Chapter 18

A/N: It's Monday, so it's posting day! Yay. I know y'all are wanting to know what Bella is doing so let's get to it. Thanks always to Maplestyle, SassyNoles, and 2 brown eyes for their prereading skills. They are so helpful and encouraging and we appreciate it so much. Thanks also to AlicesWhiteRabbit for her beta help. Love all you girls! Thanks to all you for your reviews and recs.

Songs- Confident by Demi Lovato, Replay by Zendaya

Please Review

BPOV

I was looking for recent invoices to finish my liquor order when I heard Edward's voice. I looked up from the drawer in his desk, and the look on his face brought me up short. I decided to brush it off because I didn't want to fight with him. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here. I need the last few recent invoices so I can finish my liquor order, and Dally told me that you usually keep them in your desk, but I must be looking in the wrong place."

Edward looked stunned for a minute and like he was unsure what to say or do. I raised an eyebrow at him, put my hand on my cocked-out hip, and started tapping my foot. He suddenly shook his head, smiled, and walked past me to the filing cabinet. He opened it, pulled out a file, looked at the paper on top, and then handed the file to me. "Next time, just call me, babe. My desk is so disorganized, you don't want to rifle around in there."

I took the paper from him, kissed him chastely, and went back out to the bar. As I counted bottles and looked over what was most often ordered, I thought back to Edward's reaction. For some reason, the look on his face and the tone of his voice really rubbed me the wrong way. Did he think I was snooping? Why would he assume that? Why would he be so upset?

Being raised by a cop who had an uncanny ability to tell when people were lying, I had learned to trust my instincts, and my instincts were screaming that this was suspicious. Things between Edward and I had escalated so quickly that I had gotten so completely wrapped up in him and I forgot I'd been suspicious of his behavior. The questions he was asking this morning seemed innocent enough, but to ask about my dad and where I came from? I hated it, but I had to lie.

One might ask why I was so adamant about not telling him. The honest truth would be that I was scared. Plus, he was very hush-hush about his family. He now knew more about me than I knew about him. Edward owned me—body, heart, and soul—but I knew he was keeping something from me, and again, my instincts told me it was huge. While I trusted him with my body and heart, my mind was backing away as fast as it could.

I finished my order and reorganized the papers in the file Edward gave me. I picked it and my order sheet up and dropped them in the box attached to Edward's door, not seeing him inside his office. I told Dally I was taking a break and headed back to talk to Alice and Rose. I found them rehearsing some choreography in the back room.

"B!" Alice sang as I walked in.

"Hey, Pix," I replied. She hugged me, and I returned it with enthusiasm. "I need to ask you guys for a huge favor."

"Uh-oh, you have a serious face," Alice said.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"A lot has happened, and I need to fill you in, but I need your help researching. I don't want to get into details here, but when is your next day off?"

Alice and Rose looked at each other; Alice smiled wide, and Rose answered. "Um, we both have Wednesday off."

"Perfect; me too. So, wanna play detective with me?"

"Absolutely," Alice said, clapping her hands and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Rose and I shook our heads at her exuberance. She was absolutely adorable, which was a weird phrase for a grown woman, but it just fit her. I watched their choreography for their dances and even helped them figure out some new moves. I missed dancing, not so much getting naked for horny guys, except one, but the actual dancing I missed.

Rose turned on "Confident" by Demi Lovato, and I felt the lyrics so much at the time that I danced the whole performance with them. We were so into the dancing and just having fun that we were completely startled by the clapping. We turned to the door and saw Edward and Emmett both standing there. Emmett was the one who clapped, and Edward looked like he wanted to devour me right here in front of everyone.

I smiled like a shy schoolgirl and told Rose and Alice my break was over. I walked past Emmett and Edward, feeling his eyes on me the entire time. I headed toward the bar but felt a hand grab my wrist and pull me into a dark hallway. Before I could say anything, Edward's mouth was on mine, his body pressing into mine. One of my hands fisted his hair and the other clutched his shirt, pulling him impossibly closer to me. I kissed him with a desperation because my desire always simmered near the surface around this man. Edward pulled his lips from mine, tracing the column of my throat. I pulled away from him.

"Edward, behave! We're at work."

"Baby, behaving is not in my nature."

I giggled because it was so true. "Well, you need to put that on pause, handsome. I may have sex with you in this club but not while there are people here," I said, whispering close to his ear.

"Oh, I'm holding you to that," he said, giving me that smile that was starting to become less rare lately.

I kissed him once, keeping it brief, and then headed back to the bar. Edward and I flirted off and on all night, shooting each other knowing smirks and glances. I know putting the brakes on our make-out session earlier was going to bite me in the ass later tonight, but I was so looking forward to it.

*DS*

True to the plans we made this weekend, the girls showed up at Edward's house on Wednesday. It felt super weird to tell them what I had planned and what had happened with Edward upstairs in his office. I shoved my laptop in its bag, went upstairs, telling him I was going to go out with Rose and Alice, and then once inside Alice's yellow Porsche, we were off.

"How did I have no idea you had this car, Pix?" I told her.

"I don't drive this to the club, are you kidding?" Alice said, grimacing.

"You know, it totally fits you though," I answered.

"I know!" she said excitedly, shifting gears and smiling at me.

"So, are you gonna tell us what this research is all about?" Rose asked.

"Okay, well you were there the day Edward got shot. He had a gun, Ro. A Beretta M9 with a fucking silencer."

"Are you shitting me?" she asked.

I shook my head. "He said it was for protection, but he was lying. He wouldn't look at me, and I know when he's bullshitting me. Gotten really good at reading his tells. He's keeping something from me. I know it."

"Well, yeah, but it's not like you guys are in a relationship or anything, so I can understand why he's not telling you everything."

I bit my lip and tried not to smile.

"Bella, you better tell us the whole story right now!" Rose said, ever the observant one.

I launched into the whole story. They knew about the date, but they still didn't understand how different Edward was around me. I tried to tell the whole story without being really graphic because, regardless of the dirty things I let Edward do to me, I wasn't comfortable with broadcasting it. Alice and Rose were completely stunned by the end of my confession.

"I knew he seemed different, and the way he looked at you the other night after that dance you did with us … He looked like he wanted to eat you alive," Alice said. "So, is he treating you well, Bellsy. 'Cause I will cut his dick off if he hurts you."

"I'm actually quite fond of that appendage, so let's not do that. He's just different with me, Alice. He's still kinda of curt and jerky to everyone else, but the way he looks at me? Sometimes, it just seems like I'm the one person he really sees. You know what I mean?"

Alice and Rose both nodded knowingly.

"Wait, so that still doesn't explain what you want us to do." Rose said.

"I want to find what he's hiding. Maybe, if I can find out what happened to his parents and the people he was talking to on the day he got shot, I'll know. So, he got a call from a guy listed in his phone as Seamus, and some guy came into the club named Liam, who was a fucking creep."

"Wait, so we're going to research Edward?" Rose asked, shocked. "Bella, I need my fucking job!"

"And you'll keep your job. You think I'm going to tell him you guys helped me?"

"Yeah, but I might tell him, or at least tell Emmett."

I looked at her, surprised. "Are you two together?" I remembered what they did that night in the club, but I didn't know if it was a regular thing.

"Well, not like in the strictest sense of the word, but we have done things that aren't appropriate for just friends to do."

"Well, shit. I don't want to make you lie."

She was quiet for a moment, looking lost in thought. "No." She huffed. "I got this, B. Honestly, we're straight. I'll help you."

Once we got to Alice's house, I unloaded my laptop. Alice ran off to get hers and brought Rose her tablet. Rose looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Alice huffed and gave her the laptop, settling for the tablet. I tried to stifle my giggles at the antics of these two girls. Once everyone had their device booted up, they looked at me expectantly.

"What?"

"What are our marching orders, Sergeant?"

I laughed out loud and shook my head. "Well, I think I'm going to look into his parents' murder. Can you guys look into these Seamus and Liam guys?"

"Do you have last names?" Rose asked.

"No, but how many Seamuses do you think there are in Seattle, Washington. This isn't fucking Ireland," I explained.

"Okay, but Liam is common," Alice replied.

"Well, he's like 30ish, same age as Edward. Tall, but shorter than Edward. Black hair, clean shaven, pale," I told them.

"So, like half the population? Why couldn't he have red hair and freckles?" Alice said.

"Oh, my God, Alice. That is such a stereotype. Plus, Liam sounds Italian," Rose debated.

"Or American," I added. "I mean, we are in America. I knew a couple Liams in high school."

"Cool, do you think it's one of them? Cut the search short."

"I'm 21; I said 30, thank you."

"So, when is your birthday, Bellsy?"

"September 13th," I said without thinking. Shit, that had just slipped out. I tried not to wince and act like it was a big deal. A simple web search would help them figure out my real name and where I'm really from. Oh, this was becoming too much. I was going to crack soon, and then it was game over for Bella and her new life. I tried to tell myself that I wasn't lying. I had changed my name. I was legally Masen, but that wasn't always so, and an omission is still a lie.

"Oh, so you like just turned 21?"

"Yep. How old are you guys?"

"23," Alice announced.

"25," Rose replied.

"Hmm. Interesting. I get along with you guys better than I did people my own age."

"You don't act your age. Most of the time," Rose said, giggling.

I threw a couch pillow at her, and she deflected it, all of us laughing. Rose turned on Alice's sound bar and connected her phone to it, playing some Spotify playlist. We were all silent as we started searching. I found information about Edward's club and some stuff in the last couple of years. Nothing of importance. I didn't know his mom's or dad's name, so I just had to search further back. I didn't even know when they died, or rather when they were killed. I do remember he told me that much. I tried a different avenue. I deleted his first name and just put Cullen murder. I got a few hits, and I found pay dirt on the third one. I read through the article, gasped, and pushed my computer away from me. "Holy fuck!"

Alice and Rose noticed right away that something was wrong because they were both at my side in minutes. "Bell, what's wrong."

I shook my head and gestured to the computer. Edward was fucking seven years old when his parents were killed, but he had failed to mention that he was there when it happened. I immediately thought of my mother and when I found her, so many years ago. Tears started to form behind my eyes, and I excused myself to the bathroom. Alice pointed it out to me. Once I had the door shut, I crouched down, completely losing my shit.

I started sobbing. He knew. He knew what happened to my mom and that would have been a perfectly good time to share about his parents. His icy nature made a lot more sense now. Never letting a girl in, never getting close to anyone. I knew exactly why. What was the point when the one person in your life who should have been a sure thing was ripped away from you? Had it not been for my dad, I could have become just like him. While I understand why he had chosen to keep silent on this, it still hurt.

Did he not understand that it was hard to tell him about my mom? That it took everything in me not to break down when speaking about her. When I shared my fondest memory of her. God, I knew I loved him, though I would never share that with him because there would be an Edward-shaped hole in my door if I did, but I did, and this information made me hurt for him. He had been alone since he was seven. Well, not alone, because that was illegal, but he had to grow up without his parents. I heard knocking on the door. I stood up, dried my tears, fixed my hair, and faked I was okay. I was getting really good at faking it.

"Hey, Alice," I said.

"You okay?" she asked, giving me a small smile. We walked back to the living room.

"Yeah, I just can't believe what happened to his parents and how young he was," I answered, sitting back down in front of my computer.

"Yeah, his freeze act makes a lot more sense now," Rose said.

"You guys have to act like you don't know," I said, knowing that if Edward found out, the blowback would be bad.

"We know. I found something on your guys," Alice announced.

"Liam and Seamus?" I asked

"Yeah. They're cousins, I think. Does this look like Liam?" she asked, handing me the tablet. I took it from her and inhaled.

"Yeah, that's him. Seamus Murphy and Liam Brennan, 32 and 31 respectively, were given the award …" I trailed off, continuing to read the rest of the article silently. They were given some sort of award for something; I really didn't care. I knew their names and that they were cousins. "Okay, divvy them up. Pix, look up Liam Brennan and, Ro, Seamus Murphy."

I pulled my laptop toward me and looked to see if there was anything else on Edward. I just had that intuition wriggling, telling me this wasn't the huge secret. Something wasn't adding up, but I didn't know what it was. We spent a little bit more time looking up things, and the only thing they had found was that Liam had a kid named Dylan. The mom had custody, but I mean, who is surprised at that? That guy was a creep.

We took a break to eat lunch and chat about everything going on. Alice and Jasper had been on a few more dates, and she was completely smitten with him. She said she thought he was the one. Rose took that seriously because Alice had never claimed anyone was the one before. Rose and Emmett weren't together officially as she stated earlier, but she said that she had told Emmett in no uncertain terms that if he fucked another girl, she would castrate him slowly and painfully. "Apparently, that turned him on 'cause after I told him that, we had the best sex we've ever had."

"Oh, okay. Don't need to know about Emmett's parts and what gets him excited. He's like a brother to me," I said, putting my hands up in surrender.

We laughed, talked, and ate some more. Eventually, we decided to get back to it. Alice and Rose were as invested as me now; they wanted to know about these guys just as much. I doubled up with them and helped with their searches. We were all engrossed in what we were doing that the gasp Rose gave almost went unnoticed.

"Guys, I'm not sure, but I think I found something. 'Seamus Murphy was reported missing by his housekeeper when she came to his house for the weekly cleaning and noticed that it seemed he hadn't been home in days. Seamus had recently come under suspicion of mafia ties, and his disappearance came before local law enforcement had time to build a case against him. Liam Brennan was questioned about his cousin's whereabouts, but no answers were found. He is not a suspect at this time …' Then it just gives info of where to call if you have any info."

"Mafia ties?" Alice asked. "Like mob stuff."

"That would be what the mafia is," Rose said, as if she were talking to a five-year-old

"Okay, you don't need to get all superior. I just found out that I work for someone in the mob," Alice accused.

"We don't know that Edward is part of the mob, Alice," Rose replied.

"Come on, Rose. He gets a call from this guy whose cousin is suspected of having mob ties, Edward disappears for a couple hours, and he comes back fucking shot. How are you not making the connection?" I said; panic started to seize me. This was big, and I kind of regretted finding this information. This to me was something I was struggling with, and I didn't even know where Edward fit into this whole scenario.

While I hated my dad controlling me, and the restraints I had put on me, I was still raised to respect the law. It was all I knew. I had never even shoplifted, which most of my friends tried at least once. I never broke the law; that was just the way I was wired. I also was in love with Edward, but did I really know Edward at all? I was shaken to the core with this information. I had never expected something like this when I decided to investigate. I wanted to know his secret, and I really had to wonder if this was it. This could only be fixed by talking to Edward.

"Alice, I need you to take me home. I need to talk to Edward."

Alice nodded. We all loaded into her car, and we were quiet on the way to Edward's building. "Rose, you know what this means, right?"

"Yeah, I've considered it. Emmett and Edward are always disappearing together, and Emmett was with him when he was shot."

"Just be careful. I can't see Emmett hurting you, but I would have never guessed this."

"You be careful too, Bella. If he becomes violent, get the fuck out of there and call me."

I nodded and got out of the car. I didn't think Edward would really hurt me, but he'd come close before, and he was going to be pissed. I took a deep breath and made my way inside. I let myself inside and found Edward sitting in the living room, watching TV. He was in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, and he was barefoot. God, he looked good. I loved when he was home and wearing simple clothes. Don't get me wrong, the suits were sexy, but I loved the T-shirts and jeans too.

"Hey, babe. How was your day with Rose and Alice?"

It was really weird to hear him refer to them as that instead of their stage names. I gave him a kiss, worried that this might be the last time, and I took the time to give him a hug. "Edward, I need to talk to you. It's pretty important."

He looked a little confused but gave me a small smile and turned the TV off. "Okay, what's up, Bella."

"Um … Shit." I stood up and started pacing. "Okay, I'm just gonna rip off the Band-Aid. I know about your parents, Edward. I know about their murder."

Please Review

A/N: Eep! Well, there you go. What are your thoughts? Let us know. Love it, hate it, neutral. We appreciate your reviews so much and we read every single one. We will see you all on Friday! Later Lovelies!