Crosshairs
Chapter Nineteen—Home Sweet Home
"We should get on the road." Isabella climbed out from the back seat and pulled out her smartphone, adjusting her clothing as she moved. "We have a lot of miles to cover. Guess this means we're missing brunch with the family tomorrow."
Edward drank deeply from a soft drink they grabbed earlier and climbed out of the car. He needed the sugar and caffeine after his panic attack and that rather rough fucking. They'd been running on adrenaline for days, and it had taken a toll. It took him longer than he liked to catch his breath.
Other than just fucked hair and a number of love bites, Isabella seemed normal. He would have to work out more if he planned to keep up with her. Maybe they could work out together, though he had a feeling they'd end up fucking again.
Edward pulled onto the road and checked their route on the navigation system. "I'm afraid we won't be missing anything. I'm sure my parents will insist on us coming to their house once we reach the city."
She groaned, rolling her eyes. "If that's the case, it's time to learn all about your family. Give me the 411 on your brothers, your parents, uncles, and aunts. Everyone. I only personally know your father; I don't remember your mother. Contact between your father and me has been through our contracts only. We agreed to keep it professional. I have all the basics on each of you and your exes, of course."
Edward's eyes snapped toward her in time to see her mischievous grin. "You have access to that kind of information?"
"Of course; I had to make sure I didn't accidentally kill any of your people." She was trying hard not to laugh. "You were a late bloomer, baby. Lost your virginity at twenty."
There was no redness on Edward's face. None at all. From Isabella's giggle, that was a damn lie.
"I refused to fuck the dancers my uncles sent me when I turned sixteen at one of our clubs. I'd known some of them since I was a kid." Edward shuddered at the memory. "Plus, I'd been dating someone from school at the time; I'm not a cheater. When that didn't work out, some shit happened that earned me a poor reputation, which I sought revenge for but earned me major punishment from my parents. Plus, I was too busy trying to get into a college as far from home as I could."
"Aw, it's okay, love." Isabella patted his cheek three times before he pushed her hand away. "I think it's sweet that you waited. I did, too." She smiled at something on her phone. Photos? "You were pretty cute in high school, though. How did you keep the girls away from you that long?"
Edward's jaw clenched. "Remember the poor reputation part? Jasper had told anyone who would listen that I had a tiny dick, and his friends that I had PE with 'confirmed' it was true, which it wasn't, as I know you're aware."
She chuckled. "If the girls only knew. Please tell me you made your brother regret it."
There was no helping his smile. "Oh, I did all right. That major punishment thing, I mentioned, that's why. It went a little too well and I got the shit beaten out of me twice for it."
She looked shocked and angry on his behalf. "Why twice?"
"The first time was by my father and the second time once Jasper recovered from his, uh…injury."
If Isabella knew about his exes, there was no doubt she had access to their medical history. Realization hit her after only a moment.
"Oh my God, Jasper's medical files indicated…" She looked shocked. "You're the reason he only has one nut?" She laughed for a solid minute while Edward winced in sympathy for his brother. It had technically been an accident; the robot arm he built to punch his brother in his groin was much stronger than testing indicated. "His file said it was motorcycle accident."
"Nope, it was all me. Earned me the beatings and I was grounded until I graduated high school."
"Ouch, though I guess as a parent, I would be that hard on you, too."
In the end, Edward agreed with the punishment. "To this day, I still think it was worth it. Jasper never saw me as his baby brother again. My father decided then I was ready to learn the family business."
They discussed for a few more minutes about Jasper's history before Isabella decided to change the sore subject.
"Okay, as fun as it was to go down memory lane, we have a lot to go over and not just your family, Edward. I need all the personal stuff about your men and inner circle. Whatever we decide, if I expose myself as the Phoenix or not, the more details I have the better. Someone may attempt to test me, and you, by using me, and I need to be prepared."
Edward's hands tightened around the steering wheel. "Anyone lays a hand on you without permission is a dead man." Edward slashed his hand through the air hard. "Period. That has always been the rule with my mother and it will remain one when you become my wife."
"I'm not your wife yet," she pointed out. "Which means someone could test how much I truly mean to you until then."
She was right.
"You're welcome to dish out his or her punishment, but I reserve the right to finish them if it's warranted."
She agreed, then looked thoughtful. "You know, you haven't even asked me to marry you." Her voice had become whisper-soft, threatening; the words were a warning.
Edward went over every moment since her kidnapping and realized, she was right, once again. She deserved more than a demand to marry him or for it to be a foregone conclusion.
Edward's foot landed hard on the brake. She'd known that by requesting her to meet his family, he intended to marry her. He ignored the asshole honking at them and looked over at Isabella.
Her eyes remained on the scenery outside her window instead of him. Had anyone shown her how precious she was? Been gentle with her since losing her mother? In the two months they were dating before her kidnapping, the first time he arrived for a date with a rose and slipped it into her hair, she'd been shocked by the gesture. Every time he had cooked her dinner, she watched with awe and barely restrained wonder. The one time she burned her hand while she made him a latte in her café under her apartment, in the middle of the night, she had shed a tear as he helped her clean up the burn and put cream on it.
Isabella didn't need anyone to take care of her. However, when someone did, someone that loved her, she didn't mind it at all.
"Isabella, I promise to remedy that as soon as possible."
She tortured her lip when she looked at him, undeniably vulnerable. "You don't have to do anything special, but I'd like something personal. None of that grandstanding shit in front of your family please."
If she knew about some of his personal matters from her files, then she knew about Jasper's elaborate proposal at a fancy charity gala, where hundreds of people were in attendance, including most of his family.
She didn't like to be the center of attention, and he understood that. He felt the same way about those kinds of proposals; it felt rehearsed and impersonal, in his opinion.
Edward lifted her hand from her lap and kissed her fingers as he drove. "Personal sounds perfect to me; besides, I'd want to make love to you as soon as you say yes. If I make the mistake of asking in front of friends and family, they'd never let us leave, so they'd have an excuse to celebrate."
She laughed but frowned again after a moment. "Have I taken the romance out of it by asking for this one thing?"
"Besides your bloody wedding present?" Edward chuckled when she glared at him. "Trust me, you haven't, Isabella. I love that you aren't afraid to ask for what you want. You have no idea what's going to hit you when I do ask." He bit her knuckle.
She whimpered, her thighs clenching together "Oh fuck, why do I feel that I'm about to be schooled in seduction or something."
Edward laughed, and after a few more minutes, they decided to continue their discussion. Isabella was correct in her assumption that she would be tested—not only by the men in his family and members of the organization, but the women, too.
She had to stand toe-to-toe with Esme Cullen. And after what Maria had done to Jasper, she wasn't going to be easy to win over. Even if his mother had been involved with Edward and Isabella's reunion.
Arriving home would prove interesting.
.
.
.
The sun had started to paint the sky a dusty orange when they arrived outside of Chicago over a day later, awaiting their escort into the city in an abandoned parking lot. Isabella smirked as Edward began to pace as he tried to find out what held up their driver on his phone.
"Never mind," Edward barked, as bright headlights moved toward them. His eyes narrowed as the driver pulled alongside the SUV they'd traded out of state hours earlier. "Stand back, Isabella." He pulled out his gun and pointed it to the unfamiliar driver.
Edward stood ready. "Get the fuck out of the car now."
The driver's lips pulled up on one side, his face hidden under his hat. Blue eyes slid to Isabella, but she held up her hands as Edward opened the door.
The driver, that Edward discovered was a woman, removed her hat, long blonde hair flowing past trim shoulders. "You trained him well, B."
"Hey, bitch." Isabella wrapped her arms around the woman, leaving Edward a little shocked.
"You're not supposed to use my name, whore." The woman winked at Edward, laughing. "You were right; it was too easy, B." She stood back and looked over Isabella with scrutiny. "You all right?" Her eyes landed on Isabella's side, where she was stabbed by debris from the car roll over.
"Leah patched me up."
Edward intended to interrupt but a pounding from the town car's trunk earned their attention.
"You didn't break any bones, did you?" Isabella held out her palm toward the blonde woman, shaking her fingers.
Blondie rolled her eyes. "No, but you always ruin my fun."
"Someone tell me what the fuck is going on." Edward holstered his gun and pinched the bridge of his nose. It had been a long day.
Isabella leaned toward him to avoid being overheard by Edward's real driver. "I'd like you to meet one of my associates; Rose is my one-woman clean-up crew. I asked her to test your security." She smiled at Rose. "Any reason to fuck with the boys, right?"
"You know it." Rose crossed her arms over her chest and batted her long lashes at Edward. She motioned that she'd slice his throat and mouthed she'd kill him for Isabella. He had a feeling that if he ever hurt Isabella, Rose would no doubt deliver on that threat.
"Rose?" Isabella tapped her nails on the trunk and groaned. "Stop threatening my man."
"I'd apologize, but we all know I would be lying." Rose held out her hand for Edward. "Take my threat as a real possibility, Mr. Cullen."
"Understood. It appears you have the drop on my men, so you are forgiven. Anyone else would be dead."
Rose nodded and gestured toward the car. "I think it was this easy because the lug head is your baby brother."
Edward held back a laugh and shook his head. "This I need to see."
Emmett Cullen had about eighty pounds and five more inches in height than the blonde associate. He stood aside for Isabella to open the trunk and met the angry glare of his brother.
Then his eyes softened when they landed on Rose. The duct tape over his mouth hung loose on one side of his lips. "I'm going to marry you one day, Princess. Until then, help me up."
Isabella started to cackle and had to lean on Edward for support. "First mistake, Emmett. She's no princess."
"That's his third mistake. The first was talking to my tits instead of my face. The second was fucking up a simple pick up of precious fucking cargo."
"Touché, my love," Emmett crooned, holding out his bound hands for his brother. "Even if I would've escaped your beautiful clutches, I deserved that."
Edward pulled out a blade and cut away the zip ties around Emmett's wrists. "Why did you insist on coming out tonight and unescorted? You know that Aro has some loyalists out for blood."
"I do know that, but someone has been testing our security and I didn't want to risk Felix. Besides Da said it would be fine." Emmett straightened until he towered the others, grinning and raising his chin up at Isabella. "You must be Edward's latest toy."
Isabella's eyes narrowed, and in two moves that swept Emmett off his feet, he was back in the trunk. Rose and Edward stood back and let Isabella work.
"I'm nobody's toy, not even Edward's. I am, however, the woman who loves him and who can and will kick your ass if you ever refer to me as some kind of possession again."
Emmett's eyes widened, darting to Edward. Then he started to laugh so hard that Edward had to help him out again. "Forget my brother, Isabella. Will you marry me?"
Isabella glared at her supposed-fiancé. "At least one of you asked." She shook her head and helped Rose put in their bags in the trunk.
Emmett rubbed away the redness around his wrists, joining Edward. "What the hell does she mean by that, bro?"
Isabella and Rose ignored the men and stood aside quickly to discuss the issues with Cullen security. "Thanks for your help, Rose. We better get going. We're too exposed out here."
"Isabella, we should go." Edward held out his hand and opened the door for them to climb into the car. "You're driving, Emmett." He looked around and held up two fingers to signal whomever his father likely sent to tail his brother.
Emmett huffed in irritation when two pairs of headlights started up from opposite sides of the road. "I should've known that Da would send someone to follow me, but they didn't do anything when Blondie here kidnapped my ass."
Edward rolled his eyes as he sat down beside Isabella in the backseat.
Rose decided to leave the lovebirds alone and climbed in the front passenger seat, much to Emmett's pleasure. She punched his shoulder to shut him up, and it worked.
Edward cleared his throat. "That's because our father agreed to have security tested. Head to my place; we'll meet with everyone else in the morning."
"Uh, Mom and Dad said you have a couple of hours to get ready," Emmett said, and he and Edward glared at each other in the rearview mirror. "You know Mom wouldn't wait to meet your fiancée, who you failed to introduce to me. I thought you had better manners than that." He looked at Rose and gave her a dimpled smile. "What's your name, gorgeous?"
"None of your business; I work for Phoenix's crew, that's all you need to know." Rose had a sinister look to her smile.
"That's so fucking hot. Can you tell me anything about Phoenix?" Emmett waved his big hand around. "None of those rumors about Phoenix being a woman, because that's not possible."
Edward and Isabella shared a look in the backseat, glad in a way that Emmett hadn't figured her secret.
Rose's eyes narrowed and the curl to her lip indicated that Edward's little brother was about to put his foot in his mouth.
"No offense, beautiful, but there's little chance that the best assassin that money can buy is a woman." He grinned, but it fell when he noticed the murderous look on Rose's face. "I mean, yeah, you kicked my ass and you can probably do it again. But I went easy on you. You're too pretty to hurt."
He fucking pouted.
"Emmett, we don't know each other yet," Isabella stated, and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "If you don't shut up right now, Edward will be the only brother with a pair of balls."
Emmett cupped himself and apologized to Rose.
Edward pulled her back against his chest and laughed. "I love you, baby. And Rose, ignore Emmett at your own peril."
Rose's gaze narrowed in on Edward. "What does that mean? Are you threatening me?"
He shook his head. "I wouldn't dare. However, there's nothing more my brother loves than a challenge."
Emmett hummed in agreement and winked at Rose. "He's right. Guaranteed you'll be riding me and screaming my name inside of a month."
Isabella sighed and chose to ignore Emmett and Rose for the moment. "What exactly are we going to walk into when we go to your parents' house in about an hour?"
Edward grimaced and pulled her onto his lap to face him. "Considering that we were given a couple of hours, most likely a formal dinner with the entire family."
"Please tell me you're kidding. We've been on the road for over thirty-six hours."
Rose snorted, having heard them. "I don't think you have much choice. His mother sent Edward's suit and a dress for you to his penthouse."
Isabella's eyes darkened. "I see. Please tell me you took care of it."
Rose turned in her seat and grinned. "I sent it back completely shredded and bought another one."
"Thank you." Isabella's lips twitched into a smile.
Edward pinched his nose again and rubbed her back. "This is going to be an interesting evening."
Emmett grunted. "Or Armageddon."
AN: Thanks to Midnight Cougar, she's been awesome while I send her chapter after chapter. I'm still on the roll, except for Incognito. I don't know why that will NOT happen for me! Someone tell that Edward and Bella to get to talking. How long do you think it'll be before Emmett figures it out? Thanks for reading and reivewing everyone, you're amazing!
