Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. The author of this story is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Chapter 17

I listen to Bella's awful screams and realize it's coming from the music room. I pull out my gun. I race inside and am horrified by the scene before me.

There is a man with his back facing me on top of Bella who is lying on the floor. She cries out in pain as he slaps her. The man is sitting on her abdomen. He is holding both her hands in one of his over her head.

"Shut up and be still," he yells at her.

Her jeans are pulled down and wrapped around her ankles.

Oh hell no, motherfucker!

When he lets go of her hands and sits up, I take my shot. I aim for the back of his head.

After the shot rings out, he falls down on top of Bella, and she's screaming, absolutely terrified.

I run over and yank the dead son of a bitch off my girl. She has stopped screaming and is staring unseeing up at the ceiling. Her breathing is erratic. She has a busted lip and red hand prints across her face that will more than likely leave bruises.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Ramone, my head of security. "Where the fuck are you?" Before I give him a chance to answer, I am yelling into the phone. "Round up everyone and get the fuck over here now!"

I hang up the phone and look down at my poor, broken girl.

Her shirt has been ripped open and her bra cut. I look down and notice that her panties are still on.

How the fuck did this happen? Where were my men?

I sit down next to Bella and peer into her face. Her eyes are still unseeing and she looks as though she is in shock.

"Bella," I softly whisper. "Can you hear me baby?"

My voice must have shaken her from her trance, for the next thing I know she is screaming again.

"Bella, sweetheart, you're ok," I tell her as I gently grasp her shoulders. "It's me, Edward."

"Ed…ward?" she asks in a broken whisper.

"Yes, baby, it's me. You're ok now. I've got you."

I carefully pick up her practically naked body and carry her into my bedroom. I lay her down on the bed and she immediately grabs onto my shirt and pulls me down with her.

"Please, don't leave me. Don't leave me alone," she begs.

I pull the blanket up and cover her. "I won't leave you Bella."

"Is he d…dead?" she stutters.

"Yes. I had to do it Bella. He was going to hurt you." I feel as though I'm begging for forgiveness as to what she had to witness … this awful, vile man and me … taking his life.

"Just let me make a quick call and then I'm all yours and I promise you that I am not going anywhere."

I get on my phone once again. "Where the fuck is everyone?" I demand.

"We're all on our way over now boss."

"I want to ring all your fucking necks. You get here fast and stay together. I want everyone here and back on post … you got me? I will come out to talk to you when I am ready, and not a minute sooner. Got that?" I say in my deadly dangerous tone.

"Yeah, boss." It's easy to hear the nervous tone in his voice. Good … he should be scared.

I close the phone and go and grab a t-shirt out of my dresser. I approach the bed and look into to Bella's eyes to make sure it's ok for me to sit down with her.

"Here, I got you this." I hold out the t-shirt to her.

She drops the blanket from around her chest, takes off the damaged bra, and quickly pulls the shirt over her head. Then she takes her pants off the rest of the way and covers herself back up with the blanket.

She lies down on her side and begins to sob. I carefully move closer to her. "Can I hold you?"

Her mouth opens to speak, but speech seems to evade her as her sobs take over, so she nods her head.

I slowly and gently lie down beside her and pull her into me. She surprises me by pulling my arm even tighter around her.

"Shh, sweetheart, I promise no one will ever hurt you again. I'm so sorry," I say and kiss the top of her head.

"I was so scared Edward," she lets out in between sobs. "He said you would get rid of me after he was done with me."

"That's not true Bella. Even if he had been successful, I would never get rid of you. Just close your eyes and try not to think of it anymore." I'm trying my best to calm her down.

"Please don't leave me," she begs.

"I won't. I'm going to stay right here," I promise her.

Eventually her sobbing tires her out and she falls asleep in my arms.

What am I going to do? I need to, have to, speak with my men, but I can't leave her alone.

I still can't believe this happened. I just don't understand how it could have happened. What in the world would make my men leave?

But what in the hell am I going to do now? I can't leave her alone. I know who I need to call, although I don't want to.

I get out my phone and dial.

"Yeah," Emmett answers.

"Emmett, can you bring Rosalie over to my house. I need her to be with Bella."

"You need my wife to babysit for you, is that it?" He asks in an accusing voice.

"No, she needs help. Please, Emmett, this is important. Something's happened," I plead.

Obviously Emmett can hear the desperation in my voice and knows this is an emergency. "We'll be right there," he says and hangs up.

I quickly call Ramone and tell him to show Emmett and Rosalie up to my room the minute they arrive.

God, what this poor girl has been through … some of which was by my hands. To lose her parents, be put into an orphanage, be in a fire and kidnapped at the hands of Aro. Then she's bought as a gift for me, and I've been doing things with her that she probably isn't ready for. Now she's gone through an attempted rape. I'm so thankful that I got here in time to stop it. I just wish I had gotten here sooner.

And my men … I swear I want to fucking kill them. If they would have been here then this wouldn't have happened in the first place.

I don't realize how long I've been contemplating things when Emmett and Rosalie burst into my room.

"Shh," I whisper as I put my finger to my mouth. "She's sleeping. She needs her rest. Just give me a minute."

I slowly untangle my arms from around her and arrange my pillow where I was. I carefully move from the bed and go sit on the sofa, and Emmett and Rosalie immediately join me.

"We need to keep it down. I don't want to wake her," I tell them quietly.

We begin to speak in hushed whispers.

"What happened here Edward?" Rosalie quickly asks.

"Just promise me you will both keep your voices down while I tell you."

"We promise, now get on with it," Emmett whispers impatiently.

"I was at dad's office earlier today. When I got back home, I noticed my men were gone and then I heard Bella scream."

"And …" Now Rosalie is the impatient one.

I glare at her for just a moment then continue. "I raced up the stairs and found her in the music room. There was a man here and he was trying to rape her."

"Oh, my God," Rosalie whispers and immediately there is a tear rolling down her cheek.

Emmett grabs Rosalie's hand and squeezes gently. "Were you able to stop him?" Emmett asks.

"I shot him," I answer simply. I don't regret it. I know Emmett doesn't approve of killing, but he once didn't feel that way when someone attacked Rosalie. In fact, he came to me and asked me to take care of the guy, which of course I did. For this reason, I know Emmett will understand.

"He nods and looks down." No doubt he is remembering the horrible ordeal that Rosalie went through.

"Where in the hell were your men, Edward?" Rosalie asks harshly but still manages to keep her voice down.

I look to Rosalie. "That's what I need to find out. Can you stay with her why I talk to my men?"

"Yes, of course," she quickly answers.

"I'm coming with you," Emmett says leaving no room for argument. I won't argue with him. I would like his input anyway. Maybe he can help me figure this out. Rosalie stays behind on the sofa while Emmett and I quietly leave the room.

"What would make your men leave in the middle of the morning?" Emmett asks angrily.

"I don't know, Emmett, but I intend to find out."

"Ramone," I shout down the stairs. "I want all of you in my office. Now!"

Emmett and I make it inside my office. I pull a chair up for Emmett next to my desk. I want him sitting by me while we face the fucking idiots.

I lay my gun right on the desk in front of me. I want them to be intimidated … to remember who the fuck I am.

All three of them enter my office and sit down in the chairs in front of my desk.

I look to Ramone.

"You want to tell me why the hell the three of you left my house? Why I come home to find my girl screaming because she's being attacked?" As hard as it is, I keep my tone even and quiet making it almost sound deadly. I've always found it more effective.

"But … you said we could leave, boss." It's Derek who speaks up.

"And when in the hell did I say that?" I spat.

"Bruno said that you sent him to bring the girl to you, and that you said we could go home." His nervous answer tells me he knows they made a big mistake.

"Who the hell is Bruno?" I shout.

"One of Mr. Cullen's men, sir." Ramone is quick to answer.

One of my father's men? That son of a bitch is one of my father's men?

I get up and tell them all to follow me. I take them to the music room where the asshole is lying dead on the floor.

"Turn him over," I demand.

They do as I say, and I really look at him this time. It is my father's man.

That son of a bitch!

"Dispose of his body and speak of this to no one, not even my father. You never saw him here. Is that clear?" I look each one of them in the eye so they know how serious I am. They don't want to cross me.

"And don't you ever take orders without checking with me first!"

"Yes, sir," they say in unison.

Emmett and I head back to my office.

He turns to look at me with an incredulous look on his face. "Do you think our father is behind this?"

"I'm not sure, but it's not looking too good."

"I saw the way he treated her that night at dinner." He's right, he was very rude to her and looked at her as if she were something stuck on the bottom of his shoe.

"Are you going to confront him?" He asks.

"I don't think that would be a good idea right now. I need to find out for certain that he's behind this and find out what the hell he's up to, because he's definitely up to something."

"What about Bruno?"

"We'll act as if nothing has happened. He won't admit he sent Bruno here, so we act as if he's never come. I'll make sure he doesn't see Bella until she's healed."

"Because he would ask what happened," Emmett correctly guesses.

"Yeah."

"What about Bella? Are you going to get her some help?" Once again, he says it in an accusatory tone.

"For now, I was hoping she could talk to Rosalie and maybe Alice. I don't want dad finding out," I tell him.

"I thought you were good at deception. Isn't that part of your job?" He smirks, feeling as though he's got me.

"Yes, it is, but if dad is behind this, or even Aro, then they could be watching us, and I would rather them not know anything that we are up to. I thought maybe we could help her."

Emmett looks at me skeptically.

"I've already given her more freedom, and I plan to do more. I want her to feel more like her own person even though she has to stay with me. But, I have to keep her safe Emmett. I can't let her just go or venture out on her own. I think even you can see how dangerous this is now." Surely he can see the precarious situation I'm in.

I won't let Bella be hurt anymore. I will make sure that I am spending even more time with her. I realize now how important she is to me. She's more than just a girl. She's somehow taking over my life, and I find I'm not that upset about it.

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At least Edward realizes that he can't handle this on his own. Rosalie should be good for Bella. Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think.