Now I breathe flames each time I talk

My cannons all firin' at your yacht

They say "move on," but you know I won't

~ Taylor Swift, mad woman

AGE 23

I crossed my legs, folding my hands neatly in my lap and picked an invisible scrap of lint off of my black pencil skirt. My patience was running thin, but I knew it was all part of their game. So, I waited. Eyes on the mirror across from me where I knew at least a detective or two was watching.

After half an hour of sitting in the uncomfortable metal chair, the door swung open. The man who sauntered in had more confidence than he deserved. His brown hair was shaggy, falling over his face like he hadn't had time to shower in days. His suit was wrinkled and a size too small for his frame. The blue-gray eyes that were trained on me were the sharpest feature he had, his iris' swimming with disdain.

"Sorry about the wait, Ms. Swan," he drawled, slowly taking the seat opposite of me.

"Cullen," I corrected. It was a common mistake people made, usually professionally. I had made a name for myself as a Swan and people sometimes let that name roll off of their tongue. I never minded, because when it happened it was people who had made an honest mistake and didn't mean any harm. This man said it with purpose. "Mrs. Cullen."

A quick smirk tugged at his lips. "Of course. My apologies. As you know, you're protected by spousal immunity. We cannot force you to talk to us about your husband. We appreciate you coming in, anyway."

"What do you want, Biers?" Jenks snapped. Jason Jenks. Apparently, the best criminal defense lawyer money could buy.

"We just wanted to see if Mrs. Cullen would be kind enough to tell us if she knew of her husband's whereabouts the night Aro Volturi went missing."

"He was at home. With me."

Biers' brows lifted. "All night?"

"Yes."

I would have lied if I needed to. If Edward actually had done something to Aro, I would have told this detective and anyone who asked that he was with me. I would have rather had to lie, I think. Because it was infuriating beyond belief that, while Edward had done many things to end up behind bars, the one crime they were trying to pin on him wasn't his doing.

"You're positive he didn't slip out?"

"Yes. He was with me. All night."

Biers sat back in his chair, the picture of cocky confidence. "And what, may I ask, were you doing?"

"Fucking," I answered, keeping my voice cool and calm. Again, not a lie.

The detective's eyes were on me, icy gray looking me up and down from across the table. Not in a sexual way. In a more practical… appraisal.

"What?" I snapped.

"Just trying to figure out how a girl who was once America's Sweetheart ends up the kind of woman who lets a man as corrupt as Edward Cullen fuck her every night."

"We're done here," Jenks boomed, standing quickly. "My client did you a favor by talking to you at all, Biers. I'm not going to let you–"

"Calm down, Jenks," Biers shrugged, standing and motioning toward the door with a teasing bow. "Thank you for coming, Mrs. Cullen."

I stood, straightening my skirt and following Jenks out of the interrogation room. He stopped, talking to a man I didn't recognize and I nodded toward the sign for the restroom. Very conveniently on the way to where I was actually headed.

I would have thought a police precinct would have had more security, but it was only a matter of finding the right door before I was in a dim holding area. It was remarkably similar to what was portrayed on every cop drama on television. A dark hallway, cells on either side. Simple but the sight of it dropped a weight of lead in my stomach.

A whistle from my right broke me out of my thoughts.

"Hey, beautiful," a man cooed to my right.

I kept my face forward, listening to each click of my heels as I walked down the hall. I knew which he was in before I saw him. That fuse of terror that had been permenantely boiling my veins from the moment I got his note simmered away. I got a moment of relief, one single second of bliss before the sight of my husband in a six by eight jail cell made me nauseous.

He didn't look surprised, or he was just in the habit of keeping his face neutral while here. Edward took a few small steps before he was leaning his arms through the bars of his cell. If I hadn't had years of experience keeping a tight lock on my emotions, I would have burst into tears when his fingers tentatively reached out to twirl a curl of my hair.

"What are you doing here, baby?" he asked quietly.

"You promised," I breathed, my hands shaking against the handle of the bag in my hands. I watched his head cock to the side, the light catching the days worth of stubble on his chin. "You promised you'd always come home to me."

I couldn't go back. To that life where I spent all of my time alone in hotel rooms. The life where I had no one to talk to, no one to listen and care about what I said. A life without the absolute comfort I had grown so used to, knowing that Edward was always there for me at the end of the day.

Our home could be anywhere. It didn't matter to me whether we lived in Chicago or Los Angeles or in the middle of nowhere. He was home. Because he kept me safe and sane. Because I had had stadiums of people shouting their love for me but it paled in comparison to those three words muttered by him right before he fell asleep every night.

It wasn't something I was willing to live without.

"I will" he promised, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. "I will."

My eyes fluttered shut as I reveled in another tiny moment of peace, as I let myself believe that he wasn't making a promise he had no way of keeping.

"I love you, Bella," he whispered, quiet enough that I could barely hear it through the ringing in my ears.

I opened my mouth to return the sentiment, but the door down the hall swung open with a crash. Riley Biers stalked down the hallway.

"This is a restricted area," he snapped.

As quickly as I let the walls fall the moment I saw Edward, my calm exterior was put right back into place as I turned toward Biers. "I got lost."

His slimy smile reignited that fuse of terror that had been fueling me since Edward's arrest. Morphed it into a nearly soul-crushing need to slap it off of his face. Make sure he never smiled again.

I turned toward Edward, taking the moment to memorize the exact shade of emerald in his eyes. "I'll see you soon."

Biers interrupted. "I wouldn't count on it."

"Fuck you," I snapped, brushing past him with a quick nod to Emmett and Jasper who were across the hall. I heard Emmett, Jasper, and Edward all let out booming laughs as I left.

I kept my composure as Jenks led me out of the precinct, as Ben opened the door and led me through the growing crowd of paparazzi waiting outside.

"Take me to them," I told Ben, as soon as he was behind the wheel.

"Are you sure–"

"Take me to them."

I had waited long enough for the situation to resolve itself, and it was only escalating. The men were being held on bogus charges while the District Attorney worked on solidifying their case for Aro's disappearance. Every day there was new evidence that pointed toward those three as the prime suspects, and every day it was more obvious that someone had very carefully planned to set them up to take the fall.

Ben pulled up to the quaint little Italian restaurant. I didn't wait for him to open my door or follow me inside. My heels snapped angrily against the pavement, quieting once I got to the carpeted restaurant.

They were all there. The Volturi's spent every Friday night at this restaurant, merrily eating and drinking.

None of them looked distraught that their father was missing. Felix sat back, beer in hand as he laughed with his brother. Tanya and Irina had their heads together, probably gossiping about the girl sitting beside Demetri. Sulpicia smiled and twirled her glass of wine. The only sign of their missing father was the chair at the head of the table, kept empty.

No one noticed my arrival until I sat down in it.

"None of you seem all that heartbroken over your missing father," I mused.

Felix and Demetri appeared unfazed, smiling over at me.

"The brave men and women of the Chicago Police Department are devoting every resource to finding him," Felix cooed, raising his glass in my direction.

"And to putting your husband in prison for a very long time," Demetri added.

"My husband isn't going to prison," I snapped.

Felix leaned toward me, his smirk growing enough for his teeth to glimmer in my direction. "What are you going to do about it, sweetheart?"

"I'll burn the city to the fucking ground if I have to."

They laughed. Chuckled. Smiled at the threat.

It was okay. Expected.

I sat back in my chair, fingers coming up to pet the necklaces resting against my collarbone. "I've been underestimated every day of my goddamn life," I sighed. "One of these days, everyone is going to learn to stop pissing me off."

Pushing away from the table, I left without another word. Maybe it was stupid, but I wanted to see them. For myself. To know that my plan was going to work.