IMPORTANT PLEASE READ!

A/N: Okay guyz, first of all I have to get this out. THE HEIST WAS NOMINATED FOR FIC OF THE WEEK OVER AT TEH LEMONADE STAND! *throws confetti* I am SO totally floored right now, I don't know what to say! Well, I kind of do. THANK YOU! To everyone who rec'd this and just... GAH! If you want to vote please head on over within the next day or so. The poll will be closing!

Go to tehlemonadestand . net to vote!

As always I'd like to say thanks to Twilly for her pre-reading awesomeness, and to MyHeroin01 for her spectacular beta skills!

Also thanks to Raindropsoup for her fantastic piece on TwiFicCentral. ILY!

Caren and Kassiah (The Fictionators) for their support with Teaser Monday.

And last but not least, my girls EvilNat and NicFFWhisper at TLS. You guys give me so much joy! ILY BOTH! MWAH!

Erm... this is long enough. I'll see you at the bottom. LMFAO!

Bella

"Welcome to 'The Grotto', pretty boy." I said, watching as his mouth dropped in horror. I couldn't suppress the giggle that erupted at his expression.

Cardinal rule number one: Never judge a book by it's cover. Nothing is what it seems.

I shook my head at the rookie mistake as he followed me, albeit begrudgingly, through the smoke and mirrors. I heard a small gasp behind me as he took in his surroundings. He followed me to through the cavernous space until we reached the boardroom.

When I pushed open the door, all eyes were on us ...mainly him. I took my usual seat and he sat across from me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Victoria give him a slow once over from head to toe.

Man-eater

I scoffed internally, blocking out the entrance speech and actually looked at Edward. His eyes were a deep shade of jade, swirling with hues of browns and yellows, framed by a high sculpted cheekbones. His jawline was rigid and defined, covered with a light dusting of scruff. His lips, they were perfectly carved with a healthy pink hue. My eyes travelled upward to the wild mane, artfully tousled and strewn about. It wasn't the fact that it was 'sex hair' that caught me off guard, it was the unusual color that was so intriguing. Almost brown, but more coppery... like a penny with highlights of red.

Edward Masen was pretty.

I watched as his eyes dropped to his lap in contemplation. He looked almost angelic. The way his lashes fanned across those perfect cheekbones. All of a sudden his eyes snapped to mine and back to Aro. At that point I decided that maybe I should tune back in to what was being said.

"Did you just say ...mate!?"

Ah. The pairing of danger portion of the evening. I felt the beginnings of a smile at the corner of my lips. Yep, it's official, he's freaking out.

Slowly, his eyes made their way to mine. He looked appalled.

Maybe I'm not Marilyn Monroe, but I'm not a Rosie O'Donnell either! I huffed indignantly and scowled at him, then carefully schooled my expression to something akin to disdain, "It's not what you think. Let me tell you, it's only mechanical."

No reason to give him the impression that he was significant enough to ruffle my feathers. He flailed gesturing towards me, directing his words at Aro, "Is that supposed to make it better!?"

Aro glared at me heatedly. I returned his ice cold stare ten-fold. I could read his message loud and clear from his eyes alone.

Don't. Fuck. This. Up.

I listened to the very same speech he had given Alec and Victoria when they first arrived and supplied the right answers. It took extreme tolerance on my behalf to squelch the epic-eye-roll that threatened to surface. When there was a lull in the conversation, I grabbed the chance to ditch the heaviness of the conference.

I stood abruptly, wagging my head towards the door, "Come on pretty boy, we have some things to settle."

I leveled Aro with a message of my own as I lead 'Hot-Boy McWhiney Pants' out the door.

Fine! I'll do this, but I don't have to like it!

No sooner than the heavy wooden doors swung shut behind us, he fired off another question. "What 'things' do we have to settle?"

"First, I have to have you eliminated, then I..." That about as far as I got before he screamed yet again. I rolled my eyes, throwing my hands in the air. If I had wanted to kill him, he would've been dead three hours ago, in the mini-mart, next to the potato chips.

I told him as much and he seemed to calm down. Sadly, his moment of peace was short-lived. I literally watched the color drain from his face as his life records were obliterated. The frustration bubbled up once again, and before I spouted off another snarky comment, a fleeting thought crossed my mind.

He should be scared.

I actually felt a pang of guilt in my chest. After all the things I had done before and after being employed by Aro, the sudden onslaught of the emotion was shockingly strong. All frustration melted away when he turned his wide frightened eyes to me.

I softened my expression tugging on his wrist, "Come on, let's go grab a bite to eat and we can talk a little, okay?"

He nodded, shuffling along behind me. I threw up my hand in a half wave to Alice, "See ya around, short stuff."

"Ditto Bellissima!" She chirped back, already clicking away at her keyboard.

After we both grabbed a chicken ceasar salad and a bottle of water each, I opted to take a table toward the back of the mess hall in a more secluded area. Edward tucked into his food immediately. His comment from earlier drifted to the forefront of my mind again.

"I haven't really had the means to eat properly."

A fresh wave of guilt washed over me. I decided that was a better topic for another time, judging by his embarrassed expression when he said it.

The tense silence between us was beginning to smother me when he finally broke the silence. "How old are you?"

"Reaaaaal suave, Edward. Hasn't anyone ever told you, 'never ask a woman her age'?" I deadpanned, spearing a leaf of lettuce.

His face pinkened slightly as he tried his best to back pedal, "No! That didn't come out right! I mean... you look so... young!"

I snorted, chewing slowly deciding to let him off the hook easy. "27."

He nodded stiffly, spinning the top of his water bottle nervously.

"Edward, you were so inquisitive earlier. I basically had to threaten your life to get you to shut up..." his eyes snapped to mine and I held my hands up, palm out in surrender, "but that wasn't the time or the place. With that being said, ask away."

He contemplated for a second before firing off his first question, "What's so special about me? What 'capability' do I have that Aro is so hell bent on harnessing?"

I closed my eyes and sighed. It would be my luck that he would ask the questions that I couldn't answer. "Your capability is what's so special about you, but the unfortunate part is I can't tell you what it is."

"You can't or won't?"

"Both." I answered solemnly. His mouth opened to rebut my statement but I shook my head, effectively stopping that rant I was sure was to come. "I want to, but I can't. No one here knew what they were capable of until they found out themselves. Aro believes that you won't be able to control it, unless you discover it. I may be stuck with you, but I can't help you with that one. That mission is all your own."

He frowned, shaking his head, "You act like I have X-ray vision or something."

My shoulders bobbed with a silent laugh as I shook my head, "I've seen stranger things."

"Well then, can you at least tell me why I'm doing this? And don't give me that 'fate' bullshit."

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table, dropping my chin in my hands and cocked a brow. "In the end, does that really matter?"

"Wh-what? Yes, it matters!" He stuttered, obviously flabbergasted at my disdain.

"Let me let you in on a little tip. Morals? Lose them. In this line of work, if you focus on that, you'll lose your mind. In order to keep your sanity, you have to work with the mindlessness of an assembly line." With that I stood and wagged my head towards the door. "Come on, let me show you your room."

Okay, to address some questions. My update schedule will be every Tuesday if RL permits. I will let you know if anything changes! I'm updating a little early because of the TLS nomination, I feel like you guys deserve it! :D

This story is AU, AH, OOC... and anything else you may think applies. LOL! I kinda forgot to put it in the summary.

RECS OF THE WEEK:

The Love Boat by Twilly

Theories of Bellativity by Kikiseven

If you guys have any rec's that you want put out there, let me know! I'm all about spreading the word!

See you next tuesday!

xoxoxoxo

KK