Hello!

I'm uploading the first chapter for the new year. Things are gradually getting more complicated, and I hope you'll notice some of my hints in the text. Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment.

I know I promised to publish soon, but my tasks didn't allow it, for which I apologize. I won't make promises anymore unless I'm sure I can keep them.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10

BPOV

The house was going to be our fortress for the near future, and although we didn't have a set date to leave it, I hoped it would be sooner.

I've never been in such a position before, where my cover is compromised. We still need to figure out where we went wrong, and it will burden us for a long time.

The sleep did not successfully capture me, and probably that was normal. I tossed and turned in bed for too long, trying unsuccessfully to calm my nerves after such an unexpected day. I sat up in bed and decided to go downstairs near the fireplace, which was burning softly to maintain warmth on the ground floor.

I descended the stairs slowly, careful not to create additional noise and enjoying the silence that enveloped the house. We were alone, surrounded by nothing. However, I wasn't sure about the situation we found ourselves in—how is it possible for Liam to have such connections in Italy to secure our stay exactly here? Typically, we receive a warning, and then we must take action to preserve our cover and literally save our lives.

Due to the lack of more information here and the prohibition to leave the house, I had limited opportunities to investigate further.

When I reached the lower floor, I only noticed the subdued light emanating from the fireplace and the quiet crackling of the wood inside. I went to the kitchen, boiled water for tea, and then sat close to the warmth, trying to relax in the engulfing silence. Too many unanswered questions lay ahead of us, and the isolation we were placed in wasn't promising for their resolution.

I rested my head on the sofa and closed my eyes, attempting to unwind, further warmed by the tea and the fireplace.

In the midst of my pursuit of revenge, I lost myself without realizing it. I won, but I lost twice more. Him. He didn't even know. He won't understand because... Because he is gone. My heart tightened again. Why did it have to be this way?

Hidden within these four walls, I don't have much besides time for reflection—time for memories. That is what's left for me. Time, too much time.

The noise in the house made me move—I have to show them that I'm okay. I have to be okay for them. Steps, slow steps—I said to myself. Slowly, I got up from the bed and drew the curtains. I saw that the weather was sunny enough, so I decided to go downstairs. Maybe even to the swing in the garden. As I descended the stairs, the quiet creaking of the boards made noise, and the lower floor quieted down. I hate how they tiptoe around me, afraid to break the little that's left in my soul.

Why am I even in Forks? What is happening?

No, I won't shatter, I won't give up. But how do I explain that to them?

Without a word, only exchanging shy smiles, I passed by them and went to the kitchen. The coffee machine was loaded, and I thought coffee would help. I don't want to sleep. I can't sleep. Too many memories. Too many nightmares. A picture etched in my mind. No, don't go there.

A picture that quickly resurfaces in my thoughts. I was in Liam's office, and he was showing me something on the laptop, some recording? I wasn't sure...

After pouring the coffee into the cup, I went to the garden. Slowly, I reached the swing and allowed it to embrace me, curling up in it and hugging my knees. The sun's rays warmed me, and for a brief moment, I allowed myself to dream about what my day would be like now if everything hadn't gone to hell. I closed my eyes and felt a light smile appear on my face. Smiles, love, happiness...

Other scenes from unknown events seemed to pass through my mind—I and Edward holding hands, him whispering softly, "I love you, I love you more than anything and anyone", then both in one bed, and his hand running through my hair.

An apartment that was unfamiliar to me, but apparently held some special significance because some of the items were mine.

Looking at my trembling hand and my quiet but joyful voice repeating "impossible" several times...

Dinner, candles, the familiar voice... "Bella, I want to spend my life with you." The next words were too muffled, too distant and quiet for me to hear what he was saying.

The memories abruptly ended, and I returned to reality.

Now it's best to be alone - that's when I feel the best. But they won't leave me alone because they're afraid. Afraid I might do something that will cause them more pain. No, I won't, but I also don't want to spend my whole life watching without seeing, breathing without feeling. What's left for me? How much more? How do you tell a story whose end came too soon, took too much and left an empty and quiet shell?

Every time I close my eyes, I see their faces. Him... always with the crooked smile and with that fiery and lively look - and I don't want to see another. No, actually, there's one more person. Someone so pure and innocent and now it's not here... And how could I give everything without thinking to be where those who didn't deserve it went. Opening my eyes, I felt my tears flowing again - and that's all I have left - to cry out my soul and then to heal myself. Steps, small steps. Even the little I had was taken away, because I allowed myself to believe. I allowed myself to dream, he gave me wings, and they took them away from me - forcibly, quickly, and without me being able to do anything.

The Volturi... the reason I'm here now. The reason I have nothing, the reason they're not here. There will come a day of reckoning, I'm sure of that, and this time, I'll be ready. And until then, I will cherish the memory of them because that's what breaks me and gives me strength. And then... then we'll be together, no matter where.

I closed my eyes again and let the gentle breeze and the warm rays try to calm me.

"Bella, wake up..." I heard softly and felt a hand touching me. How much I wanted to feel his touch again and the sense of completeness he gave me every time he touched me.

"Bella, this is just a dream, wake up!" I heard again, and this wasn't Carlisle's voice. I jumped up suddenly and felt the tears streaming down my face. In front of me stood Edward with a concerned face, naked to the waist, reaching out to me. Overwhelmed by everything I dreamt, I threw myself into Edward's arms, still not allowing myself to take a deep breath.

I hugged him as tightly as possible, still feeling the heavy sense of loss that the dream carried. How was this even possible?

"Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" he asked me.

"Yes... just hold me, please, it was too real" I whispered very quietly, realizing the magnitude of my feelings gradually. How will I keep my personal life away from the professional? - a question I didn't ask for the first time. And for the first time, I didn't care about the answer. Edward meant more and more to me, and after this dream, I probably would never look at him just as a fellow agent again.

I felt his lips on my hair and his hands, which had wrapped me in a tight embrace just as I wanted. I took a deep breath and felt his scent.

Edward released his hands and looked into my eyes, a reminder of how stressed I felt after the dream.

"Let's go upstairs." he said.

"I don't want to, no, I don't want to sleep anymore." I replied, shaking my head, feeling tears in my eyes again but successfully holding them back from flowing down my face.

"Okay, we won't sleep, but at least come upstairs with me. I don't want you to sit alone." Edward whispered, squeezing my hand, and like a typical woman, I cried again. He looked at me determinedly, and after a moment, I found myself in his arms as he carried us to his room and slowly placed me on the bed, then lay down beside me.

The desire to feel him close to me was irresistible, and I snuggled into him quite selfishly, but he responded and enveloped me again with his arms. This way, I could hear the rhythm of his heart, reminding me that he is alive and here. In that moment, I really realized how important he had become to me in the short time we had known each other. Unknown feelings overwhelmed me from every possible side, and the confusion that had surrounded me in the past days, even from our first meeting, seemed to slowly dissipate, like the wind dispersing clouds from a beautiful night sky.

Gradually, my tears stopped, and I managed to pull myself together from the very real dream, more like a nightmare, that I had. The silence surrounding us contributed to this, and I could concentrate solely on Edward's breathing, which was already steady. I slowly lifted my head and saw that he had closed his eyes, and his face looked so peaceful, serene even. Slowly, I raised my left hand and with a finger touched his face, making a few slow circles around it. Luckily, he didn't flinch, and I didn't disturb his sleep. My heart sped up again, but I felt something else too – a slight flutter in my stomach even as I looked at him. The cliché I had heard from every person, who was in love and which I so often laughed at, was apparently happening in my soul too.

"What are you doing to me, Edward?" I whispered softly and to no one. These were more my thoughts spoken clearly and out loud. After that, I slowly laid my head back on his chest and closed my eyes, surrendering to fatigue and hoping never to dream something so horrible again. Not even with him.

"Bella..." a quiet whisper woke me from the dream I had drifted into, and when I moved slightly, Edward's hand, which had slipped around my waist, brought me back to him, squeezing me tightly. However, he was not awake; it was a completely unconscious action, which made me smile slightly – even in his dreams, he didn't take his eyes off me, something I noticed in the past days. So I drifted away again.

The second time I woke up, it was bright outside, and short rays sneaked through the curtains and windows. This time, I managed to escape before someone's hand brought me back, and I turned to him. One of his hands was tucked under the pillow, and the other was casually stretched towards the part where I slept this night. Despite all the turmoil of events, he seemed calm, which was enough to improve my mood. I quietly left the room and returned to mine, where I took the typical morning shower for awakening and went downstairs to prepare breakfast for both of us. One of the drawbacks of the prison we found ourselves in was Edward's inability to quickly reach my now favorite breakfast place. With a little frowning, I decided to return the gesture he had already made to me several times and decided to make something I understood he liked in the mornings before – omelets. I gathered the necessary ingredients and additionally made some toasts, which I left in the oven. Then I worked on the pan.

A little later, I heard his steps on the stairs just as I was pouring coffee into the cups.

"Good morning! It smells amazing, thank you!" he said, showing me his remarkable crooked smile. Edward during the day is a view I often quietly enjoy, but Edward after sleep, with his slightly tousled hair due to his short hairstyle and still sleepy, is a picture I will cherish as a favorite.

"Good morning! I'm glad I managed to do everything before you woke up. Sit down." I said with a smile. We both enjoyed breakfast, and he insisted on washing the dishes while I took care of the mess I left behind last night. A little later, he came to me.

Since we didn't have a heavy schedule in front of us, which we got used to in the previous days, and we didn't have access to any of the cameras or devices we had placed, there wasn't much left for us except to find activities inside the house.

"What do you plan to do today?" I asked him, asking myself the same question mentally.

"I'll go downstairs and try to figure out what the cameras are showing and in which corners they are." he said. It was a good idea. In case danger approached, we would have to be prepared despite the limited resources we had.

"All right, I'll come with you." he just nodded, and both of us went downstairs. With a quick look around all the small monitors, we noticed that there was no immediate danger around us, so I also paid attention to the arsenal of weapons someone had loaded into the seemingly concealed hunting lodge. They were not many, but they differed, and some of them I hadn't seen with my own eyes before – size, shape, weight in the hand, caliber – they were chosen quite randomly.

As an agent, the necessity to know weapons starts from your first days. You learn to shoot even with your eyes closed... and not to miss your target in most cases. Owning a weapon and using it for its purpose in this kind of profession also means it becomes an extension of your hand. However, here, the variety did not point to that. No matter how I looked at them, I noticed one common thing among them – none of them was adapted for long-range shooting. If danger approached so close to us, I wouldn't have time to go down to get one of them. If I ran out of weapons – I would never need it again, just like that day.

Why would the FBI prepare such a selection then?

However, fidgeting with the weapons, I noticed the small hooks on which they hung. Some of them, however, were empty. Did this mean that there were still weapons for long-range shooting? What happened to them, and why would Liam send us here if once this lodge was used and apparently not secure enough? Such a practice is not typical of him; he should not expose us to an additional danger beyond the one Edward and I were already in.

"Bella, look at this." Edward's voice distracted me from the deep thoughts I was still likely to ponder for a long time, and I turned to him. He was looking intently at the screens.

"In addition to cameras, it seems we also have motion sensors. These buttons here activate them. I suggest we take advantage of them." he said.

"Of course, the more security options we have, the better. We should use them." I agreed. It never hurts to be warned in advance. The question remains: why didn't the last person here use them? Or perhaps the person who stocked the supplies knew what they were doing and, therefore, didn't activate them?

Questions continued to pop up in my head one after another, but they were too chaotic to ask Edward. He, like me, wouldn't have answers to them, so I decided to try to clarify all the events and connections first. With a few clicks on the buttons, he activated the alarm, and a short sound confirmed that it was on. I looked at each of the small windows that transmitted the surrounding environment live. Everything was calm, and this was the moment when I decided to take a short break.

"Let's go back upstairs. I don't think we need to sit down here all the time." I suggested, and without waiting, I went upstairs. The day was still ahead of us, and with our empty schedule, we had limited options. When I turned around, he was behind me.

"What do you plan to do?" I asked, still not knowing what to do with my time.

"I have a book upstairs that I started reading before I left for Seattle. Then maybe we can watch a movie?" The second part of his sentence sounded more like a question, but I nodded to show him that I agreed. Our possibilities were not many if we stuck to what Liam had told us.

When he went upstairs, I decided to use the moment to try to arrange the puzzle in my head—or at least to the extent that I could discuss it later with Edward. I made myself another coffee and approached the armchair, which was facing the forest.

I knew Liam from my first day in the office, and until now, I had never noticed his actions being chaotic or unthoughtful. From my first assigned mission, Liam knew both my main target and the dedication with which I worked on every case, whether it was related to the Volturi or not. However, this time, the way he pulled us out, against the rules that were clear to everyone, in the event of a compromised undercover, we were to be withdrawn, and if the FBI office couldn't do it—we act on our own. Under no circumstances, however, should we stay close to the danger we found ourselves in. What Liam did was a kind of help towards us, but not the one that needed to be taken.

The only acceptable explanation I had is that he might try to use us as undercover agents, but after a certain period. He should not risk his employees so shortly after his explanation that someone had figured out about us.

The mistake Edward and I made was that apparently, we weren't in good enough cover, but the car chase might have been an unrelated coincidence to our situation, or perhaps, and more logically—vice versa.

In either case, we should not be in Italy or at least on the islands, as we are at the moment. I believe he has the good intention to help us and is doing what is possible given the available information.

Information…

Who is supplying him with so much internal information? He must have a solid backbone to work jointly with the Italian family and the FBI. Probably another agent?

The light outside and the movement of the branches diverted me again from my thought, and I noticed by the light coming through the window that more time had passed than I assumed. With determination, I decided to raise my questions to Edward tonight, but before that, perhaps I would take some time for a workout.

Our daily life here interfered enough with the activities we were used to, so I would stick to anything I considered normal. I took off my laptop, changed for more comfort, and opened the folder with some of the online workouts I followed. Of course, the intense combat training was done in our office base, so on the laptop, I kept only light exercises that I did on my free days. Aerobics and yoga were not among the most active sports, but they calmed the mind much more than heavy physical strain did. I made sure I had enough space and pressed play.

"Take a deep breath and exhale slowly, then take the Prasarita Padottanasana pose—feet wide apart, bend your back towards the floor, and touch your hands to the ground" the trainer's voice said, and I repeated the instructions.

"Ohhhhh... Ummm... I, I..." I abruptly stood up and turned towards the staircase, where Edward's voice was coming from. He was looking at me with slightly open mouth, forming an "O," and a very confused expression.

"Sorry, I decided to use the time to work out."

"And 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, exhale and stand up slowly. You have a 15-second break." the voice from the laptop said again, and I leaned down to stop the video. At that moment, I heard him groaning not so quietly, and quickly understood exactly what distracted him. Men... what more can I say?

With a slight smile, I turned to him and innocently asked if he was okay. He managed only to nod a few times, like a little child who still can't speak, then swallowed, took a breath, blinked quickly, and spoke:

"Yeah, sorry for bothering you. I just decided to check what, um, what you're doing. But I'll go back up; you finish your exercises." Before I could respond, he had already shot back into his room, and I heard the door close.

His actions genuinely amused me. It was evident how quickly he got affected by the situation and sought an exit. I climbed up to calm my breathing and returned to the workout. While the monotonous voice of the trainer continued, I heard again the noise of the door, followed by the sound of water from the shower in the bathroom, which again was enough to make me laugh. I assessed that I wouldn't be able to concentrate more, so I turned off the laptop and went upstairs, where I waited for him to come out so I could quickly take a shower. I packed the laptop in my bag, checked my phone for messages from Liam, but there was no change, so I prepared the clothes to wear later.

Ten minutes later, Edward came out, and I quickly slipped into the bathroom. The day passed smoothly after that, and darkness fell outside. My stomach was already protesting, as both of us had only had breakfast. Therefore, I returned to the kitchen to find something to cook. Apparently, he also heard my movements and came down to join me.

"What are we cooking?" he asked, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt slightly. The muscles in his forearm flexed in front of me, and that was enough to divert my attention. When he approached, I returned to reality.

"Uh, I think I'll prepare chicken and potatoes. What do you say?"

"Okay, I don't mind, Chef! How can I be of your service?" he asked with a teasing tone. In this light, Edward was something I hadn't paid attention to before, but he looked great.

"I'll marinate the meat, you can peel the potatoes." I distributed the tasks, and we got to work. Both of us acted harmoniously, and we quickly managed to make the preparations. I leaned over deliberately slower than necessary towards the oven, turned on the required temperature, and then straightened up and started arranging the products in the tray.

Edward's voice, soft and low, broke the quiet kitchen ambiance as he quietly uttered, "Don't forget these." I turned to find him holding a bowl filled with the leftover cut vegetables, but as he handed it to me, he playfully pulled it slightly toward himself, catching me off guard. In a swift motion, his other arm encircled my waist, and for those fleeting seconds, I felt his entire frame pressed intimately against mine, a sensation that electrified every inch of me. He drew a deliberate breath, exhaling gently against my neck. In response, I instinctively tilted my head back, offering more space to immerse myself in his closeness.

His nose traced a subtle path along my neck, traveling up to my jawline, creating a symphony of sensations that stirred every cell within me. It was as though he were awakening me from a profound slumber, his presence permeating my senses. In another deliberate breath, he released the embrace, moving away and leaving the bowl in my hands, all while the air lingered with the intensity of a shared moment.

"If everything here is ready, I'll set the table" he said, and I was still looking confused at the tray with the products. Hmm, was this retaliation? That thought made me laugh again, lightly.

I fixed the products and left the food in the oven. Dinner went quietly, and then Edward suggested watching a movie. However, the collection near the TV wasn't impressive, so we decided to use my laptop to stream something on Netflix. We settled for the timeless comedy "Friends" as we both had enough time and needed some entertainment.

After the last episode, Edward and I found ourselves absorbed in a conversation about the characters and plot twists. The warmth of the fireplace enveloped us, creating a cozy atmosphere that eased the fatigue from the day. As the night progressed, my yawns became more pronounced, signaling the need for a good night's sleep.

Edward, with a considerate demeanor, suggested, "Bella, it might be a good idea to call it a night. You seemed restless last night, and we can continue watching in the morning when we're both refreshed." His words echoed the events of the previous night's dream, and as I pondered over them, the fragments of the dream replayed in my mind, each detail taking on a surreal quality.

"If there's an issue, you can always find me in my room. Just, please, don't come down to sleep here," Edward said with a focused look, and I nodded. Following my intuition, I hugged him. He also wrapped his arms around me for a brief moment, and we went up the stairs before parting ways to our rooms.

I got ready quickly, feeling increasingly tired, and gladly let the blankets envelop me in a deep sleep.

In my hands, I held a pair of jeans – dirty and worn, with various stains on them. Was it blood? My fingers trembled again as I touched the fabric. There was something in them – a wallet or rather a small document holder, but it was empty except for a small white note. I took out the note and unfolded it – inside were numbers that made no sense to me. They were written on two separate lines, clearly not a phone number or birthdates. What was this, and why was it here?

I put the note aside and grabbed the jeans and a piece of another fabric, bloodstained, probably a torn shirt or blouse. I pressed them tightly against me, and then I started screaming loudly, lost in the waves of my suffering.

I woke up from a loud noise, or rather an alarm, drenched in cold sweat and disoriented. It took me a few seconds to catch my breath a few times and direct my attention to the constant beeping of the alarm. I quickly pulled the gun from the cabinet next to my head and went out into the hallway.

When I opened the door, Edward was also emerging, armed and with a worried look.

"Bella, I think someone is coming towards us."