisle laughed. "Well, I've also considered pulling over and fucking you in the backseat, too. That's how beautiful you look."

I giggled. "You're a little too obsessed with sex, lover."

"Only sex with you," he said, turning into the parking lot of the medical co-op. "I really don't want to be here tonight."

"Neither do I," I told him, "But it's important for Phil's investors to meet you and Edward, know that he's brought in two amazing doctors."

"Hmm," Carlisle hummed before parking in his usual space. He was out of the car and at my door in a matter of seconds. He held his hand out to me, and I felt my skin warm as I placed my fingers on his palm and slid out of the car, straighten the green cocktail dress I wearing. It was shorter than I liked, but Alice, Rose, and Esme swore it was perfect. "You're ravishing."

My cheeks warmed even more. "Thank you."

I wrapped my hand around the top of his arm as we walked across the busy parking lot and into the building, find ourselves in the middle of a couple dozen people that I've never met, which instantly put me on the defensive. Seeing as Carlisle moved his hand to the small of my back, I knew he understood just how uncomfortable I felt.

We spotted Jasper and Edward standing in the back of the room with Phil, so Carlisle led me back to join them. Jasper looked just as uncomfortable me, and I knew this was the first time they'd gone to a work function as lovers. It was a big step for them, not having to hide their relationship, which I was glad they were able to take together.

"Hey, guys," Jasper said, giving me a look before leaning over and kissing my cheek. "You look stunning, Bella."

"Oh, thank you," I murmured, shifting my eyes from him to Phil, who had a huge smile on his lips. "It's nice to see you again, Dr. Dwyer."

"I believe I told you to call me Phil, Bella," he laughed, reaching for my hand. When I gave it to him, he covered it with both of his and smiled. "I believe congratulations is in order. The last time I saw you, you two were engaged. I hear that you've made an honest man of our Dr. Cullen."

"Well, someone had to," I said, nervously.

Phil laughed, but before he could say anything, a bushy-haired brunette walked up to us, smiling as she looped her arm in with Phil's.

"Dad, you're hogging our guests," the girl chided, looking from him to Bella. "I don't know you."

"Nor I you," I said, curtly.

She smiled wider. "Jessica Stanley."

"Bella Cullen," I said, unsurprised when she looked from me to Carlisle, her smile somehow widening.

"Oh, so you're the wife we've heard so much about over the last few weeks," she laughed, and when I looked up at Carlisle, he gave me a meek smile. "Oh, don't be coy, Carlisle. You've told us so much about your bride, I feel like I've known her my entire life!"

"Hmm, can't say the same," I told her. "He's never once mentioned you."

"I would hope not," she laughed. "If my husband was talking up another woman, I'd kick his ass." Jessica reached out and wrapped her fingers around the top of my arm. "Let's get a drink."

"Um, okay," I mumbled as she pulled me away from everyone else and over to the bar.

She snapped her fingers to get the bartender's attention. "Two white wines."

"Make mine a water," I said, and when she cocked an eyebrow at me, I added, "Underage."

"Ah, one white wine and how about a ginger ale?" she suggested. I nodded, so she titled her head toward the bartender before looking back at me. "You looked like I'm about to pounce."

"Are you?" I asked.

Jessica smiled. "No, I'm not into girls. Anymore, at least. There was this period in high school, but I think that was just because of my dads. Though, that doesn't make sense, does it? You'd think my dads would have made me want dick."

"What?" I sputtered, causing her to laugh.

"Oh, my God, you don't know about my dads, do you?" she chortled as the bartender placed our drinks on the bar. "Thanks, sweets," she purred, winking at him before handing me the ginger ale.

"Thanks," I murmured. "So, um, your dads?"

"Phil's my step-father. Well, kind of. He was."

"And he's not anymore?" I asked, entirely confused.

"Not legally," she said. "Not that he ever was legally. He and my real dad never got the chance to get married."

"Wait. What?" I groused, shifting my body toward her. "Phil's gay?"

"Oh, yeah," she laughed. "See, my mom and dad split when I was a baby, but my mom didn't want me, so he got custody. When I was ten, he sat me down and said, 'Honey, I've got something to tell you. I'm gay.' Of course, I didn't really understand. I was only ten, and at school, being gay was, like, this horrible insult, you know? Anyway, he said that he'd met this guy and he really liked him and he wanted me to meet him. So, we all went to dinner, and that's when I met Phil. I wasn't sure what to think about him at first, because he's usually really shy. Anyway, I could tell that my dad really liked him. After a few months, he asked me if I would be okay with Phil moving in. This was while we were living in Mississippi. Now, I didn't care because I'd gotten to know Phil and he was really cool. He'd play games with me, took me shopping, did all stuff that my dad hated, so it was awesome. But people in Mississippi didn't like it, and they ran us out of town."

"That's horrible!" I exclaimed.

"Right!" Jessica nodded, her eyes wide and full of excitement. "It was horrible. People are just . . ." She huffed and shook her head. "Anyway, you can imagine. Dad and Phil decided that if the people in Mississippi didn't like us there, we'd move. So we did. We came here, and things were prefect."

"So Phil and your dad are still together?" I asked.

Jessica frowned. "No. My dad got sick a seven years ago. Just before my senior year. Heart disease. Two open heart surgeries in less than five years proved to be too much. He passed away two years ago."

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"I still have Phil. He loves me like I'm his. Gave me a job when I graduated from Berkeley."

"You're lucky to have him," I told her.

"I am," she agreed, placing her hand on my elbow. "And so are you. I haven't had the chance to get to know Carlisle very well, but he's a really nice guy, and a fantastic doctor. You're lucky, Bella."

I nodded, feeling my eyes fill up with tears. "I know."

Jessica and I made our way back over to where Carlisle, Edward, Jasper, and Phil were chatting, though I could tell Jasper was still feeling very uncomfortable.

"Okay, Dad, you've stalled enough. It's time to start mingling," Jessica laughed, sliding her arm back in with Phil's. "Let's go. It's time to schmooze the investors."

Phil groaned, but nodded. "Yes, honey."

As they walked away from us, Carlisle slid his arm around my waist, his hand covering mine as I held my glass. "Wine?"

"Ginger ale," I told him, smiling as I looked at him. "You and Edward should go get a round of drinks for us."

Carlisle nodded and kissed my cheek before motioning for Edward to follow, which he did with some reluctance. I stepped up next to Jasper and slid my hand his arm, shifting us so that we were facing the windows.

"I don't know about you, but I've never felt so out of place," I murmured.

"No shit," Jasper grunted. "We ain't in Forks anymore, Swan."

"No, we're not," I agreed, looking over my shoulder. Edward and Carlisle were talking to two men at the bar. Carlisle smiled and gestured toward me, before leading them back in our direction. "Shit, they're bringing people for us to meet. Think we can make a break for it?"

"No," Jasper laughed, looking back as well. "They're cute. I hate them already."

I snickered as we reluctantly turned back and faced Carlisle and Edward just before they stopped in front of us. The first of the two men was tall, broad in the shoulders. He had shockingly red-hair and looked to be closer to Peter's age than Carlisle's. The other was younger, but reminded me of Sam and Jake, which wasn't a good thing. I was still angry at the way they had treated me and Carlisle, using my age against me. I wasn't a child, I hadn't been one since my father died and I became responsible for the town drunk.

"Isabella, Jasper, I'd like you to meet Liam O'Conner and Embry Call, they're partners here, as well. Gentlemen, this is my wife, Isabella, and Edward's boyfriend, Jasper," Carlisle introduced, sliding his arm around my waist, while Edward placed his hand on Jasper's back.

"It's great to finally meet both of you," Liam said, holding his hand to me. I barely put mine in his before he was jerking it up and down and had moved on to Jasper.

"Carlisle and Edward have told us so much about you," Embry added, but didn't offer me his hand, which I found both comforting and uncomfortable. Was he afraid to touch me? Or maybe, he was just trying to respect my personal space. Either way, I found it odd.

"Hope it was good," Jasper chuckled, nervously.

"Mostly," Embry laughed. "No, I kid. It was all good. We've really enjoyed getting to know them over the last few weeks."

"Oh, well, that's great," I said, biting the inside of my cheek as Carlisle's ears turned pink. "What are your specialties?"

"Pediatrics," said Embry, while Liam said, "Psychiatric."

"Ah," I murmured, once again thinking about the mad man after me. I shivered and automatically shifted closer to Carlisle, who tightened his arm around me. The feeling of someone watching me became overwhelming, and I drained my glass of ginger ale as I looked around the room, almost expecting Aro Volturi to be standing on the other side of the room.

"So, Isabella, Carlisle tells us that you're a student over at Berkeley," Liam said, pulling my attention back to him. "What's your major?"

"Um, I'm undecided for now. Thinking about biology, maybe."

"Do you like science?" Embry asked.

I nodded. "I find it fascinating."

"Bella's brilliant," Jasper said, smiling at me. "She graduated top of her class."

"When your classmates are idiots, that's not hard to do," I scoffed, gasping when I realized I had said that out loud. "I'm sorry, that was—"

"Probably true," Embry interrupted with a laugh.

"It was," I admitted. "But still rude of me to say."

Charlotte Sinclair waltzed over to us, smiling as she placed her hands on the top of Liam and Embry's shoulders. "We're supposed to be mingling, gentlemen."

Liam and Embry groaned, but turned and made their way into the crowd, stopping and taking to the investors. Charlotte laughed and looked back over at me. "Bella, right?"

"Yes," I murmured.

"It's lovely to see you again," she said, quietly. "Are you enjoying life in the city? It has to be a drastic change from Forks."

I inhaled deeply and nodded. "I love it here. For the most part, at least."

"Took me a while to adjust when I first moved here," Charlotte admitted.

"Where are you from?" Jasper asked, drawing her attention to him.

"Texas. North Texas, actually." She smiled and held her hand out to him. "You must be Jasper."

"Last time I checked," he quipped, and I saw Edward bit his lip to keep from laughing. "It's nice to meet you . . . Sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Charlotte Sinclair. Dr. Charlotte Sinclair," she told him. "And you're a Texas boy, too. It may not be very thick, but I can still hear that twang."

Jasper laughed, but before he could say anything, his phone started ringing, drawing the attention of many of the people in the room. His face turned bright red as he dug it out of his pocket and stepped away, muttering, "Hello."

Jasper's shoulder's tensed as he looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes widening. "Mmhmm . . . Are you sure? . . . Okay, okay, we'll be right there. Just stay where you are . . . Okay, bye."

Jasper sighed as he hung up the phone, dragging a frustrated hand over his face and through his hair as he turned and looked at me. "Don't freak out, Bella."

"He found them, didn't he?" I whispered, feeling all the color drain from my face. "Didn't he, Jasper?"

Jasper paused, but then nodded. "Alice and Esme took the boys for ice cream. As they were driving back to the house, they noticed a car parked next to the path leading to the house. They didn't stop, because, well, they were scared. They drove around for a bit, making sure nobody was following them, before taking the boys to Peter's."

I closed my eyes, feeling the tears that always seemed to be there seep from the corners and down my face. "I knew he'd come after them," I whispered, turning away from everyone and starting for the door. I'd barely taken a few steps when Carlisle wrapped his arm around me, leading me through the crowd, muttering an apology as we bumped into them.

Behind me, I could vague hear Jasper and Edward trying to explain, before they followed us out of the building and over to our cars. As we drove to Peter's, I stayed curled up in my seat, ignoring Carlisle's touch as he placed his hand on my leg, trying to reassure me that everything would be okay, that we'd be okay. But we wouldn't. As long as I was with them, the boys would always be in danger. And as much as I loved them, I couldn't put my selfish need for them ahead of their safety. The only solution I saw was to leave.

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