BPOV
The story and its picture were on page two the next morning. I reasoned that at least it wasn't on the front page again.
The story was less aggressive too. More about Edward and less about me, though my name was thrown in a lot for good measure I thought. I was referred to as 'Bella Swan, formerly of Swan Catering and Events, now student' as though being a student was somehow distasteful. Maybe it was considering I was now linked with the high flying entrepreneur that was Edward Cullen?
The angle this story took had shifted from him being my employer and taking advantage of me in that respect to me being Jake's fiancé and Edward attempting to steal me off his 'publicly acknowledged adversary'.
It listed a few of the times that Jake had tried to block purchases or sales Cullen Enterprises had attempted. It outlined a few times that Jake had spearheaded a 'cause' to limit the damage Cullen Enterprises was inflicting on the landscape. There was a paragraph about a time that Jake had tried to sue Edward's company on behalf of a steel worker who'd been injured whilst operating some heavy machinery. It did mention that the suit was dropped when the worker admitted under oath he hadn't followed well documented safety protocols, but the implication was clear. Jake had spent his career trying to destroy Edward's.
I had no idea why. In all the years I'd been with Jake he spoke about Edward in terms of business, not personally.
The rest of the story went on to say that we'd spent most of the night before at my brothers. Alice and I had arrived bearing take away food – something the writer of the article doubted Edward Cullen had ever deemed worthy of his palate – and that we'd left, together, after midnight.
Jared, my new shadow, sat three tables away from me in the campus cafe and I had to admit that he looked just like any other student in his jeans and t-shirt.
I had ten more minutes before my first lecture began so I finished up reading the article and folded the paper in half, ready to put back on the counter when I returned my cup.
I gathered my things, checked the time on my phone and stood to leave.
Jared did the same. I waited for him to go outside as he'd asked me to do and only when I'd seen him nod at me did I go out there too.
I felt ridiculous.
I felt like everyone was staring at me.
I felt like everyone was judging me.
And worse I felt like I deserved it.
One dance with Edward Cullen and I had gone from the invisible new girl on campus to the bright, new shiny toy that everyone had an opinion about. Groups of girls sniggered behind their hands when I walked by. Guys catcalled or whistled to get my attention. Teachers noticed me for god's sake!
Two days ago nobody knew who I was and nobody cared.
Two days later and everyone knew me!
I was self conscious and uncomfortable as I walked beside Jared in the direction of the lecture hall. He'd coached me how to behave on the ride to campus and I did my best to remember all that he taught me.
I could go where I liked but only if he'd been there first. I could speak to whoever I liked but I had to keep him within my line of sight while I did. When I was in a class he would wait outside and I wasn't to move away from the doors of the lecture hall until he'd eyeballed me first.
I had to try to stay at his side if we were moving about. I had to judge the distance and keep close enough that he could reach out and pull me, or push me, should he need to get me clear of something or someone. He would do the same. Tempering his stride to match mine.
I was no longer allowed to sling my book bag across my chest; it had to sit on one shoulder or the other now. He said it was because someone could pull on it and take me to the ground too easily the other way, so I had to break the habit of a lifetime and move it.
I now carried two phones. Two!
My new one was a dedicated Cullen Enterprises phone that only Cullen Enterprise employees had the number for. I was not allowed to switch it off, ever.
Numbers I didn't recognise that called my personal phone had to be saved so Seth could check them out later. Blocked numbers or those that came up as private were not to be answered under any circumstance.
Any instruction Jared gave me, or Tyler when he was on shift, I had to obey immediately. I shouldn't ask questions first, I should just do as instructed as soon as I could. I would be able to ask questions later, once the danger had passed.
He said it was standard practice and all for my own safety but I didn't like it.
Any chance I had to make new friends was now gone. If there had ever been a chance for me to just finish my degree quickly and quietly that was now gone too.
One dance with Edward Cullen and I felt isolated, afraid and exposed.
EPOV
I knew I was being a prick but I couldn't help it. I'd barked at Kate twice in the space of half an hour this morning and Emmett had been on the end of my temper a couple of times already too.
My head was so preoccupied with what was going on with my private life that I couldn't concentrate on what needed doing in my professional one.
It didn't help that I had three very important meetings, back to back, that could secure me two lucrative contracts for supply and one rewarding contract to buy additives for one of my smelters from a brand new company that needed my business.
They were important things and I wanted all of them to go ahead, but I couldn't concentrate.
Every word said in those meetings had me paranoid. Every mention of supplying to Asia had me wondering if I really did know who was behind the campaign against me. Every time I signed my signature I wondered if the deals I'd just struck would come back to bite me, or if they could be used in some way against Isabella.
Isabella.
She'd been on my mind for days but particularly overnight.
Was she alright? Was she still pissed at me? Had she changed her mind about going on a date with me? If I called her would she answer?
Had she read the article in today's paper? Did she hate the picture that went with it? Was her father even angrier today than he was the day before?
Were Jasper and Alice being harassed like my own family were now? Would he know how to handle it, how to keep Alice safe? Would he accept my help?
"Excuse me," Kate whispered as she came to my office door. "Seth says he's been calling your phone for ten minutes but you aren't answering. Should I tell him you're busy or would you like to return his call?"
"Sorry," I grumbled and reached for my phone. "I'll call him. Thanks Kate."
I waited until she'd left and then dialled.
"Tell me about Tanya Denali," was his greeting.
BPOV
During my lunchbreak I called Alice like I'd promised. We gossiped for a little bit but I tried to steer the conversation away from Edward as best I could. The night before I'd told her I had accepted an invitation to go out with him but today I wasn't so sure I wanted to.
I let her tell me about how her morning had been and about poor Angela who had had to deal with all the calls at the office asking for information about me. I listened to her excitedly describing the reporters who had followed her to work and about the ones who had taken her picture.
I agreed to talk to her again that night and finished up the call as fast as I could. I didn't want to be caught talking about the situation where I could be overheard and sitting under a tree in the grounds of a busy inner city university was certainly somewhere I could be overheard.
Jared had his back to the same tree I was leaning on so once I'd finished with Alice I put in my headphones, cranked up the music, closed my eyes and was happy to spend the rest of my break thinking.
If I'd been able to answer any of Alice' questions on the call I would've told her that being seen with Edward when we were acquaintances had turned my life on its ear. That I could only imagine what would happen, and what would be reported, if I actually dated him.
I'd have admitted to her that it scared me. That I was afraid that I'd never be able to just be me again if I went out with him. That I'd become Edward Cullen's girlfriend rather than Bella Swan. My identity would forever be tied to his if I dated him.
I'd tell her that I'd never be able to do anything normal again. I'd have a shadow, watchers and I'd be watched.
If I did something silly, or tripped in the street, pictures of it would be in the papers and online in minutes. If I told a joke or wore something deemed unfashionable it'd be reported or commented on.
And if that happened Alice would be watched and commented on as well if she was seen with me.
Was I willing to put up with all that to date him?
As mad as I was at the situation, and as angry and hurt as I'd been last night when those reporters asked those awful questions, I still wanted him.
I liked him. That was the crux of it. I really liked him.
I found myself, once again, wondering about the two sides to his personality and how they seemed to work to make him one whole person.
He wasn't playing a game last night, or faking it either. I'd decided he was actually incapable of being fake by the time the meal was over and we were all sat back with another glass of wine in our hands chatting away.
I came to appreciate that he could be both versions of himself and still remain just Edward Cullen to me.
In private he was fun and flirty, self deprecating and wondrously witty.
I had no doubt that when he needed to be the businessman Edward Cullen of Cullen Enterprises he swapped those traits for what the business world demanded he be. Extremely intelligent in both scenarios he used his smarts in different ways to achieve the same goals.
In business he outsmarted his rivals and out thought his competitors.
Personally he was a deep thinker who I thought genuinely wanted to be liked and wanted to please those around him.
The public never saw that side of him and I was beginning to think with good reason.
Imagine trying to be a hardnosed business man who has to fight the environmental lobby at every turn while the general public, and your colleagues and peers, think you're a soft hearted, gentle man?
It would be impossible.
He'd be a laughing stock in his own industry and everyone who dealt with him would try to swindle him just because he was seen as a nice guy.
It was true that I didn't know him well yet, but what I did know I liked. He was protective without being possessive of me. He listened when I spoke and apologised when he needed to. He'd said more than once that he didn't want to take away my choices and when I did make decisions he abided by them, no questions asked, whether he agreed with them or not.
He'd done nothing that made me think he was the monster the press had him pegged as. He'd done nothing to make me think that Jake's opinion of him all those years ago was a true depiction of who he really was.
And to top it off he made my heart race when he looked at me, my skin tingle when he touched me and the idea of kissing him made me want to feint.
I jumped when Jared tapped me on the shoulder and quickly pulled my earbuds out. "What's up?" I asked, squinting up at him.
"Time to go," he said gruffly.
I got to my feet and looked at my watch. I had twenty minutes of my break left. I was about to mention that when he reached down and put his hands under my shoulders and lifted me to my feet. "I said it's time to go," he whispered lowly to me.
His tone snapped me to attention. Something, or someone, was near me and Jared wanted me gone. So I'd go. I grabbed my bag, slung it over just the one shoulder, fell in beside him and together we marched into the nearest building.
As soon as we were indoors and out of sight he pulled me up.
"Mr Cullen knows who's behind it all," he said quietly, shielding me with his body so we could find a little privacy. "He's asked that you stay indoors if it's possible. The woman responsible is unpredictable and vindictive in the extreme. Seth is on his way and he'll be taking you home as I've never met the woman and he's aware of her physical appearance."
"It's a woman?" I asked, shocked. For some reason I'd assumed the bad guy was a guy. "So it's about him, not me?" I asked, relieved for myself and worried for him.
"It seems so, yes," he replied evenly.
"Am I allowed to know her name?" I asked.
"Her name is Tanya Stoker now, but she was Tanya Denali before she married."
"Denali?" I asked and when he nodded I tried to remember if I'd heard the name. "I don't think I know her."
"Good, that might mean she'll leave you alone and concentrate on the boss, but just in case she doesn't he'd like you locked up tight."
"Okay," I answered because really what else could I say? Once again Edward was thinking of me and my safety.
I just had to hope that if Seth was on his way to watch over me that someone equally as good was watching him.
EPOV
I was trying to choke down a sandwich when the call came.
My mother was visiting the office, more likely she had come to check on me and to get information about Isabella from me, so she was across from my desk when Seth called.
I pounced on my phone, both startling and alerting my mother that it was the call I'd been waiting for.
"What news?" I asked by way of greeting.
"Tanya Denali Stoker withdrew ten thousand dollars from her trust fund the day before the fun fair," he said matter of factly.
"Can it be traced to the journalist?" I asked.
"Not that I've been able to find yet, no. But I'm not done looking. You know I don't believe in coincidences. The journalist told me he'd gotten ten thousand to find the info. He was paid the day before the fun fair. That's good enough for me to keep digging."
"And what does she have to say for herself?" I asked.
"I haven't asked her anything yet," he replied but before I could curse him dragging his feet he continued. "No point alerting her that I'm on to her too soon. She might stop paying. You know that the best proof of these things is the money trail; I need that to keep changing hands so I can trace it. I know you're frustrated, but I'm on it. If it's her I'll find out how, and why, and I've got guys all over the country working on it."
"I know," I sigh. "And you know I trust you. I just want it to go away."
"And I'll make it go away, trust me on that. Now, can you think of any connection that Tanya may have to Bella?" he asked.
"I can't. I've gone through my address book and can't find a link. If Isabella had a link to her I'd have met her before now because we'd know all the same people. It's possible they crossed paths via Swan Catering, but that's a tenuous link and only a guess."
"I'll put Jared on that," he told me. "In case there is a link, and Bella doesn't know what Tanya's capable of, I'm going to switch out with him right now. He's not familiar with Tanya so he won't be any good spotting her on campus if she shows up there and I don't want your girl exposed to her until we know how far she's willing to go. Any objections to me going to the university and shadowing her myself?"
"She'll hate it," was all I could come up with, "but do it. I'll try and call her but she may not answer. You call Jared, get her locked down, I'll take any consequences that causes onto myself."
"Done," he told me. "You keep your head down, kid. I'm stretched thin with having to watch the two of you, so the quicker I can get both Jared and Tyler a picture of Tanya the better chance I've got of protecting you both. But if you stay put and let me deal with one of you at a time we'll get through this okay?"
"Okay," I sigh. "I'll wait for you here."
"Done," he said and then ended the call.
"Is it true then?" my mother asked the instant I set my phone back onto my desk. "Is it really Tanya who's doing this to you and Bella?"
"Looks that way," I told her sadly, knowing how much proof of it would hurt her, and my father.
"That silly little girl," she hissed. "And I don't think Swan Catering is the link between the two girls, sweetheart. Tanya was never invited to anything I've hired Bella to organise and I know that the Denali's use Morton's Catering."
"Thanks mom, that'll save us some time. Will you excuse me while I try and call Isabella?"
"I'll go and use Kate's phone to call Angela. She can double check to make sure that Tanya, or her family, hasn't booked with them before."
"Good thinking," I tell her as she leaves my office.
I dial Isabella's new phone and hope that she picks up when she sees it's me calling.
"Edward?" she all but shouts and I close my eyes in relief.
"It's me," I tell her. "Are you alright? Are you with Jared?"
"He's here, do you need to talk to him?" she asks.
"No, no. I just wanted to know that you were okay."
"I'm fine. I'm worried about you. Are you okay? Can this Tanya person get near you where you work?" she asks breathlessly.
I close my eyes again because she sounds worried about me. Not angry, not flat like she was when I said goodnight to her the night before.
"I'm fine, darling," I tell her softly, the endearment a slip. "She can't come into the building here and I'll wait for Seth to collect me this evening. You don't need to worry about me. Just be careful yourself. I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you because of..." I trail off, too overcome to finish.
"Nothing will happen to me. Jared says it's you she's after, not me."
"Even so, she's used you in the press to get at me so she knows who you are and she'll know you're important to me because you'll be with Seth and he's always with me. It's a risk, Isabella, to be seen with Seth. But he's the best man to be with you. Please do as he says."
"I will. I promise I will. Now you know who it is that's targeting you this will go away and you and I can..." she trailed off.
"Yes," I smirked though she couldn't see me. "This will go away and then you and I can..." I trailed off on purpose.
"I don't understand who she is or why she wants to do this to you, do you?" she asks and I cringe.
I can't lie to her. I won't lie to her and not just because I promised not to. "I do know but it's something I'd like to tell you in person. If you agree I'd like to come and talk to you after work, at your apartment. Will you let me tell you in person?"
"Is it bad?" she asks, avoiding my question and making me uneasy.
"I didn't think it was but I'm now starting to think that she does. Will you let me come over?" I ask again as my mother comes back into my office with Emmett in tow.
I mouth that I've got Isabella on the line and mom nods, holding a finger to her lips to let me know she'll be quiet. Emmett does the same and they both take a seat opposite my desk to wait.
"I'm so sorry I was rude to you last night," she says, avoiding the question again. She's speaking quite quickly and I think she might just be a little overwhelmed so I let it go while she talks. She sounds like she needs to talk.
"The questions they asked were so awful, and I was so nervous, and you weren't and I felt so stupid for being afraid when you were so in control. And the questions! Oh Edward, the questions were so awful," she wails.
"I know, darling. I know. And I'm so sorry this is happening. But I have to tell you, I wasn't in control. I was just as nervous as you were. I must have hid it better, that's all. You were so brave and I'm so proud of you. You had every right to be angry with me and I deserved your rudeness. I'll make all this up to you if you'll let me?" I said, posing it as a question so I didn't have to beg her to let me go over there tonight in front of my mother and brother in law.
"Please," she sighed, "Please come over when you're done at your office."
"I will then," I say with a grin. "I'll text you as we leave the building so you'll know when to expect me."
"Seth's here," she tells me and I hold in my sigh of relief. "He says we have to go now. I'll see you tonight. Be careful, please."
"I will. I'll see you soon," I tell her and end the call happy with the knowledge that Seth was there with her now.
"Is she alright?" mom asks and I proudly tell her that she's doing just fine.
"A little shaken at times, but she's doing just fine with it all. Seth's just arrived so she'll be okay now."
"She's very strong," mom says knowingly. "I've always thought so."
"You called her darling, anything you want to tell your brother?" Emmett asks cheekily.
"Brother in law," I reminded him smugly, knowing he hated it when I did that. "And no. I think I do it subconsciously," I mumble.
My mother is smiling dreamily but says nothing more about that, thankfully.
BPOV
I was mortified.
That was the only way I could describe what it felt like to go grocery shopping with a bodyguard.
He walked right beside me as I pushed the cart up each aisle. He never said a word. He just looked left, right, forward and behind constantly and it made me nauseous.
When I got to the personal products aisle I asked him to wait at the head of the row, but no. He had to stand right beside me as I threw soap and tissues, shampoo and toothpaste into that cart. Thankfully I wasn't nearing my period because I'd gladly go without and suffer the consequences rather than buy tampons and pads with Seth watching on. It was bad enough that he now knew I preferred three ply toilet paper!
It would've been okay if he wasn't dressed all in black and totally looked exactly like what he was. Hired muscle. The buzz cut, dark sunglasses – even indoors – phone glued to his right hand, his left always at the ready, he looked like a hired thug.
Of course that's exactly what he was. Someone who was paid to jump into the fray so his charge didn't have to get their hands dirty. I wanted to ask him if he'd take a bullet for Edward, or now for me, but I didn't really want to know the answer when I thought he might say yes.
He stood right in front me as I checked my groceries out and then he settled me into the backseat of Edward's Mercedes while he loaded the shopping into the trunk. I'd protested but he gave me a withering look that I could see even through his glasses and I gave up hoping I'd be allowed to do anything for myself while he was with me.
He left the cart right beside the car, which made me twitch in annoyance because I hated it when I tried to park my car into a free spot only to find a cart blocking it. But there it was as he backed out and drove me home.
He asked me to wait in the foyer of my building, under the watchful eye of Ethan the new doorman slash bodyguard slash god only knew what else, while he went up to my apartment first. It was a long five minute wait considering it was spent in total silence. Ethan had even less of a personality than Stanley and Stanley behaved like a mannequin!
With my shopping bags at my feet I watched the press shuffle out on the street and sighed heavily at the thought of Edward having to move past them just as I had. They were mean and intrusive and I longed to tell them all to just fuck off.
But I did what I was told and squared my shoulders, plastered a fake smile on my face and walked beside Seth to the building. It was a pain in my ass and getting old fast.
As was waiting for Seth. He'd been gone for ten minutes by my watch and I was feeling very self conscious as I stood there, Ethan staring off into space probably to avoid having to look at me.
I heard the lift ding and Seth strode out of it and right to me. He gathered up the shopping, despite my protests, and nodded towards the lift.
Everything was in its place when we got to my apartment, and I did check. The paranoia of it all was getting to me. Every noise was someone breaking in. Every shadow was the press. Every person who I walked by was judging me. If a car backfired in the street I'd probably wet my pants I was so highly strung!
I wondered if Seth was going to stay all afternoon but soon got my answer when he came into my kitchen while I was unpacking the shopping.
"I have some work to do for Mr Cullen," he announced formally. "Ethan will switch with Stan in an hour and forty-seven minutes. If you wish to leave the building Jared will take you. His number is in your Cullen Enterprises phone; please call him to arrange what time you'd like to leave and give him your destination so it can be vetted. Please bolt the door after I leave."
"Okay," was all I could say. I followed him to the door, locked it after he left and sighed at finally, finally being alone.
I unpacked the rest of the shopping and set the meat and vegetables I'd bought for my dinner in the fridge. I turned my radio on, set the kettle to boil and then went into my bedroom to change my clothes. Having to be so properly dressed if I was going out was going to get old fast too I thought as I pulled on some old sweats and a t-shirt.
Next I tipped my book bag out onto the dining room table and set out my assignments. I had nowhere to be, nobody to see and no job to go to. Homework was the only thing I had to fill my hours.
EPOV
My afternoon dragged on around me. The whole building was buzzing with productivity but none of that buzz came from my office. A myriad of people came into and went out of it but if I was asked to recount what they'd said while there I'd not be able to. My mind was elsewhere. Still.
I knew she was safe. I knew Seth would protect her with his life. I knew her classes had been completed for the day without incident. Seth had checked in with me numerous times so I knew that she'd been shopping and was at home now, safe and sound.
And yet I still wondered and worried about her.
There was no new information about what Tanya was up to, or even definitive proof that she was who we were looking for. There was nothing new about the journalist that had taken that first picture either and as I stared at it now I wondered if everyone else saw in it what I saw?
I looked like someone I knew a long, long time ago. I looked younger than I did in the mirror every morning and much happier too. I was actually smiling! I hadn't been photographed smiling in a decade but there I was, staring down into those lovely chocolate brown eyes and smiling.
The clothing still didn't fit, of course, and the backdrop of the fireworks I knew was faked, but I looked happy.
Even as grim as the walk from the car in to Jasper's house had been the picture printed from that had me smiling too. Isabella's hand was there in mine as I helped her down from the vehicle but I was smiling as I looked down at her.
A knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts and I quickly shoved the two newspaper cuttings back into my desk drawer as my next visitor entered.
Knowing Seth was with Isabella allowed me to concentrate a little better in the last meeting of the day, but only a little. She was still on my mind. Comments made reminded me of her, conversations or turns of phrase I could relate back to her. I found myself wondering if the deal I was about to sign would make her happy, or would she disapprove.
Isabella Swan had taken over my life and in another hour I was going to run the ultimate risk and explain to her why we'd been thrown into the media snake pit.
Seth arrived to collect me at five and I was never so happy to be leaving the sanctuary of my office. I was usually the last to leave, and as the boss that was rightly so, so I got a lot of strange looks from employees as I marched down the corridors with my briefcase in my hand.
The press couldn't get near me at the office because all our parking was underground and you needed a pass to get into it. Only employees had passes, visitors and the public had to park on the street and announce their arrival before being allowed into a lift.
So it was a simple process for Seth to get me out of the building and out into traffic.
"This traffic will hold us up," he told me as he ducked into a tiny opening in the long line of cars that flanked us. "Text her, tell her we'll be at least half an hour."
I did as he asked and then put my phone into my lap. "How was she when you left her?"
"Preparing to be belligerent," he laughed. "I've never met a woman quite like her. She takes everything in and never complains but you can tell she's seething underneath."
"She is quite remarkable," I grin.
"She hated having to shop with me, but she'll recover," he chuckled as he changed lanes again, narrowly missing another car.
My phone chimed with her reply. "She's asking if I've eaten. She wants to cook for me," I said quietly.
"Well, tell her you'd like that, dumbass," he said hurriedly.
"She doesn't have to cook for me. I can grab something at home later."
"You could, but she's offered and you know you want to," he laughed.
I tapped out my reply and told her she didn't need to, but if she wanted to I'd love to have dinner with her. Seth was still chuckling so I asked him what was so funny.
"It's not funny exactly, just amusing," he quipped. "I've known you a long time, kid. I've never seen you this jumpy, this shaken. It's amusing."
"Hilarious," I said sarcastically. "She's under my skin, Seth."
"I know," he said before honking the horn at the guy in front who hadn't moved away as the light turned green. "And judging by the photos in the paper I'd say you've gotten under hers too."
"Maybe," I say quietly. "Maybe I just got her in a whole lot of trouble and she's being nice to me until it's all sorted out."
"Does she strike you as calculating?" he asked out of the blue.
"No," I had to reply because she didn't. If anything she was a little naive about the kinds of things we'd found ourselves involved in and I liked that.
I found it refreshing. I liked that she didn't expect anything from anyone and that she treated everyone the same. I was wealthy and most would think above her socially, though that was not my view, and yet she treated me just like she treated everyone else. Except for the slap, which I rather enjoyed despite the pain of it at the time. It showed me she was strong both physically and mentally and she'd take no shit from me.
"No, she isn't calculating. I believe she thinks deeply on things, but not to be calculating."
"I think so too," Seth replied as we turned into the street where her building was. The press were still there, of course. "Prepare yourself, they're bored and out for blood today."
"Fantastic," I sneered as I slid my phone into my pocket and prepared to exit the vehicle.
I waited for Seth to let me out and we walked through the crush of press together. Their shouted questions were just as bad as they'd been the night before, but not worse so I clenched my jaw, stuck my chin out and kept a good pace until I was inside and away from them.
I shook Stanley's hand as I thanked him for doing his job and then stopped to talk to Seth a moment before getting into the elevator.
He assured me he'd call if he found out anything new about Tanya or the journalist that he thought I needed to know and I arranged for him to come back and collect me at nine. It was six now and I hoped I'd have time to have the meal with Isabella and explain myself in three hours. But I knew I needed a definitive time that I'd need to leave otherwise I'd be tempted to drag it out, or worse yet, put off telling her. This way I had a goal and timeframe to complete it.
Seth wished me luck and assured me the building was clear and being watched.
Hitting the lift button for her floor was nerve wracking. She'd seemed worried about me and happy to hear from me this afternoon but last night...last night she couldn't wait to get rid of me. I had no idea which Isabella would open the door to me this time.
BPOV
The knock came and it startled me. I'd been working down a list of ledger sheets looking for the mistake and had totally lost track of the time. I jumped up, already preparing to apologise for not having even started the meal I'd promised him yet.
I stopped in the hall and checked my face and hair. I tucked what I could back into my ponytail and rolled my eyes at the state of my face. It looked like I hadn't slept for days, which I hadn't, so there was nothing I could do about that.
I raced to the door and yanked it open, my apology on the tip of my tongue.
But it wasn't Edward standing there.
"Hello Bella," the strawberry blonde purred. "Step aside," hissed as she shoved me out of the way.
EPOV
I knew something wasn't right the instant I stepped into the lift.
I could smell it. That coppery, rusty smell of blood.
My father had always said I was strange for being able to smell it, and right now I could.
I looked about the elevator car and saw the spots of it on the floor. There was a small smear of it near the button panel and the handrail that ran around the edge of the car has streaks of it too.
I tried to keep my imagination under control as the car moved upwards. After all, someone may have just cut themselves. A blood nose was possible, even an altercation that didn't involved Isabella at all was possible.
As I stepped out into the hallway on Isabella's floor I stepped over a few more spots of blood and I knew. I knew right then, something had happened. The spots led right to her door!
I dialled Seth instantly and as he answered I began bashing on Isabella's door.
"Get back here. There's blood in the lift and it leads to her door," I barked and ended the call. I bashed on the door and began calling for her.
It seemed to take forever for her to come to open it and by then I'd imagined all sorts of horrific scenarios. What state would she be in? Should I have called the police, an ambulance, my father?
"Isabella!" I shouted again as I thumped on that door.
Then I heard her. She was conscious at the very least and then I heard her curse and I began to worry all over again. "Open the door!" I begged at the top of my voice.
"I'm coming," she shouted back and then she pulled the door open and I got my first look at her.
BPOV
I'd known he was going to freak when he saw me but I wasn't prepared for how he greeted me.
He was through my door and had me in his huge hands in a heartbeat.
He combed them through my still shower-wet hair and then he ran them over my face and down my neck as though he was giving me an examination.
"What happened?" he barked as he turned me bodily around and checked me out from the back too.
"A friend of yours came for a visit," I told him sarcastically.
"There's blood in the lift. On the carpet in the hall. What happened to your lip?" he asked as he turned me around so I was facing him again.
"Not my blood," I laughed darkly, "at least the blood out there isn't mine."
He hovered over me, his hands now around my jaw and under my ears. "Do you need a doctor? What else is injured?" he asked frantically.
I shoved him away using my palms on his chest. He looked so damn concerned, so worried, that I almost forgot just how fucking angry I was. Almost.
"I don't need a fucking doctor," I spat and he reeled backwards, probably in shock. "I've got a cut lip, that's all. I've had worse," I tell him through gritted teeth.
Seth chose that moment to burst into my apartment. He looked just as frantic, which would've normally been rather touching, but I wasn't in a touching kind of mood. I was pissed.
"Get out," I told Seth quietly.
"Miss Swan..." he began but I cut him off by telling him to shut it.
"It's fucking Bella!" I hissed. "Seth, I'm only saying this once so listen up. Get out. I don't need you here. I don't want you here right now. There is nothing for you to do here. Go downstairs and ask your men how Tanya Denali Stoker, that's her name isn't it Eddie?" I asked Edward who flinched at the nickname I now knew he despised. "Yeah, that's her name. Go down and ask how Tanya Denali Stoker managed to visit me this evening without your men knowing, Seth. Go!" I screamed at him.
He looked to Edward, probably waiting for instructions from his employer but it didn't matter what Edward thought, it was my home and I could tell him to get out if I wanted to.
"Do it," Edward said quietly to Seth who blinked a few times but then went right back out my door again. As soon as the door had shut behind him Edward stepped towards me again, hands out as if he wanted to pull me to him.
"Don't," I seethed. "You stay over there," I said pointing to the living room while I backed away until I was half in the kitchen.
"I just want to make sure that you're alright," he said softly as he retreated.
"Well make sure from over there," I snarled. "I was perfectly alright before I met you, you know," I told him as calmly as I could. "Before I came into contact with the great Edward Cullen I was fine. I had my life under control and I had everything planned out. Nobody harassed me. Nobody stared at me in the street. People didn't snigger and whisper about me when I passed by them and I didn't have half the countries press camped out on my front lawn!" I screamed as I pointed vaguely to where the front of the building was.
"I could come and go here as I pleased. The neighbours were friendly if we saw one another in the hall or in the lift, but not anymore. Now they stare at me and talk under their breath about how if I'm so high and mighty now that I need bodyguards why don't I just go and live with you!
"Before meeting you I didn't have to be frightened to answer my phone! I could have friends and go out and do my bloody shopping without worrying about a hired thug seeing which brand of panty liner I buy!
"I could go to classes without a guy waiting outside the door. I could sit in the coffee shop and get my caffeine fix without having muscle at the next table flinch every time someone dropped a cup or a car screeched its tyres outside.
"I could sit under that beautiful tree in the university grounds and listen to my music, and talk to Alice on the phone about anything bloody thing I felt like talking about before I met you! My brother didn't have to deal with the press, or his phone lines being clogged up by the press while he loses out on work just because I was seen with you!" I ranted.
"I liked this apartment. I liked living here. It's close to campus, close to Jasper and Alice too and it's cheap enough that I could afford to live here and go to school as well without having to live in a rat hole. Now I hate it. Do you hear me? I hate living here now. Every noise sets me on edge. I haven't slept well in this house since I met you and I hate that. I hate it.
"And then today Jared tells me that you and Seth have got a lead on who might be doing this to us in the press and I start to think that maybe all this will go away and I can go back to liking living here when your friend Tanya bloody Stoker turns up here and thinks she can push me around in my own home!
"How can that be, Edward? How can she waltz in here and push me around when your thugs are downstairs, huh? You asked me to trust you and I did. And what did I get for it?" I raged. "I got a smack in the mouth and bloodied fucking knuckles, that's what!"
His mouth had fallen open around halfway through my...well halfway through my meltdown I guess I should call it. He just stood there and listened. He didn't look angry at all. He didn't look put out, or offended or even a little bit like he wanted to defend himself. He just stood there and let me yell at him.
And that was new for me. If I'd have yelled even a third of any of that at Jake, no matter how true whatever I was yelling was, he'd have backhanded me into next week.
But not Edward.
He let me rant. He let me yell. He let me swear and curse and the whole time I did he stayed right where I'd told him to stay.
And wasn't that a pisser? I thought.
Everything in my life since I'd met Edward Cullen had gone to shit and when I really, really wanted to hate him he pissed me off even more by being exactly what I suspected he might be all along. A good guy.
He didn't get angry back. He didn't rant back. He didn't yell at me and tell me that half the problem was mine and that I'd done something stupid to bring it all onto myself like Jake would have.
He didn't do any of that.
What did he do?
He kissed me.
Cut lip, bruised knuckles and wet hair from the shower dripping down my back. With me in ratty old sweats and a holey t-shirt I'd had since high school. Right there, in the state I was in he kissed me. Stepped right up to me, cupped me softly around the neck with his lovely, gentle hands and kissed the anger right out of me.
EPOV
She was the most glorious, most beautiful, most intelligent awe inspiring woman I'd ever met.
Every single word that came out of her mouth as she yelled and screamed was perfectly true. Every instance where her life was now worse off for having been introduced to me was spot on true too. She swore like a sailor, looked more beautiful in her old torn and stained clothes than she did in a business suit and those eyes...oh those blazing chocolate brown eyes.
I'd started off horrified that she was so angry and that I'd been the cause of it, however indirectly. But my horror turned to something else as I stood there and listened and watched her scream.
She was absolutely right. All she'd gotten since meeting me was trouble and yet she'd thrown Seth out of the place and let me stay.
She was one hundred percent correct in everything that she said and as I watched her eyes flash and her cheeks redden as she ranted she made me feel something I hadn't felt in very, very long time. Horny.
I felt horny. Turned on. I felt hot all over and my heart was racing. I had half a hard on that I desperately wanted to adjust. My hands itched to touch her. My lips ached to taste her.
The more she swore the harder I got.
The angrier she got the harder I got.
She was totally right. I was shit for her. I was nothing but trouble and being associated with me was likely to make her life hell.
And I wanted her.
I hated insipid, blubbering girls who wanted to be coddled. I loathed those girls who accepted everything because they didn't have a voice to say no.
I had no clue what had gone on inside her home that day, and the idea that Tanya had gotten in and done god only knew what scared the hell out of me, but Isabella was here and she was okay enough to give me what for.
So I walked the three paces to where she was, slid my hand around her neck and pulled her lips to mine.
That sting was there. That tiny spark crackled between us as my lips met hers. And my god, the feel of her, the taste of her and all that anger. The hurt and confusion, frustration and belligerence was all there on her tongue.
I tasted it all and I wanted more of it.
I was mindful of the small cut on her lip but I kissed her deeply anyway. If she'd have protested, or given me any inclination that it hurt I'd have stopped. But she didn't so I didn't.
I slid my tongue against hers and heard her moan long and low.
I used my free hand to pull her hips to me and felt her shiver against me.
Her hands went to my hair, her fingers curling through it until she had purchase and then she dug them in, pulling me harder against her mouth. It was my turn to moan then.
She clung to me. I clutched at her. The kiss was as furious as she had been.
It also had to end. We needed to talk. I needed to get some answers from her about what had happened and I needed to give her some answers as to why.
I slowed the kiss and drew away slightly, resting my forehead on hers after. She was panting slightly and I found that I liked her breathless. Hell I liked her any way.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered between us.
"I know you are," she whispered back.
"Seth will find out how this happened," I say softly.
"You keep saying that," she replies.
"I know I do. And I believe that he will."
"I don't think it matters anymore," she said sadly. "I can't stay here now. I'll never sleep, never feel safe here now."
"It matters," I tell her as I begin to rub the side of her throat with my thumb. "It matters to me how this was allowed to happen. It matters to me that you're safe, that you're able to sleep."
"I think I know that about you now," she sighs and tilts her head into my touch a little. "And I'm not ungrateful for everything you've already done to make me safe, but it's not working."
"I know. I'll find a solution," I promise her.
A soft, gentle smile forms on her lips and I want to kiss them again so I do. Just gently, ever so lightly. "Will it always be like this, if we keep seeing each other?" she asks.
"Always," I tell her sadly. "There will always be someone who thinks they have the right to know our business. It's horrible and it's wrong but that's the truth. You should make me leave right now and never come back."
"I don't think I can do that," she whispers and my heart begins to thump a little harder. "Will the press always follow me?"
"Always," I say gently, resuming rubbing on her neck. "And I will always do everything I can to make sure that's all they do, that you're safe and comfortable even though they watch you."
"Okay," she whispers. "Am I worth them following you, watching you and shouting questions at you?" she asks.
"Definitely," I say without reserve. "I've never thought anyone was. It's why I stopped dating, why I stopped looking for someone. But you are. You are so worth all that. I wish I could say it'll stop but I don't want to lie to you and have you resent me later on when they don't stop. They will always watch you, us. They will always want pictures, no matter what we're doing. They will always print lies and they will always assume things if they can't find the truth.
"I want to tell you that I'll sell my businesses and we'll run away and hide somewhere where nobody cares who I am, but I can't say that because I can't do that. I'm a businessman, Isabella. And like it or not I'm a high profile one from a wealthy family with a lot of enemies both in the press and within the industry. I mine steel. I turn that steel into products and sell it all over the world. Sometimes I sell it to people who do terrible things with it and sometimes they work miracles with it, either way I'm going to be watched and the press are going to comment. I'm good at it but enjoying what I do comes at a price and if you're with me you'll have to pay part of that price with me."
"Okay," she whispers simply. "I can't say that doesn't piss me off because it does, but thank you for not bullshitting me," she giggled adorably.
"I promised I wouldn't lie to you and I won't," I tell her again. "So are we going to be together then?" I ask hopefully and probably too early and at exactly the wrong point in time.
"Yeah," she sighs. "I think we're going to be together now. I mean, you kissed me. We kind of have to now."
"I guess so," I say a little sarcastically. "I mean, kissing is pretty important."
"And the press all say we're madly in love, and moving in together, and my virtue has already been called in to question," she whispered, the laughter bubbling just below the surface as she spoke.
"Exactly. And what sort of man would I be if I cast you aside now that your reputation has already been tarnished in the eyes of the countries press? I'd be labelled a cad and a scoundrel," I chuckled lowly.
"Aside from them already saying you're a, what was it today, oh yes a manipulative single minded control freak who is determined to possess me at any cost. Being called a cad and a scoundrel would ruin you."
"Aside from that," I agreed as good naturedly as I could. Internally I was seething that she had to read that shit about me, let alone what they wrote about her. "The picture was another good one though."
"Another good one?" she whispered as she moved a little closer and settled her cheek against my chest.
I shifted us just a little, until my butt was up against her kitchen counter, and then I wrapped my arms around her until we were touching from knee to chest. I lightly kissed the top of her head and held her.
I knew what adrenalin could do to a person. I knew that while it's pumping through your system you felt ten feet tall and bullet proof but as it wore off you felt exhausted and deflated. She was starting to wane.
"I kept the first picture at first because it was the only picture of me taken in a very long time where I look happy. But I cut today's out to keep because of how beautiful you looked."
"That's sweet," she mumbled before burrowing in to me a little more.
"What happened here tonight?" I asked her carefully, because I knew she'd soon crash and we needed to talk about it.
"I thought the knock at the door was you. I thought the traffic had cleared and you were early. It wasn't. It was Tanya."
"I don't understand how that's possible but I will find out."
"Doesn't matter," she says softly. "It happened and the whys of it don't matter now."
"Did she do that to your lip?" I ask.
"Yeah, she slapped me," she said sadly. "I didn't see it coming but I dodged the next one easy enough after that," she chuckled.
"She tried to hit you twice?" I asked, shocked and appalled that the girl I once knew was capable of such a horrible act.
"She tried, she didn't succeed," she mumbled, really fading fast now. "She pushed her way in here, yelling and screaming about me stealing you off her or some shit," she mumbled. "I pushed her back, she thumped me, I thumped her back. She kept screaming all sorts of shit but I can't remember it all now, and then she shoved me and I lost it. I think I might have really hurt her," she whispered, sounding sorry for causing someone harm.
That astounded me. Tanya pushes her to get inside her home, Isabella hits back and she's sorry for possibly hurting her?
I kissed the top of her head and held her a little more firmly. "There's blood on the carpet outside and in the lift too. Hopefully you did enough damage that she needs medical assistance. You can prove the assault if she needs help," I say softly.
"And then that ends up in the paper too, no thanks," she murmurs.
I ignore that, she was probably in shock and exhausted so I knew she might change her mind later on. "You pack quite a punch in that little body by the sound of it," I chuckled.
"Dad sent me to self defence classes after Jake."
"Smart man."
"Ex cop," she tells me.
"Great," I sigh, knowing full well that my involvement with her had caused enough trouble for any man to hate me without ever having met me. But an ex cop? Whose daughter got assaulted because of me? That wasn't going to be a very affable first introduction. "What do you want to do now then?" I ask. "Tell me what you need and I'll make it happen."
"I don't know where to go or what to do," she admits.
"Okay. Whatever you want to do I'll help. Wherever you want to go I'll take you," I say gently, dying to ask her to come home with me so I could take care of her but knowing not to. She was a grown woman and it was obvious she could take care of herself so she didn't need me making choices for her.
I felt her shrug.
I assessed the situation as best I could. She needed food, drink and a safe, soft bed to sleep in away from the press who would just love to get a picture of her with a cut lip, especially since they'd seen me come up here earlier. There'd be no chance to plead innocent because they'd print that I'd hit her no matter what I did.
"I can take you to Jasper's," I offer.
"It's Wednesday," she whispered.
"And that means what?" I chuckle.
"He stays at Alice' house on Wednesday nights because her parents come over for dinner and it gets too late to drive back, only to drive right by for work in the morning. He won't be there."
I didn't need to ask why she didn't want to be at Jasper's alone.
"Can I take you to Alice' then?" I ask instead.
"And listen to them humping all night? No thanks. Been there, done that, got the earplugs and eye bleach to prove it," she giggled against my chest.
"A hotel?" I offer as a last resort.
"On my own? If Tanya can get at me here she can find me at a hotel. No thanks. I'll just stay here."
I rein in my sigh and man up. "Come home with me?" I ask carefully. "Just for tonight if you want, I mean, you don't have to move in or anything," I stammer. "My housekeeper always cooks too much so there'll be food in the fridge. And I've got a heap of spare rooms that you're welcome to take your pick from. And you can have a shower, I mean, obviously other places have hot water too, but, I mean..." I trail off when she starts laughing.
She reaches a hand up and puts her hand over my mouth cheekily. "Stop," she giggles. "You don't have to sell it to me. It's sweet of you to offer. I accept, and not because you have hot water."
"Seth lives there but he won't bother you," I tell her hurriedly.
"I didn't know that," she says, back to whispering again.
"The press can't even get close enough to take pictures of you there. Do you have a class tomorrow?" I ask, ready to further 'sell' the idea of her staying with me by telling her that Seth will be on hand to take her to school in the morning, but she's shaking her head.
"No classes, but I had planned to go to Jasper's, I do the books there still."
"You're so clever," I tell her idly and kiss the top of her head again. "Seth can take you there in the morning then. He'll have Jared and Tyler familiar with Tanya and what she looks like by morning so you won't have to worry about her getting anywhere near you again."
"You'll go in to work in the morning?" she asks.
"I will," I tell her. I need her to know that the press, and Tanya but to a lesser degree, wouldn't drive me away from what made me happy. That was Isabella herself and my work. "Why don't you go and pack some things to bring and I'll call Seth and tell him we need collecting?"
"Alright," she said through a yawn. "And thank you," she whispers as she squeezes my arm.
I kiss her hair and tell her she's welcome and then she disentangles herself from me and goes down the hall towards her bedroom.
I lock the front door, sliding both bolts across, and then I go out onto her balcony and light a cigarette. I take just a moment to gather myself, and to tamp down my anger, and then I dial Seth.
"I need collecting," I tell him when he answers. "Isabella is coming home with me. Call my father and see if he can come and treat her at the house. If he's busy ask his service to have him call me as soon as is practical."
"On it, boss. I'll let Mrs D know you're bringing a guest, she'll get everything sorted there," he says, referring to my housekeeper. "At some point you and I need to talk. It can wait, nothings riding on it happening tonight, but come tomorrow morning we need to talk."
"Done," I tell him. "I'll get her settled and once she'd asleep we'll talk. How soon can you collect us?"
"Fifteen. Get her to change her clothes, something smart casual will do. Do your best covering up her lip and when I come for you I want her between us as we walk to the car."
"Done. See you then, we'll meet you in the foyer."
I ended the call and lit another cigarette.
I still had so many questions and I hoped that the reason Seth needed to speak with me meant he had those answers.
I had questions for Isabella yet too, but those could wait.
I was taking her home with me. Isabella Swan was going to stay the night in my home.
All I could hope was that she liked it, liked me, and that she'd let me take care of her.
A/N: Thank you for reading.
Please review.