Fiche A Cúig (25)

A/N: It's Friday! We're nearing the end. This is how it's gonna go. Ch 26 will post on Monday or Tuesday and the conclusion, Ch 27 next Friday. And that will be the end of this story. I want to thank everyone for their support, reviews, recs and general awesomeness about this story. I have the best readers. Thanks, as always to my prereaders: Maplestyle, BitterHarpy, AGoodWitch, SassyNoles, and 2 brown eyes. Also, my beta Mel Cee who is awesome and amazing! Alright so off we go to EPOV.

EPOV

Listening to Bella interrogate that guy about my mom's whereabouts was shocking. I was equal parts turned on, shocked, and awed. From the beginning, I constantly worried how her kind nature would fare in our world. As I got to know her better, that was just one side to her personality, and that was the face she wore to soothe her patients, schmooze her co-workers, and get people to trust her. Under all the public persona, my girl was fucking feisty, loyal, and protective of those she held dear—and those traits made me more than confident she could make it in our world.

Tonight was even more of an example of what she would do for family. Regardless of the fact that there was no engagement between Bella and me, the day she took the job as our doctor those family bonds formed. It was because of who she simply was and our involvement that those ties strengthened and grew. She embraced that little bit of darkness she had inside her to help find out where my mom was, and she did it with no fear or hesitation.

When I balked about her joining us tonight, it had nothing to do with thinking her incompetent. My hesitation was because now that these assholes had continued to involve my family in this, it was up to me to end it. I was the boss now, and whether it ended tonight or a few days from now when I caught up with Caius, it would end. I could be a ruthless, cold, asshole, and when it came to dealing with things in this lifestyle, I stopped at nothing to get what I wanted. I didn't want Bella to see that side of me, but I told myself she could handle it and it was better that she see it now rather than later when we were married. I knew she and I hadn't been together long, but that woman would be my wife someday.

When she and Liam joined me in the car, she was cool as can be, her face set in determination. Jazz, Emmett, and Garrett had already taken off for the warehouses, while I waited for Bella and Demetri to finish with our informant. Less than five minutes after Bella got in the car, Dem joined us and we headed to where my mom was being held.

Once we arrived, I ordered Liam and Dem to go ahead of us. I cradled Bella's head in my hands. "No matter what you see or hear in that warehouse, Bella, I want you to know I love you and I would never hurt you."

"I will admit tonight when I sat in that meeting it was hard to remember that you are the boss now, but I see why, and I'm not scared to see that side of you. I love every part of you: good, bad, or mildly disturbing."

There was so much I wanted to say to her, but now was not the time to have a long drawn-out conversation. I pressed my forehead to hers and quickly kissed her lips, and then we got out of the car. I drew my gun and she did the same, while holding my free hand with hers. We were silent until I heard her start to giggle. I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

She shook her head and stopped. "I feel like there should be a large explosion and fireballs behind us as we slow-mo walk to the warehouse."

I shook my head because only this woman could make me smile right before going into a possible fucked-up situation. "You've seen too many action movies."

As we got closer, I could hear the sound of gunshots. I pulled Bella to a crouch as we continued on our path. I put my finger against my lips and started making hand gestures. When she looked at me like I was a dumbass, I realized she had no idea what my gestures meant. I just raised my gun and mimed aiming it and pointed behind me, hoping she got that I wanted her to cover my back and not shoot me in the back. She nodded minutely and we headed into chaos.

~IDDM~

Due to everyone else showing up before us, there wasn't much for us to do when we got there. We immediately moved to the back of the building where most of the noise was coming from. I heard Bella's gun pop behind me and turned to see she had shot two guys in the head with no hesitation. Disturbingly, that turned me on again.

"I guess my aim is still good." Her voice was deadpan as she shrugged one shoulder.

I smiled at her and continued to move forward. I saw Emmett, Dem, Jazz, Garrett, and Liam scattered around the back area, and they seemed to be holding their own. I checked a few rooms and found a door that led to a staircase and basement area. I gestured Bella over because she had moved to join the other guys. She crouched and made her way to my side. Following my gaze, she saw the stairs and the dark basement.

"Oh, fuck that."

"So, you can shoot a man in the head and threaten a guy, but a dark basement is where you draw the line?" I joked, trying to bring out her feisty side.

She raised her chin, straightened her shoulders, and gestured for me to go so she could cover my back again.

I kissed her quickly, grabbing her chin, "There's my fearless girl." She gave me a slight smile, and I started to head down the stairs, with her on my tail. Once we reached the landing, I felt around for a lightswitch. The room was soon bathed in soft light, and I realized that Bella had found the lightswitch. A glance around the room revealed that there were two doors, so we each took one.

My room was empty but Bella was staring at the floor in front of her door, and suddenly she turned the knob on her door and kicked it open hard. I heard a hollow thud and Bella shot at the floor. I rushed over and saw that whoever was standing guard at the door was lying flat on his back, his gun a few feet from him and a bullet hole in his head.

My mom was sitting taped to a chair, and I saw red when the fear on her face registered with me. I helped Bella cut the tape away from my mom's hands, feet, and legs. She ripped the tape off her mouth on her own, and Bella was looking at her bruised face and her hands, which were rubbed raw. Other than that, she looked okay. Bella undid her jacket and pulled out a little first aid kit. She wrapped gauze around my mom's wrists and put some sort of ointment on the abrasion on my mom's face. Mom pulled Bella into a hug when she was done and grabbed my arm. I helped her stand when she let go of Bella, noticing that she was limping. Bella noticed this too.

"We need to get her out of here; I can't finish an exam here."

I nodded and pulled my mom's arm around my shoulders and lifted her bridal style. I followed Bella this time because I was essentially unarmed. Bella called to the rest of our party that it was time to go. Everyone backed off except Dem who kicked a few containers over, and once we were all out, he lit a match and threw it inside. As the flames started to lick the air, we ran toward our vehicles.

"Here's your explosion, a pheata."

Bella rolled her eyes at me, and my mom chuckled tiredly.

~IDDM~

When we got home, Bella insisted that she look at Esme's leg. When she didn't find any external trauma, my dad went with her and Liam to her surgical suite to do an x-ray to be thorough. I stayed at home because Jazz, Dem, Emmett, and I needed to meet to discuss next steps. I wanted Caius's head and I wanted it fucking now. He lost a lot of men tonight, and I knew that he would be pissed, but I knew he was a fucking coward. He went after my girl, twice, pulling her sister into the first attack. He may have been after Bella, for a third time, but he got my mom and he almost killed my dad. I was pissed when my dad got hurt, livid when he went after Bella, but now I was fucking nuclear. My wrath was going to be aimed his way, and he would regret the day he decided to fuck with me and my family.

"What's the plan, boss?" Emmett asked.

"I want him in the ground, Em, and I want it fucking yesterday."

"I know, Edward, but we need to find him, and that is proving difficult. Alistair and Eleazar tried to run down leads while we were at the warehouse. Either no one knows where he is, or they aren't talking."

"He's not a fucking ghost; he's not smart enough to hide that well." Jasper drawled. A lightbulb went off at that statement.

"No, he's not but his dad was fucking brutal and cunning. I have my dad helping me, so why wouldn't Aro do the same for his son."

"Well, yeah, but the difference there is Carlisle was forced into retirement. Aro wanted to quit. People were saying he turned soft."

"Yeah, right around the time Gianna was born."

Gianna was Caius's only child that he had with his ex-wife, Jane. Apparently when Jane found out what her husband was into—and how he kept her in the dark I would never know—she left him and took the kid. Caius was not allowed to see his child unless he got out of the life. Aro wanted to be in his granddaughter's life and retired, but Caius took up the mantle his dad left behind and never looked back.

"Ed, how do we know his dad won't try to have someone retaliate."

"He won't. Caius has broken the golden rule. We don't involve women and children, and Caius has gone after Bella on three separate occasions and still took my mom when she ended up being there instead of Bella. We have a right to take him down with no retaliation."

Aro was ruthless and smart, but he upheld the code, even taking down people in his own organization for betraying it. "Do you think Aro might help us?" Emmett asked.

"He might, but we're gonna have to get my dad to help us. He has a better rapport with Aro than I do."

Once upon a time, the Italian and Irish family had an understood agreement which allowed us to coexist for years, but when Caius took over for his dad, his shady dealings and snake-like ways soured that accord. Then when someone in his own family started picking people off, and blaming it on us, then it became all-out armageddon.

We talked a little bit more about a tentative plan until Bella returned with my parents. Luckily, my mom had only sprained her ankle, so Bella had wrapped it up and told her to stay off it. I told my dad that we needed to talk. Bella offered to take my mom up to bed, but Dad followed behind them, telling me he would be right back down. Eleazar joined us and I poured six glasses of scotch, leaving one for my dad when he returned. We filled Eleazar in on what was going on, and he agreed it was a good plan.

My dad joined us, telling me that Bella went to lie down as well. That was fine, because I wasn't planning on this taking long, and then I was going to go bury myself in my girl. I told my dad from beginning to end the conversation that he had missed, and he caught up to where I was going before I got there. He agreed that there would be better results if he spoke to Aro, especially since my mom had gotten involved. My relationship with Bella may not have moved Aro, because we hadn't been together long and she was our doctor, so woman or not, she was a key player.

I stressed that I wanted this to happen ASAP, so we all agreed to get some sleep, regroup, and tomorrow we would go back to the drawing board. My dad would also contact Aro in the morning. We all bid each other good night, and I climbed the stairs to my room. I slid my shoes off and peeled the suit off. I grabbed a white t-shirt from the dresser, and I heard Bella move around in the bed.

"You better put the shirt down and lose the boxers too, Mr. Cullen."

I turned and saw that she was sitting up, covering her naked body with the sheet. She lifted her hand and made a come hither motion with her finger.

I dropped the shirt on the floor and pulled off my boxers. I walked over to the end of the bed and pulled on the sheet and comforter to expose her body to me. She was so gorgeous, her hair tousled and wavy; her lips red from where she had worried the flesh with her teeth. Her breathing made her chest heave and her perky tits beg for my attention. She met me in the middle of the bed, up on her knees, and I slammed my lips to hers.

Even though my mom was the one to be captured tonight, it was supposed to be Bella's fate—being taped to that chair. My mom had told us what had happened tonight, and luckily they hadn't hurt her more than the bruise on her face, but I had a feeling if that had been Bella, it would have gone further.

This filled me with a possessiveness that I hadn't felt this strongly before. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me, helping her to straddle my lap. Reaching down, I ran my fingers over her clit. She was wet, completely ready for me. Gathering some of the moisture, I circled it around her nub and she started to moan.

Taking her by surprise, I thrust inside her. She gasped and then started to immediately swivel and roll her hips to get the friction she needed. "God, Edward, I can feel you so deep this way." Her voice was breathy as she spoke.

I hummed and leaned down, taking a nipple in my mouth, playing with the other bud with my fingers. Kissing my way up to her neck, I sucked the flesh into my mouth, wanting to mark her as mine. I wanted every motherfucker to see it and know that no one could touch her. "Fuck, I love you so much. I am in awe of you."

She pulled away minutely, still riding me. She pulled on my hair and made me look her in the eyes. She knew what I was saying because she replied with, "I love you too. It's you and me, 'til the end of the line, Edward."

Kissing her with a renewed passion, I started to rub circles against her clit as she moved on top of me. She moaned and I had to cover her mouth before she started screaming, because I knew it was coming. She screamed, stiffened in my lap, and then she slumped against my shoulder, still riding her climax out. I pushed her down onto her back and started thrusting into her fast, trying to find my own release. She reached down between us, playing with her clit, and that sight had my orgasm building rapidly. I gritted my teeth to hold off until she shattered around me, and then I thrust sharply into her once more, spilling my release inside her.

I pulled out of her gently and then gathered her into my arms, stroking her hair as we both came down. She kissed my pec, right over my heart. "Now I understand why you damn near maul me every time you come home."

I chuckled and grabbed her hand that was resting on my chest and kissed her fingers. She lay her chin on me so she could look up at me. "Well partly, but also, seeing you lying in that bed every night, curled up by yourself, it hurts that I've had to leave you to fall asleep by yourself. I will get this taken care of, Bella, so that doesn't happen anymore."

She cupped my cheek and smiled softly at me with so much love reflected there in her chocolate eyes. I dragged my thumb along her bottom lip, and she puckered her lips to kiss the end of it. "We're a team, Edward. We have been all along. You're not alone, and you never have been. I understand if you want me to step back and still just be your confidante, someone who makes you think, but I can also help you like I did tonight. I will leave that decision to you, but I am here and I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't know what the hell I did to deserve you, Bella, but I will never let you go."

She gripped my chin, kissed me quickly, and smiled. "There's my intelligent guy."

We laughed together and lay enveloped in each other, letting our peaceful moment linger. Tomorrow would come, and we would have to move forward with ending the threat to our family, but right now it was about us, and our love.

A/N: Oh, these two. I'm going to miss them so much. So, Bella is still a badass, even more so than before. How are we feeling? What do you think will happen next? Leave me a review and let me know. Thanks again and see you lovelies after the weekend.