Thank you to all who love the story, it means a great deal to me! I try to work my imagination the best way I can, I hope you like it! Thanks to all who gave me great song ideas, please keep them coming. Thank you to my wonderful beta Audrey, I love you and all that you do for me! Just in case I failed to reply, James is a new character, hehehehe...
CHAPTER 29
That voice, I knew that voice very well. There was no mistaking its revolting sound. I felt completely numb when he uttered that simple sentence.
"Bella, is that really you?" James' venomous voice was clear as day.
I was still in submissive mode, do I turn to look or answer? Edward didn't give me permission to answer; did that mean I was safe to ignore him? I could feel my body go rigid and I began to shake. No, it couldn't be him, it's my imagination. Edward looked at me briefly, a barely noticeable glance, before he turned to answer James.
"You must be mistaken." Edward nodded his head and touched the small of my back, steering me onto the open elevator.
"Well, my apologizes then." I'm sure he was not convinced, but was letting it go anyway.
Edward nodded and acted as a shielded to never allow James to see my face again. Once the doors shut, Edward pulled me into his arms and held me tightly. I hadn't even realized I was sobbing quietly but uncontrollably.
"Baby, what's wrong, how do you know him?" Edward cooed rubbing my head.
I couldn't even answer because I was shaking so violently. I just pushed my face further into Edward's chest and he held me tightly to him. We made our way to the lobby where we'd entered. Edward asked me to sit and wait for a moment on the couch that was sitting on one of the walls across the room. He approached Liam who was leaning casually against the door.
They were talking in a hushed tone and I couldn't make out anything they were saying. They both kept looking back at me. Liam nodded and Edward walked back to me.
"Let's go." He took my hand in his and led me to the car.
The second we pulled into the dark streets he began to speak.
"What happened just now?" He looked back and forth between me and the street
"Edward please, I can't." Tears streamed down my face.
I could feel an anxiety attack coming on; it had been a long time since I had one of those.
"Bella, I can't help you if you don't tell me, no secrets right?" He looked serious.
"He stalked me in college." I sobbed loudly.
His face looked confused, like he was missing something he should have known. Then his jaw tensed and his hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.
"Why haven't you told me about this?" He never took his eyes from the road.
"It's something I spent a lot of time in therapy trying to block out of my mind." I cradled my head in my hands.
"I won't let him hurt you, I will protect you." His voice menacing.
"How did he find me?" I muttered to myself.
"I have no idea, but I will find out." Edward snarled.
"Do you know him?" I said in a small voice.
"No." Edward's flat reply was.
We pulled into the garage of the penthouse and the minute we made it inside, I ran up the stairs and began to rip the clothes from my body. I felt disgusting suddenly, very dirty. To know I was in the same room with that man, that vile creature, was unnerving enough. I moved toward the bathroom and turned on the shower.
I grabbed the soap and a washcloth and began to scrub my body. Edward came in the bathroom, but I never looked up to meet his gaze. I was too busy scrubbing the dirt off.
"Bella, stop, you're making yourself bleed." Edward's voice was panicked.
I looked down and noticed that I was actually digging my nails into my skin; the cloth had been long forgotten on the shower floor. I collapsed to the ground, holding my knees under my chin, rocking back and forth. The water was splashing me in the face, but I didn't care, I just wanted to curl and up and die at the moment.
"It's not real. It's my imagination." I kept repeating over and over.
Edward slid beside me fully clothed and wrapped his arms around my body. We sat there for a while like this. When the water became cold, Edward scooped me up and wrapped me up in a towel, placing me on the bed.
He took off his wet clothes and snuggled up beside me on the bed, pulling the comforter over us both. I had my back to him as his arms encircled me close to his warm body. I gripped his hand in mine and held it closely to my heart.
"I don't know why you keep trying to run away from me Bella; you know I'm just going to find you anyway. Stop fighting me, it will be easier that way." James gave me a dark smirk.
I was in the corner curled in a ball with blood dripping from my forehead, holding back tears and disgust.
"We both know who is going to win in the end. Do you really think that pathetic boyfriend of yours is going to save you? He's probably off fucking your best friend right now. Nobody is looking for you; nobody cares about you, nobody wants you, except me." He was kneeling down in front of me, moving the hair from my blood spattered face.
"Don't touch me." I said through clenched teeth.
"And what are you going to do about it?" His grin got wider and he laughed.
What could I do? Both my legs and one of my hands were broken. I most likely had a concussion. My mobility at the moment was nonexistent. He pulled my legs from under me, dragging me across the room, while I screamed as loud as I could.
"Scream all you want little Swan, nobody can hear you." He cackled loudly.
He dropped my legs in the middle of the room and began to pull my pants off as I continued to scream. I tried to kick him, but the pain was too much, I couldn't fight back.
"You belong to me. Not him, ME!" He shouted as he pushed himself onto me.
I jolted upright on the bed. Edward was wrapped around me holding me tightly.
"Baby, are you okay. What were you dreaming about?" His concern was undeniable.
"Oh Edward, I had forgotten. He was so awful to me, so awful." I sobbed into his shoulder.
"Who was bad to you baby?" His voice was soft and reassuring.
"James. The guy from the club." I could barely hear myself speak.
"Oh Bella." Edward kissed me softly.
There was something about Edward that relaxed me, that made all the bad things disappear. I had spent so much time blocking the memory of James out; I had almost forgotten he existed, almost.
With an emotionless voice I said, "He stalked me for two years Edward. He made my relationship with Jake a living hell. It was so long ago, I thought I was over it, but just hearing his voice, it was terrifying." I shuddered.
"Baby Liam is taking care of it, he will not get anywhere near you, I swear." Edward rested his head against my shoulder.
"I love you, never forget that, never." I sobbed once more; suddenly worried I might not get a chance to tell him enough.
"I love you too." Edward whispered into my hair.
Edward's POV
"I feel like the worst kind of scum right now. I can't believe I didn't know this and to think I did the same exact thing to her! No wonder she flipped a lid when she found out." I threw my hands in the air frantically.
"Bro, even you couldn't have seen that one coming, stop beating yourself up." Emmett tried to appease me from the chair across the desk.
We were sitting in my office, having a conversation about the events that had unfolded over the weekend. I was trying to catch Emmett up on everything I knew about James and how badly Bella was taking it. However, this morning before I left for work, she seemed perfectly fine, completely herself, I knew she was faking, but I didn't press it with her, I'd wait until she came to me.
"Emmett, I stalked her, just like that asshole. Even worse I invaded her privacy. She forgave me, I didn't deserve that." I ran my fingers through my hair.
"Edward, that's just how you deal with things. You are the biggest control freak I ever met." Emmett laughed.
"Just get out, you are no help." I grit my teeth.
"Oh stop it. You're people will take care of him, dude its Christmas in a few days, cheer the fuck up." Emmett stood and walked out of my office.
I picked up my phone and dialed up Liam.
"Yes Sir." He answered immediately.
"What did you find out?" I tapped my fingers on the desk.
"Well according to what I was able to dig up Mr. Lordes has been out of prison for the last year. I'm surprised they never notified Ms. Swan of this. Apparently he was accompanied to the club as a guest to Ms. Sasha." Liam's voice was smooth through the receiver.
"What was his exact sentence?" The irritation of this situation settling into me.
"He was sentenced about 6 years ago sir. The sentence was 15 years, but he was released on good behavior." Liam replied.
I ran my hands over my face, rubbing hard. That sentence just didn't seem to fit too well.
"How did he end up here?"
"A job transfer two months ago."
"Two fucking months he's been in Seattle! Please explain how something like this is missed in a fucking background check! I pay these fucking people good money to thoroughly investigate potential members and somehow they seem to miss a fucking stalking charge!" I fume through the phone.
"Sir we are handling the situation; communication has been terminated with that company. We are now investigating Mr. Lordes whereabouts and anything else we can find. This will not happen again." Liam's confidence was anything but reassuring to me.
"You better believe it won't happen again. Handle it Liam or else!" I hung up before he had a chance to reply.
I couldn't concentrate here. All I could think about where horrible images of this disgusting man violating my precious Bella. She wouldn't tell me the extent of the stalking or even what really happened. I guess that's why I called Rose this morning to have lunch with me at Jasper's, so maybe I could get an idea of what I was really dealing with.
I told Leah I would be out of the office for the rest of the day and made my way downtown to Jasper's restaurant. I found Rose sitting in a corner table drinking a glass of water, looking nervous. I hadn't told her why I asked her here and I don't think Bella mentioned to her about seeing James, I'm sure she didn't know how to explain it.
I took the seat opposite of her, signaling the waitress over to the table.
"This better be good Cullen." Rose folded her hands on the table.
"Order first then we can discuss my reasoning for you being here." I crossed my legs.
She rolled her eyes and picked up the menu. An attractive young blond waitress approached the table, staring at me.
"Good afternoon and welcome to Twilight, my name is Sara and I will be taking your order today." She smiled brightly.
"He's got a girlfriend; get the thought of your head." Rose chastised the young girl.
I just glared at her and rattled off my order, trying to get her away from the table.
"So spill Cullen." Rose sat back in her sit looking bored.
"What can you tell me about James Lordes." I watched her face closely. Her eyes just about popped out her skull.
"What did Bella tell you?" Her voice full of panic.
"Nothing, that's the problem, we had a run in with him over the weekend. She almost had a nervous breakdown. She mentioned something about him stalking her in college. I figured you could fill in the blanks." I folded my napkin over my lap.
"She is still pissed at me for what happened with the apartment. If I tell you this before she is ready for you to know, she may never forgive me. It's typical Bella to freak out and then act normal. She always did that." Rose shook her head.
"Rose, this is serious. I can't help her, if I don't know the extent of the problem. You didn't see her lose it when we got home. I thought I would have to call a doctor or something. I never seen anyone behave like that." I felt my body shake just thinking about how helpless she looked sitting on the floor of the shower stall.
She hesitated, and then began, "they met her freshman year. She and I had a job in the university library, he came in there all the time, which didn't seem unusual, its a a library. But Bella being overly naive didn't notice his creepiness right away." She took a sip of her water before continuing.
"However I did notice it when I met him, there was just something off about him. He hung around a lot of the places where we would; I mean it would make sense if it was a small place, but I mean a school with over 20,000 students, it just didn't seem logical. That's when I warned her. I hoped he was completely harmless; he never tried anything… until Bella started dating Jake." She gulped then.
I could feel myself tense up. Two men that I disliked, two men I knew had a past with my girl.
"When James found out Bella was dating Jake, well let's say he made a huge scene, which was the first time his well put together shell cracked." Rose stopped talking when Sara appeared at the table with our food.
She placed the plates in front of us and asked if we needed anything else. I told her some privacy. Rose picked up her fork and I let her eat some of her food, before pushing her to continue.
"What did he do?" I asked forking some of the pasta in front of me
"He came to the library like he did every time she was working. I was putting some books away while she was doing check out. He looked pissed when he stormed up to her. He grabbed her arm from behind the counter and dragged her to one of the conference rooms. It was all glass, so you could see what was going on. I mean he was enraged. I stormed into the room, catching the end of his tirade. " I could see Bella holding her breath, trying not to cry.
He didn't stop when I came into the room, he said, "How could you do this to us. I had things planned for you and you ruin it for this guy. You will pay and so will he. His voice was so chilling when he said it." Rose shivered.
"Were there other incidents?" I was getting very unnerved now. I wanted to find him myself and hurt him.
"After that, it was threatening emails; he busted Jake's car windows, even left a dead animal in our apartment." Rose suddenly paled then.
"How did he get into your apartment?" I urged.
"I don't know, but after that we had the locks changed and our building got a security guard." She leaned back.
"He almost killed her Edward. If it wasn't for Jake, I wouldn't have a best friend right now." She choked back tears.
"What happened?" I said through clenched teeth.
"Jake was working late one night and with all the stress of the situation I had moved out and Jake moved in. She was home alone or on her way there. He cornered her in the hallway of their apartment building, trying to reason with her, he pushed her down the stairs because she told him she didn't want him. She was knocked unconscious. He tried to rape her, but Jake found them before it could happen." Rose was now teary eyes across from me.
I grabbed her hand in mine and squeezed. It was the first time her and I connected.
"They were supposed to contact her when he got out." Rose sobbed softly.
"They failed her." I mumbled.
"I won't let anyone hurt her, ever." I said with a lot of conviction.
"I believe that. I know you would, just like your brother would for me. I see how much you love her, I never doubted it." She gave me a small smile, dabbing her eyes with the napkin.
After lunch with Rose I headed toward the bookstore. After such a heavy conversation I needed to see my beautiful girl and just hold her in my arms. So much had happened to her, so much she never told me; she was so much stronger than I ever knew.
I entered the bookstore to find Bertha sitting behind the counter arranging some stationary items. She looked up when she saw me, giving me a warm smile.
"Mr. Cullen, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Her warm Spanish accent rolling off her lips.
"I came to see Isabella, is she here?" I returned her smile.
"She is in the stock room, door in the back on the right." She pointed.
I nodded and thanked her and made my way to the back of the store. I could hear some shuffling and what sounded like books falling. "Shit" I heard her murmur.
I pulled the door open and placed my hand on her shoulder. She spun around pushing me away, holding her chest.
"Edward, Jesus Christ, you scared me." She gasped.
"I'm so sorry love, I didn't mean to scare you." I put my hands out in front of me.
"It's okay, I know. What are you doing here?" She tried to compose herself.
"I missed you, I needed to see you." I gave an innocent smile.
Her face lit up and she threw her arms around my neck.
"I missed you too." She sighed and I could feel her relax against me.
"I had to know you were alright. I hope you know I will always protect you." I kissed her head holding her tighter.
"Of course, silly." She pulled back to stare at me.
"You are so important to me. If I lost you..." I couldn't even finish the sentence.
"I'm yours, remember." She touched the collar on her neck.
"I love you so much." I held her face in my hands and kissed her softly on the lips.
She smiled once more hugging my waist.
"I'm just about done for the day; do you want to go out to eat?" She asked pulling me by the hand out of the storage room.
"We have to be at my parents at 6:30, remember?" I reminded her.
"I forgot with everything..." Her face became distant.
"I understand, if you don't want to go, its fine, I can tell my mother you are not feeling well."
"No, we can go; it would be good; some holiday cheer and all that." She made a funny gesture with her fingers.
I kissed her hand and we gathered her belongings. Before long we were pulling into my parents' driveway. It was never lost to me the awe in Bella's eyes each time we came here. I helped her out and we stepped inside. Emmett and Jasper were hanging lights up over the fireplace while Alice and Rose were placing ornaments on the Christmas tree.
Maggie came over to us and retrieved our coats, handing us each a cup of hot chocolate. We thanked her and we made our way into the room.
"Where are mom and dad?" I asked looking around.
"Probably getting one in before dinner." Emmett's loud voice boomed.
"Em that's just wrong." Alice shrieked.
"Stop thinking that they don't." Emmett laughed loudly.
I just shook my head. Bella walked over to the girls and started helping them hang the decorations. I excused myself to find where my father was hiding out. Apparently he was in the kitchen with his hands on my mother's hips, kissing her neck. The visual was too much. I cleared my throat letting them know I was there and my father moved away from the stove. I walked over to my mother, kissing her cheek.
"Hello Edward." She smiled, continuing her baking.
"Edward, my boy, didn't hear you come in. How are you? Is Bella here?" He blurted out.
"Yeah she is in the living room, but I kind of wanted to speak to you about something. Can we talk in your office?" I placed the cup on the counter.
"Of course son." He motioned for us to walk.
We made our way to Carlisle's office and he sat in his office chair as I took the leather couch.
"They don't know how he got into the club or even why Bella hasn't been notified of his release. I've added extra security, but I feel completely helpless, she refuses to talk to me about it. When I ask her, she says she's fine, but she's not fine." I leaned my head against the couch.
"You've done what you can do Edward, you just need to wait for her to come to you." Carlisle held his hands together.
"I love her, I can't just wait. I can't believe they let someone like that back into society. He almost killed her." I pulled hard at my hair.
"The law works in twisted ways sometimes. I wish I could comfort you with something reassuring, but I can't. All I can say is that we will investigate it." Carlisle stood from the chair and patted my shoulder, walking toward the door.
I huffed and followed him to the living room. Bella watched me as I walked in and I gave her a small smile, she gave me a wondrous look and went back to decorating. Rose gave me a look and turned to face Emmett who engulfed her into a bear hug. She giggled and he planted a kiss on her lips.
As we got ready for bed that night, I was shaving my face and Bella came up behind me, wrapping her hands over my bare chest.
"You're so sexy, do you know that." She smirks, kissing my back.
"Oh baby, it's all you!" I grin, cleaning the shaving cream off my face.
I turned around and grab her by the hips, kissing her lips. She giggled and I picked her up and placed her on the bathroom counter.
"These lips. This neck, mm, shoulders, breasts." I gently pinched her through her thin tee shirt.
"You are far sexier than me with a lot more to play with." I wagged my eyebrows at her and she smiled.
"You don't say Edward Cullen?" She wraps her arms around my neck and pulled me closer with her legs.
We kissed and I felt the little vixen, pulling the string of my pajama bottoms open. I spread her thighs, sliding hers off as well. With a quick thrust I was inside her. She threw back her head and we enjoy the feeling. I needed this all day, to be this close, to know she was safe and with her wrapped around me this way, I know that she is.
I am determined to keep her safe, no matter what the cost.