I want a Mommy!
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. The plot, along with a few of the characters I add here and there belong to my ruthless muse.
Chapter Ten
"Where do you think you're going?" Edward asked, straightening his tie in the mirror and turning as he buttoned up his black suit jacket. They had spent yesterday in the panic room – house. After twenty-four hours of no additional threats, they decided to move out of lockdown.
"To class," Bella muttered, lacing up her Irish-green converse.
"Oh no, you're not. You're going to stay here," Edward demanded, his jaw tightening, his frustration building as Bella ignored him and continued fixing her hair into a sloppy bun as if he hadn't spoken.
"Edward, I have to go," Bella stated, jamming her text books back into her Kate Spade messenger bag.
"Can't you take a week off?" Edward asked, raking a hand through his hair roughly, she was going to turn him grey. Bella, for the most part didn't mind his I-don't-give-a-fuck- I'm Edward Cullen, and you'll bend to my way's attitude. She had watched politicians, her school dean, and other power people cave to his commands, but he had another think coming if he thought she was going to jeopardize her education. She had worked too hard, sacrificed too much to ruin it now.
Bella whirled around and pinned Edward with a hard glare. "No, I can't just take the week off. Do you know what next week is? Finals, Edward, Finals. So no, I'm not going to take a week or even a day off," she screeched tossing her hands up; she took a deep breath knowing Edward was trying to protect her, but she wasn't going to let fear rule her. "Andrew is going to be by my side the entire day. I'll be fine. I trust Antonio to keep you safe while you're at work, and EJ isn't staying home from school. I'm not naïve, I know the danger I'm in, but I won't risk my GPA, and I most certainly won't risk repeating a semester. I've worked too hard."
"Isabella," Edward hissed roughly, eyes narrowing.
"Don't, Isabella me, Edward. I'm not going to twiddle my thumbs while being locked up in Fort Cullens. I have a life and I'm going to live it. Andrew come here," she hollered down the hall.
Andrew entered the hostile room, standing awkwardly as his gaze bounced between his boss and his charge, but neither Edward nor Bella looked at him, too wrapped up in their own stare down, as they tried to get the other to back down.
"Andrew, what is your primary responsibility?" Bella snapped.
"To protect you, ma'am," he stated firmly.
"Exactly, we're not going to be gallivanting around the city are we? What did I tell you about the plan for today?" Bella asked softer, a smug grin tugging at her lips as Edward continued to scowl at her.
"No, ma'am. You're going to attend your classes, and then we're to come back to the estate. I'm also to remind you to cancel your lunch plans with Angela and Ben," Andrew listed his duties for the day.
"Andrew, take Jimmy with you, you're both on guard. She's not to even to use the restroom alone. Is that understood?" Edward issued coldly, straightening his coat jacket releasing a cross sigh.
Bella's smile was beautiful as she whispered thank you before lightly pecking his lips. Edward couldn't help but feel a little proud of her bravery to carry on.
Edward didn't get a chance to respond as EJ sprinted into the room. "Bella, helps me," he squealed giving her a wide toothy grin, motioning at the school uniform that he had attempted to button on his own which ended up crooked.
"EJ," Bella paused briefly as she snapped on his clip-on school tie. "I want you to have a super good day," she said with fake pep as she lifted him up and into her arms. "I want you to promise me that you'll stay with Marcus at all times, like we've talked about." He was heavy, but not overwhelming so, as she carried him down to the entrance foyer.
"Why? Is something bad going on?" EJ asked, his young, green eyes becoming clouded and watery with worry. Bella's heart clenched and tears sprang forth in her eyes.
"No," she started to say, but was quickly cut off by EJ's raised eyebrow silently calling her out on her lie. "Okay, yes, but you're safe. You like Marcus, right?"
"Yes, he's really silly and super strong." EJ giggled twirling a strand of Bella's hair.
"Yes, well, Marcus has a secret. He's a superhero with only one job in the whole wide world."
"What's that?" EJ asked peeking over Bella's shoulder at Marcus in wonder.
"To protect you," Bella stated seriously. "You're such a special boy that you have your very own superhero to protect you, especially when your Daddy or I can't be with you. Now, promise me you won't go anywhere without him, no wandering off alone." Marcus nodded discreetly at Bella that he'd do anything to keep the young Cullen safe.
"Okay, Bella." EJ agreed kissing her cheek gently before she passed him over to his father. She watched them as EJ hugged his father tightly. Thank you! Edward mouthed to his fiancée, his eyes lighter.
"You be safe, too, Daddy?" EJ asked fiddling with a button on his father's suit jacket.
"Of course, I have Antonio," Edward said reassuringly.
EJ leaned forward and whispered quietly, causing his father's lips to twitch and his heart to swell with love for Bella as he asked, "Is he a superhero, too?"
. . .
"So, what's up with the men in the black escorts?" Angela asked quietly linking her arm through Bella's, frowning at Jimmy and Andrew.
"They're my new BFFs, we go everywhere together, right guys?" Bella chirped sarcastically making light of her situation, not wanting to worry her longtime friend.
"We need to talk – alone, like yesterday," Angela whispered seriously, her eyes flashing between Bella's and her bodyguards'.
Bella glanced Angela over, and she could see something was seriously troubling her. Angela's hair was a tousled mess, thrown in a quick ponytail, her clothes were wrinkled, not Angela's typical polished style.
"All right boys, quickly check the classroom and then scoot," Bella ordered quietly, opening an empty classroom door.
"Ma'am?" Andrew questioned.
"You'll be able to see me through the door window. I won't be out of view," Bella improvised, it was twisting the rules, not actually breaking them.
Angela waited for the men to close the door before releasing a heavy-hearted sigh.
"Well?" Bella prompted nervously tapping her right foot.
Angela wrung her hands nervously, "Girly, I need you to listen to me. I know you think Edward is just a businessman and I thought that, too, until my sister's FBI boyfriend Tyler had a file on you and your romance with Edward. His father Carlisle Cullen, is a, vile man. He's been accused and tried for bribery, prostitution, money laundering, racketeering, illegal high stakes gambling, and murder, are just a few of the things the court tried to nab him on, he got off on a technicality, almost all of his associates are serving prison time, like, life prison time," Angela whispered lowly.
Bella's skin tingled as her stomach grew cold and heavy. "Wait, what?" Bella asked, collapsing into an empty chair and staring blankly at the empty chalkboard.
"Do I need to draw you a picture–Google them," Angela urged quietly, eyes darting back to Bella's bodyguards who were watching them from the door window. "You'll see what I'm saying isn't just campus rumors."
"This is crazy," Bella declared abruptly, not wanting to believe Angela. "I've got to go Angie," she muttered not looking back as she quickly left the room.
"Just think on it, please, Bella, I don't want to see you hurt. They're dangerous people." Angela screamed after her, pleading with her.
It can't be true… Bella thought as her Political Thought professors rambled Edward's words from the night of their engagement came back to haunt her. "Isabella, there's people, many people who want to hurt me, even a few who'd love to see me dead. I'm hated for the family name I carry, for the name I've made for myself, for my success and wealth."
…
Edward relaxed into his chair after receiving word from Andrew and Jimmy that Bella had returned to the estate safely with no sign of the threat.
"Aro, welcome," Edward greeted his cousin with a false cheerfulness.
"Eddie boy, what prompted this meeting, I've been trying to get in to see you for the last week, but you've been a busy, busy, boy?" Edward glowered at his childhood nickname rolling off his twisted cousin's lips. Aro was dressed sharply, but the materials that covered him weren't the same quality as Edward's. It was unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but Edward could see the financial struggle and the stress of being the head of the Volturi family had aged Aro.
"I found the time; what brings you to my city, Aro?" Edward asked flatly leaning back into his large office chair.
"I needed a break, Eddie boy, Chicago is all hustle – hustle to make a buck. I've always been overly fond of Seattle." There was a pause as Edward straightened in his chair leveling his cousin with a glare, not ignoring the underlying threat in Aro's voice, but Aro carried on unaffected by Edward's menacing stare. "Father knows of my affections, and he thought I should come and see how the Natives have been handling my business, being as my own cousin is too good to dirty his hands with the family business."
"I have no interest in the trade or the time," Edward said lowly, his lips curling upwards. "I'm a busy man." The first thing he had gotten his organization out of, was the drug and gun trade as fast and smoothly as possible. The Natives were a strong, well-manned, motorcycle club that Edward puppeteered from a safe distance. The Natives now handled Aro's trade. Spread the prosperity, was Edward's motto. The more he cleared his hands of his father's drivel activities, the more his personal wealth grew, and with his personal wealth so did his family's.
"How is Uncle Caius?"
"Not adjusting to retirement." Aro offered truthfully, leaning back as Edward poured them a drink. "I spend half my time convincing him out of his old way thinking, and the other half covering his seasoned ass. I don't have a fuckin' clue how you've handled Uncle Carlisle so well. He was the scariest sonofabitch growing up; I've spoken with him a few times this week, he seems happy – happier than my father."
"He's retired and he's not rotting in the State Pen," Edward bit out. "He can't afford to make the calls anymore. When I took over the family seat, it became mine, not ours to share." Edward smirked at Aro who returned Edward's taunting smiles with a snarl. "Mom keeps him busy helping with her fundraisers, and every so often he plans a high stakes night."
"I heard about your bar; have you found the culprit – arsonist?" Aro asked a little too casually. Edward didn't miss the flicker of a smirk that fluttered across Aro's face as he asked, "Ryan's, wasn't that your first bar?"
"Yes, thirteen years of success and loyal customers. There is no doubt they'll return once I'm able to reopen the bar," Edward said with a sly smirk, letting Aro know that the attack hadn't affected him.
"Oh, but I hear that people are starting to doubt the polish you've added to the Cullen name," Aro snarked. "Maybe people are starting to consider that the apple fell a lot closer to the tree than they believed."
…
Bella curled up on the sofa not really watching the Seattle late-night talk show as her mind whirled. Now that EJ was fast asleep and unable to distract her, her thoughts returned to Angela's words of warning. Bella shot up straight and fumbled with the remote turning up the volume as a picture of her and Edward looking cozy together flashed across the large television screen. "We have lots of questions tonight about the notorious Cullen family. Is Edward Cullen, Seattle's most charitable man as many claim? Or is it a cover for a more sinister mask maybe; Wolf, the apple didn't fall far from the tree after all? We all remember the fall of Carlisle Cullen's criminal organization five years ago."
"I don't know, Dixon," Wolf laughed. "Edward Cullen has been an upstanding citizen for years; the sins of the father are not the sins of the son. Edward Cullen has not had so much as a parking ticket."
"Ryan's favorite local bar, owned by Mr. Cullen, was struck by an arsonist late Saturday night when packed to capacity. Wolf, this makes a suspicious man out of me, maybe not all felonious ties have been broken? It appears someone might be after Seattle's infamous crime family." Bella felt dazed, as she clasped a hand over her mouth.
"And it could be a coincidence," Wolf chuckled. "Edward Cullen owns multiple businesses ranging from bars, a porn industry, hotels and casinos," Wolf barked back rolling his eyes at his over eager co-host. "He's been Washington's most eligible bachelor for four years running now? Or are the rumors true, is Seattle's favorite multi-millionaire settling down?" Another picture of her and Edward as they strolled the pier after their engagement, and then another of Edward kissing her engagement ring.
"We have many questions Seattle, and are prime inquiry tonight is, "Just who is Edward Cullen?"
…
"Antonio, keep the car warm," Edward ordered coolly keeping his facial features blank. "If you see anything of importance, call me."
"Of course, Boss." Antonio confirmed.
Edward strolled into the warehouse, his shoulders back, chest out, but his eyes gave him a sinister edge for they were cold and calculated.
"James is a noisy fucker, and the other man is calm as a cucumber," Emmett muttered.
"Emmett, this is personal; you might want to go home," Edward offered his younger brother an out. Emmett clasped his brother's shoulder; it had been a long time since he had seen his brother this low, this menacing. He knew in his gut Edward needed someone to watch his back to pull him back from the brink.
"Emmett and I aren't going anywhere," Jasper said. "How do you want to do this?" Jasper asked with a lazy smirk. Edward inwardly grimaced. Jasper had a knack for retrieving information from unwilling sources.
"Black, we're going to leave him alone, he's only here to confirm or deny James' story." Edward stated. "James – he's done something to Bella. It's past history, but it's bad enough that she thought he could be behind these attacks against my name."
"So, instead of asking your fiancée, we're going to torture a man that is supposed to make the family in a few months' time?" Emmett asked in disbelief; James was practically another son to their father. Not that Emmett, Jasper or Edward cared much for Carlisle's errand boy.
"I want the truth, the full truth," Edward snapped; he had never cared for James. "Not the watered-down version that Isabella would give me." He moved down the hall.
"What the fuck is going on man? The Cullens, they'll have your head for this shit." Edward's lips curled upwards as he took in James' screams.
"Pipe the fuck down – I'm reading," Sam grunted absentmindedly, turning a page of his book as Edward stepped into the dimly lit room. The walls were concrete, the air smelt stale and musty.
"Hello, James," Edward greeted as Sam stood up and quietly left the room.
"What the hell, Boss?" James grunted, wide eyed, pulling at his chains.
"James, I want answers and I'm neither patient nor kind." Edward warned lowly, his voice dark and ominous.
"Answers to what?" he squeaked suddenly terrified, this wasn't a sick prank.
"I want to know why my fiancée accused you of these attacks against my name and businesses?"
"I'm not… No. I'm loyal, Boss… what fiancée?" James began shaking his head in confusion, then his nostrils flared as he realized who Edward's fiancée was. "Fucking Bella," he swore spitting on the ground. "Listen, Bella and I, we have some bad blood that's all. I'd never go against a Cullen."
"What kind of bad blood?" Edward hissed through clenched teeth.
"The kind that will prevent you from marrying the little whore. Carlisle will never let you tie the knot with her." Edward slammed his fist into James' nose. Edward smirked coldly at the scream that ripped from James' throat as blood gushed out of his nose as he fell from his chair in pain.
"Get Black in here," Edward ordered forcing James back into his chair roughly.
"Sam I …man," Black grunted. "This is just a misunderstanding."
"Whatever this is you better fix it or you can forget about patching in." Sam, the president of the Natives MC grunted shoving Jacob into the room.
"Hello, Black."
"Mr. Cullen," Black took him in with a level dull stare. "Newton, it's been awhile," Black laughed hollowly, almost like he had been expecting this confrontation.
"What do you want, Mr. Cullen?" Jacob asked tonelessly, acceptant of his dire situation.
"I want to know why Isabelle would accuse James of burning down my bar?" Edward snarled emotionlessly, his grip tight around the metal handle of his handgun.
"James forced her into an abortion in our sophomore year, then taunted her for the rest of the semester, making her social life hell," Jacob informed Edward softly as James laughed maniacally.
"Jakey, Ol' Jakey, is that what you really think happened," James spat, spitting blood in his direction as Jasper took an intimidating step forward from the shadows.
"I know I stopped her from committing suicide on my damn cliff. I know that our taunting, our group dismissal and whatever you did, fucked her up enough she thought about ending her life. I know you turned one of the most beautiful and strongest girls I've ever known into a mousy pariah."
Edward stepped backwards as Jacob lunged forward picking James up from the chair. No one stopped him as Jacob shook James forcibly before knocking him into the cement wall behind him. "I don't know anything. All I do know is she disappeared for three and half fucking weeks after I told you she was pregnant, and she came back this skittish, mousy girl who jumped at her own shadow and never talked to anyone but the geek squad."
James cackled as a tear streamed down his face. "I kept telling her, pressuring her emotionally, physically. I played every card I could think of. I paid her thousands to abort the kid. My father panicked when she didn't; he even offered to pay for her college, any school Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, MIT. She kept telling me it was too late," James shouted half crazily. "I didn't know jack about pregnancy or abortion and Carlisle gave my father this drug to inject her with. My Dad told me it was either my life or the kid's, because no son of his was going to rot in the penitentiary for child molestation. I was eighteen and she wasn't even sixteen yet."
"So, what did you do?" Emmett glowered coldly surprising everyone.
"I did what Carlisle and my dad told me. I drove her up to Tacoma where Carlisle could handle the doctors who would keep her as a Jane Doe," James said bitterly. "Of course she didn't come easily. She's a spitfire, so much spunk, fought me the entire time; she begged, pleaded, kicked, scratched, but in the end she just tried to shield her stomach. I have scars from that night, injected her with fuck if I know, and she passed out and Dad rigged the car to crash." Edward felt his blood run cold as the lie Bella had told him about her scar. His father, his family had been involved in her torment, the loss of her child.
"It wasn't until later, afterward, when I learned she had been four months along," James sobbed. "I had been seventeen when she got pregnant," he spit bitterly. "I wouldn't have gone to jail. I killed my child for nothing, and it was easier to hate her so I tormented her, I bullied her, made her life hell along with mine."
No one spoke after his confession. Jacob lunged forward again, his fist raising and falling as he beat the holy hell out of the man that had once been his mentor.
"That's enough, Black." Jasper grunted pulling Jacob off of a bleeding James.
"I'm not my old man," Edward breathed feeling nauseous as he raised the 45 to James' head and pressed it against his temple. "I don't kill needlessly, but you—you make me want to put a bullet between your pretty blue eyes." He stared James down until the younger man averted his blue eyes to the cold concrete. Never had he felt the overwhelming urge to kill so ruthlessly. "Jasper, I want you to arrange Victoria's memorial flowers and have Jenks find and transfer James' international funds into trust for his young children. Emmett, please escort Mr. Black to the campus, and Jacob, tonight never happened." Emmett waited for Jacob's shaky nod before leading him out of the room. Jasper ignored James' pleading as he followed Emmett and Jacob out the door.
…
Edward entered his house quietly and Bella's voice drifted over him momentarily relaxing him until her words registered with his mind. "I'm not your hostage, you let me out of here right now," Bella screamed into Jimmy's face. Andrew folded his arms, a deep frown set on his face.
"Listen here, honey, you ain't going anywhere without a guard," Jimmy tried to sooth.
"Don't you honey me, buster or I'll kick your ass," Bella threatened harshly, her voice hitching.
Edward stepped into the security room, as he was met with Bella's hostile glare, he knew he needed to prepare himself for a fast approaching shit storm.
"What in the world is going on in here?" Edward asked casually. Bella scowled but her heart lightened at the sight of him.
Marcus piped up when Bella refused to speak. "Isabella tried to sneak out."
"You did what?" Edward snapped, his tone incredulous, the stress of the last few days eating at him.
"Oh! Don't you try to Jimmy Hoffa me!" She yelled trying to storm out of the locked room.
Edward let out an amused yet baffled laugh, "What the hell does Jimmy Hoffa have to do with anything?" He asked.
"I just... I just needed some air and to think. Everything – all of this is so, so far out of my belief system, and I couldn't wrap my mind around it. You're a... a mobster!" She shrieked, tears springing to her eyes as she stared at the man she thought she knew. Edward shot his guards a look and they all discreetly as possible fled the room.
"Isabella," Edward shushed, stepping cautiously forward.
"No – I've never so much as jay-walked, and you expected me to be okay with this?" She flung her arms around the room filled with monitors. "Sweet Jesus, Edward, my Daddy was the Police Chief. Angela told me what your dad was tried for, and it's all there on Wikipedia," she said, twirling her laptop around and showing him her computer screen. "Erica's FBI boyfriend is investigating your family; they have a file on me," Bella confessed, her eyes giving away her distress as she kept touching the old locket her father had given her for her tenth birthday.
"I'm not the monster you believe me to be," Edward whispered, stepping into her body space forcing his honest green eyes on hers as he pleaded his case. "How can I be a monster when my only thought is protecting and loving you and my son?"
"You can't say things like that," she cried, heart softening, her anger melting as she stared into his intense green eyes.
"I'm not my father, Bella," Edward declared. "I'm not responsible for his crimes; I'm only responsible for my own sins."
"And what sins do you carry?" she inquired trying to appear aloof, but her heart betrayed her as she searched his face, eyes for signs of the man she believed she knew.
"That I let a man live tonight when he should have died," Edward confessed quietly, his
words ringing in her ears.
'"You what?" Bella blinked, feeling as if the expensive carpet had been ripped out beneath her; he wasn't denying his family nor was he attempting to lie to her, he was confiding in her, trusting her. She paused as his body pressed against her as he reached around her and unlocked the door with a simple twist of the latch. She breathed him in; his expensive manly smell relaxed her, reached into her psyche and made her feel safe. She was sure his manly scent could only be found on him and not in the luxury exclusive cologne bottle that sat on his bathroom counter upstairs.
"Are you leaving?" Edward asked softly into her ear whirling her around to look at him. She knew in that moment as she stared into his haunted eyes that she wasn't, that she didn't want to leave him, but that didn't mean she wasn't still angry at being duped. He reached forward and gently cupped her cheek. "This is the last out I'm giving you. If you stay tonight, you're never getting away from me. You're mine forever, love," he warned darkly. "After tonight I won't tolerate it if you decide to walk away."
She walked off and up the stairs fully aware that he was stalking her, following her every move as he trailed behind her. Before she could open her bedroom door, Edward caught her arm and pulled her roughly against his chest, holding her against him as if it would be the last time.
His gaze was heavy and dull when Bella looked him directly in his eyes, the green eyes she loved so much. "What are you doing, where are you going?" he asked, his voice breaking, he couldn't phantom her staying.
"To bed – alone. I've told you before–I'm in," Bella whispered as he sucked in his breath before kissing her soundly on the lips, she pushed away from him softly. "I am angry and I need some time to think, to wrap my mind around everything, especially you being Jimmy Hoffa personified."
His eyes brightened making her heart jump. He let out a soft snicker before he told her, "Isabella, Jimmy Hoffa was a union boss not a mob boss."
Bella glared at him, but a smirk was twitching at her lips as she slammed her bedroom door in his face as he cackled in the hallway. She knew without a whisper of a doubt that she was crazily, madly, irreversibly in love with him; there was no out, there never had been.
Author Note...
Beta'ed by awaywithwords3
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