CHAPTER 10

Before I could take a hesitant step back, he moved across the room with unnatural speed and took hold of my upper arms, forcing me to look up at him.

"What is going on? Who is James?" he demanded.

"Edward, you're hurting me," I whimpered, though he wasn't. The intensity of his gaze made me anxious to put a little distance between us; I felt like he was trying to read my mind. His grip on my arms eased a little, but he didn't let go.

"Isabella, who is James?" He practically snarled the question at me this time and I leaned back from him a little.

"He... he is the reason I am here," I whispered. "He is the reason for everything that has happened."

"I can't read your thoughts, Bella, tell me what you mean. The reason for what happening?" Edward's grip tightened momentarily, but when I gasped, he let go of me altogether and took a step back, his eyes flitting down to my arms and then back to my face. I was silent, chewing my lip, trying to find the words to explain what I meant. "Bella, tell me." His voice was gentler now and when I looked up, his eyes were not quite as dark.

"James is the one that killed my dad." The words sounded as if someone else had spoken them.

"What?" Edward sounded stunned and I glanced up at him.

"James killed my dad and it was my fault," I murmured, so quietly that he shouldn't have heard me. Suddenly, Edward's arms were around me, pulling me close to his chest, as tears sprang to my eyes and I began to sob, bitterly.

When I had calmed a little, Edward told me he would fetch me a cup of tea. He was back more quickly than should have been possible, but I didn't question it; just took the cup from him and held it in my trembling hands. Edwards hands came down and covered mine, stopping me from slopping the scalding tea down myself. I glanced across at him and saw that he was watching me closely.

"Will you tell me what happened?" he asked, softly, when my trembling eased a little. I sipped my tea and nodded.

"If you promise you won't hate me afterwards," I said. Edward laughed, darkly, but then brought my hand to his lips.

"Bella, I could never hate you," he replied. I gave him a watery smile and then took a deep breath.

"It started about four years ago," I began...

... "That guy has been checking you out since we got here, Bells," laughed Lottie. I looked at her and smiled, ducking my head embarrassed.

"No way. I mean look at him! He's way out of my league," I replied, glancing up through my eyelashes at the blonde haired man sat at the table across from ours. He was wearing shades which made it difficult to tell what he was looking at and a black t-shirt. His biceps bulged from the short sleeves and it looked like it was sculpted to his muscular chest. He had an easy face, a gentle smile on his lips and his blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"You should go talk to him," she said. I got up slowly and stretched.

"Maybe I will," I said, over my shoulder, as I headed out the back to put my apron on and pick up my notepad. It was the summer break and despite Dad saying I didn't need to, I had gotten a job at the local cafe, just waitressing, but it would give me some spends. I enjoyed it for the most part; Lottie who I worked with was a lot of fun and the cafe was just busy enough that time passed quickly, without it becoming so busy you forgot your orders. Joe who owned the place was pleasant enough too, so overall it was a good place to work.

I approached the blonde's table, a little nervously.

"Good afternoon, sir, can I take your order?" I said. He looked up and smiled at me, warmly.

"Just a black coffee, please... Isabella." The pause while he read my nametag. I smiled.

"Coming right up," I said, going over to the coffee-maker. Lottie winked at me and I rolled my eyes before I headed back to the table. He watched me place the cup on the table and then smiled up at me again.

"So, Isabella, tell me, what time does your shift finish?" he asked. I felt a warm blush spread up my face.

"About three hours I'm afraid," I replied.

"I'll have to drink a lot of coffee then," he said, with a laugh.

"Oh. My. God!" cried Lottie when I went back to the kitchen and told her what had happened. "Seriously Bells, he is gorgeous! I am so jealous!"

"I don't think he'll wait three hours for me to finish my shift," I said with a laugh, but he did. When my shift was done, he was sat at the same table, his shades still covering his eyes, despite the fact it was no longer light outside. I didn't question it though; I was too absorbed with the fact he had waited three hours for me.

"So, Isabella, tell me, what do you like to do when you are not working in the cafe?" he asked, as we walked down the street outside. I glanced across at him, shyly.

"I don't know. Reading I guess, hanging out with friends. Have you been to La Push? It's lovely there." He seemed to stiffen but then he smiled.

"No, I am not a big fan of the beach scene. I prefer cities. Seattle is a good place to be this time of year."

"I don't go there a lot," I admitted.

"You should. There are some excellent bookshops that I think you would enjoy," he replied. "Perhaps you would allow me to take you there on your day off?"

"I don't know..."

"Oh come on; it'll be fun. I can show you the delights that Seattle has to offer," he said.

"I don't even know your name," I said.

"James," he replied, smoothly. "Now you know my name. When are you off work next?"

"Tuesday," I replied.

"Excellent. We shall make it a date."

"James was very persuasive and soon I found myself spending every minute I wasn't in the cafe with him. He would be there when I came out from my shift, always wearing his shades. I plucked up the courage to ask him about them once and he replied that he had a problem with sunlight or bright lights of any kind and so they were an unfortunate necessity. At the time, I took him at his word, even apologised for asking." I flushed at the memory. Edward was sat beside me now on the bed, but he was leaning forwards, his body language very stiff.

"What was wrong with his eyes?" he asked.

"I only saw them once. They were red; not like bloodshot though. Just red. Do you know what I mean?"

Edward looked away from me and nodded, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"So what happened? How did he go from being a man you dated to the killer of your father?" he asked.

I paled a little and Edward took my hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"We had been together about six months and he asked me to move in with him. I was really excited. Dad liked him a lot and even though he thought it was quick, James persuaded him that it would be a good thing for me to have a bit of independence. He promised to look after me. But just weeks after I'd moved in he began acting very strangely. He would disappear for days at a time and then act like nothing had happened. When I asked where he had been, he would get really snappy with me, tell me to stop being so clingy..."

... "Bella, I am fed up of the questions all the time. If you do not trust me I cannot see that this relationship can continue," he spat, walking away from me and flopping down on the sofa. His skin, which was always pale, looked almost white. I felt a wave of panic; I couldn't stomach the idea of him leaving me.

"I'm sorry, it's just you don't look well and I thought you might want to stay in..."

"Well I don't. I am going out. You will stay here."

I didn't argue. James easily persuaded me that it was better to just do what he said without arguing. But then Lottie rang. She had split up with her boyfriend and was in a bit of a state. She wanted me to go round and see her.

"I... I'm not sure. James said..."

"Bella, please," she wailed. "I really need some company. Come on!"

"Ok," I said, eventually. James was away; he didn't need to know I'd gone out. When I got round to Lottie's, she was on her third glass of wine and beginning to wind up for the night. And she was desperate to get out of the flat she had been sharing with her ex up until that night when he walked out saying he had had "a better offer". There was a new club opening in town and she asked if we could go. I was dubious. I had already come out when he had told me to stay at the flat, but after a glass or two of wine at Lottie's I was a bit more pliable and agreed that a girls' night out was what we both needed. We headed into town and spent the next four hours drinking and dancing. It turned out to be a really good night and by the time we were done, we were both well and truly inebriated.

The taxi dropped Lottie off first and then pulled up outside my flat. James was standing in the doorway when I got there. He ripped the door back so hard that I thought it would come off and then dragged me out. The driver got out and asked if I was ok, but before I could respond, James threw me on the floor and attacked him.

"I never saw anything like it," I murmured, my eyes glazing over at the memory. "He grabbed the guy by the throat and sort of twisted his head round. The man was shouting and then everything went silent. When I looked again, James' face was covered in blood and he was snarling like an animal. I was so scared... I tried to get up, to run away, but he grabbed my arm before I got more than a step and dragged me up to the flat..."

... "Please, James, let go. Please, you're hurting me."

"I told you to stay here. Where the hell have you been?"

"Just at Lottie's," I said.

"Where else?"

"We... we went to a club in town. She split up with Rob and..."

"I don't give a shit about your friend's pathetic little dramas," he growled. "What I care about is the fact that you didn't do what I told you to."

"James, your face... you're covered in blood... what did you do to that man?"

"What I did to that man is your damned fault, Isabella. Now, get in the bedroom." He didn't give me much option as he threw me into the bedroom. I heard the key turn in the lock and knew I was trapped. The front door slammed shut and I went to the window to see James dragging the taxi driver's body into the car. I must have been more drunk than I realised, because I thought he lifted the taxi up and threw it. The next thing the car was wrapped around a tree and a fire started. James appeared below the window then though, so I backed away; I didn't want him to see me watching him. He left me locked in the room for three days, without food. We had an en-suite luckily, so I could have water...

... "Luckily?" Edward got to his feet and began pacing angrily, his fists clenching and unclenching. "He locked you away for three days? Did he hurt you?" I glanced away from him and stopped myself from touching my stomach, just before Edward's eyes narrowed on my hand. I shook my head, not quite ready to divulge all the details of my relationship with James to him.

... When he let me out, James behaved as if nothing had happened. Things carried on for a month or so, with him disappearing for days at a time again. But I didn't go out again if he told me not to. Sometimes he would lock me in the bedroom to stop me going out, even if he was in the flat. Work got worried because I kept not turning up. Lottie rang Dad, thinking maybe I'd gone back there, but I hadn't. I was locked in the bedroom, because James hadn't been happy with something I said. He had been going out and told me I couldn't go out, but I had a shift at the cafe. When I tried to tell him, he locked me in the bedroom. I don't know how long I was there for, but by the time Dad came round and broke into the flat I could barely crawl. He found me in the en-suite, collapsed by the shower and before I knew it, he had gathered all my stuff together and shoved it in a bag and was leading me out to his car.

"You are never going back there, Bella," he said, as we pulled away. He wanted to take me to hospital, but I told him I just needed water, food and rest. I was crying by the time he got me home; mainly shock I guess that James had gone from being a sweet, good natured boyfriend, to being an aggressive, domineering captor. When we got home, Dad made me sweet tea and some toast and made up my old room for me. We heard nothing from James for a week, but then he contacted me on my mobile phone.

"Isabella, if you do not take yourself back to the flat, I can promise you that you will regret it," he said, smoothly.

"Why can't you just leave me alone, James? It was obviously a mistake us moving in. You don't want to be with me..."

"You're right, Isabella. I don't want to be with you; I want to own you."

"I'm not a toy..."

"That is where you are wrong. You most certainly are a toy; a quite delectable toy. I savour your scent every day... one day I plan on doing more than just breathing in your perfume... having a small taste every now and again. One day I will completely drain you..."

At this point I hung up on him and switched my phone off. I had no idea what he meant by drain me, but I had heard enough of his threats. Foolishly, I thought I was safe, because my dad was chief of police; I didn't think he could hurt me.

... "Dad's deputy arrived later that night. He said Dad had been killed in action..." I broke off, swallowing the tidal wave of grief that threatened to consume me. Edward sat back down beside me and placed an arm around my shoulder, cradling me against him. "They said he had been involved in a car chase and the car had been wrapped round a tree when they found it. Dad had some weird puncture wounds on his neck, but they couldn't tell me what they were. They thought maybe a branch or something..." I shook my head as the memory refused to hold and then looked down at my hands. "James sent me a text that night, saying I should have gone back to him."

"Did you see him again after that?" asked Edward.

"He came round to the house, but Jacob was usually there. For some reason, he would never come near Jake; I think he made him nervous." I laughed, humourlessly. "But then things got really bad and I ended up on the streets for a few months. I just kind of drifted until Jake found me and took me back to his ranch. Then he got me the job here."

"So you haven't seen him since he locked you in the bedroom?"

I shook my head and looked across at him, a little nervously.

"Just once. That night when Mike Newton attacked me... I lost my focus because he appeared at the door of the club."

Edward sighed deeply and I saw his eyes darken, his jaw line set in anger, but his embrace remained gentle. He leaned down and his lips touched my head.

"I wish you had told me, Bella." His voice was tight with the anger I could see on his face.

"I... I'm sorry," I stammered and he sighed again.

"No, I am sorry. I behaved like a child that night, storming out because you gave someone else your attention. Had I been there, James would not have come into Twilight and you would not have been attacked. Bella, please, forgive me."

And then I realised his anger was not directed at me; it was directed at himself.

"No. No. Edward, please, don't blame yourself. I should have told you; I shouldn't have just kept it all as a secret. It is completely my fault; not yours. Please, don't be angry."

I turned his face to look at me; saw the shame in his expression and I couldn't look at it; I couldn't let him feel that way about himself. Slowly, I leaned towards him and pressed my lips to his. His eyes widened momentarily and then he closed them and I felt his breath against my mouth. I went to move away from him, but he stopped me, his hand gently pressing against the back of my head until our lips came together again. His kiss was gentle at first, like snowflakes fluttering against me. But then his kisses became more impassioned until I was gasping for breath. He leaned back, resting his forehead against mine and looked deep into my eyes, his lips curved in a crooked smile.

"I am glad Jacob sent you to me, Isabella," he said, softly. "I promise you, I will keep you safe; nothing will hurt you while I am here."

"What if you're not here?" I asked tremulously.

"I will always be here. I will never leave you," he promised, before he enveloped me again in his strong arms.