27

"I don't understand any of this," Bella whimpered, wrapping her arms around her torso before she turned and walked out of the office, leaving all of them just standing there, watching her, judging her.

A week ago, she had just been the lost little girl turned into America's Sweetheart, a woman looking for added protection from a stalker. Now, she was a rape survivor, a child cult survivor, but the problem was, Bella had never felt less like a survivor than she did in that moment. Her entire world had been turned upside down and sideways. Not only had her birth parents been killed, she'd been kidnapped, tortured, raped, almost murdered by a psychopath that she had no memories of, and now, now she found out she had a half-brother she'd never known about, who may or may not be said stalker. How much more was she expected to take before falling apart was acceptable?

"Bella."

At the sound of Alice's voice, she stopped before she could take one step upstairs, feeling the urge to hide again and looked back, finding Alice standing next to the front door.

"Let's get out of here for a little while."

"And go where?"

"I don't know," Alice replied, stretching her hand out toward her. "Just out of this house, away from . . ." She gestured toward the office. "There's a little too much male testosterone in there, if you catch my drift. We can take one of the ATVs, head down to the waterfall, or something. Let's just get some fresh air."

Bella bit the inside of her lip, unsure she should trust Alice. She hadn't exactly been the most welcoming member of the Cullen family, though when she heard movement inside the office, Bella found herself hurrying over to Alice and following her outside, closing the door behind them with a thud, resounding thud.

"I'll drive, so you'll have to sit behind me," Alice said, gesturing for Bella to follow her into the garage. She stopped by one of the smaller of the ATVs and looked back at Bella. "You can trust me. I would never let you get hurt."

"Why? Why wouldn't you? You haven't hidden the fact that you don't like me."

Alice smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Because hurting you would hurt him, and I promised a long time ago never to be one of the people who hurt him, Bella."

"I want to believe you, I do, but . . ." Bella turned and looked back at the door leading into the house. "He's . . . he's the most important person in my life."

"I know." Alice climbed onto the ATV and motioned for her to sit behind her. "Blind trust is hard, but I promise you won't regret trusting me."

"I hope not."

Closing her eyes for a moment, Bella blew out a heavy, thick breath before she climbed onto the ATV behind Alice, wrapping her arms around the slender woman's waist. As Alice eased the ATV out of the garage, Bella looked back at the porch where she found Edward and Charlie standing, watching. The two most important men in her life, she thought.

—TB—

Half an hour later, Alice drove the ATV down a small, overgrown trail and through some brush before stopping at the edge of a large pond that sat at the base of the most beautiful water fall Bella had ever seen. She'd always been fascinated by waterfalls, the logic behind them. No matter how much water fell, they never dried up, never stopped flowing.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Bella nodded as she climbed from behind her and took a few steps away, wrapping her arms around herself. "How'd you find this place?"

When Alice didn't reply, she turned and saw her leaning against the ATV, a frown on her lips.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said, trying to smile. "Jasper actually brought me out here the day he told he had fallen in love with me. Said he was tired of hiding his feelings, tired of trying to stay away from me, tired of being alone," she whimpered, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I never cry, yet here I am."

"Feels like all I've done is cry."

Alice nodded as she wiped her tears off her cheeks. "Bella, I can't imagine how hard the last several days have been for you. I mean, I know how much Edward had struggled with everything, and he's had a lot longer to . . . process the things he . . . you both went through. And I know I'm kind of a bitch. It's something I'm working really hard on, but . . . I want you to know that I'm happy he has you."

"You are?"

Alice once again nodded, dislodging tears that cascaded down her face. "He's been my best friend for so long, I think I forgot how lonely he was, too. He's the best guy I've ever known, and he deserves to be happy, to be loved, and I can tell that he's loved by you."

"I . . . I do, you know. Love him, I mean. I . . . It scares me, Alice, these feelings inside of me, but I can't . . . I can't breathe without him, I can't . . . I can't handle life without him. I love him. I love him so much."

"Hey, sweets, I know," Alice soothed, putting her hands up in front of her. "You gotta calm down before he thinks I'm being mean again."

Bella laughed through her tears. "I'm scared that we're going to leave here and things are going to change and I'm going to lose him, Alice. My life . . . It's not like this, not really. It's chaotic and busy and filled with people wanting and pushing and demanding so much from me. It's exhausting living up the moniker of being America's Sweetheart."

"Well, I'm sure it's not going to be easy," she replied. "But if anyone is strong enough to see it through, it you and Edward, especially when you're together. Just . . . just remember that while you went through Hell, so did he, and it may take him a minute to adjust to being in the spotlight."

"I don't think you ever adjust to being in the spotlight," Bella quipped, wrapping her arms tighter around her torso. "I hate being in the spotlight, Alice. I love my music, and I need it to be heard. It's the only way I know how voice all my fears and feelings, the things I'm too scared to even admit to myself," she whimpered. "He wants me to sing to him, to just him, and I'm scared that he's going to see right through me."

"Oh, honey, he already does." Bella felt Alice move so that she was standing next to her, but not actually touching her. "He's probably the only person who sees the real you, isn't he?"

Bella nodded. "When Jasper told you that he was in love with you, what did you say?"

"Um, I told him that while I loved him, too, I was scared that Edward would be hurt if we pursued our feelings for each other, especially behind his back."

"You really love Edward that much?"

Alice smiled. "I do. He's not just my best friend, Bella, but he's the brother I never had, the first man who told me I was worth more than just tits and ass."

"Your dad?"

She frowned and nodded. "Mom didn't give him a son, only two daughters, and we were constantly reminded that we would never live up to the Brandon name. He said the smartest thing we could do was to give our pussies up to the first guy who told us they loved us and be happy with what we got. My sister ended up in an abusive marriage because that advice, and I am too scared to marry Jasper."

"Has he asked you?"

Alice paused before she reached down the front of her shirt and pulled down a long, silver chain with a beautiful diamond ring on it. "He brought me here about a year ago, said he loved me, wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, asked me to be his wife. I wanted to say yes, scream yes, but I'm scared that if I say yes, I will no longer be a strong, independent woman, and I'll just become someone's wife. I watched what being someone's wife has done to my mom, to my sister, and it scares me, Bella. It scares me so much."

"Suppose I understand that, and I don't know Jasper all that well, but from what I can tell about all the Cullen men, Alice, is they aren't looking for someone to just be their wife. They want a partner, a companion. Someone who will challenge them, and encourage them, but mostly, just love them especially when things get hard."

Alice laughed. "You may know the Cullen men better than any of us, Bella Swan." She sighed. "We should probably head back before they think I've drowned you in the pond, or something."

"I promise to tell them that you were very nice to me."

"They won't believe you," she scoffed, but grinned as she turned back to Bella. "He was right about you, you know?"

"Who was?"

"Edward, of course. He always said that you were beautiful and kind, but I didn't believe him because, well, considering everything you two went through, I didn't think anyone could be beautiful or kind, but you are, Bella. I'm sorry that I didn't give you the welcome you deserved. I'm truly sorry."

"I haven't exactly made things easy."

"No, you haven't, but anyone who can stand up to Felix like that is someone worth fighting for, Bella. The man just pisses me the fuck off, you know? He thinks he's the smartest man in the room, and I think he's an asshole."

"Yeah, I'm kind of getting that feeling, too."

"Come on," Alice said, slowly reaching out and placing her fingers on Bella's elbow, ignoring the way she tensed. "Let's go back."

"Yeah, okay."

Bella tugged her elbow out of her fingers and gave the waterfall once more glance before she climbed on the back of the ATV behind Alice and headed back to the house. When she pulled into the garage, Bella was surprised to find Tyler sitting backward on one of them, a large, silver laptop with Dutch Bro's Stickers covering it propped up on the backend. He glanced up at them, but turned his attention back to the screen.

"Find anything new?" Alice asked, waiting until Bella had dismounted before she followed.

"Nope," Tyler replied. "Unlike my partners, Al, I'm not keen on Newton, Denali, or Black being any of our suspects."

"Why not?" Bella asked

Tyler paused and looked up at her. "Because if I was stalking you, Bella, I wouldn't leave credit card receipts that place me anywhere close to you, or your house. I would pay with cash, I would drive a car that can't be traced to me. I wouldn't work on the same crew as you in hopes of getting close. I mean, that's just me, though."

"You think whoever my stalker, or stalkers are, they're putting Kate Denali, Mike Newton, and . . . and Jacob Black up as a smoke screen?"

"I do," he said, turning his attention back to his laptop. "Or Newton, Denali, or Black could be sloppy idiots, but they've managed to break into your house twice without getting caught, and that doesn't scream sloppy to me. So, I am going to keep looking until something either nails their sorry asses to the wall, or clears them." He looked back at her. "He was waiting for you in the kitchen, by the way."

"Who?"

Tyler grinned, his eyes crinkling in the corners. "Who do you think? Edward! He was damn near frantic, Bella. I've never seen him so worked up. Whatever you've done to him, you should keep doing it. It's good for him."

"You go on in, Bella. I'm going to help Tyler, and maybe beat the fuck out of him for being an insensitive asshole."

Bella felt her eyes widen before she turned and walked into the kitchen as she heard Tyler laughing and Alice telling him to shut the fuck up before she shoved her foot up his ass. As Tyler said he was, Edward was indeed sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of him. What, or rather who, she wasn't expecting to be sitting across from him was her father. They were both tense, telling her they'd been having a rather intense conversation. Edward didn't trust Charlie, and she did. He may have kept her secrets from her, but he'd also never given up on her, and that meant everything to her.

"Hey," she murmured, grabbing at the hem of her T-shirt.

"Hey." Edward stood up. "Did you have nice ride with Alice?"

"I did."

"Good, good," he said, clearing his throat before looking around the room.

"Can I have a minute alone with Charlie?" she asked, causing Edward's demeanor to change, but he nodded and said, "I'll be upstairs."

"Thanks." Bella waited until he was out of the room before she walked around and sat in the chair he had been sitting in, dropping her hands into her lap as she turned her attention to her father. "I hurt your feelings, didn't I?"

"No, of course not," he scoffed, but she could hear the lie in the denial.

"I do trust you, Charlie. I do. I just . . . I trust him more."

Charlie nodded, though his eyes darkened. "I know."

"Do you?"

"Of course I do, Bee," he said, shifting in his chair and picking up his coffee cup, but placed it right back onto the table. "I don't want you not to trust him. I just don't want you to hate me because I kept the truth from you."

"I don't hate you, Charlie, I don't. In hindsight, maybe I needed to know, maybe I already knew, but I know the only reason you didn't tell me was because you thought you were sparing me more pain, more humiliation than I already felt. I just . . . I always felt so . . . out of place. I wasn't your daughter, I was the little girl who had been left on the side of the road. I didn't know who I was, when my birthday was, and it felt . . . it felt like I didn't belong anywhere, but with him, I feel like I've finally found my place in the world."

Charlie gave her a soft, subtle smile. "You really care about him, don't you?"

She nodded. "I can't explain why, but from the moment I saw him standing in the doorway of his office, I felt connected to him. He was . . . he was all I could think about, and then I saw him at my show, and he had me spiraling."

"You sounded particularly wound up that night," he admitted, toying with the top of his cup. "He's a good man, Bee. A damn good man, but just remember that no matter what happens, you have always been my daughter, and you always will be, okay? I love you, Bee."

"I love you, too."

Charlie stood up and placed his cup in the sink before he walked out of the kitchen. Bella picked up Edward's cup, adding it to the sink before she followed Charlie out of the kitchen. Rosalie and Emmett were seated on the couch with Esme, who gave her a genuine smile before Bella turned and hurried up to the third floor, knowing Edward would be waiting for her inside her bedroom.

When she pushed open the door, she found him sitting on the side of her bed, his elbows on his knees. The smile that he gave her had her heart racing, and she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. He started to stand, but she put her hand up to stop him as she walked over and picked up her guitar. She took a deep, slow breath before she sat in the rocking chair in the corner and placed it on her lap.

She opened her mouth to tell him how she felt, but the words were stuck, so instead, she simply begun to strum the guitar, her heart racing as her eyes met his and she begun to sing she had never sang for anyone, ever:

"I was lost, yet you found me,

I was scared, yet you gave me strength

I was alone, yet you became my companion

I was broken, yet you put my heart back together

My life story was about finding you

You're the part of me that was missing,

The part of me that I needed

The part of me that I loved

I was . . . I was . . ."

Bella was overcome with tears as her fingers stopped moving along the guitar strings. "I love you, Edward. I am so madly, deeply, passionately in love with you, and I've never felt like this before."

He slid off the bed and crawling over to her, his hands came up to either side of her face, wiping away her tears as they fell. "You love me?"

"I do. It scares me, but I'm in love with you, Edward."

Edward leaned his forehead against hers. "I thought . . . I thought I was the only one who felt this way."

Bella laughed. "Does that mean you love me, too?"

"Yes, silly girl." He stroked her cheeks gently. "I am so in love with you. I . . . I have been for a long, long time, and I was afraid you'd never look at me without seeing them, or what they did to us. What they made me do to you."

"I don't," she assured him, moving the guitar and scooting to the edge of the chair, covering his hands with her own. "I . . . Edward, I want you to touch me . . . like that again. I want to not be afraid to let you touch me, to let you make love to me," she whispered, and when his eyes widened, she said, "I'm not saying we're going to do that right now, because we're not. I mean, our families are downstairs, and I don't really think we should . . . we should do anything like that with the way they tend to barge in us all the time."

Edward laughed. "That is completely fair, sweetheart." He leaned up and pressed his lips against hers once, twice, a third time. "You really love me?"

"I really, really, really love you, Edward."

"I really, really, really, really love you, too. And I loved your song, what you managed to sing of it, I mean. I'd love to hear more of it."

She shook her head. "I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now."

"Me too."

"I have a brother, Edward. He works on my crew, and I never even knew. How could I not know? Does he know who I am? Is that why he joined my crew? Is he my stalker?"

"Slow down, sweetheart." Edward stood and pulled her to her feet, walking them over to the bed so they were both sitting on the side. "I don't have the answers to any of those questions. I wish I did."

"Me too." Bella frowned. "I . . . I think I need to meet him."

"Yeah, I think you do, too. I don't buy that he's your stalker. Like you said, he's bigger than the guy who broke in, and unless Felix is right and he's covering it with make-up, he doesn't have the tattoo. And then there is the girl who broke in. Who is she? Kate? Kate doesn't make sense, either. Why wouldn't she just come to you? You've met her before, haven't you?"

"A few times. Ro handles most of my business dealings for me, but as my publicist, she has to know how to handle my social media accounts for me."

"And you've never met Mike Newton?"

Bella shook her head. "Never even heard of him."

"We ran backgrounds on everyone associated with the label, and he came back clean, Bella. Never even gotten a traffic ticket, though I'll admit that he's been to an awful lot of your shows. Maybe we were so focused on Marcus, Bella, that we overlooked him."

"This all makes my head hurts."

Edward slipped his arm around her, nestling her into his arms. "Mine too, sweetheart. Mine too, but together, we're going to figure this out. Somehow."

"I hope so," she whispered. "In case you forgot, I love you."

She felt him smiled as he pressed her lips against the top of her head. "I didn't, but I like hearing you say it. I love you, too."

Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews. So, who do you think is the stalker(s)?