Thank you for the amazing feedback. As always, I'm forever grateful for Frannie who makes my words readable.
Ever since Edward had seen my dress for the evening, he shifted into my dark knight. He even backed Jake into a wall of the garage for commenting on the revealing cleavage I was showing. Jake looked positively terrified, which was no easy feat to achieve. Thankfully, he didn't back down from his promise to act as our driver to the party.
It wasn't like we could show up in Edward's car at such a fancy event.
When we arrived at the reception, he looped an arm around my waist, which felt a tad too possessive for my liking. I caught him glancing at my barely hidden boobs and saw his jaw clenching.
I hadn't liked the dress when Rose first showed it to me, but now I love it. Everyone's attention was on my chest, not on the noticeable bulge around my thigh where I was carrying my favorite tactical knife. Edward had a set of rings that could rival a knuckle punch, along with his own tactical knife strapped to his ankle.
We walked through a sea of flashes and reporters screaming his name. Once inside, we were greeted with Champagne glasses.
"If we can't do it tonight…" I whispered, worried at how many people were present.
"There will be another time," he murmured. "I'm actually leaning on another time. I want to show the city who they voted for."
I spotted Volturi at a table near the stage. His daughter, so young and small, was looking around, frightened.
"For her," I said softly.
Edward nodded, leading us to their table.
Volturi stood when he saw us approaching. "My, I didn't think you were coming. I heard you had a fight with Carl."
Edward rolled his eyes, standing tall. "When don't I fight with him?"
"And you brought your lovely fiancée," Volturi said, delighted. "You've met Jane, my daughter, right?" He waved to her. "She's feeling a little off. Teenagers, you know? I'm going to check where my son has run off to."
I pulled the chair closer to Jane, making her reel back and stare at me, panicked. She relaxed slowly, her anxious eyes glancing at Edward.
"I'll mingle," he whispered into my ear, squeezing my shoulder.
"Be careful." I turned my attention to Jane, who was watching me, confused. "Hello, I'm Bella."
"Jane," she mumbled. "We've met before."
I was surprised she remembered me since that had been many years ago. "It's true," I agreed. "I heard from your dad you weren't feeling well. I never liked these events growing up, either," I said, hoping to make her talk.
"It's not that. I used to like coming here," she admitted in a small voice.
My eyes went to her stomach when she leaned back, and I felt like throwing up again. She was already showing.
"What changed?" Tears sprung into her blue eyes, and I couldn't help but lean over to hug her. "Shh. You can tell me," I promised.
"I can't," she cried. "It's horrible."
"Did someone hurt you?" I had to make her talk.
She shrunk into my side when her father returned with his wayward son and Dr. Cullen. Jane whimpered, shaking like a leaf.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Dr. Cullen drawled. "You sure decided to play your role to the hilt, Ms. Swan."
"I see you're feeling better, Dr. Cullen. I heard the votes are in your favor," I said slowly.
"Yes, yes. Where is my nephew?"
"Around." I glanced over my shoulder, but I couldn't see him.
He nodded, his eyes sliding to Jane. The bastard winked at her before he sat down and continued his conversation with Volturi.
Her twin brother huffed, sitting on Jane's other side. "Stop crying. You deserve it."
"Excuse us," I said loudly, pulling Jane to her feet. "We're going to the powder room."
By the time we reached the bathroom, the poor girl was a mess, sobbing openly. Clearly, her brother was influenced by his father because he couldn't be that heartless at thirteen.
I placed my hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Tell me what happened, Jane. What did your brother mean?"
She sobbed into her hands as she confessed how her dad told her not to embarrass him if Dr. Cullen wanted to play. But she didn't like his games, and now she found herself carrying a baby when she was a baby herself. I cried along with her, but inside, my blood was boiling.
I was ready to slit Dr. Cullen's throat and then Volturi's for doing this to his daughter.
I let Jane know she could tell me anything as we left the bathroom. She returned to the table while I went in search of Edward.
I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking, so I bumped into someone. Sadly, it turned out to be an old acquaintance of mine from high school. James Whitmore had been my number one fan, and my dad had gotten me a restraining order against him during college.
"Bella, long time, no see," he said leerily, his eyes on my cleavage.
"Ten yards distance, James," I muttered, walking around him. But he caught my elbow, and before I could knee him in the groin, Edward materialized next to me.
He wrapped his fingers around James's neck, lifting him and growling loudly before he shoved him away. Then he turned to check on me, his eyes anxious.
"I had it under control, Vengeance," I whispered.
"Do you know who that sleaze is?"
"Do you?" I retorted.
"He's always attempted to…steal…my girl of the night. Maybe steal is not the right word, but he's always made his moves on each and every girl I attended events with."
"Well, we are old acquaintances," I explained. "I have a restraining order against him for harassing me through high school and college."
"Jesus." Edward turned to glare in his direction as James backed away. He walked me to the front table, playing the jealous and upset fiancé to the dot.
While Edward talked politics with his uncle and Volturi, I engaged Jane in mindless girl talk. I had a feeling she didn't have many friends. I programmed my number into her phone, cementing my promise from earlier that I was a call away if she needed me.
By the time the winner of the election was about to be announced, which was obviously going to be Dr. Cullen, I was rethinking our decision to keep him alive. Edward kept a hand on my thigh above the strap holding my knife to prevent me from jumping across the table and stabbing his uncle in the neck.
Carlisle thought he could get away with anything. According to his way of thinking, I was a woman, so I was brainless and couldn't talk for myself. He kept talking shit about my dad and how he'd always been in the way of making this dream come true. Now, with Volturi at his side, he had faith they'd be able to be the leaders the city needed.
Edward warned his uncle several times about the way he was talking about my dad, especially with me right there. His words were dismissed with a wave of a hand, and Dr. Cullen kept prattling about our families uniting and what a pity it was for my name to die with me. The city would forget about the Swans in a decade or two.
"The city will never forget what my family did for its well-being," I shouted, getting on my feet.
"Isabella," Edward whispered, placing his hands on my hips. "My uncle knows this very well. He's had one too many tonight."
I turned to look at him incredulously. He begged me with his eyes to drop it.
"Well, well…I'd love to hear more of your opinions about your daddy before I tell you who he really was, but I'm needed there." Dr. Cullen shot me one of his most evil looks that sent chills down my spine.
Some woman from his staff came to get him for his speech, and I fell back in my chair with a huff.
"Don't be too upset. Children never really know who their parents are until they're no longer around. Pity, really." Volturi shook his head before turning his attention to the stage.
Edward was glaring daggers at Volturi, his fists clenched in his lap. I covered one of his hands, slowly threading our fingers together. It felt strange to hold hands. I couldn't remember the last time I'd done it. Maybe with some family member when I was young, definitely not with any other boy or man.
"He's talking about me," Edward said under his breath, just for me to hear.
I kept my eyes on the stage, not hearing any of the lies Dr. Cullen was spewing. "You…the other you?"
His hand squeezed mine. "Yes. They blamed your dad for associating with me to clean the city in an unethical way."
Tears blurred my vision, but I kept looking at Dr. Cullen, feeling a deep rage stewing inside my body. That asshole wanted me dead. I'd heard it loud and clear the previous night. And if that didn't work out, he wouldn't hesitate to kill his own blood before making me his wife to get both my money and Edward's.
I idly wondered what my dad would have done in this case. He'd have most likely asked for Edward's help because he couldn't fight such corruption alone.
Something I'd learned from him was to take out the bad seeds, to let the good ones flourish.
We had a lot of bad seeds in our path, but the worst two were Dr. Cullen and Volturi. It was almost a joke what we'd been doing in the past. These minor criminals were nothing compared to what we were supposed to fight.
I startled when Edward pulled his hand from mine to clap unenthusiastically. I mimicked him, my stomach roiling.
We had allowed the worst man possible to become mayor.
"Is it polite to leave now?" I asked under my breath.
"Let me have a chat with him once he's back. We'll go after." Edward leaned closer, kissing my temple.
It turned out that Edward got entangled in a long conversation with his uncle and several of his associates. I was itching to return home and put everything we knew on paper before making a solid plan to take out the bad seeds.
When Edward returned to my side, looking apologetic, I got up, allowing him to pull me into his side. He told the table we were leaving. He got approving looks from the sleazes, who admitted they'd leave early too if they had such a pretty thing like me to take to the sheets. Edward played his usual playboy role to the dot, though I noticed the murderous look in his eyes.
I bid goodnight to Jane, who sketched a small smile in return.
Jake was in a chatty mood on the way home, asking if we'd talked to any important people. It turned out the drivers liked to gossip, and he told us a lot of dirt about both Edward's uncle and Volturi.
"We need to make a solid plan," I demanded.
"I started working on something while you slept earlier," Edward admitted. "It's mostly all the information we got so far and how we can answer to it without getting ourselves killed."
"Now I wonder if Emmett ever heard such dirt before," Jake pondered.
"Emmett never got involved in mindless conversations with the other drivers. He usually stuck close to me wherever we went," I reminded him. "But I see where you're coming from. These drivers know more than they're paid to keep their mouths shut."
"It's impossible to make one of them talk unless you're one of them," Edward said softly. "I tried it some years ago. Their mouths seemed sealed shut."
"Oh, one of them mentioned that freak who comes out at night to bring justice attempting to get him talking some years ago," Jake acknowledged. "I should have known he was talking about you."
"What did he say?" Edward demanded.
"Let's get home. I want to have paper and pen in front of me when we discuss this," I insisted.
Just as we pulled into the driveway, Edward's phone rang. His poker face didn't give much away, but I could tell he was distraught. He accepted the call and left the car, pacing with his hand in his hair.
Jake pulled me inside the house while I stared over my shoulder at Edward, radiating anxiety.
I went to my room, taking my laptop from where Edward had abandoned it. There was so much information thrown into his notes that it made my head hurt. He definitely knew a lot more than me; that was clear.
I was about to start typing my own sparse info when he burst through the door. He threw his suit jacket to the bed, sliding the tie from around his neck as he worked on undoing his cuff buttons.
"Rain check on our conversation," he said urgently. "Something came up."
I stared, mesmerized, as he undressed before heading to his suit, sitting in a pile by my closet. I shot up from the chair. "Where are you going?"
"To help a friend who I got in trouble. Remember my early morning phone call?" He didn't even look at me as he spoke. "Well, he got caught doing my dirty work."
"Shit. Wait. I'm coming with you." I struggled to reach my zipper and get out of my dress.
"No. I won't be long. It's my mess," he said softly.
"But…we're a team," I mumbled, feeling like he was pushing me away.
"Yeah, the brains of the team needs to find a solid plan for our next move. The brawn of the team needs to save a friend." Edward came to my side, cupping my cheek. "It's dangerous, Kitty."
Tears sprung into my eyes.
"But you know by now that I'm always safe," he added cheerfully, finishing attaching all his devices to his suit. "Oh. Here, let me help." He pulled my zipper down, pressing his lips to my bare shoulder. "If you follow me out there, I'll be very upset."
I gulped, nodding slowly.
Edward ran into Rose outside my door because she cursed loudly at being startled by his presence. She came to me as I sank onto the edge of the bed.
"What's going on? Where is he going?"
I shrugged, allowing a couple of tears to roll down my cheeks. "This is getting out of hand, and it's far more dangerous than I'd ever anticipated, Rose."
"If you remember, I told you not to get involved in any of it."
"Well…now I'm involved. I won't stop until I bring justice to what happened to Charlie."
"If you need us, please let me know. I talked to Emmett earlier, and you know how he's ready for action."
I winced but nodded. I didn't want to reactivate them unless it was a matter of life and death.
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