THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BETAING, HAPAKIDS AND PREREADING TEAMHOTMEN AND FLAMINGPEN18! I really appriciate all of you hard work on this!

The reviwes, favs, and follows humble me more and more as the story progresses. Every one of them encourages me! Thank you so much!

BPOV

I haven't talked to Seth, since that fateful phone call that sent me on my journey to Seattle.

As he walked into the apartment, I nearly didn't recognize the broken man who entered. His face was black and blue from the beating he had obviously taken. "Oh my God, Seth! What the hell happened to you?"

"I'm fine, Bella. You should see the other guy!" He chuckled. It felt like he was trying to make light of the situation. As I went to hug him, I felt him wince. I knew then that the damage wasn't just done to his face. He noticed my worried expression. "Seriously, Bella, don't sweat it. I have a couple of bruised ribs. I've had a lot worse. A couple of days rest and I'll be as good as new."

"Well, ok. If you say so." I didn't believe a single word that came out of his mouth, but I let it go. I know how he feels. "Dinner is on the table. Dig in."

During dinner, my curiosity got the best of me. "Seth, why did you tell me to get out of Forks? Did you think that something was going to happen to me?"

"I didn't have anything concrete , but Billy wanted you on the Res and under his roof in a big way. It was all he would talk about. Was he ever livid, when he realized that you had slipped through his fingers, and there was hell to pay for it! I've never seen anyone so furious. He's had Sam's girl, Emily, watching for any activity on your bank account, medical insurance, and your social security number. I don't know how you did it and I am glad you did, but you completely left the grid. Where were you anyway?"

"I was living out of my truck. I'm incredibly lucky it didn't get towed. He definitely would have found me, if my truck ended up in the impound! I never thought I'd say this, but I was lucky to be homeless! Edward and his family found me just the other day. Wait a minute! What exactly do you mean he was watching my bank account? I have never had a bank account! I left Forks with about $ 500.00 in cash. That was all I had left to my name!" I couldn't even begin to imagine what he was talking about.

"All I am aware of, is that Emily keeps on telling him that you haven't gotten a job or an apartment. Also, that you haven't ever set foot inside of a Bank of America. She has put a flag on your account, to alert them of any activity on it. Oh, and DO NOT leave the country! She has alerted the border patrol and airports to detain you, if you were to try and leave the country," Seth told us, with a glance to Edward. Maybe he thought Edward was going to try to hide me somewhere abroad.

"Well, now that you have Garrett and me to protect you…" Edward started.

"She has me, as well!" Seth interrupted.

"Maybe, if you can prove your loyalty to me. I'm not taking any chances with Bella's safety. As I was saying, maybe it's time to 'smoke out the snakes'. I'll have Jenks get a passport and driver's license in Bella's name, but with Alice's picture on them. Since you didn't know about this account, they won't have either your picture or signature on file. She can go in as you and find out what's going. Em, Jazz, and I will go with her, in case anyone unfriendly shows up. Seth, besides Jacob and, obviously, Billy himself, who would be the person with the most insider knowledge of what's going on down there? Who's in his inner circle?" Edward asked.

"Sam and Emily, definitely. Then, there's Jared and Paul. They are always in on everything. In fact, Paul was there the day Bella's parents died. He left a few minutes before Charlie went in. If you ask me, I would say he's the one who called Renee to come down to the Res," Seth told us.

I had always disliked Paul. He has a horrible temper and was always lurking around.

Edward picked up his phone and made a call. "Hey, Char. I have a job for you and Peter…

"I need you to go down to the Res and pick up Paul."

"Yeah, I want him at the warehouse."

"Tonight if possible, but no later than tomorrow."

"When you get him there, entertain him..."

"No, don't kill him. Just get him in the mood to talk."

"Yeah, you can mark him, but leave some fun for me…"

"Ok, let me know when you're in place," Edward said and hung up. I was extremely curious about the call.

Seth looked exhausted, once dinner was over. "Go get some sleep and rest. I'll catch up with you tomorrow. " Seth just nodded in agreement.

When he got to the door, he turned to hug me. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, It was great to see you again, Bella. I've missed you. Edward, take care of my friend's life. I'm afraid for her. When Billy wants something, he always gets it."

After he left, I went to Edward and melted into his arms, as he wrapped them around me. "Alone, at last," he whispered, before crashing his lips to mine. This kiss was nothing like the others we've shared. This one was desperate and needy, as though what Seth had told him actually scared him. His tongue invaded my mouth, and I welcomed it. It seemed like he needed to dominate the kiss, and I let him. His hands moved down my body to my ass, and he started kneading it. I moaned into his mouth, and it spurred him on. He walked me backwards, never breaking the kiss once. When we both needed to breathe, he broke away from my lips. He never removed his lips from my face and neck, placing kisses all over where he could reach. He was nibbling and sucking on my ear also. He brought his hands back up, playing with the hem of my shirt. Suddenly, he pulled on it, and my shirt tore up the middle. His lips immediately finding the newly exposed skin.

I started pushing his shirt up. I needed to feel his skin just as badly. He paused his assault on my skin long enough to help me remove his shirt, before he snaked his arms around my back to unhook my bra. "Is this ok?" I nodded, needing this as much as he did. With my acceptance, he nudged the front of my bra with his nose. His mouth inhaled my nipple, sucking, licking and biting. My lips found his neck. I sucked and bit him so hard that I expected to taste blood. I wanted the world to know that he was taken. When we were both gasping for air, he slowed us down. "I want you so badly, but I think we should stop here for tonight." I was glad that one of us still had some common sense left.

"Ok, but can I stay with you tonight? I just want to feel you. You make me feel safe and protected."

He grabbed my hand and led me to his bedroom. Once we are in his bedroom, we remove each others clothes, just leaving on our underwear. I couldn't stop my eyes from checking him out. It was obvious he was aroused. Oh, my God! HE IS HUGE! I'm not sure if he is going to fit, when the time comes. Jacob is nowhere near that large. I couldn't really even feel him, when he penetrated me! Edward is going to break me in two!

"Like what you see?" The smug sexy bastard smirked.