Chapter 15

A/N: It's a new week! Which means a new chapter. Seriously thank you so much for all the reviews and recs. We are so beyond grateful for ya'll. Housekeeping: I will address some questions up here. We don't reply to all reviews, honestly there are a lot. If you ask a question we can answer, we'd be happy to. If we can't without spoiling the story, we won't. Some have asked how old Edward is and it hasn't been stated. That being said, Bella is 21 and Edward is 30 ish. He is at least ten years older than her. That was the only question we had a couple times. Thanks to our prereaders Maplestyle, SassyNoles, and 2 brown eyes. They always are so encouraging and support. Love you gals! Also, thanks to AlicesWhiteRabbit for her red pen skills. She is amazing and so glad to have her. Here we are, onto Edward's POV.

Songs- Mudshovel by Staind, All or Nothing by Theory of a Deadman

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I laid next to the woman who had become a large part of my world in such a short time. Bella. If I tried to pinpoint a moment when she had gotten under my skin, so many different memories came rushing at me that I really couldn't tell when it was. At this point, did it even matter? I did know that I was fucked. I had botched a hit and gotten shot with my own fucking gun. That Dylan kid was like Bruce Lee, and I knew it would only be a matter of time until Liam called. I still had his briefcase of money at Emmett's place. He had to hold onto it for me, so Bella didn't find it.

I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands. This shit was so fucked up. The night I got shot, I almost had a fucking heart attack when I felt my gun in my hand and Bella looking down at me with a look on her face that I will never forget. Fear, disappointment, and maybe a little bit of uncertainty. These were all foreign emotions to me until she strutted her perky ass into my life. What was even more confusing was I fucking cared. The fact that she might be disappointed hurt. What absolutely gutted me was the fear, then she flinched when I tried to touch her. She was quick to rectify it, but I knew she was too good for me. The lies I was telling her were piling up, and I let them because the alternative was her leaving.

Needing to lose these thoughts and the burning in my chest, I turned to her. I pulled her close to me, kissed her bare shoulder, and gently bit her neck. She moaned and pushed her ass right up where I was already hard for her. I slid my one good arm down her arm, following the path with kisses, finding her legs under the blanket bare, and her underwear the only thing keeping me from touching her. She was awake now, looking over at me. I kissed her while I cupped her sex and pushed on her clit through the fabric. She moaned, and I smiled at her. I was about to stick my hand inside when she grabbed my hand, stopping me. She shook her head, and I was stunned. She had never stopped me before.

Bella got up off the bed and started pacing. She wasn't saying anything, but she kept looking at me with that uncertain look in her eyes again.

"Bella, what's going on?" I asked.

"Look, I didn't want to bring this up while you were still healing, but it seems you have gotten your libido back. I must be stupid for trusting you, Edward," she stated, and she looked really pissed. I don't think I had ever seen her look so angry.

A sick burning feeling started low in my gut, and I was dreading the answer to the question I wanted to ask her. "What do you mean?"

"Sometimes pussy will do that to a man! 'I was tongue deep, if you get my drift! Just pussy nothing important!' That's all I am to you, just pussy," she yelled, throwing the words I had spoken to Liam back at me.

Fuck! Of all the words she could have overheard, those were the ones I didn't want her to hear the most. I had to think of a way to diffuse this situation. "Bella, I wasn't serious. It's the way guys talk to each other. I don't put my personal shit out there for everyone else to see," I said calmly.

Clearly, that was the wrong thing to say because she got up in my face. "Then what am I to you, Edward? I'm just the girl who spreads her legs for you and takes care of you when you're fucking injured?"

I was so stunned I didn't even know what to say. "No, I—"

She waited for me to continue, and when I didn't, she scoffed and started pulling on her pants and tossing a sweater over her tank top. She grabbed a book from my nightstand and threw it at my head. "Well, the only thing you are fucking from now on is your hand. Fuck off, you egotistical prick." She threw another book at me—this one hitting me on my injured shoulder. I fell to my knees, grabbing my shoulder. I saw Bella step toward me, looking concerned, but her face hardened, but she stopped herself and walked out of the room. I was so stunned that this blew up so horribly, so quickly, and in a fair amount of pain that I didn't move until I heard the door slam shut downstairs.

Hissing, I rolled my shoulder, trying to make the pain fade. Even though I had to wear a fucking sling, I would still jar it, and it would hurt. I made my way downstairs, trying to keep my anger at bay, but I never was really that great at keeping that demon caged. I threw something off the counter onto the floor. I punched the counter, fairly hard. The stinging feeling felt good. I knew it wasn't broken, which was good. While it was lucky, I had gotten shot in in my non-dominant shoulder, it would suck to fracture my dominant hand as well.

I couldn't get over the fact that Bella was so pissed at me. I had told her I wasn't serious. I didn't think she was just a slut. The fact that she spent the last two weeks waiting on my ass made my chest ache again. Of course, I had appreciated that she did that for me. We had bonded a lot during that time, and the little minx loved to tease me. I liked spending that time together in our own little bubble. Fuck, maybe she was on her period or something. Women got all fucking unpredictable during that time.

Looking at the clock, I noticed the time. I needed to go to DarkStrip to get caught up on all the stuff that had piled up while I was out. Emmett took care of everything he could, but some things I had to sign and look over. I got dressed quickly and tried to call Bella. Usually, I took her to work, but like I assumed, it went to voicemail, and a text message followed that said she was driving herself. Great, so she could predict why I was calling her now? Fucking infuriating, gorgeous woman.

Walking into DarkStrip, I noticed the music right away. I let Bella, Glitter, and Nightingale play whatever music they wanted when we weren't "open" or there were no customers. The music blaring from the speakers was loud, and I notice that it was "Mudshovel" by Staind. Fuck, Bella's angry music. I stood still for a minute because she was singing along to the song: All the promises you made to me you made in vain. I lost myself inside your tainted smile again 'cause you can't feel my anger. You can't feel my pain. You can't feel my torment driving me insane. I can't fight these feelings; they will bring you pain. I scoffed quietly. Well, if that wasn't fucking apt.

Twenty minutes later found me sitting at my usual table with Emmett laughing at me. I had just gotten through telling him what had happened this morning between me and Bella. "I'm glad you find this shit amusing."

"I'm sorry, man, but you really are fucking clueless. You went about that conversation all wrong, man. While 'honesty is the best policy' is a great saying, it's not always gospel."

"What the fuck are you saying, man? I don't have the patience to try and decode what you are saying."

"Just because you can tell the truth doesn't mean you should. She wanted reassurance that she wasn't just a piece of ass to you."

"So, what was I supposed to tell her? She should know by now that she's not."

"Should she? Have you thanked her for taking care of your invalid ass? Making sure you were fed, hydrated, and taking your meds to keep you comfortable."

"Not in so many words."

"You might want to start with that. And I would apologize about what you said to Liam. Tell her that she means something to you, dude. I know your cold-hearted bullshit works for you, but a girl like Bella is only gonna take it so long without getting some sort of declaration from you. I don't get why you don't just call her your girlfriend and get it over with."

I groaned. That fucking word. Aside from the obvious words like mom and love, girlfriend wasn't in my vocabulary. I've never had a fucking girlfriend; I had never even wanted one. Taking some girl along the fucked path my life was on never seemed a desirable decision. Against my better judgement, I had dragged Bella into my fucked-up world, and now, I was in deep enough that I had no desire to let her go. Would it be better for her? Yeah, it probably would be, but it wouldn't be safer. Regardless of our current fight, Bella was too ingrained in my life to be safe on her own.

I was about to reply when Liam walked in the door. Since there were less customers in the club at this time, Bella, of course looked up from the paper she was reading. She smiled that beautiful smile and welcomed him to DarkStrip. I had to hold myself from launching out of my seat when he touched her hand laying on the bar and said something to her. She smiled and turned to point me out. The minute Liam walked away, the smile slipped from her face, and she looked at me with sadness. Emmett and I met Liam in the hallway, and he followed me into my office.

I sat at my desk, and Liam stayed standing. "What the fuck happened to you, Edward? I don't hear from you for two weeks, and now you're all jacked up."

"That fucking Dylan kid wasn't a regular hit, now was he, Liam? This kid knew some kung fu shit and fucking shot me. I just do hits; I don't fucking fight little kids." Emmett set the briefcase of money on the desk. I opened it to show it to him. I grabbed most of the stacked bills and tossed them toward him. "Do it your fucking self if the kid is really worth it. I want to talk to Seamus; my business with you is done."

"I told you that Seamus is out of the country."

"And I don't fucking believe you. Your story is full of holes, Liam. I grew up with Seamus; he doesn't just cut and run when the heat is turned up."

"Maybe you're too buried in that pussy out there at the bar, but you have no fucking idea what's going on out there, Edward. It's not your ass on the line, so you need to stop running your mouth about things you know nothing about," he said, giving me a dismissive look.

I knew he was trying to goad me by calling my loyalty in question, and I wasn't going to give him the ammo he wanted. The not-so-subtle mention of Bella bugged me, but I wouldn't let him see it. I stood up, rising to my full height, which incidentally was taller than him. "We're done here, Liam. I'm not doing your fucking grunt work. That never has and never will be my job description. As you can see, I'm in no shape to go do another hit anyway."

Liam stuffed the money in the briefcase, and after clicking it closed, took it and left my office. He seemed intent on going out the front door when he suddenly paused by the bar. He turned to the camera and that look of someone up to no good lit up his eyes. He made a V with two fingers up against his mouth and flicked his tongue out between them. He walked over to Bella and talked to her for a minute before gesturing for her to get closer. He leaned in and said something to her. She jerked back from him like she'd been burned. He said something else to her, and then turned and left. Bella looked freaked out—I remembered that look from the night Alec had threatened her.

"What the fuck did he say to her?" I said to Emmett. He looked angry and shrugged. "Go ask her."

"Why fucking me?" Emmett asked.

"'Cause she's still pissed at me. She's not gonna tell me," I explained.

Emmett held his hands up, shaking his head. "I'll go tell her to come in here, and you can ask her, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to know 'cause I'll want to tear Liam's limbs off."

"I'm already there, so you may have to stop me from doing something stupid when she tells me what he said. Go get her," I replied. I could only guess, especially with the little gesture he made toward the camera. Our conversation two weeks ago came back to me, and I groaned and ran my hand through my hair, slightly pulling on the ends.

Bella wordlessly came into my office and sat down. She looked sad again, and she was hugging herself around her middle, like she was trying to hold herself together. I needed to fix this. I wanted to fix this.

"Bella, what did he say to you. He shouldn't have said shit to you, but I need to know what he said."

She took in a deep breath and looked me straight in the eyes. "He asked me if you licked my pussy for him like he asked you. Then he said he would like a chance to do it himself and maybe you'd share me."

I couldn't help myself, but my blood fucking boiled at the thought of anyone touching my fucking girl. Regardless of whether I wanted to call her my girlfriend or not, Bella was mine, and anyone forcing her into shit she didn't want to do wouldn't fucking fly. "Son of a bitch!" I yelled and punched the top of the desk. Bella jumped out of her chair in surprise. "I'll fucking kill him." I stomped toward the door, but Bella grabbed my arm by hooking both of her arms around it. She dug her feet in the carpet when she started to slip. I tried to pull away from her, but as I only had one working arm, I started to lose the battle when she doubled down on her efforts.

"Edward, stop. Calm down." She tugged me toward her. I stayed rooted to the spot, so she came to me and touched my face with her hand. I felt some of the anger melt away, and a sort of calm crept in my veins. She looked at me with nothing but concern. "Please, just stay here with me. He's gone, and he's not going to touch me. Just don't … don't leave me."

I may not be well versed in girls and fucking feelings, but it seemed like she wasn't just talking about right now. I pulled her into a hug as best as I could and kissed the top of her head. I sat down, and instead of sitting next to me like I expected, she sat on my lap and rested our foreheads together. I closed my eyes and gave myself a mental pep talk—tell her, you pussy. The last few weeks with Bella had taught me the feelings I had been shoving down my entire life gave someone the power to destroy you, and I had such a hard time handing that power over to her, but I couldn't watch her walk away, so I would give her what she needed.

"I'm s-so-sorry, babe. I never should have said those things about you. I don't see you as just a piece of ass, and you're not a whore. I … Fuck … I …" I cut off. Why was this so fucking hard to say? I knew why because I didn't want to admit that she fucking had me. Hook, line, and fucking sinker. She had walked in and turned my whole fucking life upside down.

"You care about me," she said, like it was so simple. "Edward, I know. I know you care about me—I see it in your actions—but sometimes that isn't enough. When I heard you saying those things, it made me feel used and cheap."

"I know, and I can't … apologize enough for that. That whole conversation was a disaster from start to finish. I also want to thank you for taking care of me when I was injured. It was … nice."

She giggled. "God, you really don't like being romantic, do you? The face you just made saying it was nice. Oh, what am I gonna do with you, handsome?"

I would never admit it, but I liked when she called me handsome. It let me know that, for now, we were back to being okay.

"I know you appreciated it, and it was nice. Everything you just told me. I already knew, but let me tell you a secret about girls," she said coyly, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "We still like to hear the words every now and then." She kissed me on my jaw, nibbling to my neck. "And the next time you are talking about my pussy, it better be you're going to lick your pussy. Got it?"

"Yes, babe. I can find other fun things to do to your pussy too, so let's not limit it to licking."

She pushed me away by my face and laughed. "You're incorrigible." I laughed with her, and just because I loved the sounds she made when I did it, I tickled her sides. She squealed and started panting for breath, laughing. "Fuck, stop. I surrender." I stopped tickling her and just held her for a moment.

All too soon, Bella reminded me that she needed to get back to work. "I want to go on a date with you." I huffed, knowing that wasn't the right way to ask her. I tried again. "I mean, can I take you on a date? Tomorrow night?"

Bella got that shy smile on her face, and she nodded. She gave me a quick kiss on the lips, then practically ran out of my office, yelling for Glitter and Nightingale. I laughed and got back to the mountain of work I needed to get to.

Bella was sitting next to me in my Aston Martin; she had been bugging me all day to tell her where we were going. All I would tell her was to dress comfortably. She was wearing an ankle-length skirt, canvas shoes, and a wrap shirt. I had actually bribed Alice and Rose to make the food we were having for our picnic on the beach because I couldn't fucking cook. I found a place to park, then grabbed the cooler and a blanket from the trunk. 'Cause I still had an injured shoulder, she offered to carry the cooler. It had a handle and wheels, but she wanted to hold my hand, so I let her carry it. We walked down the beach, close enough to the shore but far enough away that we didn't get wet from the waves. I laid out the blanket with her help, and she sat down next to me. I started taking stuff out of the cooler and giving her the containers. She got everything divided between us, and then she smiled at me.

"You were listening."

I speared a piece of fruit with my fork and ate it. "I do that on occasion."

She gave me a chaste, quick peck on my lips, and then started eating her own food. "Did you make this food?"

I shook my head, chuckling, knowing she would question it. "But I'm not giving my secrets away."

She chuckled back. Once we were both done eating, I threw away the trash and put the containers back in the cooler. Bella stood up and came over to me, sitting between my legs with her back to me. I pulled her as close as I could without her sitting on my lap. She reached back and fisted my hair when I started kissing her neck. I put my chin on her shoulder.

"When I was probably six years old, my mom and dad took me to La Push beach. Once the sun set, my dad was drinking beers with his buddies, and my mom and I snuck off to go look at the stars. My mom showed me all the constellations." She broke off, chuckling sadly. "She couldn't remember the real names for the constellations, so we made up our own names. I held those names so close to me that when we actually learned the real names in Science class, I got so angry because it felt like that last piece of my mom was being taken away from me." She looked into my eyes, turning to straddle my lap. "I feel like you're the only person who understands how much I miss her. When I'm with you, I don't miss her so much. You make me want to take risks and try things that would normally scare me."

I didn't know what to say to her confession. She made me want so many things that I never used to want, but she already knew that. I did the only thing I could think of. I wove my hand into her hair and pulled her lips to mine. I tried to say everything I couldn't put into words with that kiss. I slid my hand down her side to her hip. She went up under my shirt and dragged her nails down my chest, making sure to graze my piercing.

I groaned into her mouth. I was about ready to just take her right here on the beach the way she was grinding in my lap. I opened my mouth to warn her that we needed to stop if she didn't like public nudity, but before I could say anything, I felt the first sprinkles of rain. Bella felt it too because she stopped immediately. We quickly got the blanket picked up and sprinted to the car. After we got everything packed into the trunk and we were safely in the car, that's when the sky opened up and started pouring.

When we arrived at my building, we both ran for the door, trying not to get soaked. It didn't work. When we got the door unlocked and were inside, she was already stripping off her shirt and turned to help me out of mine. She took her pants off and helped me out of mine. I pushed her up against the door and kissed her, stopping to kiss along her neck and collarbones. She scratched my back, and it awoke something animalistic in me.

"Tell me you're mine, Bella," I told her in my most commanding voice. I wanted to possess her and own her in the most primal way.

"I always have been."

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A/N: So, there you have that! Liam is a dick, Emmett is still hilarious, and Edward is all up in his feelings. Let us know what you think or leave some love. We will see you later this week lovelies!