"Does it still hurt?" Edward ran his fingers softly across the red inflamed burnt "V" on my inner thigh.

"It did like hell for the first couple of days. Now it's only if something rough rubs against it." I pulled the sheets up slightly so I could see his face.

He stuck his tongue out and traced the lines of the "V" before planting a soft kiss on it. He continued up to my hip, my fist twisted involuntarily while he lingered for a moment below my bellybutton. He finally made his way up the middle of my chest to my neck.

"How long did yours hurt?" I peeked over his broad shoulders to see his. I ran my fingers over the "V" shaped scar on his shoulder blade. You could only see it if you really looked. Just a slightly lighter shade of pink than his tanned skin and a little raised above it.

"Not long at all…" He nuzzled further into the crook of my neck.

"Edward this is crazy," I sighed.

He pulled his face back to look me in the eye.

"I know," he laughed. "But I just couldn't…not be with you anymore. It was too much. I tried to shake it off but I couldn't. You affect me way too much for my own good. And when I saw you there looking so…broken, that was it. I made a decision that I wasn't going to fight with myself anymore. I was giving in, completely." His eyes fluttered away for an instant. "No matter what the consequences are."

"Are we going to be in a lot of trouble?"

"Maybe." His eyes narrowed at me playfully. "But I'll protect you."

"From what I remember, I was the one who saved your ass, not the other way around."

His expression turned tender as he placed his lips on mine. "You did. You saved my life." He laughed as he brought his mouth back to mine. I pulled the covers back over our heads.

"Dude!" Emmett burst in. "Have you seen Bella? She's not in her room?"

Edward stuck his head out in a panic, keeping me under the covers.

"Um…no?" His voice squeaked.

I smiled, hidden under the covers and decided to have a little fun. I raised my lips to Edward's chest and ran my tongue down the middle and all the way down to his stomach. He shuddered and looked down at me momentarily with a "Don't go there" stare. I nodded my head, smiling devilishly as I scooted down further. Emmett continued talking idly.

"Well I'm just worried about her you know. I mean with what happened yesterday and I just feel like she's never…in…her room." He paused as Edward closed his eyes and almost collapsed on top of me. "Ed you got a girl in here?"

Edward's eyes got wide. "Why would you say that?"

"Because there's a foot with painted toe nails sticking out the end of your bed."

I held in the laughter and pulled my foot quickly under the covers.

Emmett laughed a big howl. "You do don't you? Who is it? Is Tanya back in town?"

My face turned serious. Tanya?

I shot up out of the covers. "Who the fuck is Tanya you bastard?" I slapped Edward's chest, completely forgetting Emmett was in the room.

"My eyes! Damnit I've gotta start minding my own business!" He shouted and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Is he talking about Tanya, Tanya? As in the Tanya that's in charge of the Denalis?"

Edward threw his hands up, in defensive mode. "Relax Bella! Geez, did you have to hit me so hard?" He rubbed at his chest.

I brought my face within inches of his. "Tell me. Everything. Now." I grabbed his nipple, threatening.

"You wouldn't dare…" He smiled his crooked smile.

I twisted slightly. "Oh I would."

"Ouch!" He laughed. "Fine. We had a…thing. It was only one time. It was a mistake. I was really…really drunk. That's it, that's everything."

"It better be everything." I released his skin.

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you…jealous?"

I crossed my arms and looked down. "No."

"No?" He scooted closer to me so our bodies were touching.

"No."

He put a finger under my chin and tipped my face up. "Good. Because you have no reason to be." He kissed me softly. "Stay here." He replaced his lips with his finger. "Don't bitch about it. I'll be right back."

He hopped up and pulled some sweatpants on. In spite of my momentary pissy outburst, I had to smile. It was impossible not to smile looking at him walk away. I brought my finger to my lips as I ogled over the dimples on his lower back. I fell back into a light sleep waiting for him to return.

"Wakey wakey…" Edward pressed his lips against my cheek.

"Why should I?" I mumbled.

"Because I got us the whole penthouse to ourselves for the day."

My eyes shot open. "Really? How'd you pull that one off?"

"I told Emmett that what he saw this morning would be tame compared to what he'd see if he stayed here. Alice and Jasper were willing to go somewhere for the day. So it's all ours."

"And Demetri?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Will face a painful and torturous death if he comes in here."

"Good. So what are we doing?"

"Well I'm going to make you breakfast."

My eyes narrowed at him.

"Well," he corrected. "I'm going to try…to make you breakfast."

"Sounds more like it."

He smiled and scooped me up, all wrapped in the sheets, and carried me out to the kitchen. I took a seat on the stool while he started pulling supplies out of the refrigerator.

"Eggs?"

"Scrambled."

"Bacon?"

"Crispy."

"My kind of girl."

I watched and giggled occasionally as he tried to scramble the eggs. I thought I'd make it easy on him but apparently it wasn't. He eventually handed me some charcoaled lump that was scrambled eggs and some extra crispy bacon. I ate it without complaint. A knock at the door interrupted my meal.

"I'll get it," Edward said as he sauntered over to the door. I continued to focus on my almost breakfast. The voice on the other side of the door stopped me mid bite.

"My name is Chief Swan. I'm here to investigate a shooting that took place on the 5th street dock yesterday." I heard him flip his badge open and closed. I could only imagine what was running through his mind right now. I knew he could see me, wrapped in nothing but a sheet. And he definitely saw Edward, standing there in only his sweatpants. I'd definitely be hearing about this eventually.

My dad cleared his throat.

"Please come in Chief Swan." Edward seemed nervous. I was definitely nervous, but probably not for the same reason. He was worried about going to jail, I was worried about my father killing us both and burying the bodies. He must think I'm crazy for getting involved with a suspect. And to tell the truth, in that very moment, thinking about it through my dad's eyes, I was crazier than a nine-dollar bill. There were going to be severe repercussions for my actions, and I didn't just mean with my job or my dad. My heart was in trouble. It would for sure be DOA once this whole thing was over with.

I finally turned to face them both. "Um. I'll be right back." I ran to my room to throw on some clothes. I could hear them talking down the hall.

"The survivor named you and your employer as the culprit." I shuddered. Victoria was still alive. "You specifically Edward and I assume that was the female that she mentioned too. Didn't know her name. Now, I'm reckoning, just like any other time I've been up here that you have no idea what I'm talking about."

He was tapping his foot as I entered the room again.

"We were here all day yesterday," I answered confidently. "I was feeling a little bit under the weather and Edward was here looking after me for the day."

My dad's eyes shot to me. I could see the accusations flying in them, and for the first time I felt like he was ashamed of me. It made me feel like I was just living up to his expectations. Like I was showing him that I wasn't good enough to do this job.

"And your name is?"

"Bella Cavanaugh." I waited for more daggers to come flying at me. And they did. He didn't know about my little name slip up. As far as he was concerned I was still Lindsey.

"Is that about the way it went Edward?" He turned his attention to Edward.

"Yeah. You can ask Emmett or Jasper. They'll say the same thing."

Charlie's eyes narrowed. "I'm sure they will." I knew he wouldn't investigate further, since I was involved. But he had to go through the motions. It'd be a little suspicious if he didn't. "Have a good day guys." He flipped his notebook closed and turned to leave. I didn't miss his angry eyes and how they lingered an instant longer on mine.

Edward and I were silent for the next five minutes.

"You were pretty quick with a cover up." He smiled. "Nice. I can't think that quick, Jasper's usually here when they come to question us. He's the one with the charm and the brains."

"Yeah I don't know where they came from." I shook my head.

Edward's phone started to vibrate against the countertop. I glanced at the caller I.D. It was Emmett.

"Hey Emmett," I said sarcastically.

"Bella. What a lovely surprise. I thought you might still be IN BED."

"No, we've moved to the kitchen."

"Ew. Remind me to Lysol that shit."

I laughed. "What's up, what are you doing?"

"I'm at Rose's. Just stopped to check in with Aro, which is why I'm calling. He wants to see you and Edward." My breath caught in my throat. Does he already know about last night? I gulped hard, thinking over who would have told him. Emmett was the only one who knew and I can't imagine he'd tell him. Edward's eyes widened as he took in the sudden change of my expression. He reached out his hand and took the phone from me.

"Emmett what's going on?....Right….Okay. Now?...Okay… Yeah… Bye." He hung up the phone. "Don't worry. It's probably just about what happened yesterday….well the whole shooting thing. I hope." He laughed nervously as he headed down the hallway. He was back an instant later with a shirt halfway over his head. "You ready?"

He held my hand the entire drive there, letting go only when we had to. We thought it'd be best, just in case Aro wasn't aware of our…sudden relationship.

Edward knocked on Aro's office door as he smiled tentatively my way.

"Come in."

He opened the door for me and followed me inside.

"Oh my goodness. Edward. Bella. I'm so glad you are alright. I was absolutely terrified when I heard about the incident yesterday. Please take a seat." He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk and we both sat down and crossed our legs simultaneously over our knees. I let out a quiet sigh of relief as Aro continued on about the "incident" as he called it.

"I called Tanya yesterday immediately after it happened. She claims that the three were acting on their own accord and were not acting on behalf of the family. She extended her deepest sympathies to whatever trouble they may have caused." He tapped his fingers on his desk. "Regardless, we will not be dealing with the Denalis if we can help it. We're going to try and keep it local and see how well we can do for the time being. I don't want to risk any of you, you are far too valuable to me." He smiled. "But, that's all behind us. I'd like to send you two to a nice dinner tonight. To make up for what happened yesterday."

"That's not necessary Aro," Edward said.

"No, no I insist. Please. I'll make reservations for eight o'clock at Dominic's place."

"Thank you. That's very nice of you." I smiled.

"Well, that's all I wanted. You two go out and enjoy the beautiful day."

Edward and I both shook Aro's hand and left the warehouse. Edward's phone was instantly at his ear.

"What are you doing?" I questioned.

"You'll see…" he smiled. "Alice? Can you pick up Bella in about a half hour and take her shopping for a new dress. Aro is making us go to a nice dinner tonight and I want her to have something nice."

"Edward that's not necessary. I can just wear what I have." I said once he hung up.

"Don't be ridiculous. I insist," he said mocking Aro's tone.

For the rest of the day I was at Alice's mercy trying on this and that, and this dress and that dress, and those shoes or these shoes. I was pretty much exhausted.

"Now. I've been given strict instructions to return you to the penthouse all ready to go. So we'll stop by Rose and my place to get you ready for your big date," Alice teased.

"It's not a date," I protested just like a teenager to her mother. Although my heart did flutter a bit when she said that. Because as much as I wanted to deny it, it was a date. It was a real, live date with Edward. And I was more than excited.

Alice put me in the slinky black dress that we'd bought earlier, and she'd done my hair in hot rollers, and she'd done my makeup all-fancy. I was all ready to go, just as she was instructed, by the time she dropped me back off at the penthouse at 7:30.

I'd forgotten my key at Alice's so I knocked. Once. Twice. Three times. No answer. I was starting to get anxious.

"Edward?"

The lock on the door clicked and the door swung open slowly into darkness.

"Edward?" I called again, stepping inside. I felt someone step up behind me and wrap their arms around my shoulders. I gasped, startled at first. But the arms were familiar and I knew them the instant his skin touched mine. The hands in front of me carried a single rose in one and a lit candle in the other.

"I…thought we were going out?" I said as Edward kissed my neck.

"I gave the reservation to Emmett and Rosalie. I owed him. I think we scarred him for life earlier today."

"Well," I teased, "I guess he should learn to knock." I spun around to face him.

"Stay here a minute." He disappeared into the darkness, illuminated only by the faint glow of the candle. I watched as he slid out onto the balcony and one by one lit more candles, each growing into an orb of light against the night sky. I slowly began to distinguish a table outside that was set for two. There were silver plate covers adorning the table.

Edward came back into the room and took me by the hand, leading me outside.

He pulled the chair out for me before lifting up the plate covers. Steam enveloped me, along with a delicious smell of spices and broth.

"So where'd you order this from?" I asked, remembering his breakfast fiasco this morning.

"Actually. I watched Emeril all fucking day just to get it right." He smiled as he took his seat. I could finally see him now. He wore a dress shirt and a nice jacket. His hair was slicked back a little, with a few stray strands falling in front of his face. He looked sexy as hell. He was lucky I didn't jump him from across the table.

"What?" He took a bite of the chicken.

"Nothing," I said, maintaining eye contact. "You look really nice tonight."

"Thank you." His face flushed red a little. "You look…more than nice."

I stood up and strolled over to him to sit on his lap and sling my arms around his neck.

"I think that the food might have to wait…" I brought my face close to his.

"Wait you at least have to try it." He picked up a piece of chicken with his fork and placed it in my mouth. "Is it…BAM?" He mimicked Emeril's signature line.

"Very bam. Count to thirty, then come find me. My room tonight." I kissed him gently and skipped off to my room.

Thirty seconds later the door to my room opened a crack.

"Marco?" Edward's voice called.

"Polo…" I whispered. He stepped inside.

I took a step to stand behind him and tied the piece of fabric around his eyes.

"What is this?" He asked, running his fingers over the blindfold.

I brought my lips close to his ear. "My dress."

"BAM!"

A/N: For those of you not savvy in the police dictionary..D.O.A. means Dead on Arrival.