Dear Rabbits,
Hold the rocks. Don't stone me quite yet! I promise I have good news.
I'm sorry I haven't updated for such a long time. Unfortunately, Law school and real life have gotten in the way of writing this amazing story. I have a lighter load next semester, which means plenty of time to write and maybe even sleep a full eight hours once in a great while. My goal for the upcoming year is to update at least once a week. Yay!
This chapter was a challenge to write because I had to decide what direction this story was going to take. Whether it would be a "they get together in the first chapter and declare their undying love," or whether I want it to be a little more challenging for Bella and Edward. Of course nothing is easy in my life, so why would it be easy in Bellas and Edwards.
As always, the plot is from me, but the characters are from the amazing Ms. Meyers. I majored in History and Political Science, not English. So there will be errors. Love the flawed is my only advice.
Previously on Rock and A Hard Place
No more than ten feet away from us, my dream man was leaning against my truck.
"Oh, Shit!" Was my only response.
BPOV
I remember one time a few years ago, Jessica Stanley dared me to jump off a boat dock at Monroe Harbor, in the middle of march. Of course, the bitch thought that I would chicken out because the temperature was just above freezing and you could still see chucks of ice drifting in the harbor. However, I was never one to back down from a challenge, even if it meant freezing my ass off.
I still remember the feeling of the icy water surrounding my body. The jerk and shock that followed my plunge into the deep water. For the first time, I felt like I could truly live and yet die at the same time.
This familiar feeling crept up my spine as I walked towards him.
Leaning against my Chevy was the man that had plagued my sleep for the last two nights. Dressed from head to toe in black, he was wearing slacks and a long sleeve button up shirt that had been rolled up so that his forearms were on displays. I could see little bits of tattoos peaking out of the bottom of his sleeves.
His gaze was steadily fixed on me and with every step that I took, his eyes grew with intensity.
I stopped walking, leaving mere inches between us and we stood still for what felt like forever until he finally broke the tension.
"What part of 'Don't move' was unclear to ya sweetheart?" I could sense the agitation in his voice. The pet name for me rolled off his lips and sent a tremor through my body. He called me that in my dream. He called me that right before I died.
I closed my eyes, attempting to hold back the dreaded emotion that began to consume me. All I wanted to do was run into his arms, to feel his warmth around me.
To feel safe.
What the hell is wrong with me? I don't do this shit. I am not that love sick high school girl that falls head over heels for a guy she barely knows. I'm Bella Swan, badass bitch.
"Just because you give me a command like a dog, doesn't mean I'll sit like one." I snapped back.
A wicked gleam flashed across his face. "Ya trying to be feisty, darling." He leaned closer to me so that his lips grazed my ear. "Ya can try to put up a fight, but I know ya feel it." His tongue ran down the shell of my ear. "That pull." My knees began to buckle and it was only his hands around my waist that prevented me from falling. "That consuming need to be close to me."
"Bella." Rose yanked me out of the bubble we had created. I had completely forgotten she was still there. "Bella." She said again, a warning tone clouded her voice.
Realizing how close Edward and I were, I placed my hands on his chest and pushed as hard as I could until I flung him up against the side of the truck. A shocked expression covered his face.
He moved so fast, I didn't see him grab me and turn me around.
Suddenly, my back was pressed against the passenger door. Both of his hands gluing my arms to the window. His face was so close that we were nose to nose.
"Dont. Ever. Push. Me. Again." His voice sounded dangerous and almost a little deadly.
"Then stay the hell away from me." I tired to muster up the same amount of force.
He let go of the hold he had on my wrist and place his hands around my waist, drawing me closer to him, if that was even possible. "I can't do that, sweetheart." I tried to look away from him, but he made sure to always have eye contact with me. Like my eyes could tell him what I was thinking.
"I don't even know who you are. Or what the hell you want." I attempted to maintain the badass bitch composure that was slowly slipping away.
"Me name is Edward Cullen. As for what I want… that would be ya, Bella." His voice caressed my name, like it was a part of his daily prayer.
Cullen….why was that familiar? I had heard that name before.
He grabbed my hand and lifted it to his lips. I tried to call forth my inner bitch, I pleaded for her to make a reappearance, but it seemed that she was temporarily on leave. My dream man, Edward Cullen, had apparently put her out of business.
"Will ya.."
"Bella." This time Rose's voice was more urgent, indicating to me that something was really wrong.
I heard the sirens before I saw them. At least half a dozen police cars were headed towards our school. And before I knew what was happening, Edward pulled my body behind him, drawing something from his waist.
EPOV
Six póilíní cars, so probably ten to twelve men, raced into the parking lot and stopped a few yards away from Bella's truck. Truck or piece of shit. Whichever you prefer. I was surprised the thing still worked.
I hoped that Ian had already notified Emmett that the American póilíní have surrounded us.
This is exactly why I never went anywhere without at least one man tailing me. Unlike the fecking Italians, us Irish men have rules in this business and we stick to them.
Never go anywhere without backup.
I pushed Bella further against her truck as I made a game plan.
It would probably take Emmett ten minutes to get here. I had one round on me, and Ian is a terrible fecking shot, so a shootout would only leave me and, even worse, Bella dead.
The only option was to distract them.
I pulled me glock down to me side, deciding to use it as a last resort.
About a dozen póilíní scatter into position behind their bullet proof cars, with their guns pointed towards me head.
Well, maybe not a last resort.
As I placed me glock in the back of me pants, I heard Bella gasp.
A sudden rage surged through me. This was not the first impression that I wanted to give Bella, and these fecking póilíní are making me look like a hard ass criminal.
I mean I am a hard ass criminal, but she didn't need to know that.
At least not yet.
"Edward Cullen, get down on the ground." One of the officers shrieked as he trembled behind his car door. This is the problem with American póilíní, they employed boys who haven't even reached puberty. How old was this shithead, fifteen? Does he even know how to use that gun?
"I'd rather not, these are new pants." I smirked.
He yelled a little louder. "If you don't get down on the ground and let Miss Swan go, we will be forced to shoot." He pointed his gun directly at my head, trying to indicate that he meant business.
Please.
Wait…. Let Miss Swan go?
"Eric, back the fuck off."
What the feck…
BPOV
"Eric, back the fuck off." I stepped in front of Edward, trying to defuse this very tense situation. "Don't you have a bicyclist to pull over."
I felt Edward wrap his arms around my waist, pulling me flush against his front. Even with guns drawn and a potential shootout on our hands, I felt safe, at home even.
"Bella, I'm trying very hard not to lose me shit right now. Can ya stay behind me? Please."
"They won't hurt me." I said in a calming voice, placing my hand on the side of his face. It felt rough, but his face softened with my touch. "The only person you should worry about is yourself." These goons that work for Charlie would do anything to protect me, even if that meant killing an innocent man.
"Why does it seem like that they are trying to protect you from me, care to.."
Eric fired a shot right into the air. Edward didn't duck. He didn't even move an inch.
"The next shot goes into your head Cullen, unless you let go of my daughter."
Fuck! It's Charlie.
"Daughter?" Edward asked with a confused expression on his face.
"DAD!" I yelled, standing in front of Edward and waving my arms. "I'm fine, Dad!"
I have never seen Charlie this livid in my life. Once I broke Grandma Swan's vase, that had been passed down in our family for two hundred years. I thought my dad was going to explode and send me to my room for the rest of my life.
Right now he was almost purple. Like he had been holding his breath for ten minutes, except I could see him huffing and panting with fury. I was worried that he was going to have a heart attack if he didn't calm down, so I left Edward's side and started walking towards Charlie.
"Bella.." Edward fired a warning tone at me as he wrapped his arms tighter around my waist, dragging me towards the back of the truck.
"Cullen, this is your last warning." Charlie took the gun from his belt and cocked it.
"Edward let me go." I said in a firm tone. This was the only way to get us both out of this situation alive. And I wanted that. Both of us alive.
"Never." Was his only response.
"If you don't let me go, Charlie is going to put a bullet in your head and then that pull that we feel, that connection that draws us together, will die with you." I couldn't let that happen. I had to keep him safe.
"Just this once." He gripped me so hard, that I felt like I might become permanently molded to him. Almost as if he pressed hard enough, then he wouldn't actually have to let me go. And then he was gone. And I was being scoped into the back of Charlie's police car. Away from Edward. Away from my dream man.
As I was finally secured in the back of the car, doors lock and police officers surrounding it. I took one final look at Edward. But he wasn't alone anymore, he was joined by what looked like a giant with brown curly hair.
"If you come near my daughter again. I will kill you myself." Charlie threatened.
"Ya might have her know, but ya can't keep her away from me forever. She'll be mine sooner or later."
"Is that a threat, Cullen?" Charlie's hands were shaking, and I could tell he was going to losing control soon.
"No, its a fecking promise." And with that, Edward and the giant walked back to a black car across the street from my school. Away from me.
***RAAHP***
"Eric! I want half a dozen cars on him, round the clock. Day and night. We need to catch theses sons of bitches, and now." I flinched when the driver door slammed on Charlie's cruiser. Turning around to face me, I could see the worry sketched on his face. "Are you alright, Bells? Are you hurt?" He looked me over, almost like he was checking for stab or gun wounds.
"Dad, I'm fine. He didn't hurt me, we were just talking before your guys showed up."
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I never meant to bring you into this." He started the cruiser and jump onto Kennedy Expressway, towards the station. "I'll keep you safe, I promise. Maybe I'll send you to your grandmother's for a few months until this blows over." He started to babble to himself, something about sending me to Florida to live with Grandma Swan, changing my hair color and potentially dressing me as a boy. That was when I knew he was slowly losing it.
He was weaving in and out of traffic like a madman.
"Dad!" But he continued to talk as if I hadn't said anything. "Dad!" I said louder this time to get his attention. "He didn't come after me because of you. I met him the other night."
It was silent for a few moments before he spoke. "You met who the other night?" He pronounced every word like he was talking to a three year old.
"Edward Cullen. I met him the other night at Ceilidh, the club that you found Rose and I at. We talked." And danced, but he didn't need to know that. I was trying to play it off like it was no big deal. However, I knew to Charlie that it was a big fucking deal, but what did he have against Edward? He's just a club owner.
"Bella, do you know who this Edward Cullen is? What he does for a living?" His voice sounded almost as deadly as Edward's. "Do you know how dangerous that man is? Not just to you, but to this entire city. For weeks my men and I have been trying to take the Cullen family down. We have been waiting for them to slip up. So that we can make this town safe from that type of crime."
Crime? Since when is owning a club illegal. What is it, the 1920's?
We pulled up to the station and he turned around to talk to me. "Bella, Edward Cullen is a dangerous criminal. You are not a to see him or speak to him again. Do you understand?"
"No." I couldn't do that.
"No?" Charlie asked with a puzzled look. I have never openly disobeyed Charlie. I mean sure there were moments when I would sneak out of the house, but never had I actually told him no to his face.
But I couldn't stay away from Edward. The thought of never seeing him again, the thought of never feeling his arms wrapped around me, made me sick to my stomach.
"I can't do that dad. I'm sorry." And I truly was sorry. I hated hurting him, but there was something about Edward. I couldn't get him out of my mind.
"You will not see him again or I will send you to Grandma Swan until you finish high school." He said in a final tone.
"I'm eighteen years old dad. You can't send me away like some petulant child."
"I will not let my daughter get involved with mobsters." He snapped at me.
"Mobsters?"
"The Cullens are a mob family originally from Belfast Ireland. They moved a little while ago to set up their organization here in Chicago. For the past few month, I have been trying to take them down before they can establish more permanent roots." So that is why he has been so secretive. Why he's been so busy for the last few months.
That's why Edward's last name was so familiar. Mike had mentioned that Charlie was going after a mob family… the Cullens.
"The head of the family organization is Carlisle Cullen, and his sons Edward and Emmett help run the day to day operations. However, they have cover businesses, like hotels, restaurants, clubs…" I didn't hear the rest of what Charlie was saying. My head was spinning and it felt like I was losing my grip on reality.
Edward Cullen is a mobster. Edward Cullen is a mobster. Edward Cullen is a mobster.
If I kept repeating it to myself, I might actually believe it.
I got out of Charlie's cruiser and headed into the station towards his office.
Once I walked in I notice the difference. It used to be surrounded with photos and memorabilia of the two of us. Pictures of us fishing, camping, at a baseball game. Now his whole office was filled with stacks of papers. The pictures of us that covered the wall were replaced with mugshots of what looked like the entire Cullen family.
Charlie was obsessed.
I look over the dozens of mugshots taped to his wall and found Edwards. He look no more than seventeen in the photo. Probable still a kid in highschool, but his face was covered in cuts and bruises. His right eye almost complete swollen shut. What had happen to him?
Charlie saw me staring at the mugshot of Edward. "He took a crowbar to a bunch of guys on a street corner. It was one against seven. He almost killed one of them, but the Irish authorities pulled him off before he could. Those were the injuries he sustained."
I gasped. One against seven? What the hell was he thinking.
Charlie groaned as he sat down in the desk chair and closed his eyes. "Promise me you won't see him again. If he comes anywhere near you or tries to contact you, just call me and I'll take care of it. Pay attention to your surroundings. He could have someone tailing you. I'll have one of my guys stationed outside the house and your school. Because you're grounded you won't be going anywhere else."
"Ok, I promise." But I knew that I was lying to him. I knew there was no way I could stay away from him. He was my dream man, my Adonis, my Edward. And even though I grew up with a police officer as a dad, and was taught right and wrong and consequences at a young age, I couldn't make myself care that he was a criminal.
There is no way that he was a bad guy in all of this. I just couldn't believe it.
Charlie must have seen the doubt on my face. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you." He walked over and pulled me into a hug "I'll have Eric drive you home. Lock the doors and set the alarm. I'll probably be home late tonight." Shocker.
"Love you, Dad."
"Love you, Bells. Be safe."
I stepped out of his office and towards the front door.
Looking over at Eric, I said "Come one asswipe. My dad want you to drive me home."
I walked out without even waiting for him to follow me. Once we reach Charlie's cruiser I turned to see what Eric was doing. He stood a few feet away from me. "Ms. Swan, I wouldn't use such language with me." He started to press my body into the car, just like Edward did almost an hour ago. However, this time I didn't feel safe. In fact, I felt violated.
"Eric, if you don't back the fuck off. You won't have to worry about me telling my dad about this. I'll kick your ass myself." I pushed him onto the ground.
Jake, another one of Charlie's men, was rushing out of the station and from the look on his face, he saw everything that had just taken place between Eric and myself. "What the hell are you doing Yorkie?" Jake yelled and pushed Eric back down to the ground.
"He's not worth it." Shooting Eric a look of disgust, I turned to Jake. "Can you drive me home? I need a ride."
"Sure, jump in." Jake unlocked the car door and turned towards Eric. "I'll deal with you when I get back." He turned on the car and once I put my seatbelt on, he drove straight towards my house.
***RAAHP***
Jake didn't say a word until we pulled up right in front of my house. "Don't worry about that asshole. I'll have Captain Swan deal with him."
"Seriously, it's fine. Charlie already has a lot on his plate. Just leave it alone." I tried to get Jake to drop it.
"Alright, but if he gives you any more trouble you have to tell your dad." Jake parked the car and pulled out his phone. "Here is my number. I'll be outside until the Captain comes home. If anything weird happens just call me." He wrote his number on a piece of paper and handed it to me.
"Ok." There is no reason to argue. He was under orders from Charlie. "Have a good night, Jake. And thanks for the save back there."
"No problem." He placed his feet on the dashboard and tilted his head back as if he was going to sleep.
***RAAHP***
The rest of the night was uneventful. I watch a few episodes of friends, ate leftover lasagna I made a few nights ago and fed the rest to Jake who was still parked outside the house. Charlie still wasn't home and it was about to hit midnight. After 20 minutes of waiting, I decided I was tired enough to sleep and there was no reason to stay up any longer because I had no idea if Charlie was even coming home tonight.
I finished the dishes and turned off all of the lights downstairs, making sure that the alarm was set and all the doors were locked.
I walked up the stair to my bathroom and took a quick shower, before putting on a pair of leggings and holey t-shirt that said "I am Sherlocked." What? I like my tv shows.
Once in my room, my head barely hit the pillow before my phone started buzzing.
The clock said 12:35pm. Why would Charlie be calling me so late?
"Hello?" I answered with a groan.
"Good evening." My ears were met with a smooth Irish accent. "Just making good on me promise, sweetheart."
Yet again. I leave you on a cliffhanger yet again. Muhahahahaha!
As always, reviews are welcomed, nice reviews are appreciated. Tell me what you think about this chapter, Edward and Bella's relationship. Do you think Jake is going to be a problem? And what will happen to Eric, when Edward finds out what he did to his sweetheart?
I will try to respond to reviews. I'm still not really sure how to do that, but I always conquer technology, it just take a few bloody battles.
Stay tuned, cause there is much more to come.
Hope you guys enjoyed.
-AliceInMyWonderland
