EPOV

The moment we found Isabella and I knew she was safe, a spark ignited inside of me. Serenity spread throughout my body knowing she would live another day. Usually, I have no regard for life. Walking away from Bella's limp body in the back of the G Wagon, I felt repulsed by Garrett's actions, and I wished to kill him slowly.

Emmett stood before me, waiting for instructions, "Do you want to go to the tunnels, Ed?"

I considered Emmett's question, "I say we go to the casa lago with this one." ("lake house")

"Sei sicuro?" He responded. ("Are you sure?")

Lefevre's body was quaking from the shock of the bullet wound, "Se lo merita." ("He deserves it")

Taking slow steps towards Garrett's tied-up body, hearing his blood drip out of his shoulder, "Do you know why you're here?" I asked.

The man was truly in shock, giving me no answer and his eyes looked as if he were already a corpse. Taking my knife out of my pocket, I drew it to his chest, barring a large slash- "You fucked with the wrong people. Garrett. You fucked with the wrong woman, too."

I watched as his face twitched in agony, and listened to his whimpers grow louder, "Isabella… she was never yours. A woman like her, would never purposefully subject herself to a man like you. Do you know how pathetic you are?" I asked, fixing the blade of my knife against his neck.

He began to close his eyes, I promptly stuck my knife into his bullet wound. The screams he elicited were justified, "You don't get to close your eyes, after all, we've only just begun Garrett!" I said, making a mockery of his earlier words.

Blood was dripping onto the floor, pooling at my feet, "Questo stronzo mi rà del sangue sulle scarpe", I said to Emmett. ("This asshole is going to get blood on my shoes.")

"Yeah, no shit, you just stuck your knife in an open wound!" He bellowed and then chuckled.

"Can you get him to the casa lago?" I was antsy to check on Isabella.

Emmett looked at me and smiled a boyish grin, "Vai a prendere la tua ragazza." ("Go get your girl.")

"I'm putting my bloodied suit in your car, burn it with yours," I said before stalking to the car and getting a change of clothes, leaving my old ones with Emmett.

Isabella wasn't my girl, but I couldn't remove the relief that I felt- now that she was safe. She was on her own with Garrett, who had abused her for a full year. The mere notion of him putting his hands on Isabella taunts me as I drive.

Wearing detestable large clothes that belonged to my brother, I stalked through the lobby of my building, getting into the elevator.

Before I knew it, the elevator doors opened to my penthouse. The smell of fresh basil radiated in the air. Alice appeared, she saw the grief on my face, "She's okay Edward. Felix gave her a morphine injection about an hour ago, she's sleeping now."

"Grazie. I'm going to go check on her." I said as I began to make my way to the larger of the guest rooms. ("Thanks")

I basically tiptoed into the room, worried I would wake Isabella. She lay in a California king bed, directly in the middle. Her body was so petite, I could barely make her out beneath the duvet. Long brown hair cascaded onto the pillow as her head turned to the right. She looked relatively clean for what occurred. Perhaps Alice assisted her in bathing?

Small murmurs and mumbles kept coming from her rose-colored lips, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. She fidgeted a bit, and the duvet got kicked to her hip. There was Isabella, in a silk camisole, probably Alice's doing. No matter how beautiful and content she looked in that moment, seeing her bruised face and scratched chest made me contemplate how much of a rude awakening it will be.

She smelled so inviting, like strawberries- similar to the shampoo Esme used to use in my bubble baths. She mewled again, and this time I heard something faint escape her lips, "Edward.."

I didn't want to touch her without her consent, so I simply said, "I'm here, Isabella. You're safe."

Standing up, I quietly made my way to the door to leave. Walking through the corridor on the way to the kitchen I heard the distinct voice of my mother, Alice.

Now looking at my sister and mother, "Mamma, che ci fai qui?" ("Mom, what are you doing here?")

Esme's soft steps came towards me, and she reached up to kiss my cheek, "Is that any way to greet your Mother? Alice told me you may need my assistance."

Narrowing my eyes at Alice, "Did Alice say that?"

"Sure did!" Alice smiled, good lord.

"Cosa sta succedendo? You are acting like children." My Mom looked at me and then to Alice, who looked at the guest room hallway- and then back to me. ("What's going on here?")

"C'è una donna nella mia stanza degli ospiti, mamma," I decided to come out with it. ("There's a woman in my guest room, Mom.")

She looked befuddled, "You're a 32-year-old, Edward. I know you have sex...:"

Raking my hands through my hair I took a deep breath, Alice was looking at me with her cheeks puffed up, trying to hold back laughter. "I'm not having sex with her. She's.. Her name is Isabella," Esme looked at me pointedly, waiting for me to continue.

"Isabella works at The Eclipse, and the first night I met her, I saw that she was abused.

I did some digging. Her stepfather owed a debt to Garrett Lefevre, who owns the majority of the underground poker rings in Chicago. He was forcing her into a relationship to pay back her stepfather's debts," My mother immediately pulled me towards her for an embrace.

After a few seconds, she pulled back and gazed at me seriously, "Oh Edward, lei sa?" ("Does she know?")

This was specifically what I wished to avoid. If Isabella knows about my family, there are only two things that can happen. If Esme tells Carlise about her, those rules would be implemented immediately.

"Yes," I sighed, "No one will touch Isabella, not without going through me."

My mother and Alice both looked at one another, "Lei è speciale," Esme says. ("She's special.")

"Moltissimo," I admitted, before making my way to my office. ("Very very much.")

I sat at my desk and took a few seconds to reset my breath and focus. My phone began vibrating, I saw it was my father calling.

"Papa', to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Making sure you remembered tonight's shipment deal." Fuck!

"I've decided to let Jasper take the lead on the deal tonight," I stated simply, anticipating he'd buy my excuse.

"You believe he's ready for this?"

"Sì papà. He's been back up for two full years."

"Va bene figliolo." He said before disconnecting the call. ("Alright son.")

Swiftly I stood up and made my way to my master suite. Undressed out of my ridiculously large clothes, I went to the ensuite for a shower. My mind spun with brown eyes, like a kaleidoscope of beauty. Isabella was in my guest room recovering from abuse, and I'm thinking about how spectacular she is, isn't that fucked up?

I dressed in a suit and decided to go speak with Felix about Bella's injuries. As I was making my way out of the master bedroom, I saw Alice floating out of the guest room. Briskly I plodded into the kitchen, seeing Alice fixing a bowl of ravioli.

I glared at her, "Why were you in Isabella's room?"

"Whoa! She's moving in now?" I narrowed my eyes.

"I'm messing with you, fratello. I heard something, so I went in and introduced myself. Her I.V. got pulled out.. I think she was having a bad dream. I tried to help her clean up the blood, but she was scared to allow me to touch her."

"Are you fixing her bowl of food?" I asked

"Yep! Told her my ravioli is the best, which we all know is true. She asked where you were, you know." Alice took the bowl and went to the guest room, only to return seconds later with the bowl still in hand, "She's sleeping, I can imagine she's exhausted."

"I'm going to go check on her. If Felix is around, could you send him by?"

"Qualsiasi cosa per te, Eddy" Alice sarcastically spat. ("Anything for you")

I took the chair closest to the bed. It was comfortable, I hadn't spent much time in either of the guest rooms. Twenty minutes passed until Isabella woke again. Her voice was adorable from sleeping. We spoke briefly before Felix came in to tell Bella about her diagnosis.

When Felix attempted to give her the morphine injection, she nearly fractured another rib by flinching so rapidly. Isabella allowed me to touch her, which made every interaction between us more intimate. I gave her the shot, and she began to giggle, which reminded me that she was a woman who still had so much to live for. Isabella's life is now worth living, I can't ruin it by putting her in harm's way by knowing me. Yet, if she goes and Carlise finds out the truth, she could be killed.

At this moment, I surmised that I could live without Isabella, I just don't want to.

EPOV (again)

The casa lago was an hour and a half away. Choosing to take my Ashton, I sped off into the evening. Realizing I need to update Jasper on the shipment plans, I dialed his number.

Ring

Ring

Ring, JASPER ANSWER THE PHONE.

Ring

"Ed!"

"Idiota, why didn't you pick up sooner? This is your job, Jasper.." I scolded. ("Idiot")

"I couldn't feel the vibration, I'm sorry man. What's going on?"

Internally groaning, "I told Carlisle you would intercept the Volturi shipment tonight. Are you ready for this?"

"Me? Diavolo sì, sono pronto!" ("Myself? Hell yes, I'm ready!")

"Emmett will be with me, so I'll send Riley with you, too. Be there on time, and don't fuck this up!" I demanded before hanging up.

With an hour left of the drive, I sped up, hoping to cut back on time. My indignation towards Garrett was growing by the second, causing me to have a heavy foot on the gas. Thirty minutes later, I arrived at the casa lago. Even I had to admit, I made it in record time.

I stepped out of my Vanquish onto the pebble drive leading to our old family lake house. This property belonged to Carlisle's father, my Grandfather, and is basically abandoned. The shrubbery surrounding the house is all dead, with some weeds growing near them. The large pine wooden door has a door knocker with the Cullen family crest on it, how unobtrusive.

Pulling out my keys, I unlocked the door and trudged through the front room.

"Fratello?" Emmett exclaimed.

"In the flesh, dove sei?" ("Where are you?")

"Nel seminterrato, vieni giù!" ("In the basement, come down!")

Emmett sounded awfully excited, admittedly, and so am I. The pitter-patter of my feet going down the two sets of stairs comforted me. At this point, Lefevre is barely surviving, nevertheless, I wanted my face to be the last one he would see before his dying breath.

Garrett was tied up, still in a standing position, the same way Isabella had been. He continued to moan, then quickly passed out, then moan- and the cycle would repeat.

"GARRETT!" I snapped, with no luck, he still stood groaning.

Emmett came over, "He's been like this since we left each other, the time's coming soon."

"Let's get the cocaine then." I declared.

"HELL YEAH! We haven't done this in a while."

Emmett was giving me a cluster headache, "Do we have syringes?"

"Naturalmente lo facciamo!" ("Of course we do!")

"Good, heat it up properly, let's get this over with." Flicking Lefevre on his wound, he screeched in agony.

"AH, I knew you were in there, Garrett. Remember me?" He groaned in response, "I'm Edward Cullen, next in line to be El Capitan of the largest Italian Chicago Mafia group. Does that sound familiar?" I narrowed my eyes at Garrett's barely opened ones.

Emmett walked over and tied off Garrett's arm, looking for a decent vein. We needed this cocaine to wake Lefevre up, only long enough to correct his wrongdoings. Within 30 seconds, the needle was inserted, and Garrett's eyes opened with a burst.

His breathing rose quickly, and I knew he'd be awake long enough for me. Stepping to the side, I removed my suit Jacket and dress shirt, leaving me only in my undershirt. I folded my clothing neatly and put it on a spare table. I had my Ruger on my hip and my knife in my back pocket.

Walking up to where Garrett is tied, I took my right arm, turned my hand swiftly, and smacked the shit out of him.

"STOP IT, PLEASE, STOP!" He whimpered.

"I saw you slap Isabella like that, how do you like it?" I raised my hand again and came down hard on his face.

"Still a big man Garrett?" I asked mischievously.

He let out a huge breath, "No, I'm not. I fucked up! I'm sorry. Please!"

I chuckled, now glowering down at him, "Isabella had four broken ribs. Did you know that? How'd you pull that off? Did you push her down the stairs because she refused to go down on you? Or did you just punch her repeatedly, reminding her that she owes you?"

Nose to nose with my prey, just how I enjoy it- "I never pushed her, we just played, I promise!"

"Does playing mean raping to you?" I cautioned.

"YOU KNOW HOW WOMEN GET!" Lefevre shouted.

Walking calmly to the table, I picked up a hammer. All that could be heard were the sounds of my shoes on the wooden floor, oh, and Garrett's lame attempt at crying.

Standing directly in front of him, "Have you had broken ribs, Garrett?"

Jesus, he was actually whimpering now- "Well you will know that pain now."

I smirked before raising the hammer up and aiming directly at his left rib cage. The steel face of the hammer hit directly into his ribcage. Continuing, I aimed again and swung- right on the money.

"Seems like I've broken two, but since Isabella has four, I'm going to give you three more."

Once again, I raised the steel hammer and came down more forcefully than the first two times. The next two were a breeze, I even heard his bones crack.

"FUCK! PLEASE, LET ME LIVE. I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

Drawing my knife from my back pocket, twisted it in my right hand, "Do you hear that Emmett? He wants to live," I spat with satire.

My brother blared a laugh, "Don't they always?"

Lifting my knife up, with the blade resting against his bruised cheekbone, I pressed in minutely- drawing little blood. "Unless you can go back in time and be a better person, Mr. Lefevre, which I know is impossible- then you will die tonight."

I took out my Ruger with my left hand and pushed it in between his eyes, "You caused the one person I'm starting to care for pain. You raped her. You abused her. You were never a man Garrett. Now you'll never be one."

Promptly, I undid the safety, then pressed the trigger. The worst part about head wounds is the amount of blood, it was puddling at my feet.

"I still feel like you could've warned me, bro!" Emmett maintained.

"Emmett, my gun was resting on his face, how could that not have been obvious?" I huffed.

"I'm saying, a verbal warning would've been nice!" Good lord, grant me patience.

"Grazie per oggi, fratello." ("Thanks for today, brother.")

He smiled, "Sempre. Seth will be here to clean up in thirty if you need to get going." ("Always.")

I stalked over to the table and removed my undershirt, replacing it with my dress shirt and suit jacket, "I would like that. I am a bit concerned, I put Jasper on the deal interception tonight."

Emmett let out roaring laughter, "Hai messo Jasper nell'accordo!? Solo?" ("You put Jasper on the deal!? Alone?")

Rolling my eyes, "stai zitto…" ("Be quiet…")

"It's alright Ed, I'll watch him. Rose has plans with Leah tonight anyway!"

I went over and patted him on the shoulder, "Te lo devo." ("I owe you")

Making my way back to the car, my phone began to vibrate, I took a steadying breath.

"Cullen"

"Isabella non sta andando bene!" Alice's voice rang out. ("Isabella is not doing well!")

My chest dropped into my stomach, the beginning of grief taking over on autopilot.

"She was okay three hours ago! What's going on?"

Then my sister said the worst three words I could've heard, "Carlisle's here, Edward."