Thanks to Fyrebyrd, Gabby1017, and 2brown-eyes for pre-reading this one, and to my beta, SunflowerFran. Please remember, all mistakes are mine.
**This chapter will overlap the previous one in the timeline.**
Edward
When our flight from Cork finally lands, I don't even know what time it is. We've been traveling for nearly eighteen hours, which doesn't include our flight from Sicily to Cork, on overbooked, commercial flights, and my bed is calling me. Em and I go our separate ways and agree to meet again tomorrow.
Deciding to check in with Jimmy, I make a quick call. He says all is well with my girls and things are quiet there. Our meeting for the next day is set and after a quick shower to wash off the grime of traveling and a shave, I collapse into my bed and sleep like the dead.
"And they know we're coming?" Emmett asks nervously as we walk closer to the restaurant.
"Yeah, Jimmy set it up. I talked to him last night to confirm. He said they'd be expecting us at noon." I straighten my tie and brush non-existent lint from my suit jacket. I expected to be more nervous, meeting with men we've fought for generations over territory and business, but I'm not. As head of our family, I am now an equal. The fact that Marcus was so willing to meet with me tells me he sees me that way as well.
"Hello, and welcome to Didi's. Is it just the two of you today?" the hostess asks when we walk through the door.
"Actually, Mr. Cullen and I have a lunch appointment with Mr. Voltolini," Emmett says from my right. The hostess' eyes grow wide before she composes herself.
"Of course, he's expecting you. Right this way, please." She leads us through the dining room to a table in the rear half of the restaurant.
Marcus Voltolini is seated at the far side of the table, facing the door, flanked by his sons, Caius and Felix. Others stand nearby, armed to the teeth, I'm sure.
"Edward Cullen," he says, welcoming us to the table with open arms. "So nice of you to join us."
"Marcus," I say with a nod as I take my seat.
"I hear you were recently married?"
"I was." I'm unable to keep the small smile off my face.
"Oh, look at that! That is the look of a man in love," he says as he waves his finger at me, his own smile on display.
"Yes, we are very happy." The server delivers drinks to Emmett and me, and I nod in thanks.
"Your picture was in all the local papers. She is a very beautiful woman."
I stiffen at his words, both irritated that the news of our marriage has already reached the press, and Marcus' observation of my wife. "She is," I say simply.
"She is also recently unemployed, yes?"
My eyes lock with his, and I don't miss the meaning of his question. He knows she was one of my informants.
"Yes, we decided it was best if she stayed home with our daughter."
He nods slowly. "Yes, I can see how that would be preferable. Though ..." He tilts his head. "Imagine all the information she won't be privy to any longer. Could be bad for business."
I shrug. "I'm sure I'll manage."
"I'm sure you will," he says with a slow nod. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure? I didn't realize we would have anything to speak about so soon after your taking over for your father." His tone when speaking about Da doesn't escape my notice.
I ignore Caius' steely gaze as Marcus and I speak. I know I need to tread carefully.
"I was made aware of some problems we had with a shipment last month, and your name came up."
"Oh? Why would my name come up in your business? We settled territory lines years ago, Cullen, and I'm a man of my word." His slightly narrowed eyes tell me I'm walking a thin line. To suggest he's ignoring our agreement would be calling his honor into question, a direct disrespect to him.
"That's why I'm here, Marcus, to find out why."
"And I assume you heard this information from your wife?"
"No. As a matter of fact, it was my brother."
Marcus' eyes flash to Emmett then back to me.
"Jasper," I clarify. "Seems he's been meeting with some of your men."
"I see." His eyes don't leave mine, though his body language tells me his irritation is rising.
"It also seems some family history has recently come to light, and I was hoping to get your insight on a few things." I never lose eye contact with the man before me.
"Is that so?" he asks, his eyebrow raised.
"It is. The details we had were sketchy; they took us all the way to Sicily."
His cold, blue eyes give away nothing as they pierce me. "Sicily?"
"Yes. And I was hoping you could shed some light on what I learned."
He motions over one of his men. "Bring around the car." He then looks to me. "I believe this meeting needs to continue in a more private location."
We leave Didi's and follow Marcus' entourage to his home. The gated estate is exactly what I'd expect a man like Marcus Voltolini to live in. Its opulence is apparent from the exterior. After parking, we're led inside. We're stripped of our weapons and brought to what appears to be his personal, home office. Emmett and I are the only others in the room, seated across from him.
"So, you met Jane, then?" Marcus asks us from his seat behind his desk.
"We did. And she had quite a lot to say." I study the man as he does me. The years have treated him well. Even in his advancing age, likely nearing seventy, he looks strong, intimidating.
"I'm sure she did," he says with a chuckle. "What exactly did you hope to learn by coming to me? I would think anything she had to tell you could better confirmed or denied by your own father."
"His dishonesty is what led us to Jane, so forgive me for not going to him first. I like to be informed of all the facts before I make any decisions."
He throws his head back and laughs. "Decisions! I like you, Edward." He rises from his chair and pours himself a drink, along with two others.
Emmett and I each take the proffered glasses when he hands them to us.
"I propose a toast. To Edward and his new bride. Salute."
We all raise our glasses and then drink, the warmth spreading through my body a welcome feeling.
"So instead of asking the man responsible for the mess he made all those years ago, you choose to come to me? Why?" Marcus asks.
"I only want to know your side of things before I go to him."
"Hmm," he hums, noncommittally. His finger traces the rim of his glass as he ponders his thoughts. "Jane was never supposed to be part of this family," he finally says before looking up at me. "She was a bastard child who had no place among us. But Aro couldn't be dissuaded." He shakes his head at the memory. "The day he married Renata, all my plans began to fall apart. I couldn't risk her giving him a son."
"Because the child would eventually take your rightful place?"
He nods in agreement. "Thankfully, she was never blessed with any other living children, and the son she almost had left this world with her." He does the sign of the cross, hypocritical as it is.
"I still don't know what this has to do with Jane and how my brother came to be with our family."
His smile is chilling. "That would be your father's part in all this. He actually came to me months before Jasper was due to be born, before even Aro knew about his daughter's pregnancy. He asked me for help in getting the child away from Jane. His wife hadn't been able to give him a child at that point, and he was growing desperate to give her one. We came to an agreement."
"That you would help take away the baby from his mother?" I surmise.
He nods in agreement. "He would take the child and raise it as his own, and I would take my place in the Family. Simple as that." He shrugs.
No, it wasn't quite that simple.
"Then why involve Jasper in your family?" I ask.
"I did not. I will have to speak with my son, but I believe Caius was only toying with him, making him think if he proved his loyalty to us he could one day take his place with us."
"So his order for Jasper to kill my wife's father ten years ago didn't come from you? It was only a game to your son?" I'm trying to contain my anger. The reasons for Charlie being killed only amounted to a game, just simple amusement for Caius.
"No, it didn't come from me," he says with a shake of his head. "Charlie Swan was a thorn in my side, yes, but he wasn't anything I couldn't handle. His obsession with solving his wife's murder made his vendetta against us that much stronger, but I knew he'd never find the information he so desperately wanted because it didn't exist. And bear in mind, Jasper was never given a specific target, only asked to remove someone close to your family. If you need more than that, you'd have to speak to my son."
"I just may do that," I say as I think of ways to end Caius Voltolini.
He studies me for a while, sizing me up, I'm sure. "You know," he says cautiously. "You're a lot more calculating than your father ever was."
I'm quiet, unsure of where he's going with his praise.
"He was always impulsive. Well, what I remember of him, anyway. In business, in his personal life, in his younger years, he'd ... shoot first and answer questions later. Much like your older brother. I hear his impulsive nature may have led him astray. He disappeared recently, did he not?" he asks.
"Yes, he hasn't been seen in quite a while. I heard he might have run off with Maria. She's the stepdaughter of your son, yes?"
He nods. "Yes, that she is. Which is how I know he isn't with her," he says with a chuckle. "Like father like son, I imagine. So, I have to wonder where you got your patience from."
"Perhaps it's something I blessedly got from my mother. After all, she's had the patience of a saint to live with Carlisle Cullen all these years."
"He's still not answering, Ed."
We've been trying to reach Jimmy since this morning, and he's still not answering his phone.
"And you tried his regular number, not just the secure line?" I ask, my eyes not leaving the road.
"Of course I did. What? You think I'm that stupid?"
"Sorry man." Knowing the risk of calling them on their personal phones, I ask anyway. "Go ahead and call Rose."
"You got it."
When the call connects, I hear bits and pieces, but what I do hear makes my blood run cold as I bring us to an abrupt stop on the side of the road. My little girl, my princess, is gone. Emmett's words play like a distorted record in my ear.
"Kaitlin is missing."
"Somebody iced Jimmy."
"... took K at gunpoint."
I rip the phone from his hand, startling him into silence. I find Bella's number, and it feels like an eternity before she answers. When she finally does, her broken sobs nearly break me. Her apologies for letting Kaitlin leave make my arms ache to hold her, to tell her everything is going to be all right, even if I don't believe it myself.
I'm on edge as I peel out and make a quick U-turn. My rage builds until it feels like its own entity trying to vibrate its way out of me. I steer us back toward the closest place to get answers. The guards at the gate are surprised to see us again so soon, but with a quick call to the house, we're waved through.
This time, Marcus meets us at the door.
"Was there something else, gentlemen?" he asks.
"Where the fuck is my daughter?" I charge at him, and I'm quickly detained by a few of his trained guard dogs. "Someone took her. Where is she?"
A look of shock and disbelief cover his face, and I suddenly begin to doubt he had anything to do with Kaitlin's kidnapping.
"Please release Mr. Cullen. He's apparently just received some bad news and isn't thinking clearly." He eyes his men until they let go of me. "Gentlemen, if you'll follow me, please. I'm sure you don't want to discuss this on my front lawn." He turns and heads back inside his home, Emmett and I following closely behind
We're led to a different room this time, but I'm only barely aware of my surroundings. The need to find my daughter is making my skin prickle, like there's some other force trying to crawl out of me and rip everyone to shreds until I have her back in my arms.
"Please have a seat," Marcus offers.
"If you don't mind, I'd rather stand," I say. "This isn't exactly a social call."
"No, I don't guess that it is." He pauses for a moment, his head tilted in contemplation. "Tell me, why is my home the first place you thought of when you discovered your daughter missing?"
"It seemed like a logical place to start." The anger is beginning to vibrate through me, causing me to tremble.
"Because?"
"Because we've spent the last few weeks trying to find a connection between our families, because we just met with your niece, for any fucking number of reasons!" I'm shouting now, but I'm barely keeping my rage contained.
"Can you tell me what business I would have with taking a small child? A child I would rather not acknowledge as being of my blood? To what end would it serve?"
"I don't fucking know!" My loud outburst brings one of his men into the room to check on Marcus.
"It's fine," he says, waving him off. He looks back to me. "I promise to you, on the memory of my dear Didyme, I had no part in taking the girl. I don't take violence against women and children lightly."
Staring into his eyes, I don't see the shrewd businessman I'm familiar with. Instead, I see the eyes of a father. And the more I think it through, the more I believe him; he had nothing to gain by taking my daughter.
I get to my feet and button my jacket, anxious to leave. "Thank you. I'm sorry to have disturbed you." Emmett follows but side-eyes me as we step toward the door, in total disbelief that I'm walking out without any answers.
"Think about who might benefit from her disappearance, Edward. Who would use a child as leverage?" His words halt my footsteps. "Who would be so desperate to get what he wants, the return of his oldest son, that he would use a child as bait?"
His accusation slaps me across the face, and I'm momentarily stunned, speechless.
My father's words to me just two days ago echo in my mind.
"And if you aren't home by tonight to deal with this shit, I'll make sure to get you here."
"I'll tell you who," Marcus continues. "The kind of man who's been hiding his son's paternity from his wife for the last thirty-five years. The same kind of man that would kill to keep that secret."
I turn to meet his eyes. "Kill?"
Marcus rises to his feet and steps toward a bookcase, fingering the spines of the volumes. "While I may not visit her, I do have staff at the facility keeping a close watch on my dear niece. She would go on and on about a visitor she had many years ago. A young, American woman."
I get a sick feeling in my gut as he speaks.
"She was on vacation with her husband while he was there on business. She said she was a friend of a friend and they struck up a conversation." He plucks what appears to be a photo album from the shelf and begins to turn through its pages. "The woman showed her pictures of her daughter, and of course that led to Jane speaking of the son she had but lost and the man who would still visit her. She visited many times over the week she was there, and they spoke for hours, I would guess. They promised to keep in touch, but Jane never heard from her after her last visit."
"What was her name?" I ask my voice gravelly.
He steps close enough to hand me the album. Staring back at me from the photograph, seated next to a younger Jane Mancini, is a woman I imagine Bella's sister would look like if she had one. "Her name was Renee Swan." He pauses, thinking over his next words. "I heard she was found dead not long after her return home. So, Edward, ask yourself, who had something to gain from Renee Swan's death?"
"Sill no answer."
"Damnit!" I pound on the steering wheel as we fly down the highway. "Try Ma's number."
Emmett nods, punching away at his phone. Not being able to reach Da has my blood boiling. While I don't want to believe a word Marcus said about my father, it all makes perfect sense. Everything he's done, all his actions up to this point have been to either protect my brother or guard his own secret. While I don't understand his reasons, I now see how far his deception has reached.
"Nothing. Straight to voicemail."
"That son of a bitch! Where the hell are they?" My rhetorical question goes unanswered as we drive to my parents' house. It's evening now, past sunset, and the city fades in my rear view mirror as we get further away and closer to the suburbs.
When we finally arrive, no windows are lit, dashing any hope that my little girl is here. Passing through the gate, we're barely acknowledged as Sam waves us through. I park haphazardly in front of the house, pushing open the door and rushing inside.
"Kaitlin!" I yell as I run from room to room. "K! Princess!"
The sitting room, the kitchen, the den, even the room Ma keeps toys in for her for her rare visits, all of them are empty. Emmett and I throw open all the doors and search every square inch of the house.
"You check Da's study?" Emmett calls from down the hall.
"Not yet." I run down the stairs and through the hall until I reach the door to Carlisle's office.
A single lamp on the desk lights the room. The unusually clear desk holds only a single envelope. Stepping closer, I can see my name written on it in Da's messy scrawl. With shaking hands, I rip it open, the envelope dropping to the floor as I clutch the paper in my hand.
Do I have your attention?
"Is that LoJack working? When will they be here?" Emmett asks, peering over my shoulder. The program tracking Bella and Rose driving from the airport is open on my laptop, and it's all I've been able to focus on since I spoke to her when they landed over an hour ago.
"Yeah, it's working. And they should be pulling up right ... about ... now." The sound of their car's engine filters through the open windows, and I'm on my feet in a flash, headed out the door.
In her hurry to get to me, Bella nearly falls out of the car. We collide in our rush to hold each other, but when she's finally in my arms, I squeeze her to me. Looking down at her, I know she's travel weary, of course, but the exhaustion she must be feeling is of another kind. Bone-deep sadness has taken the spark out of her eyes. With tears welling in my own, I kiss her forehead and tuck her under my chin. No words need to be said, there's nothing to say, so we only hold each other in silence.
I finally pull back, take her hand and lead her toward the house. "Come on. We both need to rest, and then we need to talk."
She pulls me to a stop. "What do you know?"
I'm reluctant to say anything to her, knowing he won't rest until I tell her everything I know, but I also understand she needs this; to know there's hope we'll find our daughter. "I know who has her."
When her steps falter behind mine, I turn to see a mix of sadness, hope, and anger on her face.
"Who is it, Edward? Who has my daughter?"
"We'll talk after we both rest," I say, gently pulling her along as I step closer to the door.
She rips her hand from mine, indignation blazing in her tired eyes. "No, I will not fucking rest! Who has my daughter?" Her voice is loud enough to scare off a flock of birds perched in a nearby tree. Their flapping wings are the only sound echoing through the quiet neighborhood.
I step closer and bring my hands up to cup her cheeks. "I know who it is, and I have men I trust looking for him."
Squeezing her eyes shut, she takes a deep breath. "Will we find her?" she whispers.
"I promise you, Bella, we'll get her back. But before anything else, I need you to rest." One of my hands travels down her side until it's resting on her belly, which seems to have doubled in size since the last time I laid eyes on her. "It isn't good for you, for either of you, to be exhausted."
"Okay," she finally relents. "But, you'll tell me everything?"
"I promise. As soon as you get some sleep, I'll tell you everything I know." With a kiss to her forehead, she nods and follows me inside, and up to the room we're staying in for this short visit.
We burrow under the blankets, and I pull her as close as I'm able to and wrap my arms around her, sleep quickly claiming us both.
Judging by the dimming light outside, it's evening before I wake. The house is quiet, meaning Rose and the girls are resting as well, or Emmett chose to take them out for a while. I take advantage of the quiet moment, staring down at my wife in my arms. Her peaceful expression as she sleeps betrays the anguish I know she feels when she's awake.
Years of secrets and lies have led us to this moment, and I'll have to tell her all of it at once. I can only hope it doesn't break her. Everything she thought she believed about why her parents were killed was a lie, and somehow all tied together, bringing us to where we are; our precious Kaitlin taken from us.
When her eyes flutter open, they're as beautiful as they always are, except this time, they're filled with untold sadness.
"Did you sleep okay?" I ask, my voice still thick with sleep.
"Yeah," she whispers, her voice raspy. "Will you tell me now?"
"Will you eat something?" I counter.
"Only if you tell me."
I flop back against my pillow, my forearm resting over my eyes. Moving it above my head, I turn to look at her. She deserves to know everything, but to open my goddamn mouth and actually utter the words is something else entirely.
I open my arms, and she comes willingly into them. I hold her tight and kiss the top of her head, holding onto this moment; the moment before secrets of the past are exposed, changing everything she thought she knew. I'm under no false hope she'll stay put and let me handle things once she finally learns the truth.
So, with a heavy heart, I whisper to her the most important thing first.
"Carlisle is the one who had Kaitlin taken."
Salute - health, good wishes
A/N: I must apologize, yet again for not being able to reply to reviews last week. Between FFN having serious issues most of the week, wrapping up my FAGE story, a visit from my out of town bestie, and a flooding basement, time just got away from me. And seeing how I've only got next week's chapter written, (which I hate not having more in reserve) I'm likely not going to be able to reply this week. I think you'd all rather I use the time to write than reply ... yes?
I'm super excited to announce that I made it through to round two of the Twi Fic Fandom Awards! I'm up for Favorite Newbie author, Duplicity for Favorite Drop Everything Fic, and Forged By Fire for Favorite All Time Fic and Favorite Potential Best Seller! Round two voting is open through this Saturday, 3/3. You can vote for your favorite in each category once daily, so go vote for your picks! You can find the poll over on TwiFicFandomAwards dot blogspot dot com.
Only two more days to vote for Fic of the Year over on TwiFanfictionRecs dot com! Two of my completed stories are up! Both Forged By Fire and A Rainbow After the Storm are on the list. If you loved them, please vote!
For exclusive weekly pics and teasers, come check out my Facebook group, Sunshine Fics. Thank you all so much for all the love you've shown this story. I adore each and every reader and review!