Rose, Emmett, Bella, Esme, Carlisle, and Adrian all sat around the kitchen table, a phone had been brought to sit on the middle of the table so the scene resembled a business meeting. Alice and Jasper were on the line from their New York apartment, relaying what they had learned from Michael, and what they hadn't learned from clairvoyance. Bella's eyes continually flicked over to Adrian, still concerned from the night before. Renesmee had been given leave to stay with the Blacks until further notice. In Bella's mind, if Adrian was dangerous, then the safest place for her to be was with the wolves. Adrian sat as usual, his right arm tucked across the flat of his back, his left propped up on the table, his chin resting on his fist. It seemed the kind of thing the Cullens did to fit in among people, odd physical habits; but Adrian didn't seem to be faking it, he was genuinely supporting his head. Bella was curious, and moved to imitate the posture. On the other side of the table, Emmett was loosing a stream of vehemencies under his breath, then spoke up, both to the family in the room, and on the phone.
"I wish Edward would tell us what he knows. Dammit!" He, like everyone else, was tired of wracking their brains to find out who Cain is, or what Cain is, and why Edward thinks it makes Adrian dangerous.
"I'm sorry Emmett, I'm sure this is a misunderstanding, I know Edward wouldn't worry anyone without cause, but he could be mistaken." Adrian said; it was the same conclusion they had collectively settled on hours ago, but everyone kept voicing it, maybe if they said it aloud enough it would be true.
"And the last you heard of Edward he was in Italy, you're sure? You didn't get any contact between his last phone call and the two messages?" Rose asked Bella, again.
"No, I keep saying it. I haven't heard anything from Edward since before he landed to pick up his orders." Bella answered, slightly annoyed, moving out of her posture she had mirrored from Adrian.
The Cullens had all been working with the business side of the Volturi, Edward was the only one who had it any differently. Edward was the first one to offer peace, it was even his idea. "Ungrateful" to herself, the thought was always tugging at her mind when Edward was away on "business", but she pushed it away, she loved her family dearly, she was just shorter of patience without her husband, right? Jasper and Alice got to live in New York, work where they wanted, and all they had to deal with was answering to their newest family friend, the Volturi liaison Michael. Carlisle had tremendous amounts of resources at his disposal to deal with patience, as well as a vampire attack free-zone that covered most of the state, and half of the west coast. And Rose and Emmett got their TV show out of Los Angeles for a couple years before they'd die in a tragic car wreck. What did Bella get? She got to go without Edward for two weeks out of the month, so that the rest of them could live their lives, free of fear. Edward had taken an offer as a temporary member of the Volturi guard; he had been working with Demetri for the past few months, but he wouldn't tell her doing what; clearly working with this Cain, or trying to find him. Most of Edward's assignments were recruiting, or recapturing. Bella's frustration came to a head, and she finally let out an annoyed huff, standing up from the table, and leaving. Before she turned she noticed that Adrian had quickly stood when she left the table.
"Of course." She laughed out sarcastically. "Always the gentleman!" She stormed to the door, moving slowly for a vampire until she got through the door, and let loose. She was gone.
"I'm sorry." Adrian apologized to the rest of the table sheepishly, sitting down.
"It's okay," Carlisle said, "This is just a little more difficult on Bella than the rest of us." He then turned his attention to the phone that was still on conference call, not that they could see his eye contact. "You two should be getting back to work, we've gone over everything a hundred times, and I don't think we're getting anywhere. Until anything changes, I think we should take Michael's advice and keep ourselves out of it."
"There's one more thing, though." Alice broke in, her voice flattened by the phone, it couldn't carry the same spectrum a vampire's vocal cords could. "I think I should check on them, their futures."
"Bella and Edward?" Rose asked. She grinned wickedly when she added, "But then who will throw Nessie a party?"
"This is more important." Alice fired back quickly, and several mouths hung open. "We need to know why Edward would scare us like this."
Adrian was thoughtful for a moment, before he explained. "Edward must have wanted to you not to look for some other reason, it doesn't make sense that he'd send such a frivolous request along with a serious warning. No offense to Renesmee's sixteenth birthday."
"That makes sense." Carlisle confirmed. "He must not want you finding out what he's working on with the Volturi, the knowledge must be dangerous."
Adrian looked askance at Carlisle, worry in his face, "Is Edward going to be alright, if his assignment deals with dangerous information...?"
"Edward is perfectly capable of handling himself in any situation. Besides, Aro knows how much Edward learns from him every time they meet, Edward probably could have more sway on the council than Marcus or Caius. It's what keeps most of us in their good graces, knowing that Edward is probably the only Vampire capable of replacing Aro." Carlisle said. "Alice, I think you should stay out of Edward's future for now, I think it's best for everyone."
Alice agreed, then she and Jasper said their good-bye's and I love you's before hanging up.
"I'm going to go find Bella." Rose said.
"I'm going to go call my agent." Emmett said through a wide smirk, dipping out of the room. Being a TV star was still very amusing to him.
Adrian was left sitting down the table from Carlisle and Esme, who's clasped hands rested on the thick mahogany table.
"You have been infinitely gracious to me, and I want to thank you again." Adrian said, his voice laced with respect. "But I think I should leave forks, I need to leave you to your peace."
Esme spoke up for the first time during their meeting, "You haven't brought us trouble, only concern. It's only been ten days, but you fit in so well here, and you get along with the family."
"Aside from being an imminent threat..." Adrian said off-handedly, frowning to himself.
"Whatever this is, with Cain, Edward's assignment will end in a couple days, and he can come back and explain everything in person. Until then, we'd love to have you with us, it's probably safer for you here than anywhere else." Carlisle offered, smiling at Adrian.
"I'm sorry that I don't have any answers." He said looking down at the table, and his remaining hand, which was now flat on the table. "I"m sorry all I have to say is apologies."