AN: The truth is staring you in the face.

Chapter fifty one: Out in the Open

James, July, 2011…

I opened the door to Renee looking worst for wear. I would have rather her daughter but she would have to do for now. I plastered my fake, 'I'm clean and sober' smile on my face and invited her in.

"Hello, Renee," I greeted her warmly, hoping the idiot would hurry up and talk and get out of my sight. She sickened me. The easiest part about getting Marie into my life was her needy mother. She was always wanton for connections and the possibility of not living the high life didn't suit her well. Her loving husband had divorced her and it was finalized last month. Yes, she got a hefty sum in alimony each month, but the stigma of 'divorce' still hung over her head. It reeked like a dead animal. She would be nothing without Marie. Without her daughter's marriage to me, and with the accusations Marie's lawyers were throwing around about me being an abuser, and the way my father was slaughtering them in our world, Renee was desperately doing my damage control to help her dying status in high society.

"Hello, James," she said coldly, moving passed me and walking into the living room. What happened in Henderson? What did Marie's lover tell her? I was going to rip his lying tongue out when I got my hands on him. I won't rest until my Marie was back in my arms.

"Are you alright? Can I get you something to drink?" Always be the polite host to my stupid mother-in-law. She had left a few days to go and see if she could convince Marie to come home and I was hoping for success. There were so many little lessons I wanted to teach my wife. I didn't care about the divorce proceedings that had taken place. I didn't care about the dumb bitch of a judge who thought my Marie was free of me and savage ways since she signed her side of the papers. I didn't care about her lawyers breathing down my neck to sign my side of the divorce papers. I will never do it. Marie was mine. Forever. I will never sign it. I don't give a shit about any of them. Marie will be back in my arms and my life…one way or another.

"Yes, I'm fine," Renee said stiffly. What was wrong? What happened in that hick town? Why wasn't Marie here right now, ready to receive my punishment for embarrassing me the way she has? I wanted to scream.

"Where's Marie?" I smiled, my stomach bubbling in anticipation. I missed hearing her little pleas for mercy whenever I taught her a lesson. I had a few things in store to start us off. Especially for being a traitor. For pretending like she didn't like the games we played.

"She's obviously not here, James," Renee huffed at me. Who the fuck was she talking to? I had to keep my cool. She needed me as much as I needed her at the moment. She stayed rich and in good standing. I kept my favorite toy…her daughter.

"Why not?"

"She is with…that family and they won't let her go."

"Are they hurting her?" I've met that bastard. If he dared touched my Marie…

"No," Renee said softly. There was something troubling in her eyes. She had gone soft. Marie's little puppy dog eyes must have gotten to her. She would always open up those brown puppy dog eyes at you and get you to do whatever she wanted. So manipulative. "She's…she thinks she's happy. James, they have manipulated her into thinking you'd hurt again. That you haven't change and now…she's…she's pregnant. That…"

My blood was boiling. "Jasper," I supplied. I was going to rip him to shreds I would torture him before Marie. "They're using her. It's obvious," I said.

"It's what I said, but after she said these horrid things…" Renee looked away from me. She started gazing around the living room.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," she said softly, and then there was that look again when she met my eyes. It was a look I didn't like. "I have to go."

"Why?" I faked a smile even though I wanted to choke her for not delivering Marie to me.

She swiftly walked to the door and opened it. She looked like she was choking. "I'll keep trying. I have to go."

Renee, July, 2011…

I parked my car in my garage and burst into tears. Mar…Bella's words were ringing in my head. They had rung the loudest the moment I stepped into that house. Into James' house; her prison. For the first time, I saw it as a place of torture. It was cold. So cold. As cold as the man I foolishly wanted to deliver my daughter to because of money. Maria Whitlock was right, I was fool.

After Bella and Jasper had left, it took the tall man named Sam, apparently he was Bella's bodyguard, a guy named Emmett, and another older man named Liam all the strength they had to keep the two younger women who had walked in, in the middle of my argument with my daughter, off of me. They were Tanya and Rosalie. Maria was screaming at them to stop while Tanya threatened me within an inch of my life if I ever set foot in Henderson again. Rosalie screamed at me for being a horrible mother who didn't deserve Bella and she wished me dead.

Maria Whitlock took me to her office and spoke to me. She explained how she felt about me and it was nothing short of what the two girls thought. She was just calmer about it. She told me how she met Bella. She explained all that Bella had been through. She told me about a woman named Esme, who was an excellent therapist. She was helping Bella through her PTSD. I didn't know my daughter had that. She explained about Garrett. The truth about what happened to him. She told me how happy Bella was and then asked me not to return to Henderson if it was not to apologize to Bella and attempt to make up for my past mistakes.

I was then escorted out of town by Sam with Bella's words in my head. Aside from what Tanya, Rosalie and Jasper's mother said, it was Bella's words that haunted me. It was her hatred for me and how she looked at me like I was the most disgusting thing on the face of the earth. That bothered me. Her eyes were alit with rage. She hated me so much.

I didn't wrong her. I was and still am a fool.

Then there was James. The moment I looked into his eyes, I saw it. It was my first time, so everything seemed new. So unreal. His eyes were so cold. Void of the life and passion I saw in Jasper's.

James tried to look welcoming, but I could practically taste his dislike for me in the air. God, the air. The air in that house was thick with hostility and cruelty. He was just waiting. Waiting for me to bring Bella back to him so he could punish her for what she had done. While, in my eyes, I now saw that my daughter had done nothing wrong. She couldn't take it anymore so she ran because I was too dumb to help her. I was blinded by greed.

He was talking. Asking questions about Mar…Bella. He was trying to stay calm. To pretend like he cared about her. He just wanted his toy back. A toy I willingly let him have. When I looked around the living room, I could recall my daughter's words while Jasper fought to pull her back from me as she cried and told me all the nasty things James, his father, and Victoria had done to her. I shivered when I remembered her saying she was raped in the living room all evening by James and his friend. It resulted in a pregnancy he forced her to abort. In that moment, standing in front of her, I bit back my tears. I let the greed fuel me and continued to spout James' nonsense.

I was a horrid mother. I wasn't worthy of my daughter. I was weak. I couldn't have withstood all she had been through.

As I stood there, in that room while he tried to sound like he cared about Bella, I could imagine her crying on the floor. I could imagine the blows he dealt her. I could imagine her weakly and painfully picking herself up from the floor. I remembered turning her away and then telling on her to James. I had been wrong. It was written on the Whitlocks' faces, especially Jasper's. Bella wasn't overreacting as I had told her. I remembered how shocked she looked when I said that crap to her.

My daughter had been telling the truth.

I shouldn't have come here. I should have listened to Phil. He told me not to go through with it. Not to help James. He said it was dangerous. And though it was, and even though it was too late for me, especially for my daughter to forgive me, I was finally seeing the truth. I had given my daughter to the devil and now I didn't know how to free her. The Whitlocks and Jasper have given her a push start. She filed for divorce and signed her portion of the papers and they were protecting her from James. I don't know why they didn't hurt me when I went down there. I guess they expected James which was why he sent me. But enough was enough now. I wasn't going to help him anymore. I knew he was after them, after Bella, and I was stupid enough to try and assist him. I wasn't going to anymore. This would be my apology to Bella. I would help her break the final chain from James. I would make him sign the divorce papers and leave my daughter alone. It wasn't the wisest decision and I was a little too late, but I had to help Bella.

The mistake was out of my yapping mouth before I could stop it, but I didn't know how to handle things yet. And when I told James Bella was pregnant, he looked ready to kill. I should've remembered she said he hated kids. I didn't believe her until I saw the murderous look on his face. Before I left for Henderson, he had told me Jasper was a monster, but as I stood in his presence, I saw through that lie. He wasn't talking about Jasper. When I stood in Jasper's presence, yes, I feared him, but his fiery blue eyes were burning against me because I was there to hurt Bella by telling her to return to hell.

James had been describing himself. He was the devil. Jasper was just protecting my daughter.

My God, she ran away and found what I never gave her. A family. Love.

I entered my empty house in tears. They blinded my vision as I collapsed on the floor and bawled. I wish I could call her and tell her how sorry I was. I wish I could tell her I was happy for her. I wanted to wish her all the best with her pregnancy. I prayed she would have a safe delivery. I hoped she would be…no, Bella will be a far better mother than I could've hoped to be. I wish I could be in the baby's life, but I had dug my grave and Bella wanted nothing to do with me. I had been so wrong and I will spend my last breath fixing it.

Jasper, July, 2011…

"Jesus…Bella…uh…fuck…just like that…" If I said his name one more time, I was convinced he would appear in front of me. And now would be the wrong time since I was about to come in my girlfriend's mouth and try not to shout her name so anyone in the waiting area or all of downtown could hear me. "Bella…baby!" I might as well give up. This was the damn best thing I have ever felt. I looked down at Bella and she winked at me. Fucking winked at me while she swallowed my cock. I threw my head back against my chair and bit my fist, screaming into it as quietly as I could while coming. I slumped into the chair when she slowed. My body had gone limp. I was of no use to myself. I might as well head home. I couldn't do a thing for the day. I just wanted to go curl up somewhere, preferably in her arms, and fall asleep.

She licked me clean and moved away. The cool of the AC hit my sensitive cock and I felt like coming again. I trembled and she giggled at me.

I leaned forward and dropped my head to the desk with a thud. "I thought you were just bringing me lunch," I said breathlessly. It's what she said over the phone.

"Well, I saw you and…" She let the rest of the sentence hang while she got up and fixed her clothes. She moved so gracefully. I wanted to offer to help her up but my body wasn't working.

For the last few days, Bella has been trying...not trying, but succeeding in learning to feel better since her mother's impromptu visit. Despite Bella's wishes, I did yell at everyone who allowed Renee to get to the ranch without telling me. Bella and I argued about me arguing with them and then we didn't talk for two days. I hated it.

I was right though. I refused to see it any other way. I wanted to be informed on Renee's every move. Bella thought it would stress me out. She said to back off and let Jenks and the others handle it. She told me to focus on work. Go back to the medical practice, resume my shifts at the hospital, do what she loved about me, help people. Don't sit around and let James drive me crazy. I asked her to do the same after speaking with Esme.

We had that talk the day we started speaking to each other again.

It had been lonely without her. I missed her. I couldn't bear going through a third day without talking to her, having her smile at me or hearing her laugh. She was staying in the baby's room on the day bed and it was hard to be around someone who was pretending you didn't exist. Bella was good at silence. I couldn't stand it. I needed her as much as she needed me. So we sat down to a dinner I made, and we talked. We resolved our issues and after agreeing on our terms, with me going back to work and her finding something to fill her time with, while not letting James affect our lives anymore than he should, we apologized and made up.

It was great having her in my arms and in our bed again.

"Where are you going now?"

"Back to work!" she said cheerily.

I picked my head up from my desk, got up and fixed my clothes. Bella was eyeing me. "What?" I chuckled.

"God, I love seeing you in scrubs and a lab coat," she said, biting her lip.

"Stop biting that lip or I'm gonna bite it for you."

"You're free to." She smirked and came around my desk, giving me a sound kiss on the lips. "But that's going to have to wait until later. Emily and I are working on something. Rose likes my ideas for the banquet so far, but we still have to work out the dessert menu."

I hated my sister for pleading with Bella to join Emily on putting together menus and help preparing the food for the charity banquet she was hosting. She told me it was the same team from her wedding and Bella was happy to see them again. She told me Bella was having a great time. Bella found it cute that I was checking up on her. My sister found it annoying and told me to fuck off and let Bella work. She was doing great and nothing was going to happen.

I hated my aunt for thinking it was a good idea. She saw the opportunity as Bella doing what she loved.

I especially despised my good friend, Zafrina for saying Bella was okay to work. She laughed at me when I told her that.

Don't get me wrong, I loved how happy it made Bella, I just didn't want her to overdo it. When I said she should fill her time, I meant light stuff like reading, making herself snacks for she and the baby and getting lots of rest. Bella was so energetic. She heard slept anymore. She slept the longest after we've had sex and that was it. My girl's sex drive was phenomenal. I couldn't tell you how many times I have woken up to her riding me or my cock being sucked. She was a sex fiend and my cock was the happiest thing on earth because of it. He loved to be fucked and sucked whenever she felt like it. No mind that they're gonna kill me in the process. As long as they got what they wanted. I shouldn't be complaining because if I died right now, it would be with a goofy grin on my face. My girl was naughty, sneaky and so damn hot all the time. Her breasts were about a cup size or two bigger. Her ass looked a little rounder in her jeans. She let her hair grow out again and it was more radiant and swimming at her spine. It was bouncy and wavy and I loved to feel it on my body, tickling me as she trailed her lips down my body.

I've got to stop thinking about these things or I'll want to have sex.

"Stop thinking. We can't have sex right now," Bella chided. I made her roll her eyes at me because I was watching her fix her bra through her shirt with a goofy grin on my face. She laughed, "Seriously, I've really got to go. I just wanted to bring you lunch, but you looked so good. Mmm! Love you." She kissed me and headed for the door.

"I love you too." She was out the door and I flopped back down in my chair, closing my eyes. I wanted to sleep.

There was a knock at my door. I didn't answer. The door was opened and then closed. "Should I take you to the hospital and admit you for dehydration and exhaustion?" Carlisle chuckled. I should be embarrassed about what just happened in my office, but I didn't give a fuck. I had a hot girlfriend who liked to assault me. I was a lucky fucker.

I gave him the finger with my eyes still closed. "How many people heard?" Who cares? I was thinking about Bella in the shower this morning. How good she looked through the steam. Her body was so beautiful. I should stop before I get a hard on.

"You've got a great nurse," he said. "Althea sent your fan club away the minute Bella walked in."

"So it's just you then?" I should really stop thinking about Bella. But I couldn't. I was thinking about how good her ass looked in her jeans as she walked out of my office just now.

"And Althea and Emmett," he said. "We stayed behind to tease you."

"Tease away," I opened my eyes, pushed my chair up, and told him. "I make no apologies about what just happened. Bella is incredibly hot and she wants me."

Carlisle laughed and shook his head at my blunt honesty. "I'm happy for you."

"I'm happy for me too." And I was going to fuck her when I got home if she wasn't too tired.

Carlisle laughed it off and then sighed. He grew serious and I knew this was about to turn into something I probably didn't want to talk about. "I wasn't just here to tease you despite you not being as quiet as you may think." He smirked and I wanted to knock it off his face.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"How are things?"

I knew what he was getting at but I was stubborn. "Fine. I'm happy."

"Don't bullshit me. You want rip shit apart, don't you?"

I chuckled darkly. "How do you and Bella do that?"

"Do what?"

"See through me."

"I guess we've got a gift," Carlisle shrugged. Although I had one secret. They haven't discovered yet. It had been back with a fury, and I had been doing my best to hide it. "But I know James not signing those papers is eating you alive. I know her mother coming down here to take her back to that hell is killing you, and Edward told me you bit his head off and threatened to break every bone in his body if he let anything like that happen again. As his brother, I don't really agree with that," he smiled.

"I'm not gonna break necessary ones," I laughed. "I was just angry, man. I wasn't thinking. Renee came down here and it's…it threw me through a loop. I guess I was always expecting James to make such a move. Not her. And the shit she was saying… I couldn't stand it. I knew if she were a guy, I'd hurt her. She was delusional. Although Bella said she was saying what James must've told her to say. I didn't care, Carlisle. I just wanted her gone. Things were going great before she showed up. I had it all planned and now it's been put on hold for I don't know long."

"Proposing to Bella?"

"Who told you?" I knew before I asked and we said simultaneously.

"Tanya."

"Yeah, but, I wanted to propose to Bella the day after Fourth of July. I know we can't get married yet and I don't give a shit how long I have to wait for her. I just wanted to…"

"Do it for the sake of you two moving forward," Carlisle supplied. "I get it. There's the baby, Bella is happy down here with you, and your life is finally falling into place, so these interruptions have got to be killing you. It's why I came to see you."

"Thanks, man." I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought it would be harder. I thought he would want to say more. I'm thankful he didn't. Carlisle could be an understanding guy.

"Sure."

Carlisle and I talked for a while. I got some shit off my chest, and by the time he left, I felt better. I stayed at the practice until seven in the evening, working on files. I was about to leave when the office phone rang. I answered on the second ring. "Dr. Whitlock speaking." There was breathing, the line was open, but the person wouldn't say anything. "Hello?" The person wouldn't answer. Just heavy breathing on the other end. "Hello?" I was about to hang up when he came on the line.

"You didn't send her back." My blood began to boil at the sound of his voice.

"Why should I?" I shouldn't be entertaining this. I should hang up. "Is there anything left for her in California?"

"Her husband, you fucking bastard!" he yelled and I smiled.

"What husband?"

"Because you tricked her into fucking you, doesn't make you anything," he hissed.

I shouldn't gloat. "I didn't trick her into anything. Bella knows what she wants and it's me. At least I don't have to torture her so I can get it up. I'm ready to go whenever she wants it." I was going overboard. I was goading him. I wanted the asshole to be dumb enough to come down here and attack me. I wanted a reason to get rid of him once and for all.

"You simple minded hick! I love my Marie! You're a fucking nobody! You tricked her! Used her! And you have the audacity to tell me about what you're doing to her?!" he screamed at me.

"I'm not forcing her to do anything!" I shouted back. "I'm not abusing or humiliating her, you sick fuck!"

"She will always be mine," he said calmly. The calm of it was very unsettling. This man was out of his mind. He was nothing like Renee claimed. If he was fooling the people on his side, he wasn't fooling me. He was a sick, pathetic bastard who would hurt Bella if I was stupid enough to let him get his hands on her. "She will always be mine. I will get her back. I will teach her a valuable lesson about betraying me. And then I will rip your child from her womb. I will murder you in front of her the way I did Garrett. She and I belong together. We'll be together forever."

We both stay silent until he hung up. I called Jenks and discussed what James just said. I contacted Sam and tell him to keep a close eye on Bella until I got home. My night would be ruined. I knew it. They were back and I couldn't tell her. I didn't want to upset her. The uncontrollable fear I've been feeling bubbled to the surface and I quickly push it down. I knew what I had to do. It would be hard and Bella was going to hate me for it, but I was thinking of her and the baby's safety…from me.

Bella and I will get through this. I wasn't going to let James win. Our lives depended on it.