Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the plot.

To Skyebella98, thank you for helping me with this chapter. Kisses and hugs a million times, bb. lol

Thank you to all my readers. Every alert on my mail makes me giddy...so keep 'em coming. =D

Here is the next chapter...as promised. Happy reading!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

BPOV

"Mase, I want to go!" I was seriously getting annoyed with Edward. He had been ignoring my plea to go with them. If he thought for one second I would allow them to go without me, then he had another thing coming. This time I wouldn't be easily coerced into agreeing with whatever he planned. No, no sir.

My husband just stared at me cockily, as if he was amused by my rant. I knew I was behaving like a petulant child; even resorting to stomping my foot earlier, but it didn't mean he could just stand there and act as if my reasons didn't matter. I was fuming; I could feel my nostrils flaring as I glared at him.

I felt someone's hands on my arms and turned to see Alice. She smiled and tugged me away from Edward.

"Bella, please."

I wanted to punch that smile away from her face.

"Alice, can you please just stop pulling my hand?" I snapped at her. She just giggled, as if there was something funny in what I said. I scowled at her, and she just smiled wider. Alice was one freak of a person. No wonder she was giving me whiplash. She was always so full of energy, like nothing worried her. She wasn't supposed to be happy at this time. Her husband and mine were going out of the country to meet with the Volturis.

Edward had received a phone call from Aro, the head of the Italian unit a few days ago. Vicky or Jasper - I wasn't sure who - had intentionally sent the chopped body parts of Snake as a warning to their borgata. I wasn't that naïve to know the message was an impending war between the families. The call was a surprise, but Edward explained it was important for them to go to France to meet with Aro. I insisted it wasn't a good idea for Edward and Jasper to go, but nobody was fucking listening to me! Emmett offered, or more like demanded, to go with them, but my husband assured him he needed to stay here. Emmett as expected was pissed and argued with Edward; however, when my husband reminded him of Rose still recuperating in the hospital, he reluctantly relented. There were a lot of words exchanged between my brother and my husband, but it was like they were trying to keep it from me. Assholes…that's what they all are!

"Masen! I'm not gonna have sex with you ever again if you're not gonna bring me!"

I heard collective gasps from everyone present in the room. My eyes were fixed on my husband's back, hoping he could feel the heat of my rage. He turned slowly, his eyebrows raised, challenging me.

He didn't think I could follow through with the threat. Let's fucking see! I raised my own eyebrow in response.

He came forward to stand in front of me, and I crossed my arms across my chest in defiance.

"Oh, really?" He smirked. He took a step forward and I moved back. He was dangerously close, and his eyes had a mischievous twinkle in them I knew I should be wary of. He reached out to caress the exposed skin of my shoulder and I hissed. I could feel my nipples harden against the soft fabric of my shirt. I bit my lip, trying not to be obviously aroused by the simple gesture, but the smirk on Edward's lips told me my reaction wasn't lost to him.

Jerk!

I was too pissed to let him have his way. "I'm gonna go anyway…whether you leave Seth and a whole lot of bodyguards. You can't prevent me from going, Mase!"

I saw him close his eyes and inhaled deeply. He was trying to be patient with me; that I was sure of. But I was adamant to have my way, just this once! I pursed my lips, frowning at him. He opened his eyes to my scowl, and the look he gave me was one of frustration.

"Baby, please." He cupped my face in his hands, pleading. I was stubborn.

"I'll be in France, Masen. Mark my words," I told him. "Either you bring me, or I'll find some other way to get there. So what will it be?" I was serious. He had to know that.

He frowned, contemplating. He was stubborn, too.

I pouted, hoping it would work. His eyes softened, and he sighed.

"Okay," he said. His hands on my face tightened a bit, making a point. "But you have to promise to stay at the hotel. No sneaking, Bella."

I didn't want to promise him that, but I knew his patience was thin when it came to my safety so I nodded reluctantly.

"No fair!" I heard Alice shriek. Now that I got my way, I smiled at Edward sweetly, but he only grunted and pulled away from me.

As I turned to look at Alice, I couldn't help but giggle at her excited reaction. It was clear that now I was going, she was too. Before I could even tell her what I thought about her giddiness, I heard Edward.

"Bella, look at me." Edward was serious. He grabbed my hand, and intertwined my finger with his as he faced me. "This is not something to be taken lightly. There's a reason I wanted you to stay here in Chicago, but you're so fucking stubborn!"

I was insulted, I didn't know why. I glared at him, but he ignored me. His fingers tightened around mine. "You have to listen to everything I say and you better obey me when we're there. I don't want any surprises. We can't afford that."

"Okay. But-"

"No buts, Isabella. Promise me!"

I knew this wasn't a vacation. The reason I wanted to be there was because I also needed to be sure nothing bad would happen to him. I wasn't stupid; he should know that by now.

"Yes, I promise! Are you satisfied now?" I retorted, irritated he couldn't trust me enough to be there with him. This was not a game, and I didn't plan on doing anything stupid.

I huffed, and he snorted. Yeah, I'm so mature, I know.

"We have a few more hours before the plane is ready. Everyone knows what needs to be done so we meet here in three hours. Make sure everything is ready for our departure," Edward said. Vicky was staring at me again; her stares had always made me uncomfortable. I scowled at her, and she smirked. Bitch!

As I tuned to go to my room, I saw Alice smiling widely. She looked as giddy as ever, like she was going on her many shopping trips. I knew she thought this would be fun.

If only it would be.

xxxxxxxxxx

EPOV

I didn't know what I was thinking when I brought her. I sighed, knowing I was a fool when it came to her.

I turned to look at her sleeping form and reached out to touch her cheek. As if she felt my presence, she sighed loudly, moving closer to my hand. I leaned down to kiss her then arranged the blanket around her.

As quietly as possible, I left her to sleep and made my way into the living room of our hotel suite. Jasper was there smoking.

"She's still sleeping?" he asked, his arm around my sister.

"Yeah," I answered, plopping myself down opposite them. Bella didn't even stir when I carried her from our car up here to our presidential suite.

"That's funny, she seems to be sleeping a lot now…hmm," Alice observed. I raised my brow in question, curious as to what her point was. She just shrugged, but something in her eyes told me she knew something I didn't.

I let it pass. I had a lot more things to worry about now.

"What time did Aro say is the meeting?" Jasper knew what I was asking. He removed his arm around Alice, and chucked his cigarette on the ashtray in front of him.

"It's not another three hours, Edward. But I already instructed Marcus and Vicky to make a sweep of the place," he said.

I nodded, pleased with his decision. Carlisle had told me Aro was one sneaky fucker, so I needed to be prepared for anything that could happen in this meeting. Aro was in his sixties; he had more than forty years on me, but it didn't mean he couldn't take me down. Carlisle's warning about the Volturi's didn't go unheeded; I was fucking prepared for this shit. I had the best team – Jasper, Marcus and Victoria. Between the three of them, it would be fucking hard to touch me. I wasn't too worried, but it didn't mean I didn't take the necessary precautions needed for this meeting. I am cocky; not stupid.

"Shitty television!" I heard Alice mutter. "I can't understand one word they're saying."

Jasper and I exchanged a look before we chuckled. Trust Alice to worry about something so mundane while we had other more important issues to deal with. My sister was really something else.

The hours passed in a blur. When I left the hotel, Bella was still asleep. I was somewhat disappointed I didn't get to kiss her properly, but at the same time relieved she didn't know I had left for the meeting. I didn't want her to worry. It was my job to do the worrying for both of us. Besides, this meeting would only be a short one if I had a say in it. I might even be back at the hotel before she woke up.

The small restaurant Aro had suggested we would have our meeting was situated in the heart of Cannes. Marcus had informed me the restaurant was closed to other guests today. Aro had reserved the whole place for our privacy.

As we entered, the 'le chef de rang' greeted us with a warm smile and a "Bienvenue". It was a fucking good thing French was one of those things I learned while I traveled the world, when my father was still alive.

Aro was already sitting in one corner; he had a big smile on his face as he rose to greet me. I nodded and took my seat across from him. Felix was standing behind Aro, while James, his right hand, was standing beside him in a defensive stance. He was fucking afraid we would do something to his boss.

Jasper sat beside me unceremoniously, and James stepped forward. Aro stopped him, and Jasper smirked cockily. Aro waved a waiter and asked for our orders. I declined, having no intention of eating. Aro raised his eyebrow and I shrugged.

"Very well," he said, but whispered something in the waiter's ear. He then waved the waiter away when he saw Jasper also didn't order. Aro had a huge steak in front of him, but he momentarily ignored it, focusing his attention to me.

"How was your flight, Edward?" he asked, before popping a cigar in his mouth.

"It was okay," I answered dryly. He chuckled, and I frowned.

"You're like your father. A man with a few words," he said. He gave me a look, a fucking look I didn't like. "How's Carlisle?" He was chewing his cigar, his steak completely forgotten as he slumped back on his seat.

I could feel my jaw tense. I wasn't here to talk about my father or any body in my fucking family! Before I could say something, the waiter returned to place a few glasses of what I assumed was scotch.

"I know you said you didn't want to eat, but maybe a few drinks? I ordered for you." I didn't want any food in the fear he might have drugged it.

"No, we're not going to fucking drink." I didn't want anything that came from Aro.

James moved. "It's an insult to refuse Aro's gifts," he hissed. I scowled at him. Nobody orders me to do something I didn't want to fucking do. James' reaction alerted me something was going to happen. I assessed how far Aro was sitting from me, and the movement of his hands from the cigar to the table.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper grab one of the glasses like he was about to drink, but then he suddenly stood up and threw the drink at James' face.

Everything happened in a blur.

Before Aro could move, I had my gun pointed at his crotch under the table, the metal was pressed hard against his junk, while my other hand was holding a knife, which was now embedded on the table between Aro's fingers. It was a good thing I was a good aim, both with guns and knives. It was also a good thing I chose not to bury the knife in his palm.

I could see Aro heaving, and I smiled. I knew I would blow Aro's balls off even before someone pulled their trigger. Because you see, I also had a gun pointed at my head.

Jasper and James were standing; each had their guns pointed at each other. Assessing. Daring.

"So what the fuck should we do now?" Jasper asked in a bored tone.

J is still the ever cool dude. lol.

So what do you think will happen? I would like to hear your thoughts/guesses.

Thanks! =)

P.S Next chapter...hopefully before christmas.