Hellooooo people, happy Thursday!

With Saturday's cliffy, I couldn't leave you hanging. So here's another chunk of Bella's big reveal, and the last part of this convo will come on Saturday.

I'm always humbled and thankful for all the alerts and reviews. Apologies for not being able to reply as consistently as I did in the past-I'd rather use that time to write and give you more chapters, and I'm hoping you'll be in favor of that too.
THANK YOU also for voting in the Twific Fandom Awards. Round two nominations were announced last weekend, and voting goes through this Sunday. I won't post voting links here because we know what ffnet does to those. There's a pinned post in my group, LaMomo's Lair, with a list of nominees in Team Momo and a voting link. Go give all those wonderful stories and authors some love.

Usual disclaimer applies - I still don't own any of it. I just like to play with the characters ;-)

Team Momo wouldn't exist without Midnight Cougar and Alice's White Rabbit with their red pens, or without AGoodWitch, Driving Edward, Mel, Maplestyle, and Eternally Addicted who pre-read and tell me if I'm off my rocker or not. They also were nominated in the TFFA so remember to send them some love!

Reminder on chapters: unless indicated, odd-numbered chapters are in EPOV, even-numbered ones are in BPOV. We're with Bella today.

Chapter 14 - BPOV

Edward had always been wonderful to me, even when we weren't in a relationship. But he'd been all the more so this morning while I recounted my less than stellar history with Laurent.

That little, slimy bastard.

The way he'd strung me along still rattled me. For the longest time, it had badly colored the way I looked at relationships, to the point I'd shied away from them. But no more. I'd decided to take a leap of faith with Edward. So far, it was paying off.

When I stood from my perch on his gigantic couch, he followed me and gently steered me toward the kitchen. Not too close, not too far—but near enough that his fingers grazed against mine while we padded barefoot on the flawless tiled floor.

"How come these tiles aren't ice cold? It's late January, for Pete's sake."

"Energy-efficient floor heating. Isn't it great?" he asked me with a satisfied grin on his face.

I couldn't help but appreciate this little luxury, and it didn't surprise me in the least that Edward would choose an environmentally friendly and comfy solution for his living space. He was a born problem solver. In fact, he was the only lawyer at the law firm to whom we didn't have to explain why and how we did the things we did in the marketing department. He got it—he knew there was a purpose for everything.

"I could get used to this," I replied.

Before I could get to it, he grabbed two potholders and took the casserole out of the oven. "This smells amazing, Bella. Thank you." Then he planted a sweet kiss to my temple and stepped aside to make space for me.

A sleek utensil holder sat on the kitchen counter next to the stove. I rooted in it for a second until I found a spatula, then started cutting the casserole into chunks. "Plates?"

"I'll grab them."

When Edward reappeared with the plates, I dished out our portions. However, as soon as I sat on one of the stools at the island, I noticed something.

"Mister, you could have just said you wanted the bigger portion instead of spiriting it away while my back was turned."

He covered his plate protectively with his hands. "I'm a growing boy," he mumbled around a forkful of it. "And this is damn delicious."

I shook my head and chuckled. "There's enough for seconds."

"Don't care. God, where have you been all my life?"

I looked at him, still all rumpled from sleep, still bare-chested, and yet his words and his expression hinted at so much more than food. "You're too adorable for your own good."

"But you love me," he countered, goofy grin still in place.

"I do."

"And you do have a story to finish telling me. Stay there; I'll get us coffee going." He stood, fiddled with the coffee maker for a second, and resumed his seat while the machine brewed, its steamy water happily bubbling away in the background. "Now, where were we?"

I thought for a moment, recalling that evening, now so long ago in my memory. "The cocktail night for new hires."

"I don't remember seeing you there. I wish I remembered that evening," he added with a wistful smile.

I waved him off. "I wouldn't expect you to. In fact, I'd love to forget it ever happened, but I can't. I'd been there talking to a million people for a good hour. Enjoying myself, yes, but also intimidated by dozens of new faces. Emmett did whatever he could to set me at ease, but at some point, nature called, and I wandered away to look for the ladies room."

Edward nodded, and prompted by the beeping coffee machine, stood again to retrieve caffeine gold for us. He returned with two steaming mugs, identical to the one I'd seen on the drying rack earlier. Of course, he'd have coordinated kitchenware and not mismatched mugs like me, the grad student who lived in a studio apartment.

He sipped in silence, even as I let the scalding hot coffee cool down until I could drink it without singeing my mouth. "Did you find it?" he asked.

"What?"

For a second, I'd gotten lost in his eyes; the thread of my thoughts had evaporated in the face of such a caring, patient, and utterly gorgeous man. A man who loved me.

"The ladies room," he replied, bringing his hand to cover mine across the countertop.

"I did. But the surprise of my life burst in my face right afterward. There was a little lounge area outside the restroom with a lavish vanity and lighted mirrors. When I stepped out of the cubicle, what I found threw me for a hell of a loop. I'd heard giggles and moans soon after I entered the restroom, but once I was done, I waited for the sounds to dissipate before I left. So, imagine my face when I saw a couple going at it—or close to it—on that damn counter."

"Tacky. Inappropriate. Please tell me it wasn't my brother."

I stopped myself short of snorting through my nose the tater tot I'd been munching. "It would have fit Em's persona, but no. He knows better than to do that at a work event. It was, however, someone I knew."

"Oh, shit. Don't tell me. Laurent?"

I nodded. "His companion sat on the counter with her long skirt hiked up to her waist. He stood in front of her and covered all the naughty bits. But when he turned, any doubts I had that it could be his doppelganger went up in a puff of smoke."

"The lying, philandering bastard," Edward growled.

"See, it's ironic that you'd use that exact adjective to describe him."

"How so? And what the fuck did he do when he recognized you? Because I'm assuming he did, right?"

"Back up the wagon," I replied. I blew on my coffee in hopes it'd get to a more drinkable temperature and took a tentative sip. With a displeased hiss, I set it back on the counter. "Too hot still. But anyway … yes, he recognized me and flashed me an angry, haughty look of defiance. With his hands still around that woman's waist."

"The fucking nerve," Edward muttered, evidently displeased.

I speared a chunk of tater tot casserole and chewed on it before resuming my tale. "Of course, I didn't want to make a scene because I was attending a work event after all. So, after leaving the restroom lounge without a word, I returned to the firm's party and kept throwing glances here and there to see if Laurent and his lady friend reappeared."

"Did they?"

I took a sip of coffee, which had finally gotten to a Bella-friendly temperature. "Predictably, yes. They'd taken a seat at one of the better tables in the room next to ours. I excused myself from the group of people standing around me and approached Laurent's table. He blanched when I sidled up to them and narrowed his eyes at me. I greeted him with a fake warm smile and introduced myself to the lady as one of his past students. And that's when I got the surprise of my life."

"How so?"

"The lady replied that she loved meeting his students." I shook my head. "See, she was this older—maybe forty?—woman who exuded charm and class. Kind of the Reader's Digest version of your mom. Someone who had a gardening club membership. That kind of thing."

This time, Edward nodded, but also rolled his eyes at my characterization. "Esme doesn't belong to the gardening club. And wait until I tell her of the 'Reader's Digest version.' But anyway …"

"She introduced herself as his wife. The entire time he'd been with me, he'd been married."

A lot of you had guessed right. The d-bag was married the whole time.
As I said on top, stay tuned for the end of this conversation from Edward's POV on Saturday. After that, I'll be on a weekly update schedule until I'm finished writing the story (I'm close, people, I'm close!).

Any guesses about Edward's reaction here?