A/N: Early morning update today! I've got a hectic day ahead of me!

Betad by the lovely Michelle Renker Rhodes.

Most characters belong to S. Meyer.

Chapter 32 – Flying Fists in the Mud

EPOV

As Mr. S's arm swings down in an arc just a couple of inches from its intended target, I manage to grab his wrist and bend his arm back.

"Get off of me!"

But I'm already lifting him up and dragging him away, locking both of his arms behind his back while he struggles against me.

"Damn it, Cullen! Get off and let me school this asshole!"

Well, S is in his forties, but he's been working manual labor his whole life, and fuck, it shows, I'll give him that. I'm putting my all into keeping him caged.

"He's not worth it! He's not worth it!" I hiss while he fights to free himself.

Meanwhile, Cocksucker takes full advantage of the fact that Mr. S and I are locked in our own battle and crawls on his ass backwards like the fucking crab he is before swiftly standing up and out of the deep puddle in which he landed when S shoved him to the ground. He shakes off the thick layer of mud caked to his manicured hands and groans, wiping them on those previously perfectly creased slacks of his.

"Damn it, Charlie! I don't know what the fuck he's been telling you, but I didn't do anything to her!" he yells, straightening his jacket, adjusting that grey tie underneath, black eyes burning with fury. Emmett takes a stand in front of Eli, blocking him from Charlie in case he manages to get loose – which he's still struggling to do.

"He's filling your head with lies, Charlie! Come on! You know me! You and I have always been cool! I took good care of Bella!" he screams while the rain pounds relentlessly over the four of us. "You know I did! I took better care of her than this broke asshole will ever manage to do! He's just putting shit in your head!"

"He didn't put anything in my head!" Charlie roars.

Eli's head jerks back. Then his nostrils flare.

"Then I don't know what Bella's been saying," he scowls, "but she never had a problem with anything that went on in our relationship! It was all consensual. Maybe this asshole can't take the truth," he sneers my way, "so she's trying to play the innocent card and pretend she didn't enjoy every second-"

I'm already lunging. My vision tunnels. All I see is that disgusting, lying, vile mouth of his twisted into that sneer and still moving. My fist already feels the impact with his pointy jaw. It vibrates with anticipation.

Emmett pushes me hard, and I stagger backwards, almost landing in the mud myself. I right myself and come at him again, but it's my arms that are suddenly locked behind my back. Man, payback's a bitch; now I know how S felt.

"Get the hell off!" I roar.

Mr. S has me in a vice grip, but unlike him, I'm going to get loose. I'm going to knock every single one of the cocksucker's teeth out of his goddamn dirty mouth if it's the last thing I do on God's green earth. Some part of me registers that Emmett is in my face yelling something, but I can't hear him; I can barely even see him. There's a ringing in my ears, and all I see is that asshole behind him, sneering my way because he thinks he's safe, he thinks my hands are permanently bound and that the tower that is Emmett can keep me away, but what he doesn't know is that S's hold is slipping with the rain.

"Fuck!" S spits because I'm loose, and I'm charging, and now Cocksucker backs up, eyes bulging.

"That's right," I grin. "What now, Motherfucker?"

But Emmett's right there, and the absolute fear now in Cocksucker's eyes while he cowers behind Emmett just adds to my frenzy.

"Damn it, Emmett, get out of the way!" I reach for Cocksucker's neck over Emmett's shoulder, shaping my fingers into claws, but he stays just out of reach, and Emmett – well that one is basically a wall, the fucker.

"Not until you calm the hell down!"

"He's not worth it, Son. He's not worth it," S breathes urgently behind me. We've switched places it seems, and now he's throwing my own words back at me. "Listen to me; I was wrong to lose my head. You and I, we've both got people to think about. Think of your niece; think of my daughter and what you getting yourself thrown in jail would do to both of them."

My chest heaves. Blood pounds wildly in my veins, down into my forearms, making the bones in my knuckles throb with the need to pound them into this asshole. I glare at Eli, who watches me warily, hiding behind Emmett's skirts like the pussy he is.

And then I back up and look up at the sky and let out a loud roar, punching at air because I've got to get all this out in some way or form. I've got to let this anger go. I can't hang on to it. I've got to let it go.

For her.

For Mel.

After a few seconds, I drop my head, and I just…stand there…eyes shut tight, shoulders rising and falling.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Please. Please. Please.

…the wisdom to know the difference.

I've said this prayer, this mantra, maybe a thousand times in the past few months, but suddenly it's like…this invisible weight abruptly lifts off of my chest. My lungs expand. I draw in a deep breath of air, breathing in dust and grime and God knows what else, but it's…cleansing. Like none of it matters. She's home…waiting for me…for me. And she's safe. And no matter, what we've got each other, and we've got Mel.

Mr. S claps me on the shoulder, and I look up, and for a few moments, we just stare through the downpour, seeing shit in our rain-distorted faces that I don't think either of us saw before.

"I want him and the rest of his crew out of here," I hear the cocksucker seethe from somewhere behind me. "Off this job! Off this site! I'd rather hire some fucking gutter rats to finish this job than have-"

Mr. S eyes me for a couple of seconds more, and with a nod that seems more for himself, he sighs and turns around.

"That's not happening Eli." His voice is calm and composed once more, as if we've been shooting the breeze out here in the deluge instead of getting ready to put his buddy Eli in a grave.

"What?" Eli asks darkly.

"I said that's not happening," Mr. S repeats. When he walks closer to Eli, that one retreats a couple of steps, but I've gotten to know Charlie Swan better in the past few minutes than I have in the entire past few months.

He's not going to try to hit him - not anymore.

And neither am I.

That doesn't mean that Eli shouldn't be terrified. He should. Because under all of Mr. S's composed calmness, I see the real fire brewing; the same fire his daughter possesses. Mr. S's realization that the man before him deeply hurt his beloved little girl is something he'll never completely let go. In that way, he's a lot like…me.

But it's something we can't change, no matter what, and she's okay - and I finally know the difference.

"I'm the project manager at this site, and I say that Emmett and his entire crew are going to finish up here because they've worked their asses off on these lofts and have done a great fucking job for you and your partners."

"The hell they are," Eli sneers, making sure he keeps a few feet of space between himself and Bella's father.

"They are," Mr. S nods serenely, "or you're out more than a crew: you're out a Project Manager."

"Then I'll get a new one!" Eli challenges, straightening that tie that's now more brown and black than it is grey.

"This late in the game, finding a new project manager woulddefinitely delay your lofts, and that would mean extra expenses, and we both know how much you hate extra expenses. Besides, we are all going to finish up this job, or I will personally make sure that no project manager worth shit in the entire Tri-State area takes this job, or any future job of yours. I've been around this business since you were in diapers, boy. You don't want to mess with me."

Eli glares at him in open disbelief. "Charlie, what the hell are you doing? Come on! You and I have always had a great relationship, business and personal!"

Mr. S looks at him, but doesn't respond.

"I didn't do anything to Bella she didn't want done! I swear that to you!"

I shut my eyes tightly and breathe through my nostrils. "You want to keep your teeth, shut it right now. Don't even say her name," I snarl.

"Dude, just quit while you're ahead," Em suggests to him in an exasperated tone, wrapping a hand around my shoulder to hold me in place, but I shake my head, letting him know it's not necessary anymore.

"How am I supposed to keep that asshole on the job? You see the temper on him!"

Mr. S looks between all of us, back and forth, and then he sighs.

"I'll vouch for him; If he was hell-bent on hurting you, neither one of us would've been able to stop him. As long as you watch your mouth, Eleazar, there won't be a repeat of this at this site. Now, we're going to finish this job the way you and your partners requested, but once it's complete, all business dealings between you and I will be concluded. I won't be managing any of your future projects."

Then Mr. S starts walking away.

"Charlie!" Eli yells out. "Charlie, come on! You're going to take this maricon pelao's side over mine! You barely even know him!"

Mr. S turns around and backtracks a few steps, and Eli pulls his backwards dance again.

"This has nothing to do with him! This is about my daughter! And like he said, I don't ever want to hear her name coming from your mouth again!"

Eli quirks a brow and smirks. "That's going to be kind of difficult, Charlie, seeing as she and I own a business together, no matter who likes that or not."

Mr. S draws in a huge lungful of air. "That's something else I'll be taking care of soon."

"I'm not selling," Eli shakes his head.

"We'll see," Mr. S promises, and with those final words, he turns around and stalks past Emmett and me, signaling for us to follow.

OOOOOOOOOO

Emmett and I are silent as we follow Mr. S's truck out of the site. He circles around a few city streets while I glare at the windshield wipers swaying back and forth, back and forth.

"Em, Man, I want to apologize for that cluster fuck back there. You wanted me there to help out and instead I ended up-"

"Hey, that dude there is an asshole of epic proportions," he chuckles. "He would've tested the self-control of a saint. Didn't shut that trap soon I was getting ready to stick my fist in his mouth myself. You did good in holding off, Ed. 'Sides, Mr. S there started that shit," he snickers.

S parks in front of an empty warehouse. We park behind him and get out. The three of us are filthy, coated with hardened mud and sweat I feel all the way down to my balls. I see it on Mr. S's face as he walks towards us.

He scrapes a hand down that dirty face. "I want to apologize to the both of you for…the way I acted back there. I jeopardized your jobs, and I had no right to do that. I'm usually much better at controlling myself."

"Well, that makes one of us," Emmett jokes, but I don't respond one way or the other. He's her father, but a few, short weeks ago, I was in his house, and he was looking at me like I was the devil incarnate coming to claim his child.

"So you think we still have a job or what?" Emmett asks. "Should we report for work tomorrow, or should I start planning-"

"You still have a job, Emmett," Charlies assures him, patting his shoulder. He glances at me. "You both do. I know Eli…really well." He shakes his head with something like shame filling his features for a moment. "If he tries to get rid of you guys, I'll walk, and he knows he can't afford that right now. I wasn't kidding when I said I'll keep every good project manager out of his reach, and he knows it. Trust me, what matters the most to Eli is the bottom line, and he won't do anything to hurt his bottom line. It's a month; we do our jobs, and we're out of there."

"Sounds good to me," Emmett responds, crossing his arms against his chest. "One more month, we finish this up, and we move on to better things." He claps me on the shoulder. "You good with that, Ed?"

"Yeah," I nod, holding S's gaze. "I'm good with that."

"Alright, well." Emmett claps his hands in a "let's move on" kind of way. "Should we try to salvage what's left of the day? I don't know about you two, but fighting in the rain and in the mud always makes me all sorts of hungry, and as long as we seem to still have a job, I was told there was a nice, big, juicy turkey cooking not too far from here."

With a deep breath, I turn to Emmett and nod, uncomfortable now because I don't want to discuss Bella's Thanksgiving feast in front of her father – who wasn't exactly invited. Funny how a couple of hours ago, I couldn't give a damn.

"Come on," I start walking back towards Emmett's truck, "we'll talk about it-"

"Edward, you mind taking a ride with me? I'll drop you off at my daughter's place."

I close my eyes for one moment before looking at Emmett.

"Stop by Bella's at about five."

"You sure it's okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, she'll be thrilled to get to know you."

"Alright, Man. See you then."

He walks to his truck, and I take a breath before turning towards Mr. S.

I get in the truck, but we don't drive anywhere. For about five minutes we just sit there.

"I know it's not your place, but please, just tell me it wasn't…tell me he didn't…"

"He didn't," I assure him, my eyes on the windshield. The continuous rain distorts all the grey images outside into dripping, unrecognizable shapes.

"Oh thank God," he breathes out in a huff of relief. "Because that…that I would've killed…I couldn't…"

Silence again.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?" he says, an angry edge to his voice. "When I'm wrong, I'm man enough to admit it."

I angle myself to face him, this man, who's got the same eyes as Bella, and I know he loves her infinitely, but I still can't…I can't…

He should've protected her. He should've seen through that prick's clean clothes and smooth words, through all that money he threw their way. He should've kept him away from her. What does he think? We're going to sit here and be best buddies now? We shared a bonding moment? That other one is still involved in her life. He owns the studio with her, probably helping that other fucker Felix fuck with her career.

He should've known and kept him far away from her.

"Look, Mr. S-"

"Call me Charlie."

I barely resist the urge to roll my eyes because what the hell, are we going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya now?

"Mr. S, don't apologize to me. You didn't approve of me when you first met me, and I told you what I thought of that, and that's not changing because your opinion of that other guy may have changed. You've got issues with Bella, you need to work them out with her and not through me. I'm not going to be your new Eli."

"I'm not asking you to be," he says, all indignant.

"Alright then."

"Fine."

"And I'm not calling you Charlie."

"Jesus," he rakes a hand through his hair. "You're a damn hard man to talk to."

"So I've been told – by your daughter."

We hold each other's gaze – and then we both shake our head and chuckle.

OOOOOOOOOO

He drops me off at Bella's loft because it's gotten too late for me to head to Queens, and besides, I know how I operate: I'm in a shitty mood, and I need a couple of hours to let loose some steam, or else I'll just be shitty around Bella and Mel, and neither one of them deserves that.

So I text her and tell her I'll be waiting for them back at her place.

Alright. We'll be home in a couple of hours. Everything went okay this morning?

Yeah. We can talk about it more when you get home.

Ok. See you at home then.

Need me to do anything around here?

No, Baby. Everything's done, but thanks. Just get yourself nice and ready for me because when I see you, I'm going to jump you!

I chuckle at that one. She always knows how to lift me out of my dark moods, even through a cell phone.

You can jump me whenever you want.

I'll keep that in mind. Love you, Edward.

Love you too.

I look around her place, and it's big and comfortable, and I wish I could be the one to give her something like this.

And now…how the fuck do I explain to her now that after this morning, I'm lucky I still have a job?

OOOOOOOOOO

After a hot shower to scrub off all the caked up mud and rain that's seeped into every inch of me, I change into a tan pair of slacks and a white polo. I'll never be the fancy mother-fucker the prick is, but I think Bella prefers it that way.

Then I wander into the kitchen because it smells incredible, and with a deep sigh, I lean against the counter and text her again.

Are you on your way yet? I'm hungry and I need a bite of turkey and a bite of you, and…one more thing. We may have a few extra guests…

Thirty seconds later, it's Mel that texts me back.

Gross, Uncle Ed. Yes, we're on our way home. Bella is driving, but she says to tell you that we're bringing a couple of extra guests too…

A/N: Thoughts?

Reiterating: A couple of handfuls of chapters left. :)

Twitter: PattyRosa817

Link to 'Stories by PattyRose' is on my profile page.

See you all on Monday!