CHAPTER TEN

Carlisle got onto a plane as soon as he could. Or, at least, that's what he told his begging son. Edward hadn't heard his father's voice in years, and honestly, he barely heard it over the panic that was flooding his brain. All he could think about was Bella. Was she okay, was she going to be alive when he got to her?

"Alice, stay here. They know where we are." Edward told his little sister, his finger close to her nose. He hoped that she would listen, because she was his only sister and he would be devastated if something happened to her. "If someone comes in, go to my room. Lock the door and push the bed against it. You stay there if something happens, got it? Don't let anyone take you."

"Got it." Alice said softly. Although she was a tough girl, Alice was submissive by nature. When you grow up in a house full of men carrying guns, you tend to listen when someone tells you what to do.

Edward locked the door on the way out. They didn't say goodbye; his father used to tell him that saying goodbye was inviting awful things to happen. He ran straight to his car and got in it, unsure of where he was going. He got about a mile out of his neighborhood before he decided to call Bella's phone.

"Ah, Edward." The same deep voice rang through the receiver.

"Where are you? My father doesn't know Bella and Ezra, you'll get nowhere with them. Let me take their place."

"Take their place? Silly boy, you've been out of the game for far too long. Please come join us, though. We're having a great time."

"Edward, don't!" Bella shouted from a distance away.

"Oh, Edward, do. Your lady here is pretty, but she sure does have a mouth on her. Nothing like the women I've met in your family. I may go ahead and train her for you."

"D-D… Don't touch her!" Edward screamed, his voice shaking with anger. "I swear to God that if either one of them is hurt, I won't wait for my father, I'll just kill you myself."

The man just chuckled, amused with Edward's frustrations. "Go to the diner where young Bella worked for so long. You'll see a truck there. Get in it."

"No!" Bella shouted again, this time much closer.

The phone hung up.

Edward did exactly as he was told. Once the truck had pulled onto the street, the man driving it offered him a blindfold. "You'd probably want to do that."

Edward did so. He complied with them for the sake of his family, knowing that they were his only weakness.

When they arrived, Edward was dragged into a building. Once the door had slammed shut, the blindfold was taken from him.

Aro, a man that was once in his dad's closest circle, was standing yards in front of him. His eyes casted down to find Bella laying on the concrete ground, her hair disheveled around her.

"What did you do?!" Edward asked angrily, rushing towards him. Two sets of arms reached out and held him back from charging their boss.

"Relax, young Bella is just fine. She just needed something to help her relax."

Without a doubt in Edward's mind, he knew that they had drugged Bella. That was Aro's niche; dealing and using. It was the reason Carlisle had stopped working with him.

"Let me go." Edward said calmly. "Where is my son?"

"Now, Edward, take a breath. You've known me almost your whole life; would I ever hurt a child… Your child?" Aro raised his eyebrows as he inquired.

"Bring him to me."

"You're not in a position to be ordering anyone around, now are you?" Aro asked again, amused with how much of a fight Edward was putting up.

"Please," Edward began to bed, feeling defeated. "They have nothing to do with my father; they're innocent. Just leave them alone. Like I told you, my father doesn't even know they exist."

Aro motioned to his men, signaling them to release the young man. Edward immediately pushed past him to get to Bella, lifting her head off of the ground and pushing her hair out of her face. She had a cut across her temple where blood pooled out of and onto the ground.

"She's bleeding." Edward growled, not bothering to look up at anyone.

"She had a hard fall." A voice told Edward, followed by a chuckle. "She likes to fight, I bet she's great in bed."

Taking in a deep breath, Edward ignored his comment while stretching his shirt out to wipe the blood away from Bella's forehead in hopes to get a good look at the cut. She fought back, Edward thought to himself, a small, sly grim pulling at his lips. That's my girl.

"Daddy!" Edward heard from across the room. He looked up to see E.J. running towards him, so he carefully set Bella's head on the ground and reached his arms out for his son. As soon as the toddler made to Edward, he began searching the child for any injuries.

"Daddy, I had a peanut butter sandwich!" Ezra told Edward as if that was the most exciting thing in the world.

Edward looked up at Aro, who had the look of "I told you so" on his face, then looked back at his son. "Yummy!" He said in a happy voice, before holding Ezra tightly to his chest. All he needed was for Bella to wake up for things to be okay again.

As if on cue, Bella began to stir. Edward turned his head and watched her while reaching down and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Bella jumped and looked to see who had touched her, immediately relaxing when she saw Edward. "What's happening?" She asked groggily, closing her eyes.

"My father is a mob boss." Edward told Bella truthfully. She almost laughed at him, like saying that it was a sick time to joke around. "Aro used to work with him," He continued on, causing Bella to open her eyes and force herself into a sitting position.

"What?" She asked, her brow furrowed. "You're serious?"

"I am. I'm so sorry, Bella. I left so I could get out of this, but it's not something you can get out of." Edward whispered, his hand moving to gently caress her face.

"And when Daddy gets here," Aro said from across the room, causing the family to turn their heads. "The game will begin."

"Edward," Bella whispered, looking between the two men. She was horrified and it broke his heart.

"It's okay, I'm going to protect you." Edward whispered, reaching carefully around her waist to pull her closer to him. The family stayed cuddled up and silent for a while, just enjoying the comfort of holding one another. They had to stay calm for E.J.; he couldn't understand what was going on, and that was a good thing.

The next even consisted of the doors to the shed busting open. Aro stood from his chair across the room and pulled his gun. Instead of aiming it at Carlisle, the tall, blonde man who stood directly across from him, or following the shadows that crowded the room, he pointed the barrel of his gun at Edward, who quickly passed E.J. to Bella.

"No!" Bella gasped, tears beginning to cascade down her cheeks. She managed to squeeze Ezra behind her and scoot partially in front of Edward, but he pushed her away.

"Don't, I couldn't live with myself." Edward whispered without looking at her. His eyes were focused on the gun aimed at him.

"Carlisle, I see that you brought your groupies with you," Aro said with a chuckle. Of course, he had his men as well, who stood across from one of Carlisle's "groupies".

"What is the problem, Aro?" He asked. "We haven't talked in almost a decade, and the first time we speak, you're holding a gun to my child. I would think that you'd be much more reasonable than that." Carlisle chuckled. It was hard to be reasonable when you show up with a gang of rather large men packing heat.

"I figured that I could do you the honor you didn't do for me, old friend. A son for a son. You killed mine; I'll kill yours." Aro shrugged, then turned to aim his gun at one of Carlisle's backups. "Which one? I'll let you choose."

"I killed your son because he was kidnapping women and testing drugs on them, then selling them to the highest bidders. My sons have done nothing to you or anyone else."

"He was my son!" Aro shouted, showing emotion for the first time. "You took him from me! Maybe I should take both of yours so you may feel my pain. Maybe even go after that pretty daughter of yours too, I'm sure Jane wouldn't mind. She's heartbroken after Alec."

"You will not speak of my daughter." Carlisle hissed. The women in their lives were the most sacred thing.

The entire room was silent, aside from the sound of metal sliding across the concrete. All eyes followed the sound until it ended at Edward. He lifted the gun that someone had slipped him and raised it to aim at Aro.

Gunshots filled the room. Everything happened too quickly for Bella to process. All she knew was that as soon as Aro's gun moved from Edward towards her, something went off. She felt Edward press his body against hers until she laid flat on the ground. Her hand reached around for Ezra, finding his small body trapped under Edward's arm. Bella simply closed her eyes and tried to tune out the ringing in her ears.