-The Twilight Mafia-
Chapter Seven
*Edward Masen*
It didn't take long - only about forty-five minutes or so - for the girls to finish up with their shopping at the dress shop. I thought it was amusing that the girls had gotten at least six to eight dresses, with Bella having the least amount and Alice having the most. My Babydoll did not look all too pleased with the amount she was holding in her arms.
The guys and I were hovering around in the shop, watching the girls and letting them be by themselves without us shadowing their every step. The few women that were in here barely paid any mind to the fact that we were hovering. The women who couldn't afford the clothes were watching me mostly, whispering to one another - probably trying to see if they could flirt with me and manage to get me to pay for their clothes. The other women, who could afford this stuff, were watching hyper-active Pixie pick up dresses and snicker when she ordered her sisters to get dresses she would point out.
Once they were done, they each went out to us. Bella was scowling at the many dresses she was forced to get, and huffed when she was by my side, seeing my smirk. "Someone's not happy." "Alice is forcing me to get these dresses." she growled, and I snickered. "May I have a look at them?" "Why?" she asked cautiously. I sighed and said in return, "I would like to know what craziness your sister is forcing you into." She shrugged and handed me one dress at a time.
I admired each dress for at least two minutes, just imagining how gorgeous she would look in each of these clothes. "Good choices. I think you should change into one of these before we go to another store." I offered and she raised an eyebrow. "What?" "Bella, I'm only merely offering you a chance to wear something other than that club outfit you have on. It would probably feel nice to be into something new, fresh and clean." I persuaded her, and she blushed at my tone that I used.
Finally, she sighed this time and muttered a "Fine." I smiled and keeping the dresses over my arm, I gestured for her to move ahead of me so I can pay for these. She crossed her arms and let me shadow behind her to the cash register. The woman behind it perked up once she saw me, and began batting her long, fake eyelashes at me, her overly red lips slipping into a wide smile. "Why, hello there. May I help you?" she purred directly at me. Bella held back a smirk, and wrapped her arms around my waist. I was quite shocked to see this; Bella Swan, who no doubt sees me nothing more than an asshole, is actually trying to stake her claim before this petty woman?
Smiling, I replied, "Yes, you may. I would like to pay for my girlfriend's dresses here." Her smiled slipped some, but she nodded and began ringing them up, taking time to fold them up and put in them in a black bag for me. I looked down and see Bella trying to hold back her snickers at how the woman was using some slight force in shoving the dresses into the bag. I reached down and placed my hand on her hip, where she blushed and looked up at me wide-eyed.
"It's not nice to laugh at other people's upset." I whispered to her, and she giggled a little. "But it's hilarious to see someone jealous." she whispered back, snickering. The woman glanced up with a glare, scowling at Bella for her giggling.
Once all of the dresses were inside the bag, I handed the cashier my black credit card, while Bella took the bag off the counter. We waited there as she punched in the numbers, and then gave me the receipt. "Enjoy the rest of your day." she told us with a false smile, and I held back a chuckle. "We will; thank you." Bella cheekily replied, and we left the store together. Outside, two guards came up to us while Bella laughed.
"That lady was seriously boiling in there." she sneered, and I chuckled lightly. "Thanks for saving me some uncomfortable staring from her, though." I murmured and she blushed. "Eh, I don't know what you were talking about. I was just getting cold from the shop and needed some warmth." she whispered, and turned away, fiddling with the handles of the bag. I smirked to myself, but decided to let that go.
The others joined us, and we let the girls go to a public bathroom, with three of the female guards who were nearby, to change. They came out later - Rosalie, a tight red dress, Alice a light pink, thin-strapped short dress, and Bella, a short, strapless vibrant blue dress - and went to our sides once again. It took with all that I had within myself not to drool or ogle too openly at my Babydoll, since her dress really showed off her assets; which was basically everything that was her body.
She cleared her throat after a minute or two, and I shook my head to rid myself of my dirty fantasies, to see her cheeks were a delicious pink. "So, where to next?" she muttered, and I coughed. "Um, the shoe store?" "YAY!" Alice squealed then, overhearing me. Bella groaned and scowled up at me. "Don't you realize what you have done?" "Hey, you said you ladies needed to go shopping." I muttered, and with an arm wrapped around her waist, I began hurrying her in the direction of the shoe store here downtown.
She was shivering on our way there. "What's wrong?" I asked her and she wrapped her hands around her bare arms. "There's a br-breeze, and I'm barely wearing anything." she hissed, and I grimaced then. "Hang on." I whispered, leaning down to kiss her forehead. I was surprised to see that she didn't really smack me or yell at me for that close contact, but I didn't focus on that at the moment.
Soon, after fifteen minutes of walking, we reached the next store. I entered and hurried Bella to the nearest seat, sitting down next to her and shouldering off my coat of my suit. "Edward, it's fine." she began to argue when I was putting the coat around her, but I shook my head. "You okay, Bella?" Rosalie asked her sister once they caught up with us in the store. Bella nodded her head, pulling the coat tighter on her.
"Um, can we help you all?" one of the sales girls here in this empty shoe store asked us as she came around the counter of the register. "No, we can handle everything on our own. We'll let you know if we need help." Jasper politely said in return, and she nodded her head before joining her friend.
"Come on - I want to get lost in the world of shoes!" Alice squealed and dragged Jasper away with her. Rosalie shook her head but let Emmett follow her after her younger sister. I stood and offered Bella a hand, where she took it and I let her lead me towards the direction of the sneakers. "Not much of a high heel girl?" I asked her quietly when we reached the sneakers, after looking to see where her sisters were going.
"I am, but I'm more practical than my sisters. I would like a pair of some comfortable shoes, you know." she said, holding up a pair of expensive, athletic shoes that say they will help you in your exercises. "Would you like those?" I asked her, and she nodded her head. "To be honest, I need all the help I can get when it comes to losing weight." she muttered, and took the box with her.
"Hold it right there, missy." I hissed and pulled her back, pinning her against the shelves of shoes. "Hey, what the hell?" she hissed back, glaring up at me. "I can't believe I just heard what I heard. How could you ever think that you need to lose weight?" I growled, and she scowled right back. "Have you seen me at all? I look nothing like one of those famous models - or anything like my beautiful sisters." she whispered angrily, and I reached down, slapping a hand on her ass. She yelped quietly and looked murderous when she glared darkly up at me.
"Strike one, Bella. Want another strike?" I hissed, and her eyes widened fearfully. "I don't like your way of talking, alright? I will not have you degrade yourself in front of me. To me, you are beautiful no matter what size. I actually like that you have some meat compared to those fucking models. I don't care if you want to work out, but no over doing it at all. I do have a work out center in my home, and you and your sisters can use it whenever - but if I start seeing you losing too much weight to the point where I know you're doing it to become skinny as all hell, I'll be banning you from it." I growled, and she was cowering when I had gotten up in her face as I told her this.
"Now, please," I sighed, stepping back to let her go. She shuffled forward, with me shadowing after her, to the sandals. She was fiddling with each shoe, and I sighed once more. "I'm sorry I scared you back there." I whispered to her, and she nodded her head, slowly relaxing now. She took at least two pairs of sandals after I asked her if she wanted them, and then finally we moved onto the high heels. I could see over the tops of the shelves to watch my friends with their girls. Jasper held many boxes of shoes in his arms, while Emmett had a modest amount in his arms. I could tell the boys were just too kind in letting their girls get whatever they wanted.
Of course, I could be the same for me girl, if she wanted just as much.
Bella sat her three boxes down on a bench that was nearby, and I watched her look through some boxes of high heels. She first chose one that had suede black high heels, and put them on. "I like them." I immediately put in my two cents, after seeing her long beautiful legs with those shoes on her cute feet. She snickered at my response, as well as how I was focused on her legs. "Of course. But, I have to see if I can walk in them." she said, and slowly stood, swaying on her feet. "Need any help?" I offered, standing up. She blushed and took a step forward, nearly collapsing when her ankle twisted at a weird angle.
Suddenly, she was tumbling forward, about to fall flat on her face from her shoes. I was there to catch her in my arms, and cradled her close. "Damn it, are you alright, Babydoll?" I whispered worriedly, my arms securely around her. She was blushing wildly from our position, but nodded her head as she squirmed out of my arms.
"I'm fine." she murmured and sat down, with me following suit. "Don't be bullshitting me here, Bella. Let me see your ankle." I whispered and hear her sigh heavily before she maneuvered around and sat her leg on my lap. I looked at her ankle to see that it looked fine, but I still wanted to be sure. I put some pressure on her ankle, looking at her to see any signs of pain. "None. I told you I'm fine." she murmured, and I released her ankle, letting her leg slide away.
She took off the shoes and put them back in the box, keeping them with the others. I then watched with a smirk at how she jumped up and pranced off, barefooted. My mind strayed to dangerous territory when I saw her backside, as well as seeing hints of black ink peeking out from her dress in the back. Perhaps I'll have to find out about that later on. I stood and followed her from a distance, the smile not leaving my face.
The shopping in the store actually went on for an hour, mainly because Alice was about to buy out the whole store - but, her sisters were able to pull her away from the shelves of shoes, and we were able to pay for the shoes. We then left the store with their bags of shoes and dresses. "Where are we going next?" Alice asked excitedly, her tiny, skinny arms overloaded with all of the bags she had. "How about a lingerie store? We definitely need some undergarments." Rosalie spoke up then, and Bella who was close beside me began blushing deeply. "No." she said abruptly, her answer sounding like a squeak.
Emmett and Jasper were snickering, while her sisters rolled their eyes at her. "Too bad, Bella - we're going to get some underwear finally, and don't think about arguing with me." Alice told her briskly, holding up a stern finger when she saw her open her mouth like a gaping fish. Bella pouted and hung her head, finding no use in fighting.
I had called up some guards who have been around the area, watching everything for us to make sure we were safe today, and once they arrived, we asked them to take our bags back to our limo before we ventured off to the next store - something I'm sure we, the guys, will have trouble at with Bella.
We found it then, and entered. Bella was hiding behind me, not wanting to "see the horrors that awaited before her". The store had deep red walls, deep red carpet, and some girlie looking small chandeliers hanging around here and there, where there were racks upon racks of bras, panties, corsets and just about everything you could imagine. Don't even get me started on the walls... This, was like a guy's fantasy - next to a Victoria's Secret store.
"Rose, grab Bella." Alice ordered, where Rosalie looked up at me expectantly. "Please, don't move Edward." Bella begged me, doing one of those mirroring things, where when I moved, she moved with me. "Bella, grow a pair of balls and go look for something for Eddie." Emmett teased, and this time it was my turn to blush. "Emmett, shut the fuck up." I growled, and Bella giggled. I sighed and dodged away from my girl, knowing that this needed to be done. Rosalie stepped in and wrapped her arms around Bella's waist, literally dragging her away from us men.
"Traitor." she growled, sticking her tongue out at me. I waved goodbye to her, and nodded to the boys, where we scattered around the shop to watch the girls. I was only looking through some of these skimpy looking clothing - the negligees and babydoll night gowns - when I felt a hand on my back. I turned and jumped back some when I saw the woman behind me.
She was tanned, with thick black hair, brown-black eyes, and wearing a tight silky dress, where her eyes were glancing me over and over, her red lips a small smile. "My, what's a lonely young man like you doing here in this shop?" she purred, and I scowled. "Browsing." I muttered, standing straight as I patted my hands over on my chest.
"Really? For who? Sister? Mother? Wife?" she asked, raising an eyebrow up at me. "I'm here with my girlfriend, ma'am. She is with her sister's at the moment, and is rather shy about it. But, I know she wants to keep it all a surprise for me, and I respect that." I told her curtly, and she smirked. "Come on, mister. I've heard all of the stories before. Why not just tell me you're looking for a real woman to satisfy you?" she purred and stepped up, resting her hand low on my stomach.
I slinked around and glared darkly at her. "My girlfriend is satisfying enough for me. Now, leave me alone before I talk to your supervisor about this." I growled and she chuckled lowly. "I am the supervisor, sexy man. So, tell me - tell me that I've been a naughty girl." she whispered and I backed about ten steps from her.
"Edward?" Bella's sweet voice broke in then and I turned to see her looking through the aisles of racks, looking for me. She had some lingerie in her arms. I walked away from the woman with a scowl, and hurried over to her. "Oh, there you are." she said once I appeared before her. "You rang for me?" I asked her, and she blushed. "Uh, yeah. Listen, my sisters want me to try on all of this, but won't come in with me because they're still looking for more. I don't trust anyone in the store," she paused to look behind her and I saw two perky blond haired twins whispering and giggling behind her, pointing at her every now and then. I glowered in their direction, but looked back at Bella.
"Besides you, my sisters, and the guys. So um... will you at least stand out in the hall of the dressing room?" she asked me quietly, her cheeks a bright red by now. I smiled and nodded my head, letting her lead the way to the dressing room. But, just as we turned around, the woman who was bothering me earlier was just right behind us. "Ah, so this is your girlfriend?" the woman asked me with a wide smile, appraising Bella.
"Ma'am, please - stop bothering me." I said tersely, wrapping my arm around Bella and pulling her back into my chest. Bella was looking between the woman and I, and smirked. "Why, yes I am, miss. Now, if you'll excuse us, I'd like to go try on some of this underwear here for my boyfriend - but, maybe I won't since now I hear that you're bothering him." Bella stated casually, shrugging her shoulder nonchalantly. The woman paled, not wanting to lose a sale no doubt; with a pout, she nodded her head and walked off.
"Man - twice in one day, Bella." I whispered to her as we walked off to the dressing room. She shrugged her shoulders again, a proud smile on her face. "I guess I just scare other women really badly. But, all of this comes with a price, Edward - you owe me." she whispered back just as we entered the empty dressing room.
The shopping went on for the next hour or two; after shopping for the girls undergarments, we went to a swimsuit shop, then a suit/business shop, and finally, a store that sold both shirts and pants. I think I found the perfect outfit for my Babydoll to wear to my office - I especially loved it.
After we were done, it was late; around 7 at night. People were coming out to light up the night-life scene, and the boys and I heard from our girls that they were hungry. It was at least about a half- hour drive back home, but the streets were starting to crowd with cars and taxis, so I knew it would be late before we would get home for some food.
"How about we take them out for some grub?" Emmett asked me. We were taking a break outside the business suit shop, with the girls sitting down on a bench in front of us, our guards close by. "I don't know. What if someone recognizes them from any missing persons reports?" I asked the guys quietly, and Jasper nodded his head in agreement. "I doubt people will ask questions if we go to a private restaurant and make sure to pay extra to keep people's noses out of our business." Emmett suggested, and I scratched the back of my head.
"We have to make sure they won't talk to anyone other than us." I muttered, and they shrugged.
I sighed and gained the girls' attentions with a clearing of my throat. "Ladies, we would like to take you out to dinner - somewhere private of course. But, I would like to have your word that you won't talk to anyone but us and to each other." I told them, and Alice shrugged her shoulders, with her and Rosalie nodding their heads. Only my stubborn Bella was pursing her lips. "Bella, come on. We're hungry." Alice whined, and she rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Alice cheered and hopped up, letting Jasper and her lead the way. Emmett offered his arm to Rosalie, who took it, and they followed. I offered Bella a hand, and she cautiously took it, letting me pull her gently along by her hand. We walked along the crowded streets, and found the fancy restaurant that's here downtown.
We entered, the quiet classical music greeting us. Dim lighting from the fancy light fixtures above us added a calm feel to this place. Several rich people, business executives, and probably a celebrity or two that I didn't even bother to try and figure out who they were, were dotted about in this restaurant. We walked up to the host, who glanced and appraised our girls. "Table for six?" he asked politely. "Yes - but somewhere more private?" I asked him, and then took out a couple hundred dollar bills, adding up close to a thousand dollars. He looked between me and the money, then took it and rolled his fingers through it, hearing the noise it made.
"Right this way." he murmured, took six menus and began leading us through the restaurant. "You had all of that money just sitting in your pocket?" Bella hissed to me as we dodged between the tables, and I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm a wealthy - very wealthy - man, Babydoll. I have money coming out of my ears, and surely enough to spare." I whispered, and she rolled her eyes.
Soon, the host had stopped and gestured for us to enter the very private and large booth near the back of the restaurant. One by one, we all scooted in, sitting next to our girls comfortably. "Your waiter or waitress will be by here soon, gentlemen and ladies." The host informed us and walked off. "I've never been in a fancy restaurant like this before." Alice gushed quietly to her sisters, who nodded their heads. "Why is all of the food her expensive?" Bella grumbled, and I smirked. "Pay no mind to the price, Bella; remember, you'll not be spending a dime on anything anymore." I reminded her, and she scowled.
"And you expect me to let you buy us meals that cost over forty dollars? I mean, look at the steak - it's sixty dollars!" she hissed, and I shook my head. "Calm down about the prices, Babydoll. You'll just have to deal and face the fact that now that you and your sisters will be living with us men, you will only get the best things in life." I whispered to her, and put my hand on her knee because I noticed that it was bouncing frantically underneath the table. She is just overreacting is all.
Bella released a puff of air and went back to staring at her menu.
"Hello, my name is Gretchen." a feminine voice piped in then, and I looked up to find a curvy waitress has joined us. She was dressed in the restaurant's uniform of course, her dirty blond hair pulled back into a bun, and her grey eyes were staring intently at Jasper, Emmett and I. No regards to our girls.
"Yes, hello." I greeted her politely, and she smiled down at me. "And what can I get you gentlemen tonight for drinks?" she purred, and I saw Jasper grimace. "Excuse me, but we're here too." Rosalie growled, causing the waitress to look over and scowl. "Ah, yes; my deepest apologies." she sarcastically replied, and I narrowed my eyes. "So... drinks?" she asked again, her smile back in place once she looked back at me.
"Red wine for my girlfriend and I." I tersely replied, and I felt a small hand rest on top of mine that was on her knee. I glanced over and saw her looking up at me, begging silently with her eyes to stay calm. I nodded my head to her, and she smiled a little. "Uh... yes. As for the rest of you?" the waitress asked next, looking at the others.
"We'll have the same as my friend." Emmett spoke up then, pointing to himself and Rosalie. "And my girl and I will have champagne." Jasper said then, gesturing to himself and Alice. The waitress didn't seem too happy to hear that the girls were more than just friends, but wrote it down and walked off, a sway in her hips - no doubt trying to get one of us to watch her walk away.
"Desperate much?" Alice pointed out with a giggle, and we all laughed quietly.
We chatted quietly with one another about nothing, and the waitress returned. She handed us our glasses and with a cart behind her, she handed us the bottles. I poured Bella her glass of wine, remembering back to the night at the club, how I persuaded her to drink some of my wine. She nodded her head in thanks, and putting the glass to her nose, she sniffed it before taking a small sip, pulling back with a tiny smile.
"Good wine." she stated, and I poured myself some before handing the bottle back to the waitress. After she had all of the bottles back, Gretchen pulled out the pad and pen and looked at us, asking in what I believe was supposed to be a seductive tone, "And what would you like to eat tonight?" while she licked her lips. I held back a snicker, while I heard Bella cough a laugh behind her hand, not so discretely by the way.
"I'd like the steak with the coleslaw - make it rare." I ordered, closing my menu. "I'd like the steak too - but with a baked potato. Make it rare as well." Emmett ordered. "And I'd like the grilled salmon with the mashed potatoes." Jasper added in after him, and the two handed their menus to me. "Some spaghetti with the alfredo sauce - and a little salad on the side; French dressing." Alice ordered then, smiling as she handed me her menu. "Chicken Parmesan. A salad on the side - ranch." Rosalie stated, and I took her menu. Bella was last; she was biting her lip while she looked over the menu.
I leaned in, my lips near her cute little ear. "Order anything you want, Babydoll. Don't worry about anything." I whispered to her, and she shivered a little - whether it was from my voice or the cool air in here, I didn't know. Taking a deep breath, she nodded her head and looked up at the waitress. "Ten ounce steak. Rare, with a salad on the side - Italian. Please." she told her, and I smirked. Gretchen smirked - why, I don't know - but muttered something to herself then. I caught, "Fat cow..." before I was growling lowly to myself.
"And that will be all, miss. Please, keep your god awful comments to yourself or I'll talk to your manager about how you commented so rudely on my girlfriend's choice of dinner." I barked at her, and handed her the menus, before waving her off dismissively. She paled and scurried off. "Thanks." Bella murmured, as the others were laughing at how she had ran off frightfully.
I looked down at her and smiled, nodding my head to her. She smiled and took a sip of her wine.
The waitress came back a half hour, close to an hour later and didn't dare try to anger any of us or even tried to flirt; she was curt and gave us our plates of food, before she said for us to enjoy our meals and hurried off. We dug into our meals hungrily since we were starving, and were having a good time chatting and laughing.
In the middle of our eating, my phone began buzzing. I took out my phone and saw that it was one of the guards calling. I motioned for Emmett and Jasper to follow me, and we stood. "We'll be back in a few minutes, ladies. Seems Ed's got a call about work." Emmett lied to the girls smoothly, and with Jasper calling up two more guards to watch over them, we slinked away outside to an outdoor patio this restaurant had. It was pretty empty, with the only eaters out here near the outer fence.
I answered the phone with a curt, "Yes?"
"Boss, the boys and I down here wanted to know if you wanted to come in tonight and question the sick fucker who tried harmed your girl." the guard's voice came through, and I sighed. "I have to think about it. I would like for the boys and I to take the girls to work with us tomorrow - and knowing what goes on in there, I'll need all the rest I can get." I explained.
"Indeed sir. Shall I call you later to ask again?"
"Yes, you may. Right now, we're almost finished with dinner and probably be home within the hour." "Actually, I think we should go out dancing." Emmett inputted then, and I glared over at him. "Really?" I asked sarcastically, and he narrowed his eyes at me. "Come on; we've been shopping all day, and I think the girls would really like it if we did." he argued, and I shook my head.
"And risk having another repeat when we took the girls?" I hissed and he pouted. "Come oooooooon!" he whined, with Jasper sneering. "Ugh, fine - but if we get attacked, just know it'll be your fucking fault." I growled and informed the guard on the phone about our plans. He informed me that he'll send more guards downtown to our location, and together with our group, we'll go to the club.
After hanging up, we entered back into the restaurant, and informed the girls.
"Oh, that's so nice of you guys to take us out dancing!" Alice cried happily once we told them, where she clapped her hands excitedly. "Yeah - why all of the sudden you guys want to stay out?" Rosalie questioned and Emmett shrugged his shoulders. "We wanted to be nice." Jasper answered lamely, and I rolled my eyes. "Whatever reason, it's still nice." Bella commented and I smiled.
Once we finished our food, we left the restaurant and walked to the nearest club downtown. The line was full of people who wanted to dance and drink the night away. The guys and I had stopped in the restaurant bathroom to get rid of our jackets, leaving us in our button down shirts. I rolled up my sleeves, and took off my tie as well like they did. Some guards took them and ran off to the car before joining us back at the club.
We managed to get in once one of the guards at the club recognized me. He was an older guard and used to work for me. We chat occasionally, for he watches the area for any enemy mafias that might be trying to get to mine. He let us through, where we squeezed into the overcrowded club with blaring music, sweaty bodies, stuffy air, blinding lights, and alcohol flowing.
"Jazz, let's dance!" Alice squealed and dragged him to the dance floor. Rosalie took Emmett to the bar, leaving me alone with my girl. "Want to find somewhere to sit down?" I asked her over the loud music, and she nodded her head, letting me lead her through the crowd with my arm wrapped tightly around her waist. I spotted a couch where its inhabitants were getting up, and made a beeline. Once there, we sat down together.
"This place sure is crowded." she yelled over the music, and I shook my head. "Yeah - and loud." I replied back just as loud, and she smirked.
Just before we could get comfortable, I felt someone sit down on my other side, where they leant in and someone kissed my ear. I jumped back, curling into my girl, and glared at who was right beside me.
"Long time no see, huh, baby?"
A/N: End of the chapter!
I decided to leave it there, because one, it was getting really long - and two, I think that's the perfect place to stop.
So, who's the mysterious person by Edward? Someone from his past?
You'll have to wait and see in the next chapter, everyone~
Reviews would be greatly appreciated.
Bye for now,
~*Lady Lily of Darkness*~