"Calm down, maybe this isn't as bad as it looks to be…" I mumbled, as she silently began to panic.
"When have you ever known Alice to be wrong?" She asked.
I sighed, shaking my head, turning to look at her with an unimpressed look.
"She has been wrong about a lot of things, Rose. Don't you remember what she told me? Yeah, I'm not marrying Michael Newton or any of the other stupid assholes she said I was going to marry. Besides, we're not talking about me…" I grumbled, shaking my head at her.
"She's honestly not wrong all the time." Rose commented defensively.
"Rose, come on, don't be so gullible. You know I'm right. How else would you have ended up with Royce 'My Dick Is Bigger Than Yours' King and I with Sir Michael 'I Am The Man' Newton. Those guys were trash, and we didn't see it because we believed Alice and her little feelings of finding love. Let's be honest, Alice is amazing when it comes to fashion, designing clothes, and helping us find clothes that look amazing on us. But for being an exceptional fashion guru she's awfully lousy when it comes to love…" I grumbled, shaking my head at her.
"That only happened a few times." She replied, with an eye roll.
"No, she said that about every guy who's ever spoken to me." I pointed out.
"Alice seems to be under the impression that my supposed Prince Charming, Superman, soulmate… whatever you want to call him … will pop up suddenly in my life one day unexpectedly. Well, I've got news to tell you. He isn't going to." I muttered with a scoff.
She rolled her eyes, "Okay, so she's a hopeless romantic. Maybe this time she is right about what she is feeling." Rose replied, watching Alice with concern.
"She just broke up with her boyfriend of three years, Rose, this isn't going to be good if she gets hurt. You two don't know anything about these men. Yes, I saw how you looked at Emmett earlier, so I am talking to you as well… Girls like us don't get happy endings. We meet a man, and fall in love. But life isn't a fucking fairytale. Things happen and change… and we deal with it because it's what we do…" I told her, plainly.
"You're right. You're completely right, Bell." She sighed before she realized Alice was making her way over, with a blank expression.
I could tell I'd hurt her feelings but I wasn't about to pretend walking into this life was anything short of dangerous.
When she didn't utter a single word in response, we both turned to Alice, concerned.
"What's wrong?" Alice finally asked.
I opened my mouth to reassure her that everything was fine when Heidi spoke, surprising the hell out of me. "Not a thing, pixie, we're just concerned about the situation." She said, reassuringly.
Alice nodded in response, her eyes landing on me as she did.
"Jasper was just telling me that his parents and the rest of their family will be staying for dinner. His father wishes to meet us." Alice said.
I frowned, "Meet you? Excuse me. For what reason does he need to meet you two?" I asked.
Alice shrugged, smiling and sighing in content. "I don't know, it's probably just a custom here." She replied.
Hell no. Not on my watch. Custom, my ass.
Without saying another word, I shot out of my seat and stormed in the direction where all the men stood speaking quiet.
"What the fuck do you think you're playing at?" I asked Edward.
He frowned at me, "What are you talking about?"
"I'm referring to my friends having to meet with your— '' I began before he interrupted me.
"Excuse us for a moment, gentlemen. It appears my fiance and I need to have a word." He said, as he grabbed me by the arm and practically dragged me out of the room.
His long legs walked faster than my short ones, causing me to have to practically run after him to keep up with him.
"Where the fuck are you taking me?" I asked, trying to get out of his grasp.
"To speak with some privacy." He replied as he pushed one of the doors open, pulling me through before slamming the door shut and locking the door behind himself.
When he finally released his grasp on my arm, I clenched my fingers, and threw it towards his face. Trying to jump up to hit him in the face. Not thinking of the consequences of doing so.
The motion of colliding with him sent me falling backwards to the ground, pissing me off even more.
He caught me without hesitation, looking into my eyes as he did.
"Let go of me you neanderthal!" I growled at him.
"Not until you're calm enough. Are you done having a fit?" He asked me, calmly.
"I'm not having a fit. Stop treating me like I am a child, and answer my fucking question, you asshole." I growled.
He released me, setting me on my feet before stepping away and taking a deep breath. "I'm not playing at anything. Your friends have stupidly arrived in the middle of a fucking turf war. By them meeting being here, their lives have now been placed in danger. Do you realize that?" He asked me.
He was right, I realized.
Fuck, I hadn't thought of that. What the fuck was Felix thinking by bringing them here?!
"That's what I thought. My dad wants to meet them to explain the situation, and ask them if it's alright to assign them a security detail." He explained a moment later.
"Wait, but if you explain the situation to them, that means they'd be in even more danger. Edward, I can't let anything happen to them, they're like my sisters, even Heidi, Felix's fiancee. Alice doesn't know anything about this world or how dangerous it is. I want to keep it that way." I replied, anxiously.
He nodded, "Rest assured that nothing will happen to any of them. I'll make sure of it." He promised.
"You mean, we'll make sure of it. I'm not about to let someone else watch over my family especially when something could happen." I corrected.
He smiled amused, "Isabella, you don't have any experience in this type of business." He replied.
"I don't. But my father had Felix train me. I took a mix of boxing, kickboxing, karate, jiu jitsu, and a few other self defense classes. Knife throwing is one of my specialties." I replied with a shrug.
"So, that's how you took Felix down earlier." He commented amused.
"I went easy on him." I deadpanned, causing him to laugh.
"That doesn't surprise me." He muttered dryly.
"So, how are we going to do this?" I asked.
"What?" He asked, confused.
I sighed, shaking my head at him, "How are we going to handle juggling getting to know each other, being engaged and getting married, while protecting our family, and going to that wedding you need to attend?" I asked.
His eyes widened in understanding, "Hm. Well, protecting the family is easier. Felix, you, my father and I can talk about security later. And the wedding, well, we can go ahead and do what we planned earlier." He replied.
I nodded, before looking out the window.
"Is that all you wished to speak to me about?" He asked.
"No. Actually, but for now I guess that's all." I murmured, turning away as my emotions overwhelmed me.
A few seconds later I felt his hand touch my upper arm, before he turned me to look at him.
"What's wrong, principessa?" He asked me softly.
I shook my head, willing my emotions to stay at bay.
"No, something is wrong. What is it?" He asked.
Realizing he wasn't about to let this drop, I sighed, mumbling the response unintelligibly.
"What's that? You'll need to speak up, princess." He replied, amused.
I sighed, mumbling again.
"If you don't tell me what's wrong I'll be assuming. It's something worse than that." He replied.
I groaned, "Alright. Fine. I'm scared. Are you happy? I'm terrified that something will happen to those I care about. And it's out of my hands…" I said.
"Dolcezza, you don't need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. That's what I'm here for. I can assure you that I will try my hardest to protect all our loved ones. You need not worry about that. I'll kill them before they can try. Is that all you're worried about?" He asked after he pulled me into a hug.
I nodded, sighing in relief.
"I'm glad I could help." He replied.
"Me too." I replied, tiredly.