"I'll do what you tell me. We can have it your way."

—Out With A Bang, Lana

I was back to his room again and falling asleep on the couch after my weird encounter with this Hailey girl. Until now I had no idea who she was. And Paul didn't bother to tell me about her. Hailey left after saying that she would like to see me again if Edward decided to keep me around. I rolled my eyes at this. She was thinking I was one of his hoes after all.

The moment I was suddenly jolted awake from my sleep was when I felt a death grip and a hard pull on my arm. I blinked rapidly. And before I could process what the hell was happening, the intruder half-dragged my ass to standing position.

"What in the—" Soon I was greeted by those familiar greens. Not in the friendly way, of course. They were menacing even, like I had never seen before. With one look, I knew he was angry. Hell, he was definitely irate. But on the freaking new level. Forcing me to swallow back the words down to my throat. What? What did I do this time?

"Strip." Lethal. With no trace of humor on his face. That evil side decided to come out and play, but I was too slow to catch up with his game.

"W-what?" Eyes widened. Taken aback. Scared. Of what it would lead to. Praying this was just a joke. But, no. He was very much serious. Demanding. His jaw stiffened. The grip on me tightened. No room for patience here.

I winced at the pain as he pushed me hard against the wall. "You fucking heard me." He spat venom. And I couldn't help but shudder at the tone.

"Edward, I don't understand what you—"

"Stop calling me Edward!" he snapped, cutting me off, making me flinch at his raised voice. "I don't fucking know you for fucks sake. You're a goddamn stranger." Raged, looking me dead in the eye. But his last statement sounded like he was convincing himself.

I didn't have a clue what was happening right now. What triggered his anger and how he could manage to change into quick-tempered and malicious in a short time. I really didn't understand him. Sometimes he came to me and looked like he was ready to kill me. But on another occasion, he was all sweet and flirty.

"What the hell happens to you?" My voice was lower than I intended to. I wasn't even sure he heard it.

"Take. Off. Your. Clothes." Toxic. Emeralds flared.

When I made no move to do what the hell he wanted me to do, his hands snatched the fabric and ripped it into two, leaving my front part open for the world to see. Like, I was literally half-naked here. Skin. So much skin. I still needed time to recover from my shock when he yanked me by my wrist. Eyes were luckily on mine the whole time. Well, I hoped. "Don't fucking touch her stuffs! Do you hear me?" Deadly serious. Irrefutable.

I nodded after swallowed thickly.

Then he glanced down. To my very naked chest. Not in a creepy way, thankfully. But it wasn't like he was holy either. He was still a man for fucks sake. After uncomfortable split second, he turned away, walking into his closet. And I was left wondering who the hell the woman he mentioned just then. The real owner of these freaking clothes. The woman who made him so cranky all of a sudden. Hard to forget ex-girlfriend? Seriously, could a person like him really love someone?

Edward walked out and threw me some big-sized pajama shirt, which was his of course, motioning me to wear it. At least he didn't let me wander around naked. I put it on hastily.

Then his phone rang. I watched as he took it out from his pocket and contemplated for a moment before decided to answer. Hand running over the messy copper on the top of his head. Bags under his eyes did really show. When the last time he got some sleep?

"If it isn't important, I'll hang up now." The man was definitely not in a very good mood right now. I couldn't help but tried to get a glimpse of the conversation he had. Still, did my best to look nonchalant. Which was probably the worst acting in the history. He listened more before smiling devilishly. "Oh, you got the fucker?" Now it piqued my interest. Was he talking about Jacob? "Took you long enough." He sneered, unpleased. "Yeah, whatever. I'm on my way." After disconnected the call, he turned to me, grabbing my hand. "Let's go."

It was in the middle of the night when we got out of his house. I knew because of the eerie and dark surroundings around us. And no, it was actually a freaking mansion, not a house. I didn't realize how fucking huge it was until I was on the driveway and almost the entire building came into my sight. This shit was crazy.

Paul appeared out of nowhere, ushered me to get in to the passenger seat of this beautiful ice blue Ferrari while Edward was already behind the wheel, suit jacket off. Paul hopped into the black Range Rover and we drove off. To somewhere I didn't know.

To be honest I was kinda nervous. Not because I was gonna meet Jacob or something, it was more like…now that they caught him, then what? They would kill him? Torture him? What about me? What would they do to me? The thought made my head ache. This was a freaking nightmare.

Edward drove carelessly. Eyes were not always on the road, hands were not always on the wheel. But his foot sure as hell was always on the gas pedal. Sometimes he would rub his eyes or yawn, signs of his obvious lack of sleep. Damn, were all crime bosses really this busy? After a long drive and worried of my safety, we finally arrived at some deserted neighborhood. And another safehouse.

He parked the car between the trees, trying to get it camouflaged by the darkness around. Beside Edward's and Paul's, there was another car that was already here. I couldn't make it out because of the limited light, but I guessed it was black SUV.

Edward got inside first, followed by me and Paul. The further I stepped into the house, the more restless I became. I couldn't calm down. Believe me I tried. But my gut feeling strongly told me that something bad was going to happen.

We walked into a room that looked like an interrogation room. There were some other people here. Jas, Em, and a man I had never met before. He was tan, blue-eyed, and curly sandy blond-haired. Tall, charming, and less intimidating. Well, I didn't think he was another Edward's bodyguard. I mean, he looked so much more than that.

In the center of the room there were two occupied chairs. The first was Jacob. The battered, heavily bruised, unrecognizable Jacob. It was an instinct I almost wanted to run to him. It did break me a little seeing him like this. But again, I had been suffered so much because of him. Then, the other was a girl, sat just beside him. Crying and scared. And I didn't think she belonged to this cruel world. She looks sweet and innocent even. Who the hell was she?

They both got their hands tied behind their back.

Looked so helpless.

"So, this is Jacob's girl?" I turned my attention to the man whose name I didn't know. The one who now looked at me curiously. Hands deep in the pockets. He was wearing a stylish trench coat over a t-shirt, an Iron Maiden t-shirt, dressing black from head to toe. The man winked at me when he found me looking.

"Not now, Jamie." Edward muttered, rolling his eyes. But this Jamie ignored him.

"Ah, isn't she lovely?" He stared with such interest, almost made me look away. "Piacere, Bella." The way he smirked kinda reminded me of Edward. And as if he could read my mind, he continued. "No, not a brother, but a cousin more exactly." He pointed at Edward before taking my hand to kiss it. "Jamie Salucci, by the way."

"How charming." Edward scoffed. Jamie didn't seem to mind, though.

After that they jumped back to the business. I was surprised to see how quick the conversation shifted. Jamie said he, Jas, and Em had spent the past hour torturing Jacob, but he had denied that he actually stole money and other stuffs from Edward to give them to this Alvarrez man. The version Jacob told them was he was trapped and this was an attempt to get rid of him.

No one trusted his theory.

And I…I didn't know who to trust anymore.

Because when Edward asked Jamie who the fuck this crying and scared girl beside Jacob was, I almost lost my shit at his answer. His whore, he said.

I was beyond…furious. How could he do this to me? First, I was dragged into this shit, then I found the fact that he fucked around?

Damn, I wasn't stupid. I knew Jacob was not a good guy. But I thought at least….

"What are we going to do now?" Jamie asked with bored tone. Jacob shifted uncomfortably on his seat, grimacing of pain. The girl was now pale as ghost. I couldn't help but feeling nervous too. Would they kill me here?

"Lend me a gun." Edward said. Everyone was confused, but no one dared to question him. Still, we were aware he was up to no good.

"Em." Jamie nodded to him, giving him a sign. Em handed him his gun. And now we were looking at him curiously.

His face gave nothing away, though. But somehow I knew he was planning something evil. Which was confirmed when I felt his close proximity right behind me.

Shit.

One hand on my shoulder while his lips leaned in so freaking close to my ear. Then, after an unbearable pause, "Have you ever shot someone?"

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