Rating: M
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer…Twilight…hers
Never ending thanks to lovinrob and amandac3 for helping me grow.
Jennifer, we miss you girl.
Creepy, you are my #1
Thanks to all of you readers that have been there from Chapter 1. To all of you that have favored me as an author, that have favored this story and have alerted yourselves to the updates. And thank you for your reviews. I really really like it.
CHAPTER 25
Bella
"Thank you, Esme for taking me out today. I appreciate it and your help."
"Bella, you are with Edward now. You are part of our family and we take care of our family." She says to me placing her hand on my hand.
After Esme drops me off at Edward's house, I am greeted by Rebecca and a cup of hot tea.
"Thank you, Rebecca." I say, sitting, taking a sip and relaxing for a moment. "Is Edward around?" I ask.
"No, Bella, he isn't here yet. He called and said that he would be home around 5:00. It is 4:30 now." She says.
"I'm going to go upstairs and take a shower then. Thank you for the tea, Rebecca." I say taking my cup and bags upstairs.
I take a hot shower and find a long white robe on the back of the door for me and tie it around myself. I lay down on Edward's huge comfortable bed for a minute, thinking about my overwhelming day. That's the last thing I remember until I wake to find Edward lying next to me, watching me.
"Hello beautiful." He says, raising his head off his arm to place a kiss on my forehead.
"Hey, you. What time is it? I can't believe I fell asleep." I lift up off the bed and find that I still have my hair wrapped in a towel.
"It's 5:30 baby, you need to get dressed okay?" I look at him and he's already showered and dressed. "I wanted you to sleep as long as you could so now you have to hurry. So get that beautiful ass out of bed and get at it." I am expecting his typical, sound, smack on my bottom but instead he gently rubs it and bends down to kiss it. I smile.
"Where are my bags?" I say in a rush while I hop off the bed looking around the room.
"You are unpacked, Bella. You can find all your stuff in the ladies suite, which is now Bella's suite."
What the…?
"I go into the bathroom and look for this ladies suite but don't see it. I turn around and look at Edward. He then points to another door on the other side of the room and I open it to find a second full bathroom and dressing room. I can't believe it. It's huge and beautiful and designed specifically for the needs of a woman. I am in love with it and turn to look at Edward, smiling while I slowly shut the door, my eyes never leaving his until the door is completely shut.
Twenty minutes later, I emerge from my bathroom fully dressed with my hair in a sexy messy up do and since I fell asleep with my hair in a towel, it worked to my advantage. I am wearing a long sleeve drop waist mini dress that is loose on top but tighter around the hips. It's very comfortable and since Edward likes blue on me, I chose it in royal blue with matching blue caged sandals.
When Edward looks at me he literally chokes and starts coughing.
"Holy shit, Bella." He says stalking toward me, walking a circle around me, looking at my dress. He then stops in front of me holding my hips pulling me into his growing erection.
"I am so getting laid tonight." He says confidently and I start laughing, throwing my arms around his neck.
"What a coincidence, so am I!" I exclaim. "Let's go before we are late." I say, taking his hand and leading him out of the bedroom. I turn and look at him over my shoulder and he is checking out my shoes biting on his bottom lip. God! He looks so sexy when he bites that bottom lip.
"You can leave those shoes on while I do naughty things to you, Bella." He says briefly into my ear. I have to moan at that and decide the shoes will definitely stay on my feet.
We walk out the front door and Billy has a black Mercedes SLS waiting for us with my door open for me. I glance at Edward with my eyebrow raised and mouth the word 'sexy' at him. He smiles and mouths 'only for you, baby' back at me. Oh yes, he is so getting laid tonight.
We arrive the short distance to his parent's house and when we walk in I hear a party going on with music and laughter and start running toward the sound. I throw myself at Rosalie and Alice and we are in an all-girl group hug.
"Oh my god, I missed you two so much." I say to them, kissing them.
We are talking over one another like we are the only ones in the room. When we stop, we look around us to find our boys and their parents staring at us. The three of us burst out laughing and hug some more.
"Hello Jasper. Hello Emmett. I can see you both are still wooing my girls?" I say to them, planting a kiss on each of their cheeks.
"I am afraid your little Alice has me hook, line and sinker, Bella. I am totally hers now and am a happy man for it. Thank you so much for introducing me to her." Jasper says to me, declaring his affection for my dearest friend.
I get butterflies in my stomach hearing him say how much he loves her. I look at Alice and she has tears coming out of her eyes and I need to hug her again.
"Oh, Alice. He is perfect for you isn't he. I knew he was the moment I met him." I can see she is very much in love as well and I just know these two will be our first wedding. Even before Emmett's.
"Edward," Jasper begins. "I am going to need the name of the contractor that built your house." He says beaming at Alice.
I turn and see Esme crying and Carlisle beaming at the sight before him.
"In one single weekend my three bachelor sons come home in love." Carlisle says holding a glass of wine in the air with one hand and holding his wife closer to him with the other.
Rosalie comes over to me and hugs me harder than ever before.
"That is from my father. He can't express how deeply sorry and regretful he is, Bella. He really is devastated about all that you went through. He knows it's his fault." She has tears welling in her eyes.
"Don't you dare cry Rosalie. It was Jacob's fault. Your father was just a pawn like everyone one else that Jacob encounters." I have my arm around her waist and squeeze her tight when Emmett comes over and comforts her.
"She feels really bad, Bella." He says wiping the tears from her eyes. This one little action tells me a lot about how he truly feels about her. I hope she returns his feelings because I want her to be happy, finally.
"Okay, let's go to dinner shall we? I suspect everyone has their own car so we will meet you at Celadon's." Carlisle calls out to everyone and we all finish our wine and head out the door.
Once we get to the restaurant, I can't help but notice that it has an Italian rustic exterior and interior. There is a small area set aside for our large party and all the employees know the Cullen's by name.
Once we are seated, Carlisle orders several bottles of various wines, which surprisingly are not Volturi wines.
"Carlisle, I am surprised you are not ordering your own label." I say with raised brows.
"We like to taste other labels to see what they are putting out. It's a very competitive industry, Bella." He explains.
"You are preaching to the wrong choir, father. There is only one wine for my Bella, and she was hooked on it long before I met her." Edward says lovingly into my eyes. I adore this man.
"That's right, Edward." Alice says. "Our Bella will only choose restaurants that serve Volturi wines. She will hound us until we finally agree to a Volturi wine tasting. Thank heaven for Embry. He is so patient with her and her endless questions. I think at one point he thought she might be a transplanted spy from another winery the way she would ask him questions." She continues, smiling at me.
"You should have heard her give me a trivia lesson at Squaw last week. She does seem to know a lot about everything wine related. Father, maybe we should bring her on staff, she could be an asset to us." Edward says, surprising me.
"Let's not talk business right now, I want to enjoy all the lovely ladies we have sitting at our table tonight." He beams looking at us all and ending in an adoring flirt with his wife.
"Edward?" I hear a voice say behind me and I look up and see all the Cullen's faces go blank and ashen. I look to see who has caused this reaction when I find myself staring at one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, standing right behind Edward, wringing her hands.
Edward doesn't move except to look at Jasper.
"I told you I would call you on Monday and that you were never to contact Edward. What are you doing here?" He says angrily.
"I need to talk to Edward." The woman says. I look at Edward silently asking him what is going on, who is she?
"Bella, this is Leah." He says and I look up at her not smiling or frowning and then look at Rosalie and Alice.
"Girls, how about we make a trip to the ladies room and let the family talk to Leah." I say and we all get up and let them have their privacy, when Edward grabs my hand.
"Bella." He says pitifully. I sit back down in my chair and whisper to him.
"I won't be gone long, baby, and I won't be far away. I thought you'd like to do this without an audience." I say to him.
I don't like the change that has come over him. He has slipped into someone I have never seen before and if what Esme says is true about him disappearing, I can see a sliver of that now.
"Do you need me to stay?" I ask him.
"Yes, but it's okay. Don't be gone long okay?" He asks, looking sideways at me.
"Just five minutes, Edward." I say to him, giving him a chaste kiss, wiping the lip gloss off his lips. I stand and look at Leah directly in her eyes daring her to hurt him.
We walk away from the table and I look over my shoulder to see all of them coming down on her but Edward sits there saying nothing.
"What the hell is that all about, Bella?" Rose asks, her eyes wide with curiosity.
"That is Leah, Edward's ex-fiancé. He caught her giving a blow job to her London boyfriend that she was having an affair with whenever she traveled to Europe." I tell them a nutshell.
"He looked really upset, didn't he?" Alice asks.
"He sure did. I wonder why? It's been three years, you would think it wouldn't affect him this deeply by now." I say.
"Emmett said that a woman hurt him really bad, not only did she cheat on him, she lied and that everything he believed in during their whole relationship was a 'forgery' he called it." Rose says.
"Esme said that Edward nearly died when they broke up. She said that he was virtually non-existent. He couldn't work, wouldn't smile or laugh. Can you imagine Edward not smiling or laughing? That's what I love most about him." I say, looking at myself in the mirror, adjusting my hair, killing time before I make the decision to go back out to him
"I need to get back to him. I shouldn't have left him." I rush out the door with the girls in tow and breathe a sigh of relief that Leah is gone.
"Dammit, I left my purse. Tell Edward I left my bag in the ladies room and I'll be right back." I turn on my heel to rush back in and when I open the door there she is. Of course she is standing there with my small clutch in her hand.
"That is mine, thank you." And I hold out my hand to take it from her.
"And THAT is mine." She says pointing to the door but I know exactly what she means. She means Edward.
"Oh, you mean Edward? Do you mean to try to take him from me?" I ask with raised brows.
"Oh, honey, I KNOW I can. He hasn't gotten over me, couldn't you tell?"
"What I can tell is that he hasn't gotten over the anger and animosity he has for you. That was not love you saw in there, it was hate. But if you feel you can take him I can't stop you. Good luck." I say to her as I walk out the door and I run right smack into Edward.
"You didn't come back so I thought I would see if there was anything wrong." And with that the door opens and Leah walks out and smiles at Edward.
"Edward, we really need to talk about this. We can't do this without talking first. I will call Angie for an appointment." She says looking at me.
"And I said for you to talk to Jasper. You don't need to talk to me about anything, Leah." He says putting his arm around my waist and guiding me back to the table.
"What is going on?" I ask, looking at his distorted face.
"It's a long story but I will tell you soon, alright?" He says and I nod my head at him.
When we get back to the table the server brings Edward three large shots of Chivas and he downs them consecutively.
"She means to get you back Edward." I whisper to him at which time he clamps his eyes closed as if he tastes something bad.
He looks into my eyes for a very long time before saying, "It ain't happening." I know exactly what he means when he says that. I trust him.
"Let's order, I'm starving. What are you having Edward?" I ask as I peruse my menu.
~BD~
Edward didn't really come out of the funk he was in probably because we all knew that Leah was in the room the entire time we were in the restaurant. It seemed to unnerve him knowing that she was watching him all evening. Well, I know it unnerved me.
When we got home we went straight to bed. The idea of making love was put on the back burner since I'm sure Leah was in the forefront of his mind. So in lieu of making love I just held him and we snuggled close to each other all night.
The smell of hazelnut coffee wakes me out of my deep sleep and I see him on his knees resting his arms on the bed with his chin on his hands.
"Come on Bellllaaaaaaa." He sings. "Time to waaaaake uuuup." He continues, smiling. My Edward is back to normal.
"What are you doing sweetie. You are dressed already?" I say sitting up taking a sip of this wonderful smelling coffee.
"I thought we'd take Lil' Hummer out around the property and give you a proper tour of the winery. We are meeting up with the others at 12:30 for lunch at Aro's.
"Oh goodie. I love the Volturi sandwich there." Only I would get excited to have lunch at Aro's Café. I have eaten there every time I tour Volturi.
"Be downstairs in 30 minutes. I've invited the crew over for breakfast." He says kissing my cheek.
"And Bella, I'm sorry about last night. That's the first time I have seen her in three years. There is something I need to tell you." He starts. "Five years ago I bought a nightclub in San Francisco and in the contract it was agreed that if I ever sold it, she would have first right of refusal. Now that you are in my life, I don't want any ties to her and I had Jasper contact her to start the sale, offering her the first option to buy it." He explains to me.
"What's the name of the club?" I ask.
"Posto di Lea." He says, and I gasp and almost stop breathing.
"That is your club, Edward? I love that place. I used to go there all the time when I had a life. Wait until the girls find out." I say.
"So the Lea is Leah?" I ask.
"Yes. She has no monetary investment in it only the name. But it was part of the contract and since we were to be married, we decided to add that in the contract when I bought it. Now she is using this as a means to communicate with me." He explains to me.
"She told me last night in the ladies room that you are hers and that she knew you were still in love with her. She aims to get you back." I tell him.
"Jasper told me yesterday that she told him the same thing. That she said she was a fool and was still in love with me and all that bullshit." He says, spitting out the story.
"It will be okay, Edward. Let me hop in the shower and I will meet you downstairs, alright?" I say and he nods at me, giving me that smirk I love. I kiss him quickly and run toward my bathroom.
I hurry through my shower, putting my damp hair in a slicked back pony, slipping into a pair of skinny jeans, a v-neck t-shirt and a hoodie and run downstairs. I made it in thirty minutes.
"Hey guys." I say to everyone as I look for a mug for coffee since I left mine upstairs.
"Let me get that for you Miss Bella." Rebecca says joyfully. I smile at her, thanking her.
"So what's up?" I turn around and ask.
"Jasper and I are riding over to his property so he can show me where he wants to put his house." She says jumping in place, clapping her hands to her chest. Jasper watches her and smiles pulling her into a big hug.
"I want HER to show me where I should put it since it will be ours one day." He says to all of us.
"What are you saying Jasper?" I gasp out loud.
"That eventually Alice will be living in that house with me and I want her to be happy with it." He answers. "If I can talk her into it, hopefully by time the house is finished."
Alice and I look at each other and just smile. We both know that we are thinking the same thing. I know she is the happiest she has ever been, and she knows that I am over the moon happy for her.
"You better name your first born after me dammit." I say as I put cream and sugar in my tea.
"What are you two up to?" I say to Emmett and Rosalie.
"We aren't going far. Just a tour of the winery, the property and maybe show her where my house is going. Although it's nothing compared to her place." He says to me.
"Emmett, stop. I would live happily with you in a shanty." She says, and they both chuckle at the thought.
"But we've talked about this. Why do you insist on saying stuff like that?" Rosalie says with her hands on her hips scowling at Emmett.
What's going on here? I look at the both of them and Rose sees the questions and concern on my face.
Edward looks at Emmett and Rosalie as well and knows what is at issue here.
"Emmett?" Edward gets his attention. "Emmett don't tell me you haven't told her." He says.
"Tell me what?" Rosalie asks with renewed interest.
Emmett just sits there glaring at Edward.
"Dammit Emmett, she thinks you have an issue with all the money she has doesn't she?" Edward says, glaring at him.
"Why would you let this become an issue for you? She thinks you are upset because she has more money than you doesn't she?"
"Edward?" I ask. "Your mother told me a little about you, is it the same for Emmett?"
"And Jasper." He says. I look at Rosalie and Alice contemplating whether to tell them the situation. I decide it's best.
"Rosalie, apparently these three boys are very wealthy trust fund babies and your little empire is a pittance compared to theirs so why you think he is jealous of your bank account, I don't know." I say to her and I see Rosalie look at him with her arms folded across her ample chest.
"Emmett? What's going on then?" Rose asks him.
"Aww Rosie, we need to talk about this in private alright?" He says, kicking the ground like he was kicking a rock.
"No, Em, these people are our family." That one statement says it all… we are family.
"Rosie, please!" He begs.
"Is it because I live in that big house?" She asks him.
"Partly. Part because I still live with my parents and that's embarrassing. Part because you live in the city and I will have my place here. Part because I don't see you wanting to change your plans for me. Part…..." He says before Rosalie interrupts him.
"Emmett, baby, I would go anywhere with you, you just haven't asked me." She says to him, bringing his face down to hers so she can kiss him. That was the sweetest thing I've ever seen her do.
"I want to be with you always, Rosie. But my job is here. I need to be here." He says putting his forehead down on hers.
"Well then you better get your house built and I'll need an office if I'm going to run Hale Transportation from Napa." She says.
"Yeah, and you can keep your office in the city for Michael to manage and you can run your other businesses from here, Rosie." Alice pipes in. "I will help you get set up as soon as Emmett builds his house."
"Yeah, and you can run yours from here as well. Jasper, Alice will need an office too if she's going to keep all of us in line." Rose says to him.
Edward and I watch our little children huddle and plan their new lives, as we smile at how happy they are planning their future. We chuckle at the sight.
He wraps his arm around my shoulder and says, "I haven't given you the tour of my place yet have I?"
"No, but it's been pretty busy since we arrived. How about tonight? Let's not go out tonight. Let's stay in." I say knowing he told his father he wanted to take me out.
"Alright. After the tour of the property."
"Hey you guys," Emmett says to us, "we are meeting at Froggy's after the tour for some beer and pool, meet us there at 5:00?"
"Not tonight Em…" Edward starts to say until Alice interrupts him.
"Come on, pleeeeeease." Alice says. "It'll be fun." She says tilting her head sideways jutting her hip out. "We are together here for only this weekend. We don't have to be out late. Just a burger, a couple pitchers and a couple games of pool. Then we can come home." She continues to talk us into it.
Edward and I look at each other and give in. "Alright Alice." Edward says. "We will meet you there at 5:00. But we aren't staying late." He says, looking into my eyes, kissing my ear.
"Let's get going." He says. "There's a lot I want to show you." And with that we walk toward the door and the other two couples follow us getting into their respective custom carts.
Emmett has a custom Escalade Cadillac and Jasper also has a Hummer H3 which has room for four. I can't wait to see what Esme and Carlisle have.
We drive past the main house which is busy with caterers and party planners organizing the seating arrangements and decorating I suppose. We drive down to the visitor's center to see Embry but he is busy with customers but he waves at us with a curious look on his face as if wondering what the heck am I doing with the CEO. Now he really must think I'm a planted spy. I giggle at the thought.
Edward takes me to the barrel room and it is beautifully lined with barrels of different kinds of wines. I see a full wall lined with "Edward's" on the label.
"Is this all your private reserve we've been drinking?" I ask him. Touching the rough exterior of the barrels.
"Not all of it. A new recipe is ready to bottle this year. I hope you like it just as well." He says, taking my hand and walking me through the aisles of the barrel room.
When he makes a left at the end of the aisle, we are in a dark corner of the building and Edward turns me into the cool wall and holds my face to kiss me. He presses his warm lips against the cool skin of my neck running his tongue up to my ear. He knows that's it for me. That it's my weakness. I lay my head back to give him access to the side of my face.
He runs his hands up under my shirt and under my sports bra, exposing my breasts to the cold air, making my nipples harden and he warms them with his mouth. I can feel the tingling begin.
After he has finished loving on my breasts, he runs his tongue over my lips. I tease him and when I don't open my lips for him like I generally do, so he runs his tongue between them like he would with my little girl if he wanted in there. Once he gains entrance into my mouth, our tongues wrap around each other in a deep sensual dance. God I love how deep and passionate his kisses turn when he crosses that line.
Once we are sufficiently turned on and desperately needing each other, he drops to his knee and removes my boots and then unzips my pants, removing them. He stares at my little girl then gives her a brief but forceful lick and a kiss. Once he has his jeans off, he lifts me around his waist and sits me down on his cock. With my back up against the wall he thrusts himself in and out of me while I hang on to him, meeting each of his thrusts. I can feel it build inside me and know that it won't be long now.
He turns us around where his back is up against the wall and I am holding myself up by his shoulders. I grind and circle my hips over his cock feeling him deep within me.
"My God Edward." I whisper. I can hear his grunts reverberate throughout the room as if we were in a cave.
"Fuck, Bella. I'm cumming baby." He says quietly, pumping into me harder and deeper.
I latch my mouth onto his and swallow his groans and give him my moans. But I can't hold back any longer.
"Edward… baby…Now, baby, cum with me." I say quietly and he thrusts in and I thrust down using the support of his shoulders to take all of him.
"Damn, Bella… I'm close… fuck, baby…" He grunts in my ear.
"Oh, Edward, ohgod..." And he gives me three more hard thrusts and then he falls to his knees and we bust out laughing.
"Shit, Edward this cement is freezing my ass." I jump off him and try to stand, clumsily getting off the cold cement floor. We are both laughing at the sight of us, trying to put our clothes back on before someone comes around to find us... namely Emmett.
"Fuck, those quickies are intense." Edward says zipping and buttoning his jeans.
"Thank you, baby. I needed that." I say to him, zipping my hoodie.
Edward kisses me hard on the lips and then takes my hand as we continue the tour.
Once we work our way out from behind the barrels, Edward takes me to an elevator to the offices. After the doors open it's like we are in a different world. It's like I'm back in the city and not at a green, lush winery. He takes my hand and we walk down a long corridor and there is a tall and skinny brunette sitting at a desk watching us approach.
"Hello, Angie." Edward says.
"Hello, Edward." She says in return.
"Angie, this is my Bella." He says, looking at me.
"I am so happy to meet you Bella. I was hoping he would bring you around so we could meet. If there is anything you need, I want you to call me. I do everything for Edward so if you need me…Here, let me give you my cell. Write yours down too in case I need to reach you or to find Edward." She says all executive assistant like.
"It's nice to meet you too Angie. Thank you for everything you did for us while we were at Tahoe. I appreciate it very much." I say to her as I write my cell down for her, watching her put her number in my phone.
"Okay, Angie, I am showing her the office then the property. I don't want you here as it is so go home. What are you doing here by the way? It's a Saturday." He says.
"I am working on changing pass codes to the various reports and programs. I will have the list for your use by Monday. I hope you won't need access to any of them this weekend?" She says.
"No, not until Monday." He answers her. "Also, Angie, I ran into Leah last night. It seems she doesn't want to make the sale without my involvement. Draft a letter to her telling her she has the contracted 30 days to refuse or buy starting on the date that she spoke to Jasper about the sale. Then I want you to call Alec to put him on alert that the club is for sale. I hate for it to go down since it's been doing so well, but I don't want any involvement with her name." Edward says to her as we continue to walk down the hall.
"Edward if she has no monetary involvement and no other involvement with the club other than the name, why are you selling it?" I ask him.
"Because, Bella. You are in my life now. I don't want her name next to mine anywhere." He answers as he opens the door to his office.
"Are you doing this for me?" I ask.
"Well, yes. And for me… for us. I don't want her associated with us." He says.
"Okay, I understand that. But if I don't have an issue with it, do you?"
"No, I guess not other than my love and respect for you and for appearances." He explains.
"Well if that's all there is to this, her name on the door, I think you should keep it. I love that club, Edward. I have had some good times there with the girls. We can go there on a date or something when I return to the city." I say to him running my hands up his chest and around his shoulders pulling him down into a kiss where I tease his mouth now.
He lifts me and turns me quickly, sitting me on his oak desk. "I'm going to fuck you on this desk, Bella." He says in a deep, raspy voice.
I lay back down on the desk waiting for him to remove my pants.
"But not today." He teases, tweaking my nipples through my bra and running out of the room, down the hall.
Wait. What?
"You son-of-a…." I say out loud, stopping out of respect for Esme, and chase him down the hall laughing at him as he runs away from me.
"EDWARD! Get back here!"
A/N: Little tease. A quickie in the barrels. The girls are helping with house plans, and things are cruising right along. Well… well… well. We have Tanya-bitch, Jacob-jerk, and Leah-hoe. Which one rears their ugly head first. Click the button down there, love it or hate it, I wanna hear about it.