Chapter Nine

I was sitting at the end of the table with the ladies when someone's phone dinged. "The Denalis and some of the others are on the VIP floor," Emmett said.

"We will leave the bottles in here, but you can take your glasses," Edward said. "Bella and I will be there in a moment."

Esme winked at me as they all left. "Is everything okay?" I asked as I walked over to Edward.

Since he was still sitting, he gently pulled me onto his lap. "Yes. I just want to warn you about tonight." I just stared at him. "I've never invited someone to these nights. You are the first. Being who I am and what I do, there is something major about that."

I bit my lip. "What does that mean?"

"We need to put a label on this, but you going down there will show some form of relationship between us." He untucked my lip. "Eyes would be on you from here on out."

I sat there for a moment registering what he was meaning. I slowly wrapped my arms around his neck. "We can do this, and we don't have to label it right now. I don't know what to label it. We don't fucking have to if that is what works for us once we develop this more." He nodded. "If I even suspect any form of outside relations with another woman, I'm out. I'm not doing this whole mistress shit. When I am in something I am in, and I want the same from my partner."

Edward wrapped his arms around my waist "Promise."

I don't know what possessed me - the emotional day or the whiskey - but I leaned and gave Edward a small kiss. "Good." While he was dazed, I got off his lap and poured some more whiskey in my glass. "They are waiting for us."

Edward gave me a crooked smile as he stood up. "I think they can wait a couple more moments." I placed my glass on the table. He grabbed me by the waist. Our lips smashed together.

If this man didn't already have his arms around me, I would have pooled to the floor. "That's what a man kisses like." In true Bella fashion, I had to say something stupid. I smacked my hands over my mouth in embarrassment.

Edward laughed loudly. "You will surely keep me on my toes, Tesoro."

I winked. "If you are not careful, I might trip over them. So you might want to watch it."

He kissed my forehead. "I will catch you every fucking time, baby." He filled up his scotch glass. "I also feel like I should warn you. The Denalis and the Cullini have been together since my Dad's grandparents. Eleazar Denali was my dad's right hand. His wife is Carmen. Eleazar has three daughters - Kate, Tanya, and Irena. Kate is the decent one. She is married to Garrett. Irena is very quiet, and she keeps to herself." He chuckled. "Tanya has this perception that there would be something more between the two of us." He held up his hands. "I wouldn't put my dick near her if she was the last thing on Earth."

I hummed. "Anyone else that I need to be warned about?"

"Not really. The ladies are usually Alice, Ma, Carmen, Kate, Tanya, Irena, Marissa, Catalina, and Deena. Now you and Rosalie. Carmen is Eleazar's wife. Kate is Garrett's wife. Marissa is Alessandro's wife. Catalina is Zane's wife. Deena is Eleazar's sister. Garrett and Emmett have been friends since high school. Alessandro and Zane work for the family. Sometimes there are more or less. These are just the people that I can handle tonight."

"Noted." He chuckled and hugged me. My stomach took this moment to awkwardly growl. Edward chuckled, and we went downstairs to the VIP room. I noticed that the gentlemen that were sitting at the table looked to be a little intimidating. My immediate reaction was to look at Rosalie. I could tell that she was a little nervous about being in the room with the men, but she would relax after a bit. "Hello," I said.

The gentlemen stood up too quickly for my liking. My body's response was to move back. Edward cleared his throat signaling for the men to sit down. Since the boss said so, they did. "I'm fucking starving. Let's get some food," Edward called out. He gently led me over to the table. "Hello, ladies. This is Bella." He introduced me to the ladies. "Have you ladies been?"

Tanya wiggled her body. "I've missed you. Why haven't you been around?"

Edward grabbed my hand. "I have a job." I squeezed my lips together to keep myself from laughing. He kissed the top of my head. "If you need anything..."

Alice cut him off. "She will be fine." She nudged him away. He chuckled and walked away. "Basically, we hang out while the gentlemen do their thing with their cigars and poker games. Sometimes we play blackjack or gossip like hens."

"Sometimes, both," Kate said.

"We eat and drink. Normally, Edward waits until we are all settled to get the food orders," Carmen said. "He must be hungry."

I could feel my cheeks heat up. "That might be my fault. I'm hungry. I've been running around. All I have eaten today is a salad when I got here and a bag of chips." Esme smiled and patted my hand. "Are there any menus?"

"We normally have a nice hearty salad," Tanya said with her nose up.

"Correction. They normally have salads. Alice and I have pasta with bread," Esme said. "I think tonight we opted for what the men were having. Steak with potatoes and green beans."

"I'll have that," Rosalie blurted. I nodded my head. "Sorry, I haven't eaten anything since like 12. I have a showcase coming up, so I was focused on that."

Alice perked up. "What is the showcase for if you don't mind me asking?"

Rosalie nodded. "I was actually going to reach out to your store manager to give the details on Monday. If you carry my designs in your store, I invite the owners and managers to my studio to showcase the next couple of designs." She shrugged. "It's just a way to keep my business relationships a little bit tighter. A lot of the owners appreciate that because they can see where their products are being designed."

"I love that," Alice said. "I think that would be fun."

"What do you do, Bella?" Marissa asked.

"I was a children's book author for a few years while owning CIgno Inc, but now my sole focus is Cigno Inc. We are a distillery." Marissa nodded. "Nothing big."

"Stop that," Rosalie demanded. "Your stuff is delicious."

I shook my head at her. The waitress came over, and we ordered the food. We girls were making small talk until the food came. It took everything in me to not shove my face into the plate. "How can you eat that?" Tanya asked with her face scrunched.

I looked her dead in the eye and ate the piece of steak that I just cut. Alice pointed to me. "Like that."

A few of the guys chuckled. Our whole table turned to look at them. Edward and I made eye contact, and he winked at me. I felt someone pat my knee. Esme was looking at me with a smile, so I gently patted her hand back. "Bella, are you married?" Tanya asked.

I almost choked on the mashed potatoes. "I hope not. Otherwise, my husband wouldn't approve of me sucking face with another man," I said without registering what my brain told my mouth to say.

Alice threw her head back and laughed. "I love you," she heckled out. "Where have the two of you been all my life?" Some of the other women were pushing their lips to hold in their laps while others looked offended that I would even say that.

I bit my lip and looked at Esme. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." I trailed off. I knew that this wouldn't be ladylike coming from someone who has a thing with the mafia boss.

"I can see it in your face, deary," Esme said with a wink before she turned to Tanya. "Miss Denali." The other ladies' faces paled. "I would think that Bella walking in with Edward after we all showed up would have registered in your brain. You playing these little games with her wouldn't be favorable with my son, and you know that. If your two eyes couldn't register anything else, you would have put two-and-two together to see that Rosalie and Emmett are together. I suggest you stop with the silly questions before you ask the wrong one." I didn't know what to do, so I continued eating my dinner. We all sat there for a few moments. "Now, down to business." She smiled. "The charity gala."

Rosalie perked up. "What is the charity gala?"

Esme smiled. "Every year, the family throws a charity gala that benefits the children's hospital. It is two weeks before Thanksgiving. It's where people donate some items or experiences, and they get auctioned off. For instance, Alice does a makeover experience."

Alice nodded. "Yes. Jasper and I will pay for someone to get their hair, nails, and makeup done. Then after that, they come to my store to get a new outfit. Emmett does something with his car shop. Dad and Mom have a place in the mountains that they can auction off for a trip."

I looked back at Esme. "Do you have the same people who donate each year or does it change?"

She smiled. "Are you interested?" I nodded. "We will meet later this week to discuss everything."

"Let me know when that is. Rossa will put something in as well." Esme smiled at Rosalie with a nod of her head.

Kate gasped. "You own Rossa?" Rosalie smiled with a nod. Those two then moved into their own little world, and Alice jumped in when they started to talk fabrics.

I was just tuning into the different conversations when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Do you want something else to drink?" A velvet honey voice asked.

My drink was empty, but I think I need to cap my alcohol intake. "I'll take soda with no alcohol. I still have some work to do in the morning."

"You got it, Tesoro." He kissed the top of my head.

"What time is it?" Rosalie asked.

"It's about midnight. At my age, I don't know how I can go this late, but here I am," Esme said with a smirk. We all just laughed.

I turned to Rosalie. "What are you doing this weekend?"

She shrugged. "I don't have anything planned. Why? What's up?"

"I'm thinking about going to Forks because my last impromptu trip wasn't really anything. I want to see how Angela is doing, and I need to see Nonni and Papa." She nodded. "I was going to see if you wanted to go with me?"

She gave me a soft smile. "Yes, I will. I'm probably going to crash at your house tomorrow night that way we can leave early on Saturday. Does that sound good?" I nodded.

A dr. pepper was placed in front of me. "What did I miss?" Edward asked. He stood behind my chair and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

I grabbed his hands. "Ro and I are going to make a trip to Forks this weekend." He nodded his head. "So not much."

The rest of the gentlemen came over to the table. "Your poker game done already?" Deena asked.

"Yeah, Emmett beat us," Eleazar said.

I leaned back into Edward, and his arms tightened around me. "So, Bella and Rosalie, what do you two do for the holidays? Do your families come around?" Carmen asked. She didn't know anything about me, so I know she didn't mean any ill intent. The others who knew took in a deep breath. "What? Did I ask the wrong thing?"

"No," I said with a firm head shake. "You didn't. My family has passed away, so I do something with Rosalie's family. We spend the holidays at my house in Forks - where we grew up."

"Where is that at?" Alessandro asked.

"It's about a 4-hour drive down south," Rosalie said right before she yawned. "I'm so sorry."

It started a yawn train with Alice and me being next. "Damn you, Rosalie. Why did you start that?" Alice asked.

Jasper chuckled and kissed the top of his wife's head. "I think that is our cue."

"I need to get my stuff from your office. I need that for work tomorrow," I said. He nodded and grabbed my hand. "Thank you for tonight. I didn't know I needed that," I said once we were alone.

"You're welcome, Tesoro." We went upstairs to the office in comfortable silence. "Will you be back home Sunday?"

"We should be. We normally got up early morning on Saturday, and then come home early in the morning on Sunday that way we could have Sunday to get ourselves ready for the week." I paused. "What are you doing on Sunday?"

He shrugged. "Ma banned work on Sunday unless it was absolutely necessary. She used to do dinners every Sunday, but as we got older we managed to narrow it down to every other Sunday." He smirked. "This Sunday is not a family dinner one."

I acted like I was pondering the thought. "Nice," I said. We grabbed my stuff and locked up the office. "Since you are free this Sunday, I might be able to schedule you for dinner at my house. However, does the big boss think he can pencil me in for dinner at my house?"

Edward smirked. "I think I can."

"We are having pasta," I said. Edward helped me load up my car. He wrapped his arms around me. "I'll see you Sunday, Boss."

"I'll see you then, Tesoro." He gave me a gentle kiss. "I'll follow you home to make sure that you are safe." I just stared at him. "I'm not going to budge on that." I rolled my eyes. "Don't make me spank you."

"Don't tease me." I reached my hand around and smacked his ass. "Bye," I said.

True to his word, Edward followed me all the way home and didn't leave until I was inside the house.