[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Today's update is dedicated to Teampara55 and Rayna23

**37**

Rosalie tried to focus her concentration on the engine in front of her. It was a weak attempt to distract her from thinking too much about yesterday. She still couldn't believe how she had managed to bring up the courage to tell Bella about her dark secret. Now, she was worried how it was going to affect their relationship. Bella had been so very quiet after their conversation. It was like she wasn't sure what to tell Rosalie. At least, she had believed her. Rosalie was more than relieved. She trusted Bella with her life.

"Pretty ass, your brother is here for you." Paul called from the other side of the garage."

Rose sighed and untied another cable in the motor compartment. She couldn't wait to finally quit her job here. Paul's annoying comments sure weren't something she was going to miss. She really needed to contact this stupid modeling agency to get a job there. A few hours of boring modeling would bring her more cash than she made at the garage in an entire week.

"Hi, Rose." Emmett greeted her, planting a kiss on his sister's cheek. "How's it going?"

"No too bad." Rose responded. "I was in Forks over the weekend. How was your job interview?"

He smirked and held up his hand, forming a ring with his thumb and forefinger. "They are taking me, starting in two months. Isn't that great? No more school kids to yell at. I'm so glad."

Rosalie hugged him. "I'm happy for you."

"This calls for some celebrations." Emmett stated. "When do you get off from this shit place?"

Rose took a look over to Paul who seemed close to falling asleep any minute.

"Pauly?" Rose purred. "Can you help me over here?"

She had to hold back a giggle when Paul instantly straightened his back and walked towards her and Emmett.

"Yes, sweet ass?"

"Could you please finish fixing this battery for me, so that I can finish earlier tonight?"

Paul hesitated. He wasn't keen on taking over extra work from Rosalie. On the other hand he was thrilled that she was suddenly talking all sweet and nice to him. No woman had ever resisted his charms. Rosalie, this stupid dyke, wouldn't be any different from all the others.

"Alight, Rose." Paul said eventually. "But don't forget to wear those tight jeans tomorrow. They make your pretty ass look fucking hot."

Rose washed her hands and waved Paul a quick goodbye before she followed Emmett outside to his car.

"Crap, I forget my keys." Emmett mumbled, leaving Rosalie waiting on the parking lot outside.

When he returned inside the garage, he saw Paul leaning over the hood of the car. With a fast movement, he grabbed the smaller guy around his waist and pushed Paul against the wall behind them.

"I don't like the way, you talk to my sister." Emmett snapped. "Now, I know that Rosie can handle her shit pretty fine on her own." He tightened his grab around Paul's jaw. "It's just that sometimes I have some issues with my temper. Don't give me a reason to defend my sister's honor. It wouldn't end well for this pretty face of yours."

Emmett slammed Paul's head a bit too roughly against the wall and spit on the ground before he walked out again, whistling joyfully through his teeth.

A few minutes later, when Rosalie and Emmett were sitting across from each other in a bar, he noticed how pale his sister actually looked. Yes, sure, she had smeared a ton of make-up crap on, but her lips were chapped and her eyes seemed somehow too huge in the heart-shaped face.

"I want to open my own garage." Rosalie told him, nipping on the bottle of beer in front of her. "But I need to save up some money for that first."

Emmett nodded his head. "I understand. Are you going to move back to Forks to be with Bella?"

Rosalie smiled. It was the first real smile she was showing him tonight. Bella was obviously good for his sister.

"Have you told Mom about the new job yet?" Rose asked, taking another sip from the beer. She disliked the slightly bitter taste of it. Still, she continued drinking, enjoying the pleasant warmth, filling her stomach with every sip.

Emmett frowned. "I don't have the nerves to deal with her today. She was kind of annoying yesterday."

"How?"

"Well, you know how Mom's like. She picked around in her food, like it was causing her inner pain to eat like a normal person. Then she complained the entire evening about how Jasper doesn't call her often enough."

Rosalie reached over the table and placed her hand on Emmett's. "He's her favorite. It's always been like this."

Emmett's mouth twitched. "You were Dad's. He loved you so much."

Rosalie tried to remember her father but the memories of him were very blurred. "I think he loved all of us equally."

"No, you were his favorite." Emmett told Rose. "I know for sure."

"How much do you remember about Dad?" Rosalie asked, putting the empty bottle back on the table again. "Sometimes when I look at the pictures, I can't imagine him as a real person."

"You were only eight when he died. It's normal that you don't remember a lot of things. Look, do we have to talk about this now? It's kind of killing my mood."

Rosalie cringed. "Yes, sure, let's talk about something else. How are things between you and Alice?"

Emmett gulped down the rest of his drink. "I don't know yet. We're going out Friday night. But it's so difficult with her."

"Why?" Rosalie asked. "I thought you like her?"

"I like her. Whenever I'm near her, it's like my brain isn't working properly. I want to think of her as a fuck buddy but somehow I can't."

"Are you two having sex?" Rose asked. "I didn't know that."

"Not yet." Emmett told her quickly. "But there is always hope for the future, isn't there?"

xxxx

Lucy pressed her sweating hands into tight fists. She was having a hard time to keep her emotions at bay.

"You have a beautiful house, Mrs. Hale." The young FBI agent complimented her. "Oh was that your late husband?" he grabbed the picture and held it up.

Lucy cleared her throat nervously. "Mr. Masen, Sir, I still don't understand what you are looking for."

"Answers." Edward stated. "I'm always looking for answers. Aren't we all?"

They returned to the living room where he sat down at the edge of her leather couch. "Now, are you going to tell me why Royce King contacted you to bail out his ass?"

Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know."

Edward crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed. "Look, Mrs. Hale. We can make this easy or hard for you. Would you like to spend a night in jail?"

Lucy's lower lip began to quiver. "You can't arrest me for nothing."

Again, Edward granted the woman sitting across from him a crooked smile. "Wasn't your husband a police officer? You should know that obstruction of justice is a federal offense."

"Mr. Masen, please, I really can't help you." Please leave, Lucy added silently in her head. She was close to crying now. Maybe if she did, Masen would take pity on her and leave her alone.

"Mrs. Hale. Can you tell me how you know Mr. King?"

Lucy nodded her head. "Royce used to be my daughter's manager. She was doing beauty pageants as a child."

Edward reached for his bag. He pulled out an envelope and placed a row of pictures on the coffee table. "You know what a pedophile would say to a little girl like this, dressed up like a Barbie doll?"

"This is not what beauty pageants are about. It's supposed to be fun for the girls." Lucy stated, unable to move her eyes from her ten-year-old daughter's face. She remembered how Rosalie had always complained how she hated the make-up and getting her hair done. Lucy had still forced her young daughter to attend a contest almost every weekend. It was good money. It was an even bigger chance at becoming rich and famous. If you just got rich enough, nobody could hurt you anymore.

"So, what are they about?" Edward asked. "Is this a way for frustrated women to relive their youth through their poor children?"

"I don't need to let someone insult myself in my own house." Lucy snapped, barely able to suppress her anger anymore. Who the hell did this Masen think he was that he had a right to judge her for anything?

"I apologize if I offended you, Mrs. Hale." Edward said. "Now, tell me, has Royce King ever showed some behavior towards your daughter that could be called…inappropriate?"

Lucy's head moved from left to right and back to the left side again. She had sold her daughter's soul and she knew it. There was no way she could ever make things undone.

"Would you mind if I asked your daughter about this as well?" Edward asked, noticing how Lucy started fidgeting nervously around on her fingernails.

"Please, don't do this." Lucy pleaded eventually. "Rose isn't doing very well right now. She just called off her engagement."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Now, Mrs. Hale, if this case ends up in court, are you willing to swear under oath what you just told me?"

"Of course," Lucy whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "Are you finished with questioning me now?"

"I haven't even started, Mrs. Hale." Edward told her with another smile flashing over his face. "Aren't you originally from Tennessee? Pretty far from Seattle, isn't it?"

"What does that have to do with Royce King?" Lucy snapped. Her nerves were blank now.

"Oh, we'll get to that part of the story." Edward said. "No need to fast forward."

Lucy sighed deeply. "I'd like to keep some parts of my past to myself." She forced herself to stop pulling around on her cuticles. "Do you think you could respect this wish, Mr. Masen?"

"That depends on the price, Mrs. Hale. Sometimes the price for a wish is too high. I can promise you to be discreet, should you start being a little cooperative with me?"

Lucy stood up from her seat and walked over to the gold-framed picture of her family. On the edges the golden paint was already chipped off. Lucy Hale's perfect world was only perfect when you didn't dare to take a too close look at it.

"What if I don't want to cooperate with you?" she asked. "You're making me feel, like I'm a suspect."

"Some crimes fall under the statute of limitation. I'm sure you are aware of this."

"I never committed any crimes." Lucy said, her voice cracking nervously.

"Look, Mrs. Hale, the FBI is good at digging out old dirt." Edward stated. "Now, would you mind, taking a look at this specific picture here?"

He pulled a black and white photography out and placed it on top of Rosalie's childhood pictures.

"You hadn't much of a lady in you back then. Right, Lucy?" His fingertips brushed over the photo. "Fishnet stockings were pretty popular in the eighties, weren't they?"

"It's still Mrs. Hale to you Mr. Masen. The past is the past. It doesn't matter anymore."

"If you say so, Mrs. Hale, if you say so. You know what I don't get? Why would a young police officer marry a teenage street hooker? Did your husband watch Pretty Woman too often or what?"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, RIGHT NOW!" Lucy yelled, ripping the picture of her young self into tiny pieces. She couldn't believe how this horrible FBI man dared to show up at her house and wave with the proof of her shameful past right in front of her face. "Right now, Mr. Masen! Leave!"

Edward grabbed the pictures and his jacket and went outside. This had turned out better than he had hoped for. He knew that he was just inches away from having Lucy Hale, exactly where he needed the woman to be.