Fiche Ceathair(24)

A/N: Here we are with the second IDDM update of the week. Thank you so much for all your continued support of this story and all the reviews. You guys rock. We have three more chapters and then the epi and this is done. Thanks again to BitterHarpy, AGoodWitch, Maplestyle, SassyNoles, and 2 brown eyes. As always Mel Cee betas and blows me away with her skills. It really goes without saying but this chapter has a violence warning. Off we go.

True to what we expected, when the guys came home, Rose, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper all disappeared to their rooms. I wanted to lose myself in Edward, but I also wanted to know what was going on. I was tired of being in the dark. As much as I fought against knowing too much, or whatever excuse I could think of, Edward and I were a team and we had proven on more than one occasion that we were better together. As I saw the different sides of this life, the more I was convinced that I could handle anything, as long as I had Edward by my side. Edward sat on the couch, and I wasted no time in straddling his lap. He gave me a chaste kiss. Winding his hair in my fists, I pulled his head back slightly so that he would have to look at me. Resting my forehead against his, I decided to just be honest with him.

"I want to know what happened tonight."

He pulled back from my forehead, his face shocked. He shook his head. "What?"

"I know you visited Ben, and I knew it had something to do with Felix. That asshole was in on the attack on me. I have proven that I can be trusted, and I have handled everything that you have thrown at me. I don't want to be in the dark anymore. I want to be by your side in everything."

"Bella—" He hedged.

I pulled on the hair in my hands, knowing he loved it. "Please, trust me, Edward. I love you and I want my life to be with you. I can handle it."

"I have no doubt that you can handle it, agra; my concern is what you will think of me."

"Seriously? If you took someone out who tried to hurt me, then I love you more for that. Yeah, some girls may freak out that their guy literally killed someone who tried to hurt her, but they aren't me and they aren't dating the boss of the Irish mafia."

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "It seems to me that you already know what happened tonight," he said into my neck, giving me a soft kiss there.

"So, Ben took Felix out?" I asked.

I felt his nod against my shoulder, and I let out a sigh of relief. "One down, a shit ton more to go."

I felt his body shake with laughter. He pulled away from my kiss, and the smile on his face was true happiness. "You really are turning into a badass babe, aren't you, agra?"

"It's the only way I'll be able to keep up with you," I teased.

"Let's go to bed and test that theory."

I got off his lap, and when he stood, he hefted me up and slung me over his shoulder. I just giggled and let him carry me off.

~IDDM~

A few days later, I was standing in the middle of the kitchen at the Cullens' house. Edward and I were thinking about maybe going home at the end of this week. We wanted some alone time, and here there was always someone around, but the worry of being separated from everyone else making us easier targets was stringing along our decision. Needless to say, we hadn't made a decision yet. I was taking a much needed day off. When Esme came into the kitchen, I gave her a hug and she looked frustrated.

"What's wrong?"

"There's something going on with my car, and I have a meeting with a client this evening." She looked at her watch. "In half an hour."

"You can take my car, then in the morning, I can drive you to drop your car off to be looked at."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. It's no big deal. Edward is here and Carlisle has a car too, so if I need to go somewhere I can bug one of them to use their car."

"Oh thank you, dear." She gave me a hug, and I went to my purse and took my keys out, handing them to her. She kissed me on the cheek as she took them before she headed down the hall. I heard her call out goodbye to Edward and Carlisle, who were sitting in the living room watching something together. I decided to join them and slid on the couch next to Edward, and he immediately slung his arm around me, placing a kiss on my temple.

We sat there and watched the movie they had started. When the movie ended, I looked over to see Carlisle seeming worried.

"What's wrong, Daddy C?" Rose and I had started calling him that recently, and it always got him to laugh.

Only this time, he only slightly smiled at me. "Esme should be home by now."

Edward looked at his phone to see the time when it started ringing. His eyebrows knit together as he slid his finger over the display to answer it. "Hello," he said, his voice hesitant. I watched his face, wondering why he seemed so weary. I was surprised when he suddenly looked pissed, raw fury painting his features. "Where is she?" The menace in his voice was surprising. "I will find you, and I will kill you. Every single one of you." He pulled the phone from his ear, and he started to pace before he flew into a rage. He grabbed a folding chair and threw it at the tv, cracking the screen in pieces. "Motherfucker!" I scrambled off the couch in surprise. I had seen Edward angry—I had been the reason why he was mad several times—but this was something I had never seen before. He punched the wall, gouging a hole in the drywall.

"Edward Anthony Cullen, mo mhac, calm down and tell me what is going on," Carlisle said sternly. Carlisle had been doing this a lot longer than his son, and his eerie calm exterior intimidated me more than Edward's raging one. Carlisle was pissed, I knew that much.

I suddenly remembered that I had heard Edward this mad before—the night I was almost kidnapped by Caius—and that thought made me uneasy. What Edward said next made my veins fill with ice.

"They have ma."

"What?" Carlisle choked out.

"The Italians have Mom. They said they were looking for Bella, but my mom was a much better deal."

"Oh god, she was driving my car. They thought it was me." The guilt washed over me. They wanted to capture me, and they grabbed Esme instead.

Carlisle pulled out his cell phone and dialed. "I need everyone back here, even you, now!" He snapped. He hung up. "Eleazar and everyone else is headed here now. We need to meet and make a plan."

"I want to be in the meeting."

"Bella, this is not the time to break in a rookie. You have no idea what you're doing." Edward dismissed me.

I raised my eyebrows at him, really wanting to just rail on him, but his mom was in danger. "Really, so tell me, genius, what is your plan? How are you going to find her?"

Both Carlisle and Edward looked at each other, and they looked like they had no ideas. Scoffing, I pulled my phone out. I pulled up an incognito tab and signed into Esme's Google account. Rose, Alice, Esme, and I had all shared our info with each other for this purpose. I pulled up the find my phone option and then showed the guys the screen. "That is where your mom is, as of two minutes ago."

"How do you know she has her phone?" Edward asked.

I refreshed the screen and the dot had moved. I showed them the screen again. "It moved. So, am I smart enough to be in your club?"

Carlisle gave me a slight smile and nodded his head once. Edward looked more hesitant, but I knew he was impressed. Soon, the house was filled with people, and while Alice and Rose sat upstairs in the living room, I was in Carlisle's study with everyone else. Carlisle had been getting stronger every day and was able to finally hold his super secret meetings in his study. To my surprise, everyone started asking Edward what the plan was and referred to him as boss. I knew he was the boss, but to me, he was just Edward. Eleazar sat next to me, gently holding my hand. I knew it was a sign of comfort, because he could tell I was worried and felt guilty.

There was a lot of back and forth and discussion. I couldn't take it anymore, so I raised my hand and waited to be called on. Edward looked over at me in the middle of talking, raising an eyebrow and trying not to smile. "Bella?" he asked.

"If we know where she is, why are we sitting around here talking? Who gives a fuck what they want and what they are trying to accomplish? We know the answer to that. Let's go get her back."

"Doesn't this scream trap to you?" Jasper asked.

"If that was Alice, would you be sitting around here discussing this to death? Who cares if it's a trap? I get we need to have a plan and not go in guns blazing, but this is exhausting. I'm about to go roundup Rose and Alice and get Esme myself."

"Absolutely not, you aren't going anywhere near this, Bella."

"Don't make me pull out the full name, Edward," I said, standing. "While I love your possessive protective crap most of the time, this is one time where I won't stand for it. They have the woman who is the closest thing I have to a mom." I started pacing, so frustrated and angry with him. "If you think I'm gonna stay here wringing my hands while the guys go take care of 'business,'" I said, using finger quotations, "then you are dead fucking wrong. So, either take me with you or get out of my way, 'cause I'm going whether you like it or not."

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop while Edward and I stared at each other. I knew that the look on his face should have scared or intimidated me, but I knew Edward would never hurt me, and I knew that I wasn't backing down. Neither of us were.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," I heard Carlisle say. "She came up with how to find Esme, Edward. Take her with you. If anything, she will distract the Italians, because she's a girl."

"While I don't appreciate the sexist remark, I do enjoy you backing me up," I said, blowing him a kiss. He chuckled.

Eleazar spoke up. "Also, you might need a doctor, especially if Esme is injured."

As much as I didn't want to imagine my services being needed in that capacity, I smiled brightly at him. I knew I loved Eleazar for a reason. He was going to bat for me and using my better skills as the reason why I should go. I tilted my head at Edward and waited for the peer pressure to set in.

Edward sighed heavily. "Fuck. All men, and woman, let's roll out." Edward handed out walkies and told us which channel to tune into. "Bella is the navigator and will tell us where we are going."

Everyone nodded and we headed out to the cars. Edward, Emmett, me, and my shadow, Liam, all got in the black SUV. Carlisle and Eleazar were staying home and Alistair stayed as well. Garrett, Jasper, and Demetri got in the silver SUV I had only seen once before and we were off. I pulled up the find my phone app and luckily Esme's dot had stopped moving. I told everyone over the walkies where we were going.

When we arrived at the location, it seemed all wrong. It was an empty storefront, and it looked like no one was there. Edward handed me a gnarly looking knife and a spare handgun. "You know how to shoot one of these?"

"My dad was a cop, Edward. Yes. I know how to shoot a gun, and I know how to aim. Probably not as good as I used to be, but I can handle it."

"Liam, you don't stray far from her. If she gets hurt, I will break your fucking legs."

I rolled my eyes at him, and we all got out of the vehicle. Once we walked in the front door, we all fanned out. I put the earpiece from the walkie talkie in my ear and switched it on. We could all hear each other now. I heard Jasper and Garrett declare their rooms clear. Edward and Emmett called theirs clear too. I passed by a few doors and called those rooms clear. Demetri reported his room was clear. There were still some rooms to be searched and they were clear. I walked to the back; it looked like some sort of storage area with a table and some chairs, and to my surprise there was someone there. I cocked the hammer on my gun, and Liam rushed in behind me, raising his gun too. The guy turned around and raised his hands. He looked confused to see me, but recognition flicked across his face when he saw Liam.

"Mrs. Cullen isn't here."

"Where is she?" I demanded.

He laughed and that just pissed me off. I lunged toward him and hit him with the butt of my gun. I would have continued, but Liam pulled me off him. He found a roll of duct tape and tied the guy to the chair.

"We're coming back there."

"No. Liam is here. Let me do this, Edward. I can get him to talk."

"First sign of trouble and I'm busting in there; do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," I mocked.

"Remember that tonight, a pheata."

"Okay, this lovey dovey, slightly pornographic shit is gonna make me barf," Jasper snarked.

"Oh, please. If Alice was with us, you guys would be halfway through walkie sex." Demetri laughed.

We all chuckled because it was true. Our guy started to come around.

"Wakey, wakey. Sorry, I have fits of psychotic rage sometimes." I apologized with fake sweetness.

The man blinked up at me and looked to Liam for confirmation. Liam just shrugged and the man's eyes went back to me.

"Are you ready to talk yet? Want to tell me where Esme, Mrs. Cullen, is?"

The man didn't say anything and I sighed. I walked around his chair and pushed it closer to the table. I leaned over the back of his chair. "You know who I am right?"

He shook his head and I smiled at him. " Il dottore della Mafia, I believe that's what you all call me. Is that right, Liam?" I asked, looking over to Liam for confirmation, as I walked in front of the guy bound to the chair.

"That is correct, Ms. Bella."

I smiled at him but wanted to smack him. I had told him and Garrett not to call me that because it made me feel like a kindergarten teacher. The man murmured, "The doctor."

"Very good. It really makes me feel special that I have my own name, very super villain-like." I walked behind him again. "You know there are pressure points all over the body. Some are meant to relieve pain and help with insomnia, and then there are some that hurt like a bitch." I pressed the point of my finger right behind his ear in that hollow space and then grabbed his ear and twisted. He screamed and howled in pain. "Bingo," I sang. "Now, where is Esme?" I let go of him so he could speak.

"Fuck you, you're a doctor. You won't kill me."

"The fuck I wont," I retorted, my voice hard. "Esme is like a mom to me. I work for the fucking mafia, so the Hippocratic Oath means dick to me when it comes to my family. Do no harm? Oh, I'm looking to cause some harm, and you are testing my patience."

He shook his head and looked toward Liam, but Liam ignored him, gazing around the room. I sat down at the table separating us, taking the knife that Edward had given me and stabbing it into the wood top. I chuckled darkly before I spoke again. "It's true, I'm a doctor, which means I should be your worst nightmare. I know how much pain someone can go through before they pass out. I am aware of just how much blood someone can lose without dying. Do you really want to test my knowledge?" I ripped the knife out of the wood and advanced on him.

"I can't tell you, they'll kill me."

"What do you think Edward will do to you if his mom is harmed? Better yet, what do you think I'm capable of?" I asked darkly. I had never felt anger and hatred like this before, but I was serious when I said Esme was like a mom, and this man was just in my way.

I trailed the blade of my knife up his neck, and he actually fucking whimpered, causing a smile to break across my face. "They are holding her in a warehouse owned by the Italian family. It's off the 99 tunnel in that block of warehouses."

"I know where he's talking about, agra. Finish up and let's go get my mom." I heard the radio crackle. Edward sounded equal parts turned on and eager.

"Have Demetri come in here and finish it. I will make too much of a mess."

The guy looked at me like I was losing my mind. A few moments later, the door opened and Demetri walked in. I handed him the knife and gave the guy a sick smile. "Thanks for the info. I would say you better hope we find her alive, but you'll be dead soon." I shrugged and flashed him one more devilish smile.

Liam followed me as I turned on my heel and walked out of the door to go join Edward, so we could get his mom back.

A/N: Well, how do we feel. Were we a little surprised by how Badass Bella is? Next chapter is EPOV and we will see how he feels about his girlfriend. Leave me a review with your thoughts and feelings. I love hearing from you all. Until Friday my lovelies!