Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Copyright 2010 Gokdeneyes123. Worldwide.
Chapter 5
Everyone Has Something to Hide
AFTER LEAVING BELLA'S house a little over an hour ago, Edward prowled through the lush gardens surrounding his mansion. He had decided to go to his real home instead of staying at the penthouse in Calypso. His encounter with Bella had left him frustrated and wound up tighter than a bowstring, and he found he needed to work off his frustrations before trying to even think about getting some much needed sleep.
Sleep, now that was a joke because lately he didn't seem to be getting much of that…his sleep had always been filled with refracted dreams…the screams and plea's of the people he'd killed the smell of fear and the bloodlust that would overpower him. It was as if his subconscious was warning him, making him realize just how much of a monster he really was. Every night he'd wake up shaking, breathing hard, and running his shaking hands through his disheveled hair. The nightmares weighed heavy on him, its darkness familiar territory. Darkness was something he took with him everywhere he went…including his dreams. Until he met Bella that is, it seemed that one night he'd spent with her had somehow kept the nightmares a bay…for the first time in a while he'd slept peacefully with Bella snuggled into his side. Instead of the nightmares he'd heard her voice, saw her beautiful heart shaped face…of them making love her moans and passionate pleas all but driving him crazy…. no other woman had ever been able to do that for him.
With a sigh he rubbed his face then glanced at his watch. Shit! It was now three A.M. and realizing that a walk was not helping him in forgetting Bella. He tilted his head back and let the moonlight embrace him, the light breeze of the cool spring air touched his face and he breathed it in. It was times like this that he felt like his soul was grinding to a stop. That his job would eventually take what little he had left…he was locked in this never-ending battle for the goings on of greed and crime.
His gaze locked on the roofline of the mansion, where he'd lived mostly all of his life. It would be nice to bring Bella here, to introduce her to the family especially his mother Esme and sister Alice. He knew that both of them would instantly love Bella. Once again need for her throbbed painfully in his chest. He needed her beside him, holding him, filling him with her softness and purity, and with renewed determination he vowed not to be sleeping alone much longer than was necessary.
Edward decided that he was going to need something much stronger than a walk to get his mind off of Bella. What he really needed was a drink and headed back in the direction of the mansion. He was met by darkness once inside and on instinct he felt his way through the hallway that would lead to his room. He made his way to his door and opened it. He stood there in the open doorway and came up short at the sight that was waiting for him on his bed.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in a chilling voice.
Jessica Stanley was laid out upon his bed dressed only in see through lingerie and stockings, posed in a wantonly fashion. Candles were aligning the tops of his dressers and night stands throughout his room. She was smiling seductively at him her ruby red lips pouting as she brazenly licked them. "I want you darling," she purred, as she slowly caressed one of her hands down over her pert breasts and lower…"I'm here for you Eddie just like I always am on are special night."
Jesus Christ! Tonight was the night that he and Jessica would meet and spend the whole night fucking? It had literally become a tradition. Shit, damn, hell! But why was she here now, after the long discussion he'd had with her informing her he no longer wanted her services? This bitch wasn't taking a hint and he was starting to get pissed off. He thought.
"Did I ask you to come here, Jessica?" he spat out angrily, as he folded his arms, leaned against the doorjamb, and took a deep breath to help control his temper.
Jessica gave him a puzzled frown, "Don't you want me?" she asked as she slowly sat up upon his bed. She couldn't believe that he was being like this; didn't he understand that she was in love with him? That she'd do anything to be with him.
"What do you think?" he grated out through clenched teeth as he tried to avert his eyes from her see through lingerie giving him a glimpse of her breasts and lower region. He was aware of Jessica's eyes moving over his body to land on the evidence of his arousal straining against the zipper of his dress pants. He was still hard from his time spent with Bella to not be effected by Jessica's naked body on his bed. He was truly in desperate need of a woman but Jessica was not the one he wanted.
"I think you do, darling," she said seductively as she rose from the bed and stalked toward him. A smile played across her face, knowing full well that her appearance was having the desired effect on him. Damn she wanted him, and she was becoming very frustrated with her lover for not taking her up on the advances she'd been making toward him of late. "I can feel and see that you want me, lover," she whispered into his ear.
Edward stiffened as she drew nearer to him, his hands fisted at his sides, when Jessica was standing directly in front of him; her hand started caressing in seductive circles on his hard muscular chest. He was unable to speak from the anger bubbling up within him, as his facial expression hardened and his emerald green eyes darkened and sparked with raw rage. Fucking bitch! She knew that he didn't want this with her any longer. He thought angrily. Barely able to control himself he took a hold of Jessica's wrist stilling her hand in its movements where it lay upon his chest. Raising his head so that he was able to make eye contact with hers, he gave her a cold, hard stare, and flung her hand away from his body, taking a step back and away from her.
"This time you're wrong," he said tersely.
"You don't mean that," she gasped as the meaning of his words finally sunk in.
"I've told you…that I no longer want you, you fucking whore."
"A whore am I? Then I'm your whore. Come on Eddie," she tried to persuade reaching up to wind her arms around his neck, "You and I are meant to be together."
He pulled her arms from around his neck and pushed her away from him roughly, "I said no! Get that through your fucking head," He took a hold of her upper arm and pulled her none too gently toward the door. "You need to get out before I do something I'll regret," he said as he opened his bedroom door.
"Please, Eddie! I can make you happy!" Jessica cried, trying to dig her heels into the plush carpet.
"Happy, for Christ sakes, Jessica…all you were was a fucking cheap lay."
"No!" Jessica screamed, pulling her arm from his tight grip and rounding on him. "You don't mean that! "
"Get the fuck out." he gritted out.
"There's someone else isn't there?" she said glaring at him.
"Out!" he shouted, shoving her into the hallway. The look on his face must have given away to what he was thinking because she started screaming.
"It's true… you're fucking another woman?" her voice filled with jealousy.
Edward finally lost it; he took a menacing step in her direction and shoved her up against the opposite wall in the hallway. When her back hit she left out a little whoosh sound as the breath was knocked out of her. Before Jessica could react his hand was around her throat, and his face was pressed close to hers.
"Listen here bitch! I don't know who you think you are but you will not talk to me like that," he spat in her face, putting pressure on her throat with each word he spoke. "I don't have to explain myself to you, you got that?"
Jessica's eyes widened in fear, she was unable to breathe as his hand slowly squeezed the breath out of her, she tried to answer but his grip on her throat didn't allow for movement of any kind. She realized in that moment that he could kill her and no one would be able to stop him.
"The last time I checked, Jessica you worked for me…which means I own your pathetic ass. If you know what's good for you you'll shut the FUCK up and never try to pull a stunt like this again," he paused for added effect, "Or so help me I'll kill you. Do you understand?" He let go of her throat, and eased away from her.
Jessica stood there gasping for much needed air, and slowly nodded her head in answer. She was unable to form words from the burning sensation in her throat.
"You mean nothing to me…I just kept you around for the sex. You'll stop these advances toward me, or I'll fire you from your job at E&C Corporation, and make it hard for you to ever find work again," he threatened.
Jessica's eyes widened, "You-you wouldn't…do that-that," she tried to gasp out.
"I wouldn't would I?" he said darkly. He backed away and was now standing in the open doorway to his bedroom, "Get lost, Jessica…before I have you disposed of permanently," he said before slamming the door shut in her face.
Jessica stood there in complete shock, as an overwhelming pain almost crippled her. She could not believe that Edward had just threatened to kill her that he'd acted like that toward her. She had known that he wasn't in love with her, but thought that he'd felt something, wasn't that why he'd kept her around, always keeping her teetering on the edge making her think that he wanted more from her. The pain was suddenly turning to a bitter anger, as she stood there shaking with shock. How dare he treat her like a cheap whore? How dare he, he fling her away like she was yesterday's garbage.
Damn it! She was better than that. Well she wasn't going to take this from him sitting down…no she loved him and if it were the last thing that she did she would make him see that they were meant to be together. Yes! That was what she'd do, and didn't care what had to be done to make it so. Jessica thought as she straightened up, tried to smooth her hair back out of her eyes, and turned to walk away. She stopped to glance one last time at the thick wooden door that loomed in front of her, before walking away, and out of the mansion, ignoring the lustful stares she received from the men guarding his home.
Yes my, Edward…you will be mine! She laughed darkly to herself.
…...
THE SUN WAS filtering through a small opening in her curtains when Bella awakened, her disoriented mind still tangled with memories of Anthony Masen, her chest heavy with some unnamed emotion. Last evening, after Anthony had left, Bella spent an anxious hour restlessly walking back and forth in her bedroom, trying to convince herself that she had not been as reckless as she feared in accepting his offer of becoming his girl, though she'd tried to turn the tables on him and demanded that they try and be friends first.
Still for some reason in the back of her mind, even though she was the more 'naive' person in their 'relationship' she sensed that Anthony was the one that held all the power, the control. She couldn't escape the feeling that Anthony was deliberately trying to manipulate her. How could that be though? He seemed sincere in his concern for the two of them to get to know each other better. She guessed she'd just have to be on her guard with him, because she was still unsure as to whether she could trust him or not. It was crazy to allow him into her life. But how could she keep him out of it when he was determined to stay? Then there was her desire to try and change his mind about love, and she knew how that went over.
"Bella Swan what have you just gotten yourself into?" She whispered.
Determined to put Anthony out of her mind, with a grunt, Bella jumped out of bed and threw a housecoat on. Scrambling into the hall and down the stairs, she made her entrance into the living room. There on the couch, her father, Charlie sat snuggled into the armrest reading the Sunday newspaper scattered around him.
Charlie looked up from the paper he had in front of him to give her a hard stare, "So you finally decided to join the living?"
Fighting a lick of annoyance, Bella moved forward and flopped into a chair opposite him, "Sorry, I meant to be up earlier, but I left the alarm wake me after all."
"Well it doesn't surprise me that you would sleep in late…being the company you had last night," Charlie didn't bother to hide his disapproval. "Maybe I should have stayed after all," he grumbled.
She glanced over at him when he grumbled his reply and wondered what was wrong with him, he usually never acted this grumpy in the mornings it was as if something was bothering him.
"Are you okay dad?" Bella asked with concern
Charlie sighed loudly, before he placed the news paper he'd been reading down on the cushion beside him, "Had a situation come up at the station," Charlie informed her. "There's been another murder…in town."
"Someone was murdered in this town?"
"There's more, "Charlie said as he reached over and grabbed the paper he'd discarded on the cushion beside him, and waved it in Bella's face, "Here it is. The guy was found in an ally only a few blocks west of the police station in Port Angeles! His body was half drained of blood by that time."
One look at the front page and Bella's throat constricted. The face on the paper she didn't recognize but she could tell that it had been a brutal murder by the picture. "Who-who would do something like that?"
Charlie sighed and ran an agitated hand through his dark hair, "Seems that there is a possibility that the Cullen crime family had something to do with it."
Bella's eyes widened at the mention of the Cullen's, for she knew that it had been at there hands that her little brother and her father's brother had been murdered. "The Cullen's?" she gasped.
"Seems we got an anonymous tip about the murder and where to find the body…I was told that they witnessed Edward Cullen himself kill the man in cold blood.''
"Edward Cullen! The leader of the whole Cullen family?" she asked.
"Yeah, the bastard has been eluding us for years…I'd love to be the one to bring him in, and put his ass behind bars where it belongs," Charlie said heatedly, "Especially after what he did to my son and brother."
"So why hasn't anyone been able to catch any of them?" Bella asked.
"Why indeed? The man and his crime family are like ghosts…no one has ever gotten close enough to get a look at them."
"Wait so you're saying that no one knows what they look like?"
"No…we don't, it's like they don't exist…hell we could be staring right at them and not know it. Without a picture we don't have any possible way to identify them. We had hoped that this new lead would be able to tell us more…but it didn't help us and the phone call was traced to a phone booth in an unpopulated area in town," her father said with disgust in his voice.
"Well I hope you catch him."
Charlie gave her a strange look that caused Bella to wonder what was up with him today he never acted like this before, she thought.
Charlie cleared his throat and sat up straighter on the couch "Bella…there is something going on around Port Angeles and Forks that isn't good. Too many people are turning up dead, I want you to keep your wits about you and keep safe."
"But Char-dad I have been-"
Charlie shook his head; "No you haven't Bella, from what I witnessed last night between you and Adam…"
"I told you it was just a big misunderstanding." Bella tried to explain to him again. "By the way his name is Anthony…not Adam."
"Well misunderstanding or not…there's something about that man I don't like, I'm not telling you as a police chief but as a father you need to be careful," Charlie warned giving her a hard look.
"Dad I'm fine don't worry," Bella said.
"Oh, I'll worry, Bella because you are a magnet for danger. Ever since you were little you were prone to your clumsiness and bad luck…I just don't want to see you hurt like what happened to you and Rosalie two years ago. Royce King was a bad man and you both didn't listen to me and look what happened. I just don't want to see that happen to you again."
Bella lowered her eyes so she couldn't look into her father's eyes, she knew that it almost killed him when he'd found Rosalie and her huddled in a dark alleyway in Port Angeles two years ago after they had gone out on the town with Rosalie's fiancé Royce, and he had gotten drunk and became violent accusing Rosalie of flirting with every man in the bar…on our way back to the car he attacked her and Bella being the good friend that she was had tried to defend, and protect Rosalie only to be thrown down and almost chocked to death causing Bella to black out. When she came back to consciousness it was to see Rosalie lying on the ground in a pool of blood naked and staring into space…Royce was nowhere to be found. Bella had called her father for help but it had almost been too late. After few weeks went by, Rosalie had confided in her that Royce had raped her and left them both for dead. Ever since then her father had been very protective of both her and Rosalie.
"So are you going to tell me about this Andrew fellow or not?"
"It's Anthony…Anthony Masen to be exact."
"And who is this Anthony Masen?"
"He is a prominent business man in Washington."
"Really…what company does he work for?"
"Oh he doesn't work for a company he owns one…I think it's called E&C Corporation."
"E&C Corp?" Charlie asked his eyes widening, "That's one of the biggest ones in Washington." Charlie said with awe in his voice, "I'm surprised I haven't heard of him."
"Well…he and his business associates were having a business meeting and diner at the restaurant last Thursday evening…that's when I met him."
"So are you dating this man?"
"No! We-we are just friends…nothing more," Bella cried embarrassed.
"It didn't look like that last night when I came upon you two on the porch; Bella the man was almost molesting you."
"No he wasn't…he was helping me, I-I was shocked to see him is all," Bella said, embarrassed.
"Humph," Charlie said unbelieving. "So are you going to continue to see this man?"
"Look dad, I appreciate your concern for me, but I'm a big girl. As I said I am just friends with Anthony right now, that's all."
"I just want you to be careful Bells, and like I said last night if he tries anything, anything at all you let me know…okay?"
"Oh look at the time! I've got to get ready for work…. I don't want to be late," Bella said trying to distract her father. She rose from the chair and headed for the stairs.
"Bella don't change the subject" Charlie called after her.
"Dad…I heard you, I just don't have time to continue in this conversation. I'll talk to you later…. by!" Bella said before fleeing up the stairs and to the safety of her bedroom. She needed to get to work, and didn't want the thoughts of Anthony Maesn intruding while she was working. It was hard enough to keep thoughts of him plaguing her in her dreams last thing she needed was for them to intrude throughout the rest of her day.
It was a little past eleven in the morning, when Bella came from the back of the restaurant's kitchen, to find Anthony and a few other men sitting at a table close to the windows, they were already drinking coffee, and one of the men were thumbing through a newspaper.
"Good morning," he mumbled, without looking up at her once she approached his table.
Bella frowned at him, after being the subject of gossip with some of the other employees as well as customers through out the morning hours of her shift concerning this man and herself. She was not in the mood to be cordial, all the hearsay had worked her up into quite a fury and it was now directed at Anthony who sat in front of her acting as if nothing was going on.
"Well I hope you're happy," Bella said as she stood there glaring at him her hands on her hips.
He still had not looked up at her but replied, "Is there a reason that I should not be?" he asked with wry amusement in his voice. Bella noticed that the other three men at the table all stopped talking to look upon her than back at Anthony.
"Do you realize what they are saying?" Bella asked under her breath.
Anthony finally looked up at her and squinted his eyes, "What that I like being here on a Saturday morning having lunch with my associates and," he paused a moment for added effect then continued, "Drinking coffee?" he said, as he ran his eyes over her body, "By the way you're looking fine this morning."
Bella wasn't certain which miffed her more, his cheerful attitude or telling her she looked fine, not knowing if it was a compliment or an insult. She decided to hold her tongue and held out her hand, "Coffee?" she asked through clenched teeth holding the coffee pot up. Two of the men held their cups out to her and she began to pour the coffee.
"So I gather something is bothering you?" he asked. She raised her head up to look at him and noticed that Anthony was now giving her his full attention, and was looking at her with his dark unreadable gaze, "What am I supposed to be happy about?"
"You mean you don't know? You haven't guessed?" she asked aghast. At the blank look he gave her she continued, "If you haven't noticed people have been talking about what happened at Calypso and our little incident at my home the other evening." She said uptight as she waved her arm around to indicate some of the customers sending them curious glances.
Anthony's eyes flashed with amusement before he tried to hide it behind a steely mask. "Why does it matter what they think…they don't know what's actually going on?"
"Yes it matters…if you haven't noticed this is a small town and I don't want people to think that I…I'm," she couldn't bring herself to say the word that she was thinking.
Anthony quickly stood up to stand in front of her, he reached out his hand to touch her arm, "Sit down, doll…. and we can talk about this more." He pulled a chair over from another table and motioned for her to sit down, and completely ignored the other men at the table giving him surprised looks from his behavior; it was completely out of character for him to show concern of any kind to anyone when in public.
Bella stubbornly dug in her heels and stayed where she was, "No…I-I don't want them to get any more ideas. You may be okay with being the center of attention but I am not," she fumed
"Who is saying that you are a whore?" Edward asked darkly as the smile dropped from his face and the other men sitting at the table stiffened at Edward's tone. There was one thing that he didn't abide and that were people trying to hurt the ones he cared about. If there were someone trying to hurt Bella's reputation by making up rumors he would put a stop to it. For he knew better than anyone that Bella was far from being a whore.
"I don't know," Bella whispered as she finally took the seat he offered and sat down, her cheeks were flushed from embarrassment, as she put her face in the palm of her hands to hide her glowing face. Why did things always happen to her, it never failed that something would go wrong and she would become the center of attention no matter how much she tried to stay out of trouble. After all she was just plain Bella Swan no one important, she thought to herself.
"Bella!"
With a soft groan she raised her head from her hands and looked at him.
His expression looked pained when he turned back to look at her, "What else did you hear about these rumors going around?" he asked.
"There's one going around saying your some kind of playboy, bad boy out to get me," she fumed as she watched the smile leave his face and the other men still sitting at the table to stiffen, "As in fuck me, than leave me."
"Shit, how the hell did that one get started?" Anthony muttered under his breath.
"There's word going around that because of your wealth that you get what you want, and women are a dime a dozen …always falling into your lap with just a crook of your finger in there direction. That you have a little bit of a dark side hidden under all that wealth," she paused to give him a pensive look before continuing, "Someone who could get mixed up with the pettiness of illegal goings on around town." Bella looked down at her hands folded on top of the table, "They think that you being a businessman and all, well…. that you…"
All the men including Anthony began to chuckle, "That's just crazy, considering my associates can vouch for me being at my office all the time. My reputation with respect and professionalism is well known."
"I know that Anthony, why do you think I am telling you that it is just one of the many rumor's going around about us? God if my father gets wind of this, I'll just die."
"Why are you even getting upset about something like this?" He asked his eyes boring into hers, "You believe those lies, about me?" he asked with some disbelief in his voice. As his hard glance fell on the other three men at the table, who were snickering. They all fell silent once they caught his stare, who'd guess that those rumors could be so close to the truth.
"No! That's not it at all, I just…" she trailed off when she realized how silly she sounded right then. God he probably thought she was such an idiot. Once again she groaned and buried her face into the palms of her hands.
"Bella, there you a be," came the heavily accented voice of her boss Aro as he approached the table, "I was a looking for you…some of customers are complaining that there not a getting there food quickly-" his voice trailed off when he noticed that his nephew was occupying the table that Bella was sitting at.
Bella raised her head up to look at Aro "I-I'm sorry…I -"
"I'm sure you have other waitresses and waiters to attend to your customers…Aro. Why are you choosing to give Bella a hard time seeing she is taking care of my men and me?" Edward asked his uncle in a chilling, protective voice. How dare his uncle try and put her down like that…she was his girl and no one would talk down to her while he was in her presence…uncle be damned. He thought angrily.
"Ah, Mr. Masen…I a sorry, but Isabella is still on shift. When you a done with Mr. Masen, get a back with customers *per favore?" Aro asked.
"Yes Aro."
"*Grazie," Aro said as he quickly backed away from the table.
"Anthony that was uncalled for…he didn't mean anything by that." Bella said trying to defend her favorite boss, as she rose from her chair.
Edward took a deep breath to reign in his temper, as his eyes moved to clash with hers, "I had every right…he had no business talking to you like that especially when I am a paying customer as well."
"Still he is my boss, and he's right I am still on shift…is there anything else I can get you? If not then I need to get back to work, before Aro has my skin."
"Bella, wait," Edward said grabbing a hold of her hand to stop her from leaving. He turned his head back toward the men sitting across from him. , "I think its time for you guys to take a walk." he said. Edward had just realized that he did not want them to be a part of this conversation any longer and the sooner they were out of earshot the better.
The men gave him a bemused look before moving to stand, "Sure…Mr. Masen what ever you want," one of them said. Before they all turned to leave and walked out the door of the restaurant.
At the touch of his hand on her skin Bella hadn't realized that she was holding her breath, as he turned those emeralds greens of his back on hers with a wicked glint in his eyes. It took all her will power to hold still as he held her in place and lightly skimmed his fingers along her pulse point at her wrist, stroking, seducing. His touch was gentle, and it was spreading warmth through out her body. He had such a strong hand, she thought, succumbing to the erotic moment.
"Anthony," she said her voice husky and breathless. Knowing that his actions were surely drawing unwanted attention to them.
"I like this," he whispered his mouth only inches away from her ear, "Being this close to you…touching you."
For just a moment she thought he might kiss her, and she closed her eyes in anticipation of him doing so, gossipmongers be damned. But instead he straightened up and moved away from her. Bella opened her eyes and saw that he was looking at her with eyes of a lover, teasing her senses, holding her gaze until she could only see him through a sensual haze. His fingers continued to brush over her skin. It was so sensual; fire seemed to flow through her veins as sensations surrounded her. Then the pressure of his lips replaced his fingers. Where they touched her, she burned, her eyes closed once again.
"Have dinner with me Sunday night?"
"Dinner?" Her eyes flew open.
He nodded and smiled that heart dropping smile that she found so very hard to resist, "Yes dinner, I wanted you to meet my sister Alice. I think the two of you would hit it off."
"You-you want me to meet your sister?"
"Yes." he said.
"Don't-don't you think it's too soon to introduce me to your sister…I mean we hardly know each other." She asked.
He chuckled, "Bella, it will be fine…my sister would be ecstatic to meet you."
"I-"
"You did say that you wanted us to get to know each other…and what better way to do that than to introduce you to some of my family," he paused. "Please say yes?"
Bella was rendered speechless at that moment; unable to speak she simply nodded.
He gave her another heart dropping smile and released her hand. He rose to stand before her. "I'll be knocking on your door at exactly seven Sunday evening…and Bella ware something dressy."
Still speechless, she watched him walk away. Right before he opened the door he turned and smiled, "*Fino ad allora, bella," was all he said.
"Till then, Bella." His last words hung in the air long after he disappeared through the door, and out of her sight. She was completely unnerved, as she suddenly slumped against the table. Oh my! She thought. How could she continue to deny the attraction and love she felt for this man; when all it took was a simple touch from him that could render her defenseless against him?
…...
ONCE EDWARD HAD left his uncle Aro's restaurant, he got into the back of his limo with the three body guards, and made his way toward E&C Corporation. He needed to check in on things to make sure that his people were working on finding a solution to stop the gangs from trying to take over there turf.
He was still in a semi foul mood from the night before especially after his confrontation with Jessica. Though being with Bella had already put him in a frustrated, aroused state, it still didn't mean that he'd wanted Jessica to be anywhere near him that evening. She was turning into a problem; he knew he needed to rid himself of her clinginess, and not wanting to move on. He had hoped that he'd not given her the impression that he was interested in her for more than just the sex, and found out last night that's exactly what she thought. That he loved her as she him…that was completely not true, because all Jessica was to him was a sexual object to be used and discarded, as he pleased, nothing more. Just like all the other women he'd slept with over the last nine years…that was until he met Bella…
Ah yes his sweet innocent, Bella…after he'd thrown Jessica out of his room last night, he'd been unable to go to sleep. He was continually plagued by thoughts of Bella well into the morning hours. Yearning to be with her, to hold her, to kiss her, to make wild passionate love to…damn it! He didn't know how he was supposed to act all 'I'm just a friend' around her when all he wanted was to grab her and bury his cock deep inside of that luscious body of hers. It had literally taken all the discipline that he'd had not to grab her and bend her over that table in his uncle's restaurant…. giving the gossips something to actually talk about. This was all new to him having to be the pursuer versus the one that was always perused by women. He'd never had to fight so hard for something he wanted before, and he didn't like it.
By the time six A.M. had rolled around he was desperate to see Bella again, and so first he'd gone about his daily procedures of stopping in at Calypso, making the necessary phone calls to his higher ranking goons to make sure they were following his orders. It had already neared eleven in the morning, when he realized that he couldn't go another hour without seeing Bella, so he called for his guards and his limo to be brought around to the front of the building. All of them got in and proceeded to his uncle Aro's restaurant, to grab a bite to eat, and also so he could see Bella. Not that he'd tell his men that…for that was information that he didn't want too many people to know just yet… he was becoming obsessed with a brown-eyed, brown haired police chief's daughter.
Once inside and seated he was surprised at how nervous he felt it was as if he were acting like a schoolboy with his first crush. Every time he looked or thought about Bella his heart would start beating like a freight train, his palms would start sweating and he wondered sometimes how he was able to speck coherently when in her presence. He also could not believe that rumors had already started going around about Bella and he… he never thought that they would come close to guessing the real truth about his secret life. It angered him to think that Bella believed them to a certain extent as well…not that she didn't have reason to, he just wasn't happy about that outcome. It would kill him to have Bella look at him in that light…to lose her because of his lifestyle.
Though while in the restaurant it had taken everything in him to get up and leave her like that, after touching her again even if it had been just the holding of hands, it literally had sent him into a tizzy and from her reaction she'd been affected as well. But after all he'd promised that he'd only be a friend with her, so he'd finally made himself back off using dinner as his means of escape…
His cell phone rang loudly inside the limo snapping him out of his thoughts as he reached into his pocket and pulled it out flipping it open, "Cullen, "he barked.
"Boss," Emmett said.
"What is it?" Edward asked.
"We have a problem."
"Problem?"
"Seems someone tipped off the suits to Laurent's murder, his body was found near the police station in Port Angeles a few days ago."
Edward stiffened in his seat, at this news, "And why is this problem?" he asked.
"The tipster used the Cullen name as the murderer's."
"What!" Edward barked harshly, as his hand tightened around his cell phone in anger. Who the fuck would dare to do something like that? Or why? He thought, and then it struck him. It had to have been Lucas or Black that put whomever up to doing something like that. "How did you find this out?"
"Your butler, Elazar answered the door when one of the suits made an unexpected visit at the alias Cullen addresses to ask questions. Elazar played it off and acted as if he didn't know anything about what was going on. After the suit left he immediately called me to let me know what had gone down."
Edward pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and tried to control his temper. Once again he was in the middle of a big mess and thought that things couldn't get any worse than they all ready were. He should have known that James or Black could possibly pull a stunt like this, especially after having enough balls to plant a mole amongst his family. He needed to find Lucas and Black and dispose of them before things went any further. Now that he had Bella in his life he couldn't take the risk of her getting hurt because of him.
"Boss, you still there?" Emmett asked.
"Yes," Edward barked into the receiver, taking a deep breath, "Give the word…it's time that I put a hit out on Lucas and Black."
Emmett chuckled darkly on the opposite side, "Yeah, boss how much you offering?"
"Five Million cash if they bring the fuckers to me dead or alive."
"You got it boss."
"Emmett!"
"Yeah, boss?"
"Get on it ASAP; Lucas and Black are starting to piss me off? The sooner this is taken care of the better," Edward said in a chilly tone, before he hung his phone up and deposited it back into his trouser pocket. Shit, damn, hell! He swore as he shook his head back and forth in frustration. He had to take care of this…to get control over this situation concerning Lucas and Black… this vendetta they had against him wasn't going to go away any time soon, unless he took care of it himself.
"Problems boss?" one of his guards asked.
Edward gave a dark chuckle, "You could say that…looks like I'll need you boys longer than planned."
"That's what you pay us for, boss."
Edward stiffened and glared across the seat at the man who spoke up, "I hired you to protect myself and my family…it has nothing to do about what I pay you. So keep your fucking mouth shut and your ears and eyes open for any danger lurking in the shadows or in the open," he paused to see that his words were heeded, "You got that? Because if you don't I can have you disposed of."
"Boss, I didn't mean anything by that…I was just saying-"
"I know what you were saying…and I also meant what I said." Edward threatened as he continued to glare at the guard in silence as the limo slowly made its way toward E&C Corporation.
…...
I DID WHAT you wanted, boss," his snitch Volturi said when he called him on the phone late in the evening. "I have been keeping an eye on Bella Swan and, Cullen for days now just like you told me. Cullen never knew any difference."
James Lucas gave a dark chuckle and leaned back in his leather chair, and stared out of the window looking out over the darkening sky of the ocean, "Well done." Volturi was a good pick to snitch on Cullen he was glad he'd picked him he didn't care about the danger that he was in every time he reported information back to him, he thought as he fingered the pendant around his neck. "So did the Cullen's get any suits breathing down their necks?"
"Yeah…they showed up just like you said they would, it was a good idea to have me call in Laurent's murder like that."
"What time did they show?"
"Around noon," he answered.
James gave a sigh of disgust, Damn it! He'd had Volturi place that call a week ago…what the hell had taken those damn pigs so long to get there? Hell he'd fantasized about them breaking the door down and forcing all the Cullen's out in handcuffs. He could picture the all out gun battle that would have been awesome, more cops would have had to been called in and a lot of people would be dead, and hopefully Cullen would have been taken in and thrown into the slammer. That would have stopped him from coming after him for good, but as luck would have it didn't go down like that at all.
"Did they take Cullen or anyone else in for questioning?" he asked, thinking Cullen might have tried to be agreeable.
"No, the cop left alone."
Fuck, the anonymous call hadn't been taken as seriously as he'd hoped…though the situation had been checked out. That was something, he supposed. Obviously, the authorities needed more incentive before they would take action.
'So anything else happen of importance?" Lucas asked wishing he could take some action, but he didn't like to face his adversary alone.
"Cullen's been seen around town with the Swan woman, and a bunch of security guards."
The Swan woman again, she seemed to be with him a lot, "And did you follow them?"
"Yes…working for him you know?"
"This Swan woman what does she look like?" he commanded as a thought finally struck him.
"Short about 5'4", long brown hair, brown eyes, very plain, not what he usually likes."
"Cullen always liked his broad's very beautiful…strange that he's hanging around this one then,"
"I told you, boss that when the chicks around he isn't himself. He don't want her to know what he does for a living…being she's the police chief's daughter," Volturi said. "He's even gone as far as to threaten all of us with in an inch of are lives should we let slip whom he really is."
"Strange even for Cullen," he muttered as he thought about the girl's description, and realized that he'd seen her before. "I've seen her around town when she was with Black, though at the time I didn't know her name."
James pulled himself out of his thoughts and moved on. "I want you to keep watch on Cullen and his goons."
"You mean you still want me to dig for more dirt?" Volturi asked weary now.
"No you ass…I just want you to sit back and kick up your heels, yes that's why I hired you to become my mole in the first place." James said sarcastically, maybe Volturi was scared of Cullen after all. "While you're at it see if you can find out what the cops have on Cullen, because I want to know everything that they do" he needed to know his enemy's schedule as well as his own or his future plans would not work.
"Whatever you say, boss."
Lucas ended the call by placing the phone back in its cradle, knowing that the man would do his bidding. He settled back into his chair to consider all of his options. Including figuring out a way to use the Swan woman to his advantage. Maybe he just needed to go ahead with his plan to get a closer look at her…at Cullen's new girl. Also he just might need to give Jacob Black a call regarding his ex…if anyone would be willing to give him information on the bitch, it would be him. James thought to himself.
…...
A/N: Thanks again for all your reviews for chapter's one through four. Looking forward to seeing your next reactions and thoughts for chapter #5, as long as they are positive. This chapter is mainly a filler chapter so I hope you all like it. I am shooting for another 60 positive reviews to post the next chapter, please keep them coming? Also another list provided below of Italian words used in this chapter.
Thanks
Gokdeneyes123
*Meaning of Italian words
per favore = please
Grazie = Thanks
cara = dear
Fino ad allora, bella = Till then, Bella. Or till then beautiful.