Happy New Year, everyone!

Any resolutions this year? I've got a few. Fingers crossed, I can stick with them!

Exciting news on the writing front, my BlueCollarWard oneshot Nailed It is nominated for December's top ten over at TwiFanFictionRecs! If you enjoyed that story, please vote! If you haven't read it yet, you can find the link on my profile :)

Now to what we've all been waiting for. Bella's back to Chicago and she wants answers!

I am going to preface this chapter and say Bella does something which I very much do not condone. I expect that some readers will not be too happy with her, especially if you work in the medical field. Try to cut her some slack. She's all Edward has!

Enjoy chapter 14!

BPOV

I sit at SeaTac for six hours, waiting for a winter storm to pass through the midwest allowing air travel to resume.

Secluded in the corner of gate C five, I watch the bustle of the ground crew through the window while my leg bounces hard enough to irritate the woman napping next to me.

"Sorry," I mutter the third time she huffs and glares.

Sighing, I close my eyes and lean my head against the wall behind me.

Tony Masen is Edward Cullen. But how?

Is it possible that I so badly want Tony not to be the mobster Jake claims him to be that I made myself believe the man in Esme's pictures is him?

No. The likeness was uncanny. If Edward and Tony aren't one and the same, they are perfect doppelgangers.

I kick myself for failing to snatch the photo off the refrigerator before I left. I need to see it again to confirm that I'm not crazy.

Wait.

Edward must have some sort of social media!

I break out my phone and search Facebook for Edward Cullen. His profile pops up immediately, listing Alice as a mutual friend. I click on it, then huff at what I find. His profile picture is a cartoon soldier, and his background is a stock image desert landscape. The remainder is private, so I have no idea if he is active on the site.

I try Alice's profile next, scrolling down until I reach Thanksgiving from five years ago. I slow, remembering Esme saying the summer before was the last time they saw him. When I hit July, I find a location tag on a lake in Whistler, followed by a collection of photos from a beautiful vacation home directly on the water in picturesque British Columbia.

I go through picture by picture until I find what I'm looking for. On the patio, overlooking the lake, the three Cullen siblings pose, arm in arm, with bright smiles on their faces. I enlarge the image, so Edward takes over the screen.

Except it's not Edward I'm looking at, it's Tony.

His hair is different. It's darker now. And time has worn on him. Now I only get glimpses of the carefree young man he used to be. Something haunts him, and I'm desperate to know what he's been through.

No matter how long I stare at the man in the photo, I can't reconcile the idea that exemplary student and decorated soldier Edward is parading around Chicago doing the bidding of a mob boss. Where did his life go wrong? And why didn't he turn to his family for help?

Maybe he needed the money? Maybe something happened when he was in the military, and he was dishonorably discharged. He could be trying to keep that from his parents. But why turn to crime? Esme and Carlisle loved their children. They would do anything to help them.

Where did the name Tony Masen come from? I suppose I can understand the need for an alias, but why not keep his first name the same?

The more I try to puzzle out the enigma that is Edward slash Tony, the more questions arise.

I curse the winter storm preventing me from getting the answers I want.

I finally land in Chicago at three O'clock in the morning, and I have to wait an extra thirty minutes for my Uber, so I don't get home until past four. Every part of me wants to rush out and track down Tony- or Edward- or whoever the hell he is, but I know the conversation I need to have with him isn't one I can have in my state of delirium. Not to mention, I don't know where he lives. He's always come to me. Huh, maybe that was another red flag.

I drop my luggage and strip before falling into bed. I'm so tired I can't even bring myself to shower. It's disgusting, I know, but I tell myself I'll wash my sheets when I wake up.

oOo

"And then Lauren said that I'm vapid! Can you believe her? I was like, bitch, what?" Jessica rambles, recapping Thanksgiving at her parent's house. "I swear if she wasn't my sister…."

"Uh-huh." I'm trying not to engage. It's the end of my shift, and I'm lingering at my computer for a reason. A very illegal, non-HIPPA compliant reason. But what choice do I have? I scoured the web for any listings in Chicago for a Tony Masen or an Edward Cullen. I only found a hit on for an Edward who lived in Lincoln park over a century ago.

"Jeez, you aren't even listening!" Jessica huffs.

"Sorry. I'm tired. Jet lag."

"Whatever." She snatches her travel mug off her desk and signs out of her computer. "I'll see you Wednesday."

"Bye," I mumble, pretending to scour over my notes from our last patient.

She stomps away, and I quickly pull up the patient search function in our soft-wear. I glance over my shoulders before typing "Masen, Tony" and pushing enter. I recognize the encounter date on the first patient that pops up, so I select it and click on patient demographics. I scribble the address down and close out of the chart. I'm going to lose my fucking license.

I shove the sticky note with Tony's address into my pocket, then sign out of my computer and clean off my station. I rush out of the hospital, determined to get the answers to the questions that have plagued me since Thanksgiving.

Tony- no. Edward's apartment isn't in the best part of town, so I make sure my pepper spray is in hand before I climb out of my car. I zip my jacket and jog to the front of his building, scanning the buzzers once I get there. His address is supposed to be three B, but the name tag next to the buzzer is blank. I hold my breath and push the button anyway. Worst-case scenario, I wake someone up.

I give it a whole minute before trying again, then a third time. After four rings, I'm pretty confident that he's not home. I should take it as a sign. Leave and come back when the sun is out. Or forget about him all together, but I can't convince myself to move away from the door. I sit on the steps, hoping someone in the building will head to work early so I can at least wait inside.

I play over different ways our conversation could go. What if he denies knowing anything about Edward Cullen? What if he really is just some low-life mafia thug?

Then you ditch him, Bella!

Right, of course.

And what if he admits to being who I think he is?

Somehow that's the scarier option.

I'm starting to shiver and consider waiting in my car when a tall figure in a leather jacket turns the corner down the street. I scramble up, fiddling with my keys, praying for the strength to get me through this.

He has his phone in his palm and is texting furiously as he approaches so he doesn't see me when I step onto the sidewalk.

"Edward." The name falls from my mouth like a prayer- because, God, I want this man to be Edward and not Tony.

He stops moving, and his body tenses. I hold my breath as he raises his head, and our eyes lock. The onslaught of emotions written in his gaze break my heart- relief, joy, disbelief, and finally, defeat.

"No," he states, shaking his head.

"Tell me you're not Edward Cullen." My voice wavers as a shiver rolls up my spine.

"Bella," he hisses. "Stop talking. We need to go inside." He scans the street and presses a palm to my back as he guides us through the door of his building. I don't make another sound until we're in his apartment, and he's firmly locked the door behind us.

"Who are you?" I ask, willing myself to remain strong as he paces the floor in front of me.

"Bella, please…" He pinches his eyes closed as his shoulders sag.

"Please, what? Pretend you aren't a dead ringer for my best friend's brother? Who has somehow vanished off the face of the Earth only to be heard from twice a year?"

"Stop!"

"No! I'm not going to stop Edward! Or Tony! Or whoever you are! Don't you think You owe me an explanation!"

"I can't give you one!"

"Bullshit!"

"Jesus, you think I want this?" he asks, running a hand through his hair. "Bella, I never should have dragged you into my life, but I guess I'm a selfish prick," he scoffs. "If you're smart, you'll get the hell out of here and not come back."

"Ha!" I laugh in his face. "Well, apparently, I'm not smart. So, let's start at the beginning. What. Is. Your. Name?"

"I told you-" he mumbles.

"The one on your damn birth certificate!"

He grimaces, breathing deeply before answering. "Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

"Of course." I throw my hands up. "Because your parents went overboard and gave all of you ridiculous names! It's like how your sister goes by her middle name! And Emmett?"

"Emmett John McCarty Cullen," he says, confirming that he is Edward.

"You're killing them, you know? They can't understand what's keeping you away, and honestly, I can't understand it either! Jesus, Edward, can you at least go home and visit?"

"No! Because if I live any fucking moment of my life as Edward Cullen, I risk blowing my fucking cover!" he snaps, making me recoil. "I'm sorry. You don't understand how much it kills me! It's been four years, Bella! Four years of living as Tony Masen, in this shit hole apartment, doing things that make me ill, with no contact with the real world except my supervisor- and recently you."

"Edward, what are you mixed up in?" I whisper.

He laughs and walks across the room to a desk, pulling out one of the drawers. He tosses a billfold in my direction. "Open it."

I flip it open with trembling fingers and gasp at the shiny gold badge inside.

"I'm a federal agent, Bella. After I left the military, the FBI recruited me. Before I left training at Quantico, I was approached about undercover work. It came with caveats, one being that my family couldn't know what I was doing."

"You didn't tell them you were going into the FBI?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise when I finished training and had a badge in hand," he scoffs. "We were going to Whistler for my dad's fiftieth. I knew how proud he would be, so I waited. Funny how things work out, huh."

"So, the Volturi? Tony Masen?"

"Tony Masen is my alias. I've been undercover in the Volturi organization for four years. But, honest to God, Bella, I think I'm close to getting out."

"How close?"

"Remember the night of Friendsgiving?"

"How could I forget?"

"Please, believe me, I wanted to be there. But I came across evidence that I had one opportunity to seize. It's evidence that will give us cause for search and arrest warrants for everyone in the Volturi organization. The operation is going to be huge." His excitement grows as he explains.

"Hold on. I need a minute," I say, sinking onto his couch. "Out of all the scenarios I imagined, this was not one of them."

"I wanted to tell you." He sits down next to me. "You have no idea, Bella. It killed me a little more each time you called me 'Tony.' When you said my real name outside, it was the best thing I've ever heard."

"So what happens now?"

He sighs, "I can't stop being Tony Masen until the case is complete."

"What does 'being Tony Masen' entail?"

"A lot of things I don't want you to know." He loses himself in thought, staring into space.

"Are you in danger?"

He nods.

"Am- am I in danger?"

"They don't know who you are. I want to keep it that way. It was stupid of you to come here. They know where I live."

"This conversation had to be face to face."

"Bella, I don't know what to tell you," he says, standing and resuming his pacing. "You should stay away from me. At least until I'm out. At least until I'm no longer Tony Masen."

"Edward…you're all alone…." I realize that the weight of the world rains down on him, and he has no one to turn to for relief. "Who else knows?"

"Outside the agency? No one."

"Then I'm not going anywhere. You need me, Edward."

"I've done this for four years without you."

"And you're starting to crack."

His jaw ticks as he looks out the window, refusing to respond.

"Seriously, Edward. Now I know, and there's nothing you can do to change that. I'm the only person who can link you to the outside world. To your family! Don't push me away. I can help you, support you through the final stretch."

"Why do you want to help me?" he asks,

"Maybe I'm prone to idiocy." I shrug. "Or maybe I've come to care about you too much to let you suffer."

"Bella, things are going to get worse before they get better," he warns.

"Then I guess it's good that you won't have to go through it alone."

He's on me in an instant, holding me in his arms and burying his face in the crook of my neck.

"Thank you," he murmurs, squeezing me closer. "I've been alone for so long."

My heart breaks for him as I hold him close and stroke my hand down his back. He takes a shuddering breath, and I blink back tears.

"What's the hardest part?" I ask, wanting to know everything.

"Lying to the people I love," he says, pulling away but taking my hand in his, intertwining our fingers.

"Mike, my supervisory agent, came up with the story I told my family. Did you know Emmett figured out that it's not true?"

"Wait, Emmett knows?"

"All he knows is I'm not in the military anymore. When this operation finishes, I'm jumping on the first plane to Washington. I'll show up at my parent's door. No notice. I'll just ring the bell and beg for forgiveness."

"You won't need to beg," I laugh.

"Alice is getting married."

"I know. I'm invited."

"What if we go together?"

"Are you asking me to be your date for your sister's wedding?" I grin.

"Yeah, I am. What do you say?"

"Do you think the case will be complete by then?"

"If it's not, I'm fucking quitting. I'll fake Tony's death and get the hell out of Chicago."

"I hope we don't have to resort to that, but yes, I'll be your date to Alice's wedding."

"God, you're amazing." He raises his hand to cup my cheek, ghosting his thumbs across my bottom lip. "I don't deserve to be this lucky."

I kiss the pad of his thumb and nuzzle into his touch. He smiles, and the tension in his body begins to melt away as his eyes darken, and he leans in, placing his lips against mine.

Our movements are slow as we caress each other. I run my fingers through his hair and over his shoulders, massaging away the lingering tension in his muscles.

"Let's go to my room," he whispers between kisses.

I nod as he lifts me, wrapping my legs around his waist and carrying me through the apartment. He fumbles blindly through the doorway, unwilling to break our kiss. When I feel the softness of his mattress underneath me, I begin to tug on his clothes, urging him to take them off.

We're soon naked, our bodies calling for each other with carnal need. His fingers tangle in my hair as he thrusts inside me, both of us gasping at the connection. Edward is consuming me, and I'm falling for him.

We fall asleep, tangled in each other's limbs.

Tomorrow I'll deal with the reality ahead of us.

A/N: And now she knows... but will she be able to keep Edward's identity a secret? Things are about to get rocky, guys. Hold on tight!