A/N 1:

I want to again say thank you to all that made their reviews. I am sending and blowing my kisses to you guys!

Also, I had more than a couple dozen people adding me to their alert lists as well as their favorites, making the happy me happier!

A/N 2:

I am temporarily scheduling Thursday as my update day in the week. So after this chapter, the next one will be posted Thursday next week.

I needed to post this chapter so I can establish the relationship of Jake and Bella. I just hope that it is up to par with your expectation.

Enjoy!

SM owns everything.

CHAPTER THREE

BPOV

The days following the meeting in the hotel, I became fully occupied with planning the upcoming wedding. I didn't want to have an elaborate ceremony but I owed it to Charlie to make a show of power and I would do anything to make this believable enough to help my family. I made sure that everyone in our world knew that there would be a Cullen and Swan nuptial in the off chance anyone doubted the validity of the Swan outfit receiving security from the Cullen Family of Chicago. The whole process of arranging a wedding and dealing with Rosalie and her constant bitching over every single detail, were quickly wearing my patience thin. The girl will definitely be getting slapped if she doesn't stop soon!

She was sauntering towards me carrying a stack of papers, with a look of inspiration on her face. I put down the phone from my conversation with the wedding planner and prepared for another onslaught of ideas.

"There you are sweetie," she said excitedly as she sat on the opposite chair near me. "I've been looking for you all over the house. I wanted to discuss your wine choi-"

"Oh my god Rose, don't you have anything better to do?" I sighed exasperatingly at her. "I just got off the phone with Emily, remember her, my wedding planner?" I emphasized the name just in case she'd forgotten, but she nodded and waited for me to continue. "I think she's got it all covered so can we please talk about something other than the wedding?"

"But Bella, sweetie, you still don't have a dress," she said smugly and raised her brows in challenge, daring me to deny it. "And your wedding is in two weeks."

I gave her a sullen look but eventually huffed dejectedly. "Fine Rose-" I held my hand in protest when she looked as if she was about to start in another exuberant wedding chatter "- but this will be the last thing. Okay?"

She nodded while grinning like the Cheshire cat. "I know, I know!" she promised, and then continued. "I called the Vera Wang Store in New York and they promised to schedule a fitting for you tomorrow!"

"Are you kidding me Rose?" I shouted at her, unbelieving that she would do such a thing as to schedule something without my consent. I planned to commission a local designer to design my dress and already set up a meeting later this afternoon, but from the look on Rosalie's face it seemed that said meeting was officially scrapped.

"Of course, babe. It's your day, you should look devastatingly beautiful so what better way than to wear Vera Wang?" she said, giving me the most innocent look she possessed.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her. Rosalie has always been quite the romantic, always wanting perfection in all aspects of her life. Her main aspiration was to have the perfect marriage with several kids or if you want to put it simply, the achievement of that ever-elusive happily-ever-after so many people dreamed of. What a fucked-up idea in my opinion, because how could you have that kind of life in an environment such as ours? Guns, drugs and lies weren't a recipe for that type of dreams but that was Rose for you, always with a twisted sense of perspective.

"So I talked to Emmett and he gave me the go signal for New York tomorrow," she informed me about the plans that she apparently made for both of us. "As we speak, the plane is being prepared for our flight early tomorrow morning."

I put my face in my hands and rubbed my face against my palms to release a portion of the growing frustration I was feeling. Rosalie was giggling beside me knowing too well that I was completely stressed out, not only with the ceremony itself but with my soon-to-be husband. A couple of days before, she demanded I tell the history between Edward and me, so I did. Though our past did not end on a nice note, she still insisted that the marriage with Edward was for the best and for some fucked-up reason that only Rosalie knows, she was extremely giddy about it.

I met Edward the summer before I was supposed to start my sophomore year in NYU, about two months before I met Rose. He was at a party hosted by a friend of mine, Lauren. He looked devilishly handsome amongst the group of college boys in attendance. His air of arrogance, doubled with his expensive clothes gained the attention of every girl there, who all seemed to flock to his side like moths to flame. He was the best catch at the most exclusive party in the whole university.

He explained that he was fresh out of college, being three years older than I was, and was just in New York to do some business for his father. We engaged in an amazing conversation for the remainder of the night that eventually led us to fall into bed together.

That was the start of our love affair. I was so fucking in love with him that I knew in my heart that I gave him all I had to give. Evidently I was not enough for him. The romance that started out with a fiery flame lost its burning inferno and concluded after only a month. One fucking month- too short to cause the devastation I suffered after the separation.

I was unconsciously playing with my engagement ring, a 14-karat emerald cut diamond ring from Tiffany's. Rosalie checked the ring's details online to be sure she knew all the facts about my ring. I pushed my musings aside and concentrated on what she was chattering about now.

ooooooooOOOOOOoooooooo

We landed in New York a half an hour ago and were on our way to the Vera Wang Store to find the perfect wedding gown for me. I was riding in the car with Rosalie and Jacob, ignoring their silent aggression towards one another. The origin of the hostility between them was unknown to me. Though they had never quite warmed up to the sight of each other after their initial acquaintance, they always managed to stay civil around each other for my and Emmett's sake.

Jacob Black, the son of Charlie's closest friend Billy, has always been close with the family, having spent most of his childhood days with Emmett. He was also a detective on the Seattle force. Without even being in our pad, he helped us with tipping our people on the actions of the police, which I had always been eternally grateful for. Jake has been like a second brother to me, a constant in my life- dependable and strong.

His appearance on the tarmac this morning was unexpected and unusual, though with Emmett's approval, he flew with us to New York City insisting on discussing an urgent subject with me.

The rush to get everything done with the gown and the presence of Rosalie prevented him from saying whatever it was he wanted to talk about with me. I invited him to join us in the store even though I was certain he would be bored. He declined and insisted that he stay in the car, even if he would be waiting for hours until we finished.

Upon stepping inside the designer's store, we were greeted with another surprise, Alice. Gleaming with a satisfied look on her face while sitting like a princess on one of the couches that served as the reception area, she definitely looked like she was waiting for us.

She came excitedly and hugged me with a force that was unexpected from such a little girl.

"Hi Isabella," she said happily.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her in a very confused voice. "How did you know?"

She waved her hand and scoffed off, "Emily of course." She strode to the receptionist and informed her that we were ready for the fitting, leaving Rose and me amused at the girl's reaction.

Shortly thereafter, I tried on several different dresses based on Alice's approval or disapproval might be more accurate. To my utter annoyance, she was bossier than Rose when it came to the wedding plans. Holy Christ, I will never wed again! Alice was returning from wherever she came from and carrying yet another dress; oblivious to its bulkiness and obviously annoyed at the attendant for being too slow to follow her specific whims. She insisted I unzip the dress I was wearing which had to be the 20th dress of the day. Shit, shit!

She literally pushed the dress to me, as if saying that it needed to be tried on as soon as possible.

"You're a pushy little thing aren't you?" I snapped at her irritatingly. She just gave me a big smile, and gestured for me to continue trying it on. I finally did and turned around to look at my reflection. I hadn't clearly seen the full effect of the dress on me when Alice squealed.

"Oh my God Isabella, that's it! That's the perfect dress! Perfect for you!" she gasped rapidly, clearly from her own excitement.

My irritation must have been clear on my face because Rosalie leaned and whispered in my ear, "You want me to smack her for you?"

I giggled at that. It was one of the many reasons why I loved Rose, and why she was my best friend, she always had my back, ready to do battle with anyone for me, even if that someone was my future sister-in-law.

I turned around to see my reflection in the mirror. The dress was a halter; the v-neckline plunged just below the breast area with a black satin sash around the waist to separate the satin skirt that flowed down freely from the upper half of the dress. The whole gown shouted ethereal beauty.

Alice was right about the dress, it looked best on me, not to mention it was a perfect fit. We ended the fitting with Alice charging the offensive cost to Edward's account despite my vehement protest. That irritating piece of ass!

The other displeasing thing the little munchkin did was insist on us spending a night in the city to which Rosalie quickly agreed. Alice set us up in the Cullen's newest condominium building in an upscale area of the metro. Accordingly, the security was tight and would provide Edward some assurance that we would be safe. Alice informed us that Edward would be joining us for dinner, which suddenly made me wary of Jacob being around.

I hadn't seen Edward after the meeting in Seattle, but he constantly called me to check up on things, or wishfully on my part, to check up on me. This dinner would be the last time we would be seeing each other before we met at the altar to say our vows.

Alice brought us up to what looked liked the penthouse of the building. "I had this prepared for your visit here today," she confidently informed us, making it clear that she had no doubt that her offer for us to stay here for the night would be accepted.

The suite as expected, was big and styled with the utmost expensive ornate there was, and had a masculine side to it that left no doubt as to who owned the said condominium.

Rosalie and Jacob stood beside me as we waited for Alice to finish instructing the house help on things she wanted to have completed. Quil and Embry were also in attendance, silently checking the surrounding area.

Alice, upon completing her instructions to the help, motioned we follow her and pointed us to each of our rooms, giving me what looked to be the master bedroom. Rosalie, who was so sure we would be spending the night in the city, had packed each of us a set of clothes and instructed Quil and Embry on which bags to deliver to which room.

When we were back in the living room, after all our belongings were in place, I noticed that Jacob was agitated and looked extremely tense beside me. I realized that maybe it had something to do with the urgent matter he wanted to discuss.

"Rose darling, I need you to distract the little monster, please. Will you let her take you to do something because I need to talk to Jake in private," I whispered to her. "Also you need to take those two with you," I nodded towards Embry and Quil.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked in a cautious voice. "You know I don't trust him."

"Rose, let's not start on that again," I groaned at her. "He is a good friend, even Emmett will agree with me on this."

She frowned in thought before nodding in agreement, strategically taking the entourage when she left through the door. That left me alone with Jacob. I turned to him and spoke first.

"So what's so important that you had to tag along on this trip with us?" I asked with a hint of apprehension.

"I heard that you agreed to go through with the whole marrying Cullen thing and wondered if it's true," he said stiffly. "But since I witnessed you buying a wedding dress first hand, I assume that means you already made the decision."

"What the hell are you talking about Jake?" I mumbled in irritation.

"Bella, he isn't good for you," he said flatly, but what he said next shocked me. "Does he know you OD'ed because of him?"

"How did you know? I mean..." I was speechless. I made sure that nobody knew that he was the Masen, my Masen, the one person that everyone in my family went looking for after the incident.

"You underestimate me Bella," he laughed sarcastically. "I'm not as powerful as your family, but I also have my ways."

"It's in the past and mentioning it won't do any of us any good," I looked at him straight in the eyes. He was frowning and his posture expressed the tension he was feeling.

"You think it doesn't fucking matter, really Bella?" he replied, his anger was visible in the way he spoke. "I doubt your brother will think that!"

"Fucking asshole, don't you dare bring Emmett into this!" His mere mention of telling Emmett sent me into a fit of rage. "Look at me Jake, whatever it is you want to say, just fucking say it outright!" I hissed at him, I was clenching and unclenching my fist, trying to prevent myself from punching him.

"I'm in love with you," he said so suddenly that I just stared at me, barely registering what he just said. "I have been fucking in love with you for years!"

"Oh Jake, you know you're like a brother to me," I started, my anger subsiding from the look of desperation I saw in his eyes, but he cut me off.

"I don't want to be your fucking brother Bella!" he hissed. "I want to be the one you love- your lover, your boyfriend or your husband or whatever you call it!"

"Are you crazy Jake?" I asked him, my anger resurfacing. "I don't like you in that way!"

"Your still hung up on Cullen, aren't you?" he said spitefully, the frown on his forehead increasing. I ignored him.

"What about Leah, Jake?" I asked sadly, my heart going out to his girlfriend. "She loves you so much. I know how much she cares about you because its all she talks about!"

"Fuck Leah! I don't fucking care about her!" he shouted as if the mere thought of his girl was offensive to him. "I'll leave her for you, Bella!"

I went and touched his cheek with my palm as I tried to assure him of my friendship. "I care about you Jake, but not like the way you want me to. Not like that." I gave him a small smile to lighten the mood.

"Don't marry him just yet," he said pleadingly, coming closer and pulling my hand from his face and held it on his. "Tell me you won't, please!"

"Oh my God, you fucking know I'm not postponing this marriage," I replied with resignation clear in my voice. Why did he choose to have this confrontation hereof all places? Goddamn him! "You know that we need him."

"No you don't. I can promise you that if you choose me inst-" He was cut mid-sentence by a loud voice followed by a loud banging of the door.

"What the fuck is this?" Edward growled at Jacob, his stare was focused on our entwined hands. I tried to pull my hands away from Jake but was only halfway successful when he suddenly pulled me to him and kissed me on the lips, eliciting a panicked reaction from me that made me push him with all my might and slapped him hard across his face. But the second he released me from his grip, Edward lunged at him and hit him hard on his face. Holy shit!

Jacob fell backwards on the floor, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand where a small amount of blood from a cut on his lip was visible. He looked at Edward with a wicked smile. "You just wish a kiss from you would make her cunt as hot as I do."

"You're so fucking dead asshole!" Edward shouted as he slammed into Jacob, punching him on the face again. They scuffled around the floor while Edward's men began moving forward, hesitant whether to meddle or not in a fight where their boss clearly had the upper hand.

Edward grabbed Jake's neck and locked him in a strong chokehold making Jake unable to breathe. I was fed up with the whole thing so I turned around searching for Quil. I went to him and grabbed the gun from his hip. I pulled the trigger, a loud BANG resonated throughout the entire room. The shot hit the mirror located at the far corner of the living room and shards of glass shattered onto the floor.

"If you don't stop this right this fucking minute, the next bullet will be directed at one of you!" I was pointing the gun upwards but my eyes were on Edward and Jacob, daring them to do the opposite. They may have believed that I was serious, which I hardly was because they stopped their attacks immediately.

Everyone in the room stood completely still, shocked at what had just taken place. Alice was in the far corner of the room opposite me, opening and closing her mouth, looking like a fish out of water, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't. Rosalie was giving me an awed look, looking like a proud mama of a girl who just received an award.

Edward, looking only a bit rumpled, was soon helped up by his people while Jacob, whose face was bruised from the severe beating he obviously received, slowly stood from his position on his back, holding his nose that was definitely broken. I slowly made my way to Jake, which fuelled another angry tirade from Edward.

"Isabella, get the fuck away from that motherfucker!" he shouted, making his way towards us. I moved a step forward to meet him halfway, and then stopped in front of him, placing a hand on his chest. Staring at him, I repeated myself to him, "Edward, he is only a friend. I'm going to marry you, don't doubt that. I will honor my word."

"He fucking kissed you!" he hissed in a menacing tone, closing his eyes and taking a very deep breath. "No one has the right to do that but me!"

"Technically you don't either," I deadpanned. "I don't want anymore testosterone fueled battles between the two of you, so I am asking you….please just give me a minute to talk to him." I pleaded him with my eyes, needing him to let me go to Jake so I could remove him safely.

He nodded but didn't move from his spot when I turned around to Jacob. I pulled him at the far corner of the living room and confronted him.

"Are you fucking crazy Jake?" I asked him incredulously. I gestured towards Edward without turning my back from Jake. "Do you have a death wish, huh? Because if you did, that was the right fucking shit to do!"

"I can hold my own, in case you didn't notice!" he snapped back. "That single kiss-," holding his now sore face-, "was worth all this shit!"

I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door. "Jacob, I'll talk to you when we get back to Seattle, but right now you need to leave. I won't have it in my conscience when Edward decides that he had enough of you." I ushered him out, literally pushing him. "Now go!"

I exhaled a long breath when Jacob followed my advice and left. I made my way back to the living room and saw that no one had moved from their position and were all now looking at me, waiting for my next move. I walked slowly towards Edward but he suddenly stalked my direction and threw me over his shoulder.

"Shit Edward, put me down!" I shouted as I struggled to free myself but it did no good. The gun I was still unconsciously holding dropped with a thud on the tiled floor upon my release on the handle. I didn't know where he was taking me, since I was hanging upside down, looking directly at his ass. I heard him open a door and locked it. I squealed with shock when I was suddenly thrown on a bed. My objections to his caveman actions were lost by him covering my body with his and claiming my mouth in a hard kiss. He sucked on my tongue as if there was no tomorrow and bit my lower lip until it was sore and bruised. All of his aggression was transferred in this single kiss, but to my own surprise I was responding to it with the same ardor as his own.

"Edward, we have to stop," I reluctantly protested in a hoarse voice when the kiss began to lead towards something else.

"I need a distraction or I won't be able to stop from following your fucking friend and rip his fucking head off!" he growled, stopping just a moment from his soft sucking on the exposed area of my collarbone to look me in the eyes. When he saw that I was willing for him to continue after his admission, he changed his attention to my chest. He pulled my shirt up to expose my bra-covered breasts and started kissing one of the swell of flesh exposed, licking one side while the other one was being squeezed and palmed by his opposite hand.

"You still taste so fucking sweet, babygirl!"

He started to rub my nipple with his thumb, hardening it against the fabric of my shirt that brought a moan from my lips. He continued his gentle sucking on the soft skin of my neck. The sensation I was experiencing, both from his touch and kisses, were causing my nether regions to quickly moisten. His steel erection against my thighs only increased the need for friction against my core.

"Babygirl, I want to know something," he murmured so softly and so suddenly while he dragged his lips from my neck to gaze fixedly at me. I was so aroused that I had difficulty concentrating. "Are you on birth control?" I just stared at him blankly, making him think that I wasn't. "Do you have a doctor you can discuss it with?"

He was raising his brow in question, making me realize the implication of what he was saying. "Fuck!"

He chuckled as he caressed my cheeks with his hand. "That's right baby, I'll be fucking you soon but not today apparently," he rasped, clearly affected by the conversation. "Trust, there will be a lot of sex between us and when that happens, I want to feel everything."

My eyes widened and my breathing hitched. "No rubber?"

He shook his head and enforced it with a "No." His smug look was fueling the lust I could feel coursing through my veins. "I am a voracious lover, as you know first-hand, babygirl. I don't want to knock you up before I even started enjoying that delectable body of yours again. Besides, I'm not ready to be a father yet."

I looked at him through my dazed eyes, the desire I was feeling for him clearly reflected on my face. I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled his head for another kiss, ignoring the warning for caution from my subconscious.

I don't fucking care whether this a business deal, I just want him! Just for now, I would allow myself to dream that this marriage was due to his desire of more than my body, that he still loved me if he ever did, and that his kisses and caresses were a reflection of his love and desire for me. Just for now...

We made out like horny teenagers until Alice started banging on the door to remind us of dinner. We both reluctantly pulled apart and made ourselves presentable.

The next chapter will be the wedding as well as the honeymoon, so yeah Lemons.

Anyway, review is greatly appreciated. Tnx!