Evening/Morning/Goodday!

Wow, so many thoughts on Ms. Denali! And why Edward hasn't seen this hot sub yet. I'd say his eyes and mind belong to someone else, why should he be concerned with some sub? Hehehehe.

So let's see how dinner goes… and stuff….

Evil Woman- ELO

~~oo~~

Chapter 59: The hot sub.

EPOV

I may have taken my time to get to my house. I knew as soon as we arrived, I wouldn't be able to hold her the way I wanted to. So I drove unbearable slow, taking the long route, all the while keeping my free hand comfortably in place along her thigh. I could feel how hot her inner thigh was with the gentle stroking of my middle finger.

If only we could just find one of those logging turn offs and spend some time alone before dinner.

Judging by Bella's lusty eyes, she was game.

Too bad my mom had texted to ask when I would be home.

With a drawn out sigh, I turned up the driveway, gripping Bella a little tighter until we were safely surrounded by the garage walls. One brief kiss and we were stepping into the house, only to be surprised by what we walked in on when we entered the living room, hand in hand.

Esme and Chief Swan were already there, chatting on the sofa in the living room. Esme was laughing as we entered, her hand on the Chief's arm until she saw us, turning her smile towards us.

No, that wasn't awkward at all.

Esme grinned and jumped up from her spot to come greet us, the Chief moving a little more slowly as he stood and stretched. I glanced at him for a moment before Esme grabbed my attention, his stance more casual than I would have imagined.

"Why don't you take Charlie outside and help start the grill. I thought we'd have steaks. Bella and I will get the vegetables started," she said and pulled Bella from my hand and to the kitchen.

Leaving me alone with the very scrutinizing Chief Swan.

"A little late getting here," he said casually as he followed me out the side door to the deck outside.

I noticed he didn't have his uniform or his gun on.

That didn't make me feel much better.

Cops knew all about subduing and stuff with their bare hands. And even with the slight beer belly he was sporting, I knew Chief Swan could take me down if he deemed it necessary.

"Bella stayed after today to work on an essay project for English," I explained and opened up the gas grill, preparing to clean it off.

Chief Swan leaned in and inspected the grill, nodding in approval.

"This sure beats my Coleman grill," he commented, his moustache wiggling slightly before I realized he was actually smiling at me.

I tried to smile back, but it felt odd.

He didn't say anything but watched as I cleaned off the grill with the wire brush as it warmed up.

"So things are going well, then?" he asked.

I had no idea what he was referring to so I just shrugged and kept working.

"With Bella, I mean. She's not ordering you around or anything? She can be pretty domineering about things sometimes."

I swallowed hard and shook my head.

"No, Bella is great. We seem to have a really good relationship," I said nervously. "You know, partners I mean."

He was quiet again as I worked. He simple stood there watching me drinking from his beer.

Sometimes no words are more powerful than actual words spoken.

How did Esme think this was a good idea?

Was Bella having as much trouble inside with my mom?

Was this their plan all along?

Get us alone for some big life changing discussion.

"So Esme tells me you've been accepted at University of Washington. Means you'll be moving to Seattle," he continued.

Here it comes.

"Yes. That's the plan anyway," I replied, wiping my hands with a towel.

The Chief watched me for a few more minutes before dropping the question I was preparing for.

"So what do you think that means for you and Bella? She didn't really think about colleges until she moved here," he said and crossed his arms in front of him.

I looked down and shrugged again.

Of course I wanted Bella to come with me.

Find something that she wanted to do. Go to culinary school. Get a job working in a bakery if that is what she wanted. Go to college.

Anything.

"Well, I think that's why she's trying for this scholarship, sir," I said slowly. "I mean, I don't know. We've talked about it a little. But I don't want to lose her, sir. She's important to me."

He nodded again and that smile that hid behind his moustache appeared again.

"Well, we'll see come summer. Still a long way off," he said and turned to go inside.

Even without a gun, that man was intimidating.

He was right though. We had to think about that eventually.

And as much as I didn't want to lose Bella, I didn't want to lose my chance at going to college either. I thought again about what Bella had said about her substitute teacher trying to help her with this essay. It seemed odd that a sub would do that for a student she barely knew.

I snickered at the word sub for a moment and shook my head to get it back on track.

Bella needed to get that essay finished and it needed to be good. I supposed we would have to work on it over the weekend. She had said something about the teacher giving her the edits tomorrow for the weekend. We could concentrate on that this weekend.

Definitely.

Bella needed this. And I could help.

By behaving or helping to write it, or providing inspiration.

What ever she needed, I'd do anything for Bella.

I smiled down at my hands at the thought of doing anything for her.

Chief Swan made his way out with a plate full of steaks in one hand, a new beer in the other, that strange smile appearing on his face again.

"So, Edward. Do you like fishing? Esme was saying you didn't spend as much time on sports as your brother does. Which might explain why you seem more mature than your brother," he said and I could hear the animosity in his voice.

I cracked a smile and took the steaks from him, laying them on the grill.

"I've fished before. I'm not very good, but yeah. I'm not anything like my brother," I said, watching him regard me carefully.

"Your brother is a but of a trouble maker," he said and took a long drink from his beer. "Always looking at the girls and chasing them around. I've been called in a couple of times now since you've moved in. I suppose that's why I was worried at first when Bella mentioned you. But I trust her judgement. She's a really good judge of character. And if I remember right, she knew Emmett for who he was right away. No she can read people."

I covered the steaks and leaned back against the rail, my own arms mirroring the Chief's folded arms as we stood and stared at one another as the meat sizzled away.

We eventually talked a little more about fishing, his eyes lighting up when I talked about fishing in the ice cabins in Alaska. It had been more of an obligatory outing with Carlisle and Emmett to serve as male bonding time. But it had been cold as fuck and all we caught were colds.

Still, it entertained the Chief and by the time we stepped inside with our cooked steaks, he was patting me on the back and that weird smile was a little more genuine.

At least until Emmett sauntered in.

Well, he sauntered and then he froze in wide-eyed terror when he saw the Chief.

"I didn't do it! I swear Chief Swan!" he exclaimed.

And the weird smile was back.

At least it wasn't aimed at me.

I was learning that this was Chief Swan's mischievious smile.

"Sit down, Emmett," Esme said in her brusque fashion. "Charlie and Bella are our guests tonight."

Emmett looked from the Chief to Bella and swallowed hard, opting to sit next to me at the table. I supposed that was safest. If Bella had sat next to me, I wouldn't have been able to keep my hands to myself, even with the Chief sitting across from me.

Hey, he wasn't carrying a gun tonight.

I could at least hold her hand without getting tackled, right?

I smiled at Bella's amused smirk as she sat down beside her dad and we quickly set to work on dishing out the meal. Emmett and Charlie eyed one another over the mashed potatoes while Esme made small talk.

"It's so nice to have you over finally, Charlie!" she was saying. "Ever since Bella came over that first night, I've wanted to tell you what a wonderful girl she is!"

I smiled at Bella's blush as she tried to hide it, concentrating on cutting her steak.

"Well, this is truly nice, thank you," he was saying, the friendly smile radiating at my mom. "Your son has been a welcome guest when he's over at our house. I have a lot of faith in Edward. You raised quite a gentleman in him."

It was Bella's turn to smirk while I felt their eyes watching me.

It felt good though. The chief trusted me.

He didn't judge me wrongly or accuse me of hurting his girl.

He trusted me.

Even if maybe I had been less than gentlemanly on more than one occasion in his house.

I felt Esme pat me on the arm and looked up in time to see her wink at me, proud of me.

"Well, I am proud of my boys. Emmett has a full scholarship to Texas next year. And with Edward off to Seattle next fall, I'll be able to figure a number of things out. I might even start designing again!" she said, the first brilliant smile I had seen light up her face in some time.

Was that what she had been doing in Port Angeles? Reconnecting with her interior designer routes?

The Chief asked her a little about what she used to do before coming to Forks, and she opened up to share her love for interior design. I learned more about my mom's life in those few minutes than I had in a decade of living with her.

It was a little strange knowing that she seemed to open up and share so much more of herself when the Chief was there. I had never seen that with Carlisle. She had always been docile around him.

Passive.

Subservient to some extent.

I frowned into my mashed potatoes at the thought of Esme having ever lived the kind of life Carlisle and I knew.

I could never see her like that.

Funny how she seemed so normal in the company of normal people.

I wasn't the only one to change it seemed.

I tried not to think about how much more vibrant she was in the Chief's company.

They'd never be more than friends.

Right?

Awkward.

I caught Emmett looking between the two of them, his fork often freezing halfway to his mouth when Esme would laugh at something the Chief would say. He'd then blink and glance over at me, shaking his head slightly before finally eating.

Definitely awkward.

"So, Emmett," the Chief said, changing the subject of conversation suddenly. So sudden it made Emmett jump hearing his name. "Texas? What are you going to major in?"

Emmett looked at him like a cat looks at a wild dog and tried to form some kind of sentence. What came out was more a grunt than anything else, making the Chief's smile widen.

Still mischievious, and maybe a little evil.

I could see where Bella got her sense of humor.

"Emmett," Esme prompted and then turned to the Chief, rolling her eyes. "Well, certainly not public speaking. I think he was thinking about Sports Medicine, right?"

Emmett frowned suddenly and shook his head.

"That was before," he muttered and poked at his steak. "Not sure I want to go into medicine now."

An awkward silence descended on the table, Carlisle's presence there even when he was absent. The Chief finally cleared his throat and turned slightly to Bella, smiling down at her proudly.

"Edward was just telling me about this essay you have, Bella. For some sort of scholarship? I didn't know," the Chief asked, looking at Bella with more love than I had ever seen from Carlisle.

Bella's blush reappeared and she swallowed what she was eating, glancing at me with a slight pout.

"It was sort of sudden really. I didn't even know about it until Ms. Denali mentioned it to me a couple days ago," she said.

She jumped in her seat when Esme dropped her fork on her plate.

I could only blink.

What? Who had she said?

"Who did you say?" Esme breathed, the blood drained from her face.

Bella's eyes had grown wide at the alarm on Esme's face.

"Um, my substitute teacher, Ms. Denali," she stammered, glancing at me and blanching when she saw my reaction.

No.

No. Nononononono.

"Her name is Denali?" I asked, my throat suddenly very dry.

She nodded and looked between Esme and I, growing more nervous.

I felt numb. The panic and outrage had frozen my lungs, chilled my bones.

She was here.

Here.

And talking with Bella.

"What's wrong? How do you know Ms. Denali?" she squeaked.

"Alaska," Esme growled and stood suddenly, throwing her napkin onto the table and storming out of the room, throwing open the kitchen door so hard it left a dent in the wall.

The Chief was up now, following her into the kitchen, his own napkin still tucked into his shirt collar.

"What did she mean by Alaska, Edward?" she asked, shifting in her seat while I still remained frozen in mine.

"Hot sub is Tanya Denali?" Emmett asked loudly, looking around the table at Bella and me.

At mention of her name, Bella's eyes widened and she let out a startled gasp.

"Wait!" she whimpered and stared at me. "Tanya? No. You would have seen her!"

I shook my head and finally found my will to move. I stood up from the table, my hands in my hair.

What was Tanya playing at?

What the fuck was Tanya doing talking to Bella?

Esme came back into the dining room and was beside me in an instant, grabbing at my arms to hold me so she could look into my eyes.

"Edward! Think! Before we leap to assumptions. You had to have seen her? Tell me that bitch isn't in that school! That she isn't…"

I broke away from Esme and looked over at Bella again, who looked like she was about to throw up. I shook my head and looked over at my mother again.

"I haven't seen her. I just heard about her when Bella mentioned it, but I haven't seen her, Mom! I don't know if it's her!" I said, pacing again.

What the hell was Tanya doing her?

Had Carlisle asked her to come down?

And befriending Bella?

"How could you not see her, Edward?" Esme said, narrowing her eyes at me. "It's a small school. You can't tell me this is the first time you are hearing her name!"

"Mrs. Cullen, please," Bella said pleadingly, still barely standing at her seat. "I don't think he has been around her. It may not be her, right? Maybe someone else? She wouldn't be that stupid, would she? If it is her…"

She was trembling now. I couldn't tell if it was fear or rage. Her eyes had narrowed, but she was pale and shaking.

"Bella," I said and moved towards her, her eyes widening when I stepped close to her. "What does she look like? Tell me. What does your substitute look like?"

"Does anyone else find it funny that Tanya's the sub?" Emmett said from his seat, looking at me. "Get it? Sub? Like…"

"Shut up, Emmett!" Esme and I both said together.

I turned back to Bella, whose face was now blossoming into a bright red. Her breathing was heavy and she was trying to pull away from me.

"She asked me about you," she said, her voice suddenly very low. "Told me you were possessive and controlling. I can't believe I didn't see! Why didn't I see?"

"Bella, what did she look like?" I said again, ignoring what she had said for the moment.

She swallowed and sagged in my arms, another whimper escaping her mouth.

"Pretty," she croaked. "She's really, really pretty. Blonde and beautiful."

"The hot sub," Emmett said and shut his mouth when I glared at him.

"This is the woman from Alaska? The one that hurt you, Edward?" Chief Swan asked, all business.

He had stood as well and had thrown his napkin down from his shirt at some point. He didn't look pleased at all.

"She's no right to be in a high school, Charlie. She's a predator. I just," Esme stammered and then collapsed into her chair, crying. "That bastard brought her here! He knew it would break me. He brought her here to hurt us."

"Mom," I said, trying to hold both Bella and turn to touch Esme, to let her know it was okay.

She shook her head and covered her eyes to hide her tears.

"He's never going to stop, Edward. Asking him to leave was like a slap in the face to him. He refuses to see my attorneys and tried to blackmail me to come back," she said into her hands. "It's never going to stop."

I felt Bella slipping from my arms, and as I turned I could see the Chief moving to take her into his arms, a stern look on his face when he regarded me.

"I need to go investigate this. If this woman is in town, chances are she is stalking both of you. I need to find her and ask her some questions. And see if this is your husband's way around his restraining order. We'll need to talk about how best to protect your family, Esme. If he is responsible and trying to manipulate you," he said.

Esme nodded and wiped at her eyes again.

"I thought he'd be reasonable. I should have known better. He never liked being told what to do," she muttered.

I knew that first hand.

"Well, I'll find out what's going on. Don't worry about that. In the meantime, I need to be sure Bella will be safe," he replied,eyeing me hard, conveying to me in that one look that he expected me to be the man he assumed I was.

That I would take care of his daughter.

Watch over. Protect her.

All those solemn vows fathers request of suitors.

I nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Esme," he said, slipping Bella back into my arms so that he could squat in front of my mother to get her attention.

She lifted her head slowly, wiping at her eyes.

"Esme I need to go, but I don't want to leave Bella at home alone," he said softly. He looked back at Bella and I and frowned. "Can she stay with you until I come back? It might be awhile, but I'd feel better if she was with you, in a guest bedroom."

He glanced at me for a moment to be sure I understood.

I wasn't going to argue with him that she would be just as safe in my bedroom as in a guest bedroom, so I ignored his comment, listening to Esme agree to letting Bella stay. He thanked her quietly and then stood up, looking at me squarely, the moustache back in cop mode.

He didn't need a gun I realized then. He could kill with a look.

"I'm trusting you to take care of her, Edward. While I'm gone. I'm trusting you," he said pointedly, as if his cold hard stare weren't enough.

"I'll take good care of her, sir," I replied, holding his stare.

He seemed to believe me and nodded, leaning in to kiss Bella who was watching the whole interchange with heated eyes.

"I want to go with you, Dad. I want to tell her exactly what I think of her!" she hissed.

He let the hard demeanor crack just a little, enough to offer her a sad, fatherly smile and touched her cheek soothingly.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Bells," he said softly. "I'm not ready to arrest you for committing a crime. I think I can handle this."

She made to argue, but he shook his head again, looking away from her and back to Esme.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Hopefully Principal Jennings has her address on file. I'll get to the bottom of this," he said and looked back towards Esme. "I'll call you as soon as I hear anything. Just keep the doors locked. I don't trust your husband."

"Neither do I," she said and stood to walk him to the door.

As soon as they were out of the room, Emmett let out a low whistle.

"Who would have thought Tanya would come down here looking for you Eddie. And talking with your current girlfriend. That's gotta be weird," he said, taking a bite of his steak.

"Emmett I swear to god I'm gonna junk punch you if you say anything else," I seethed.

Bella held me a little tighter, reminding me that I needed to look after her first, even if my brother was a tool.

I glared at him as I walked her out, turning her towards the staircase that lead up to the bedrooms. Esme caught us just as we climbed the first couple of stairs.

"I'll make up the room near yours, Edward. Bella can stay in your room until I do that," she said and eyed me sadly before turning to Bella. "I'm so sorry you got involved in all of this, Bella. I don't know what Tanya is trying to prove, but it can't be good. She can't be trusted."

Bella nodded and moved with my up to my room, where I closed the door before lying down in bed beside her. She laid there on her back, hands folded at her stomach, looking up at the ceiling with a deep frown on her face. I was afraid to touch her, for fear that she might fall apart at my touch.

But I wanted to.

So badly.

Wrap my arms around her and make her forget everything that was fucked up about my life.

My life that was now ruining hers.

Was there even a scholarship?

Or was Tanya using it as a way to lure Bella in.

Into what exactly?

What the fuck was Carlisle trying to do?

Bella didn't say anything for some time, and didn't look at me as I lay there with my head propped on my elbow, watching her process. It seemed like an eternity of her gazing blankly at the ceiling. Never at me, just at nothing beyond us. When she did speak, her voice was barely a whisper.

"I trusted her," she murmured. "She seemed so nice. So interested in my future."

"She is good at being friendly," I muttered and clenched my mouth closed suddenly at how that sounded.

Bella turned her head to look at me, her eyes betraying the hurt she must have been feeling.

"She's really pretty," she whispered and swallowed hard.

"But you are beautiful," I replied, holding her gaze so she understood I meant it.

"So is she."

"But you are more beautiful. Do you know why?"

Bella was more everything.

She didn't answer me, wanting me to say the words.

"You are more beautiful because I love you. Because I see beauty all the way to your soul. She could never be that for me. Because she doesn't understand what love is. You do in so many ways. You are more beautiful inside and out."

Her eyes closed, avoiding the message in my own.

Did she doubt me?

"She said those things about you," she started and looked back to the ceiling. "She thinks she knows you."

I frowned at her words.

"But she doesn't," I said. Bella offered me a weak smile but kept her eyes on the ceiling.

"No she doesn't. Some things maybe," she whispered and her eyes were sad again. "But not the important things."

I leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead, in hopes of wiping away the wrinkles there. She closed her eyes softly and let out a soft breath.

"She doesn't know your heart," she whispered.

I moved slowly and brushed my lips to hers.

"No, only you know my heart," I replied quietly.

"She doesn't know your needs," she said, and I felt her hand slowly slide up my side, ending along my neck.

"You do."

She smiled against my lips as I leaned in to kiss her again.

"She doesn't know your desires," she murmured.

"That's because she doesn't know you," I said and covered her lips with more need.

Everything I wanted, needed, desired came back to Bella.

My kiss deepened, her being there under me a welcome diversion from what we had just discovered. But I could feel her hesitate, her body not as willing in molding to mine as I kissed her. I pulled away slowly to find her frowning again.

"What's wrong?" I asked and smoothed away her hair from her forehead.

"I just feel invaded," she said and shrugged into the blankets a little, like she was trying to cover herself from that exposure.

"That's how Carlisle works," I explained and moved away from her a bit, back onto my elbow to give her room. "He tears down any hope or security you have and he strikes when you are most vulnerable."

She toyed with the top of the blanket, eyeing me cautiously.

"Is that what Tanya did to you? You never really said why you got together with her, aside from needing someone to fill the void Esme had opened up when she went back to work," she said.

I swallowed and thought about it.

Had Tanya seen how bad off Carlisle and Esme were, and used me to take advantage of that?

Had she thought Carlisle would leave Esme, and when he didn't she moved in on me?

Had she never cared about me at all?

I already knew she didn't.

It didn't help heal that feeling of being used.

"She offered me something I needed I thought," I started, trying to think back to the first time she propositioned me at my dad's party.

She had been so easy going, chatting about Carlisle and how she missed coming over to visit.

Had Esme known then and forbidden her from coming over?

And then she had brushed her hand along my back. Even now I could feel the shiver that had run through me when she had done that.

"She used my physical weakness to get in," I whispered, feeling a creepy chill run through me.

All the time I had thought about our relationship, I had thought Tanya had felt something for me, based on how my body reacted to her.

But now that I had experienced something so much more with Bella, I realized what she had done to me was empty and violating.

Truly invasive.

Because she had used me.

And now she was trying to use Bella.

"So why is she concentrating on you now?" I asked out loud.

"To break us up?" I suggested.

She frowned again and shook her head. Her hand was absently stroking through my hair, making it difficult to concentrate.

"I mean maybe, but she seemed to want to know what my desires were," she said, thinking hard. "She wanted to know why I wanted the things I wanted. And commented on how a woman needed to take charge."

"But I was the controlling one she said," I stated, remembering what she had said downstairs.

"So why should I be the one in control if you already were?" she asked, more confused it seemed.

I tried to think of all the possibilities that Tanya would want to get close to Bella, even with the threat of all of us finding out.

Breaking us up.

Warping Bella's mind to be a Domme to my sub tendencies. To rein me in.

Priming Bella for something more perverse between Carlisle and herself.

But that didn't explain why Tanya wanted Bella to be strong and independent. To be in control.

Carlisle would never want that.

He'd want someone who would never say no.

Or.

Perhaps.

Maybe Carlisle didn't have Tanya to push around anymore.

Maybe Tanya had taken charge.

Maybe...

Tanya wasn't the bad guy?

Huh.

~~oo~~

AN: huh… exactly… Guess we'll have to wait for Charlie to get back. And maybe get Tanya to explain herself. Would we believe her? Or should we let Esme knock her back to Alaska?

More soon!

MWAH!

steph