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. Edited by Sjdavis84 and StillDreaming85.
WARNING: This story contains mature themes and is intended for mature readers.
EDWARD CULLEN.
I had taken Isabella back to my room and gave her a mild sleeping pill. I took my shirt off and dressed her in it, somehow I didn't think she would react too well if she woke up naked, next to me.
It was now well past nine in the morning. I had never been a person to sleep in, so this was a first for me.
I knew she was awake, I didn't need to face her to know that.
She was laying on her side facing in my direction. Both her hands were tucked under under the pillow where her head lay. I felt her eyes on me and knew she was watching my every move.
I turned on my side to face her. She quickly closed her eyes, pretending to still be asleep, it could have worked for her had she been able to control her labored breathing. I hoped she was not about to have another attack again.
"I know you're awake, dolcezza." I chuckled. "Open your eyes."
Her eyes fluttered open gently. She studied my face with a cautious expression.
"Are you alright? Does your head hurt?" I asked.
"No, I feel fine," she assured me.
She sat up, pulling the covers along with her, wrapping them securely around herself until she realized she was clothed. Her brows knitted together in confusion as she stared down at herself.
"I figured you might not appreciate waking up in bed next to me, naked," I said.
"You dressed me?" She asked, pulling the covers back to take a look.
"I did."
"Did you…" She swallowed nervously. "Did you sleep next to me?"
"I did."
"Oh."
I watched her as she debated with herself. Biting on her lower lip, she threw the covers off of herself and climbed out of bed. She tried pulling my shirt down as far as it would go.
I couldn't help but groan at the sight in front of me. She was something else, something unique. The new hair color suited her, it made her bright eyes stand out that much more. She was beautiful, and even with the black circles under her eyes from the smudged make-up, she still took my breath away.
"Can I...Is there a bathroom I could use, please?" She asked.
"Over there," I said, pointing her to the bathroom door.
She was quick to run out of my sight. She locked the bathroom door, it didn't worry me, she had nowhere to go, there were no windows and no other door.
I threw my head back on the pillow, rubbing my fingers roughly over my eyes. What am I doing? What am I thinking?
I felt bad for her. She was the only innocent party in all of this mess, and if Anthony had let me handle things the right way, Charles Swan would be buried in concrete right now and Isabella would have never needed to be involved in any of this.
She could have gone on with her life. She could have been normal. She would have been another nobody walking aimlessly through her life.
When we were younger, my mother always told us that everything happens for a reason. Every person that comes into our lives comes in with a purpose, nothing is by chance.
My mother believed in fate, but my mother is also at times a hopeless romantic and somewhat stupid.
Fate, the notion itself made me want to laugh out as loud as I could. If that were true, what was Isabella's purpose here? Why would fate have dealt her such a cruel hand?
I came out of my thoughts when I heard the bathroom door unlock. The little bambolina came out, her face washed and free from all that caked on make-up. She stood there nervously chewing on the inside of her cheek.
"Come here," I said.
She took hesitant steps back towards the bed, holding onto the front of that shirt for dear life. Although I couldn't blame her fear. I couldn't begin to understand what must be going through her head, and I think Anthony had fucked her up even more last night.
When she was close enough for me to reach, I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards me. She fell on top of me and I held her around her waist. She felt good laying on top of me. She felt right here in my arms.
She looked down at me with her wide eyes. With her so close now and her make-up removed, I could see the faint bruise on her face from where Anthony had hurt her.
"I'm sorry," I said, gently tracing the tips of my fingers over her cheek.
"It's not your fault," she said.
Wasn't it? Didn't I have the power to stop Anthony if I wanted to?
Yes, I did. But if I took that course of action, what would I do with her? I couldn't very well keep her, not when she was still the number one missing person in the state.
The search for her still hasn't died down, not even after two months. Though my family is no longer of interest to the FBI where she is concerned, that does very little for me.
Charles knows that Anthony and I have her, and to be honest, I am surprised he has not voiced it yet. I am surprised he has not made any commotion and sent them after us,
but he knew that if he did she would be as good as dead. If Charles alerted anyone, I would not have a choice in the matter but to kill her.
Did Charles think his silence was the best option for his daughter right now? Would he rather let her be passed around from man to man and have god knows what done to her than be dead?
I guess he really was a selfish man, because if the roles were reversed and I were in his shoes, I would wish my daughter dead than to suffer that fate.
"Can you please let go of me," she said, wriggling about in my arms.
"No, I like you here," I said.
"Please," she begged. Her thigh was pressed against me and I knew she felt my hard on, her face flushed.
"I will, on one condition."
"Condition?"
"Agree first, fiorellina," I said.
"I...what condition?"
"Say yes," I insisted.
"Yes to what?" She asked, confused.
"Say it."
"I...Uh...Yes," she finally said.
"Kiss me."
She shocked the hell out of me when she crushed her lips to mine, hard.
I gripped the back of her neck and held her close to me, letting my tongue dance across her bottom lip begging her to open up, and she didn't disappoint. Her need matched my own, dare I say, even more.
The way her body felt in my arms, and the small moans she was making into my mouth, had me lose control.
This shouldn't happen, yet I couldn't stop it and she did nothing to help me either.
Her little tongue ran across my bottom lip and that's all it took to send me over the edge. Fuck me, I was acting like a sexually frustrated teen. But right now, I had become a starved man. I had a craving, a addiction and only she could satisfy me.
I flipped us over so I was now hovering above her. She looked up at me with hooded eyes, no sign of fear or regret present.
"Tell me to stop," I said, grabbing her leg and hitching it around my waist.
"No," she said with determination.
"Why?"
"Please, Edward," she begged.
"Why aren't you afraid of me?" I asked, kissing a trail around her neck and shoulder blade.
"I don't know," she admitted.
I sighed and lifted myself up off of her.
No matter my needs, It did not matter that I wanted her this way. I couldn't do this, not to her, not like this.
"Edward?" She said, sitting up.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you. Please forgive me."
She sat there watching my every move, as I took out another shirt and dressed myself. I fixed my tie and slipped my shoes on before having the courage to turn back around and face her.
Her face still flushed red, and her eyes held onto those tears, refusing to let them free. If she did cry, I would crumble, I know that.
But this was wrong. She should not be this willing, this accepting. She should be afraid of me, yet she's not and it only makes me more confused. Her fear, I can understand, but this willingness, it's bewildering. I want her, I do, but I can't and as much as I know what will come, it is what it is and I will leave her in the hands of my brother.
"Goodbye, fiorellina," I said.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"Goodbye."
"Wait," she shouted as my hand reached for the door knob. "Am I ever going to see you again?" She asked, now standing in front of me. Face to face, so close to touch.
"No, you won't," I told her, avoiding looking her in the eyes, I would not leave otherwise.
"Oh…"
I turned the knob. She put her hand on top of mine. My hand gripped the knob painfully tight, but I didn't move.
"What's going to happen to me now?"
I ignored her question and left her there in the room, slamming the door shut behind me. What would happen to her?
I knew what was going to happen to her. I knew what my brother was planning for her. I doubt she would survive, she was too fragile, too innocent for such a world.
Maybe it was all for the best, death would be better for her than here.
DINY
A week flew by. A week since I had left...Her in my room in the underground. A week since I don't know a thing about her fate. Anthony won't tell me and I don't...I don't think I can handle knowing. This was for the best. Whatever it was I was feeling towards her, it was nothing but a mild infatuation, a small addiction, or at least that's what I am trying to tell myself.
"I don't like you," Sofia said.
Heidi's arrival had been more than I expected, in fact, she was not what I had expected at all. She was obnoxious and in the few hours that she has been here, she had managed to get on my every last nerve.
I should and probably will end up killing my father for this, Heidi was supposed to be a shy and quiet girl who did not speak a word of English.
She knew English very well, in fact, she has already laid out her demands.
Our wedding is to be in a month. She want's a big and lavish production and she wants her family and her friends flown in from Italy and housed here. As my wife, her father told her she can expect gifts and the very best of everything. She has already stated her disappointment about the fact that I have not yet gotten her an engagement ring.
"Sofia," my mother said, with a tight smile. Rosalie did not bother discipling her daughter, in fact, I think she would encourage her more. My brother, he was having the time of his life laughing quietly at us all from the corner of the room.
"Uncle Edward, she's not even pretty," Sofia continued on.
"Sofia, that's enough," Emmett said.
"She's only telling the truth," Rosalie mumbled.
"You are a little brat," Heidi spoke in a thick accent.
"Don't you dare speak to my daughter in that tone," Rosalie said, glaring a hole through Heidi.
"Do not let her speak to me like that," Heidi fired back.
Sofia stuck out her tongue at the infuriating woman beside me, who despite the other five people in the room, raised her hand up to my niece. I caught her wrist and stood up, bending down right into her face.
"You ever think about touching her, and it will be the last thing you ever do," I said.
"She needs to learn respect," Heidi said.
"You are the only one here who needs to learn respect."
I could not take this. How the hell was I supposed to take that woman as a wife, how was I supposed to live with her, when in the five hours that I have known her I could not stand the sight of her.
It was the sound of Emmett's phone that brought me back into reality. I let go of Heidi's arm and went and picked up Sofia.
"I don't like her," she whispered into my ear.
"Neither do I," I whispered back.
"Please don't marry her," she said, making that little puppy dog face at me.
"I'm not going to, don't worry." I kissed her cheek and put her back on her feet.
"Yes...Yes...No...Yes...No...No...Yes," Emmett said, ending his call.
"What is it now," Anthony whinnied.
"We need to talk, now," Emmett said.
"Is everything alright?" My mother asked.
"Yes, it is. Emmett and I have some business," I said.
Emmett, Anthony and I, left the women in the room. If Rosalie did not end up killing Heidi by the end of the night, then I'm sure our mother would.
"What's going on?" Anthony asked.
"That was detective Black," Emmett said. "They have had a tip about the missing girl. A warrant has been issued for Anthony's arrest. They are on their way to your apartment now, man. Please tell me that girl isn't there?"
"Fuck," Anthony yelled.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"She's with Victoria." All the blood drained from my face as he spoke those words.