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LadySharkey1 rocks my world by being the most amazing, kick-ass beta I could ever imagine.
4.
Edward's first full day of freedom didn't get off to a bad start. Waking up severely hung-over may not have been his preference, but the memories of a good night out with his buddies—and the pretty blonde that followed—more than made up for it. Moving his limbs, he smiled, feeling thoroughly fucked as he stretched out. But this time, in a good way.
Scratching his ass, he sauntered across his hotel room to the bathroom, making the most of his freedom while he still had it. He knew that as soon as he'd arrive at his sister's later that day, a lot of it would be gone. True, he would still be free to come and go as he pleased, and his room would be a great deal more pleasant to stay in than the stinking little cell he'd spent the past couple of months in but, as far as being able to smoke, snort or fuck whatever he liked? He knew the past night had been his only chance to indulge.
And so he did.
As understanding as his sister had been about the somewhat seedier aspects of his life, he knew better than to bring it around her and the kids. Understanding though she may have been, Esme was too straight-laced to have his life of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll shoved in her face.
Let alone Rosalie's and Jasper's faces.
Not that he blamed her. Hell, if he'd been in his sister's shoes, he would have never let a godless hoodlum like him around his kids.
Really making the most of his freedom, he switched on the shower, brushing his teeth while he waited for the water to heat up before hopping in. He didn't waste a minute on unimportant things; his right hand immediately drifting south as his left braced against the wall. His mind filled with the memories of past night as his hand started to move, his breathing growing heavier as he found his rhythm—firm upwards with a little twist, slowly down, repeat—his groans reverberating against the walls as he reached his peak.
Satisfied in more ways than one, he finally turned off the water, quickly drying himself before wrapping the towel around his waist as he marched back into his room to get dressed. His mind now much more up to the challenge of spending the next foreseeable future boring himself to death in the Hamptons.
By the time Edward was ready to go, he'd almost changed his mind already. The thought of spending the foreseeable future trying to evade Esme's fussing and his brother in law's reproving glares had about as much appeal as having his prostate examined. The only good thing was that at least his nephew had the potential to be cool, though if he was smart, he'd stay as far away from Edward as his sister tended to do.
Sighing, he said goodbye to the hotel and parked his ass in the backseat of the car that was sent for him; the tedious drive to the Hamptons setting the tone for an even more tedious era in his life. Even jail would probably be more exciting than weeks spent hanging out by the sea, trying to fend off the advances of teenaged girls and their mothers.
And Carlisle.
He should have been glad that his sister had found a decent man. God only knew she deserved one after the shit both of them had gone through during their childhood. After all, didn't the fact that she had made it through relatively unscathed and able to set up a home for herself as she settled into motherhood and family life mean that there might be hope for him still?
Not that he really felt like settling down, though. At thirty, Edward didn't feel nearly old enough to tie himself to any particular lifestyle and with the reality of being on the road as much as any successful musician had to be, family life just didn't suit him. Besides, apart from Bree—his usual go-to girl whenever he felt an itch but didn't feel like putting any work into scratching it—his liaisons didn't typically last for longer than strictly needed to get the job done.
And none of those girls were of the type he'd bring around to meet his sister.
A couple of hours later, he was deposited right in front of the large, classic timber beach house that housed his sister's family every year for the summer. As soon as the car had rolled to a stop, the front door opened and a familiar figure dashed out to meet him.
"Edward!" His sister's look matched the vibrancy of her greeting; the hug she gave him evoking emotions only a hug from a person who'd been through as much shit as you had could. "I'm so happy to see you, baby brother! I wish you would have told me when you got out. I would have come to get you from that place."
It didn't escape Edward's notice how Esme carefully avoided mentioning prison. Her denial about the seedier aspects of his past had always been so formidable that at times she even managed to convince herself that her brother was a good man.
"It's good to see you, too, sis." Edward sighed, allowing himself to get lost in the love so freely offered for a moment before he disentangled himself from her hold. "I had Aro pick me up yesterday. I knew you were here and I didn't want to put you out. Besides, we had a lot of business to discuss anyway."
"Well, you're here now," she soothed, "and judging from the look of you, you could do with a good meal."
"I wouldn't say no to that!" Edward chuckled, eager to enjoy the fruits of his sister's chef's famed cooking skills. "So, how's the family?"
"Everyone's great!" Esme all but squealed as she procured a mouthwatering sandwich from the fridge. "Carlisle is at work, of course, but you'll see him later on tonight as he promised me he'd be back in time for dinner." Edward rolled his eyes. As if he'd be happy to sit at a table with that tool of a husband of hers. "And the kids are out with Bella, their new caretaker."
"You've hired a nanny? Are you finally ready to admit defeat?" Edward mused, the irony in his voice causing his sister's eyes to narrow into slits.
"She's not a nanny per se," Esme was quick to clarify, looking a little miffed as her brother put his finger right onto a very sore spot. "She's merely here on standby so that if I have to go into town, the kids won't be forced to tag along. Bella's here so that we can all have a happy, relaxing summer."
Edward smiled, feeling quite curious about this woman on stand-by. At best, she could prove to be a nice little distraction from the tediousness of his life. At worst, she was only going to add to it.
"Don't you dare!" His sister was quick to warn him. Thirty odd years of seeing her brother's thoughts reflected on his face having given her an uncanny ability of reading it. "Bella is a sweet girl—not the type of woman you usually go for. And apart from that: she's the daughter of Carlisle's best friend. Please, don't go there."
"Fine," Edward agreed, crossing his fingers behind his back as he did so. If anything, his sister had only sweetened the deal.
And boy did she live up to the fantasies his mind had started to fill with. As she finally made an appearance, his eyes were immediately drawn to her. Not even Rose's cool greeting and Jasper's much more eager 'hello' could sway them away.
She was flawless; her appearance reminded him of Snow White from the fairy tale his mother used to read to him when he was little. She was pure, unspoiled by the artifice that weeded through the circles he usually moved in. And above all…she was beautiful.
"Bella, meet my brother, Edward," Esme introduced her, her eyes narrowing with discontent as she caught her brother's reaction. "Though you might have heard of him. Edward, this is Bella Swan."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella Swan," he spoke, his lips curling up into a smile as he turned up the charm and saw his efforts rewarded with a fierce blush and one damn fine effort to get the hell out of dodge as she scrambled to herd the kids upstairs to help them get cleaned up before dinner.
Ah, dinner!
It proved to be as tedious an affair as Edward had feared. From the get-go, he had to dodge bullets left and right as the pater familias made his displeasure at having the wayward Cullen son under his roof known in his disapproving looks and thinly veiled jabs.
"So, you're out of jail," he started, his eyes narrowing as they zoned in on Edward as if trying to find some remnants of prison still clinging to him.
Sitting back, Edward smirked, determined to give back every bit as good as he got. "I wouldn't be sitting here if I wasn't, would I?"
Bella leaned over her plate, ill at ease under the topic the conversation had steered into. It was a good thing Carlisle had been so late to come home that the kids had their dinner in the kitchen before retreating upstairs. Just like the previous night, she had been sucked unwillingly into this argument with no escape from it, unless she excused herself, thereby drawing more attention upon her herself than she wanted.
"If it were me, I wouldn't act so smug," Carlisle huffed, his steak knife clanging against the plate as he sawed into his huge piece of meat with a bit more aggression than the poor dead animal on his plate warranted. "Especially not considering the reason you were in there in the first place. Let alone the fact that you brought shame over your name and your sister was worried sick about you for months."
And that was just why he disliked Carlisle. Sure, the guy was about as good as Edward was bad, but seriously, did he have to be so fucking pompous about it? And what did he do to contribute to his family's wellbeing anyway? He spent his days either at the office or schmoozing it up at some country club and Edward was convinced that it wasn't for the many pictures hanging on the walls and the occasional appearances the guy put in at family dinners, his kids wouldn't even have known who he was. "It must be nice to be able to ride that high horse all day," Edward sneered, his humor growing as he saw effect of his words in the hard set of Carlisle's brow and the way Esme kept shooting worried looks between them.
"Edward, please," she begged, the sigh in her voice, however, betraying that she already knew how this was going to end. Not well. Over the years she'd had enough front row seats to similar arguments to know that this would end either with Carlisle or Edward storming off; the words spoken before that deciding whether or not she would have to fight her husband yet again, to keep her brother close.
"If you'd ever managed to stay on the right path for longer than your sister can persuade you, you'd be able to get on your own damned horse and pass judgment on us," Carlisle scolded, his hands balling into fists against the table cloth at the audacity of his brother in law, "but until then, you're nothing but a failed man."
"Car-" Esme started before her brother's scathing voice cut through the soft sound of her anguished voice.
"It takes one to know one, doesn't it?" Edward snickered, patting his full stomach as he leaned back in his chair, his eyes shining with mirth. "Tell me, dear brother in law: how much time did you actually spend in your kids' company this past year?" Grinning, he watched as a look of discomfort passed over Carlisle's face. He had him where the man was weak. And they both knew it. "Because I have a sneaking suspicion that even though I've been in jail for most of it, the scales still tip in my favor."
"And yet you sit here, eat my food and sleep in one of my beds, you ungrateful little brat!" Carlisle snarled, slamming his wadded up napkin down on the table as he pushed his seat back. "Next time you decide to screw up your life so badly you need your sister's help to pull you out of it all, you'd do good to remember whose money is backing your corner."
Edward had to fight the urge to chuckle as Carlisle stormed off; all theatrics and rage with his wife hot on his heels. He knew he probably should have felt bad for ruining his sister's night and what looked like a lovely dinner.
But he didn't.
Carlisle started it and boy did the fucker have it coming! As much as he didn't want to complicate Esme's life even more, both of them knew that Edward had never been the one to walk away from a good sparring match. It just wasn't in his nature.
Looking around him as he cut off a big, juicy slice from his steak, his eyes fell once again on the babysitter who apparently was trying to blend in with the furniture by acting as mousy as she could. It didn't work, though. With a girl who had eyes as big and expressive as hers, she would always have people spellbound.
After he'd stared at her for some time, his interest piquing to a height it hadn't seen in quite some time, she finally stood, her hands trembling and her whole being visibly uneasy under so much scrutiny. "I should probably check on the kids."
"Yeah, you probably should." Grinning, he raised his wine glass towards her before emptying it in one gulp. "Have a good night, little mousy."
Thoughts?