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Double Deceit

Chapter 9

California Pt. 2

Edward's POV

"You divorced?" Bella asked, her brow still furrowed.

"Why don't we sit down?" I told her.

We sat down and I took her hands in mine, "You haven't answered my question," Bella said.

"Yes, Bella, I divorced," I stated.

"I didn't ask you to leave your wife Edward. You didn't have to do that for me," she replied.

"I didn't do it for you…not that I wouldn't do anything for you. What I mean is my wife is the one who asked for the divorce. She served me the papers when you were in the maternity home and I signed them in a heartbeat," I told her.

"But what about the boys, Edward?"

"We have an agreement, I left her the house and her car, and the money I gave her for expenses (even though she has her own money and job) and we share custody of the boys. They're with me a few days a week and we alternate on weekends," she bit her lip as I explained.

Bella bowed her head and started crying, "hey darling, what's wrong?" I asked.

"We're not equal Edward, you divorced and I can't leave my husband," she said harshly, removing her hands from mine and standing from the bed.

"I wasn't going to waste the opportunity to divorce her Bella! You don't know what I had to go through with her, the way she treated me, or the things she said to me," I added.

"She mistreated you?" Bella asked, her stern face softening, I nodded.

"I didn't see it then, but I realized she was verbally abusing me, she was always demeaning me and telling me I was a weak man. She made me change, I was a different man,"

She placed her hands on my face, "You're not weak, Edward. You are kind, generous, caring, and not to mention fucking hot," she smiled.

"I would never, no matter how mad I am at you, say those things to you," she vowed.

"I know Bella,"

"I feel like myself again, like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders," I admitted.

"You're not happy about this are you" I told her.

"I'm happy for you Edward," she said.

"But…"

"But now I don't know where I stand to be honest," she admitted.

"Why?" I asked although I knew the answer.

"Because I have a five-year commitment, Edward, I still have three years left on the contract, and that's just to revise it and see if my husband and I want to be together after that time. What do I do Edward? I'm questioning everything right now, I'm so confused!" She said in a defeated tone as she sat back on the bed.

"I don't know what to tell you baby," I said, cradling her in my arms.

"I'm also taking this time to think and define my feelings," she said.

"Your feelings?" I asked curious.

"Yes, my feelings towards you," she replied with a smile.

"You can tell me when you're ready, there's no rush," I added.

"You keep saying that," she said, hugging me.

"Is that why you were staying at the studio lately?" Bella inquired, I nodded.

"When will the divorce be final?" she said.

"It's been finalized Bella, my lawyer expedited all of the formalities and since we agreed on everything it was a done deal within a few days. I moved everything out of the house in just a couple of days," I replied.

"Everything was placed in storage until we found a new home," I told her.

"We?"

"Yes, Bella, I want you to help me look for a new home. The home that I hope someday will be ours," I stated.

"Oh Edward!" she said, hugging me as tight as her bump permitted.

"I do have to say you look more relaxed and there's a light in your eyes that wasn't there before," she pointed out. I smiled.

"That's because of you," I said, nuzzling her face, Bella leaned in and we started kissing. I was kissing her deeply, pouring all of my feelings for her into the kiss.

Bella moaned and parted her lips deepening the kiss. our tongues danced as we continued to devour our mouths, we were kissing as if it was the last kiss we would ever have. but too soon we were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Room service," the bellboy said.

Bella stood up and opened the door slightly, just enough to pick up what she had ordered. She gave him a tip and closed the door.

"What 's that?" I asked. "Dessert," she smiled.

I'd eaten at the orientation meeting, but I refrained from eating dessert as I wanted to have it with her.

"What exactly did you order?" I asked, trying to pry the bag from her hands.

"No, no, go get ready for bed and then we'll enjoy this together," she chided me.

"What am I five?" I pouted as I stood from the bed and started undressing. I went to my room and grabbed a pair of sleep pants and nothing else. I changed into them and then went to wash my face.

I settled everything I would need for tomorrow morning and then went back into Bella's room. She was waiting for me on the couch, she had a movie paused.

"What did you order?" I asked again.

"I know it's almost December, but I was craving this," she said, taking two containers out of the bag.

"It's frozen yogurt from Sweet Things, it's by one of the bars," she said.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I asked for two of what I like," she said, handing me the medium sized cup.

I could see strawberries and blueberries with some graham on top.

"Cheesecake?" I asked, Bella nodded.

"Good to know," I mused, she moaned as she took the first bite.

"Ung, this is so good!" she said.

She pressed play and the movie resumed, she cuddled to my side and we proceeded to enjoy the frozen treat. After a few minutes Bella was done and she sat sideways placing her head on my lap. I cradled Bella closer to me and wrapped her blanket around her. She snuggled into me and we continued to watch the movie, but just before it ended I noticed Bella was asleep. It was almost midnight so I carried her to the bed and then settled in beside her. After making sure our alarms were set I kissed her forehead, closed my eyes, and soon enough I was asleep too.

Monday:

It was the afternoon, Bella had two meetings today and she had returned before me to the room. We sprawled on the bed after we made love, my fingers were drawing circles on her naked back. We had been asking each other more questions, "so do you have any siblings?" I asked.

"No, I'm an only child. My parents had trouble conceiving me, and even though they tried over the years mom didn't get pregnant again. Which is why I thought it was normal that I had trouble conceiving after the miscarriage. I thought it was something genetic," she explained.

"Did she have any miscarriages?" I asked, referring to her mother.

"No, she didn't thank goodness,'' Bella replied with a sigh.

"Did they ever tell her why she was infertile?" I inquired.

"Yes, she had a few cysts," she replied.

"What about you? Are you an only child? You haven't mentioned any siblings," she asked me.

"Yes, I'm an only child because my mother had a miscarriage before she had me and her body apparently didn't heal properly, so she did not stop bleeding after the quarantine period from my birth and she had to have a hysterectomy when I was about two months old,'' I explained.

"So, you were supposed to have an older sibling," she said, I nodded.

"What about any friends?" she said after a few seconds.

"I consider Dr. Denali a good friend, my best friend, we were in school together, we chose the same college path too. She's the sister I never had. Also, my cousin Whitlock and his wife are my friends," I said, Bella raised her head when I said that.

"What's his name again?" she asked.

"Jasper, Jasper Whitlock," I repeated.

"Wow, Seattle is a small world," she said. "Why is that?"

"Because Jasper Whitlock and his wife Alice work for me," Bella replied.

"She's my assistant, oh! no wonder she recommended you when I asked her to check for a new doctor," she said.

"Right, I forgot they worked for Swan Technologies,"

"I like them both in and out of the office, they're good people. I love how they balance each other out," she commented.

"Yes, Alice has had Jasper in a chokehold ever since she first laid eyes on him at a party when we were in college," I told her.

"Yeah, they told me how they met, and how Alice knew they were made for each other after just one glimpse," Bella added.

"My only friend besides them is Angela Cheney, she's one of our lawyers. We've been friends ever since I moved from Forks to Seattle, we went to the same schools too," Bella said.

"You're from Forks?'' I asked surprised, Bella nodded.

"I'm from there too, maybe our parents know each other," I said.

"I don't know, they're a bit younger," Bella said.

I'm ten years older than her, so I assume her parents were at least five years younger than mine, but maybe they did know each other. Forks is not that big of a town. I would have to ask my parents about it when I talked to them again. I also tried to ask dad about what had happened with Hayden at the airport, but he brushed me off and said we could talk about it when I returned. I didn't like the fact that they were being so cryptic about it.

"You're going to the convention tomorrow; do you have everything ready?" I asked her as she was yawning and she hadn't had dinner yet, all of our fucking had exhausted her.

"Yes, I have my clothes and everything else I need, I just need to get there early to set up the display. The company had already sent some things for it beforehand," she told me.

"There's a cocktail for vendors, suppliers, and attendee's tomorrow night. Are you going?" I asked hopefully, and she nodded.

Tomorrow I was also going to be one of the keynote speakers for the pharmaceutical company that makes the Utrogestan medication. I worked with them doing some research and since my patients seem to thrive while on the medication they asked me to reveal my findings and explained how the medication helps women with different uterine conditions. This prescription has helped a lot of my high-risk patients to carry their babies to term. I was a little nervous as I haven't been asked to speak in a while. Morning came and I woke up alone, Bella had gone off to the convention center to set up her booth.

I got ready and met Tanya for breakfast. Along with some other colleagues we rode the shuttle to the convention center. When I arrived, I went straight to the room where I was going to give the workshop and got everything ready with the technology and sound technician that would be assisting me.

After that I headed to check out the floor for the displays that were available today hoping I would see Bella. I didn't have to look around for her too much, she was at the center of the booth area. She had her back to the room as she was righting the sign from the company. A few minutes later she turned around and spotted me, I gave her a small smile and went the other way. I talked to some other vendors and suppliers and was given samples and pamphlets of various products and medicines and soon enough it was time to give my presentation.

The technician placed the microphone on me and I tested it before the room started filling up with the attendees. I focused on my notes for a few minutes and when I looked up I was surprised to see that all of the seats were filled, but that wasn't as unexpected as the woman sitting in the back row of the room. I nodded in her direction as I greeted everyone.

Bella's POV

From my seat I could see that I'd surprised Edward, when I learned he was going to be speaking today I knew I needed to be here for him. He smiled at me and started his talk and let me tell you he never looked hotter. I enjoyed seeing him in his element, so confident and sure of himself. He didn't look my way for the rest of the presentation, but I knew that he knew I was still here. It was actually fascinating what he was talking about. Edward is all about helping his patients and I can see that he believes in what this prescription can do. I took it myself and he said that my uterus never looked better. It was surprising to see the difference in the patients when he showed the before and after images of the women who had taken the medicine.

He didn't sugar coat anything, he also talked about the side effects some of the women experienced, and how he continued the course of treatment after that. When it was time for the Q&A section he answered every question eloquently and without faltering. Soon after that he ended the talk and was greeted and congratulated by several of the attendees. I slipped out of the room and went back to my booth.

I met a lot of clients and also handed out promotional material to other potential clients. I had a list of everyone I'd talked with and took a moment to scan It and send it to Alice so that she could have it. She is supposed to contact everyone starting Monday to talk about the company and see if we could get any new clients from them. This trip is always successful as we manage to renew contracts with our current clients on the west coast, but also gain a few others even if it's just with our office management and medical insurance billing computer programs.

It was a requirement that all of the vendors and suppliers took a photo together, so I went and got that done. I received a lot of congratulations and well wishes on the pregnancy, many were surprised when I told them that I was expecting twins. I took a break for lunch and went to eat with a few other representatives. There was a designated area for us to eat that was different from the one for the attendees. I had to leave for the hotel forty-five minutes after lunch because I had a meeting with a client. After that I had some time to relax and then I could start getting ready for the cocktail at eight.

The meeting went well, the clients renewed their contract with us, I was happy as it was one of our big accounts. After that I headed back to my suite. I decided to pick up the room a little, while organizing Edward's things in his room I noticed that the shirt he was going to wear for the cocktail later tonight was a little wrinkled. I called room service and asked if they had a clothes iron I could use, they said they would bring it right up after they told me they had laundry services available for guests. I declined on that offer, I wanted to do this for Edward, it was no trouble for me. I undressed and put on my robe, then I ironed Edward's shirt. When I went to put it back on the door of the closet I noticed the rest of his shirts were wrinkled too, so I took them all out and ironed them for him. I heard his door open as I placed the last shirt in the closet.

"Bella, darling, where are you?" He asked.

"I'm right here," I replied.

"Hi," I said, hugging him.

He took my face in his hands and kissed me.

"Thank you," he said.

"What for?" I asked.

"For being at my presentation," he replied.

"It was my pleasure," I said smiling.

"What were you doing?" he inquired as he started to remove his suit.

"I was tidying up the rooms, and Ironing your shirts," I told him. "My shirts?"

"Yes, they were wrinkled," I said as a matter of fact as he opened the door of the closet and touched the shirts. I thought something was wrong as he was quiet.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

"You ironed my shirts," he muttered.

"Yes, Edward,"

"Are you mad?" I asked. "No, darling no," he said, coming to stand in front of me.

"You. are. amazing!" He said pointing each word out with a kiss to my face.

"Why? Because I ironed your shirts?" I asked, Edward nodded.

"Why is that surprising? Didn't your wife iron your shirts? It's a menial task, it only took me a few minutes," I said.

"No, she never did anything for me, Mrs. Biers took care of all that," Edward said.

Entitled much? I thought.

"Well I do it for…my husband all the time," I said nonchalantly.

Jacob did not like Mrs. Cope touched any of his stuff, so I took care of his personal belongings and ironed all of his clothes.

"I actually enjoyed it," I stated.

"Well let me know how I can pay you for a job well done," he said with a wink.

"I'm sure I can think of a couple of ways you can pay," I said with a coy smile and a quick kiss to his lips.

I turned and headed towards the bathroom letting my robe fall on the way there. Edward growled and grabbed me, soon enough we were in the shower and he paid his debt in a very satisfactory way…

We exited our rooms within a few minutes of each other and headed towards the Sapphire Ballroom where the cocktail party was going to be held. The room was halfway full when I got there. I was looking around for Edward when I didn't see where I was going and stumbled with someone.

"Are you alright?" Asked the woman as she helped me steady myself.

"Yes, sorry I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," I apologized.

I looked up and was surprised to see who it was, "Dr. Lee?" I said.

She looked at me for a second, "Isabella Black" she said, I nodded.

She gave me a once over and gasped, "you're pregnant? How is that even possible?" she asked.

I looked at her confused, what the hell did she mean by that?

Thoughts? Let me hear you :-)

Bella received two surprises:

1. Edward is divorced (FINALLY)

2. She learns that Jasper is Edward's cousin and they're all friends. Too bad they didn't meet until now.

Remember to leave your questions and I'll try to answer spoiler free on the next chapter...