Chapter One

BPOV:

I was sitting in my office re-reading the book that I had written for Eloise, a leukemia patient from Seattle General when the front door opened. "Bella?"

I smiled at my best friend. "In my office, Rosie Posie!" Rosalie walked into my office. "What's up?"

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" I shook my head no. "Good." She nervously paused. "I was wondering if you could come out to dinner with me."

I raised my eyebrow. "Why are you acting nervous about seeing if I wanted to go out to dinner with you?" I paused before I smiled. "Do I finally get to meet the Emmett? The one who has stolen most of your time from me? The one who puts a smile on your face? The one who put a sparkle in your eye? The one who has 'the penis that God sculpted with his bare hand' as you put it?"

Her cheeks burned red. "Shut up." I laughed. "Yes. It won't just be the three of us, though. His siblings will be there. I would love for my sister and the man who I have strong feelings for to meet."

"The man you have strong feelings for?" She sighed. "Do you love him?"

"I don't want to say love yet because of my last experience. But that feeling is there." She sighed. "I know it's been almost a year, but I'm scared of getting hurt again."

Fuck Royce King. Fuck him.

"And that is perfectly okay." She nodded. "Where are we going?"

She smiled. "Sapori d'Italia." My eyes widened. "I know! I think he said that his brother owns it."

Sapori is a very popular and very expensive restaurant. I'm not struggling financially, but man, spending that much for a meal is a little too much for me.

But for my Rosalie, I will do it.

"Wear blue tonight. It complements your skin." I just nodded my head. "Have you finished the book for Eloise?"

"Yeah. I should have a physical copy in a couple of days."

"Good. Are you going to get ready here or what?"

She stood up. "I actually need to head over to the studio for a bit to finish some designs. I will come get you for dinner." She said goodbye and left.

For the next couple of hours, I worked on another book and double-checked on how things were going with my Nonno's company. Once I shut everything down, I went upstairs to get ready. I showered, put on a little bit of makeup, and curled my hair.

What do I have that blue?

I kept looking through my closet when I immediately paused. I forgot about this dress! Rosalie, being the talented designer that she is, created a beautiful cocktail dress for me.

It was a navy blue thin strapped dress with a sweetheart neckline. The dress had two layers. The bottom layer was a navy satin dress that was form-fitting that went to my mid-thigh. The top layer was navy lace that was also form-fitting that went down to just under my knees. I finished off the look with a pair of beige heels.

I had just put on the necklace that my Nonna bought me for my sixteenth birthday when my front door opened again. "Bells?" Rose called out again. I quickly went downstairs. "I love the dress." She winked.

"Thank you. The designer is a beast when it comes to fashion." She laughed. I got a good look at her outfit. She was wearing a dress that she designed - obviously. It was a black dress that had form-fitting sleeves along with the bust, but the skirt flowed out to mid-thigh. She finished off her look with her red heels and signature red lips. "Are we taking my car or yours?"

"Actually, Emmett sent his driver to pick me up, so I had him come get you too." I raised my eyebrow. "What?"

"What does he do to afford his own driver?"

"He owns a few businesses around town, but I think that he does something with his dad and brothers. I asked him about it once. He just shrugged me off." I locked up the house before heading to a Range Rover. "Bella, this is Deacon. Deacon, this is Bella." He just nodded his head. "Let's go. I'm starving for all the carbs that I can get."

The hostess led us to the back room when we got to the restaurant. "There's my Rosie." Emmett stood up and gave her a hug. "You look stunning."

Rose blushed. "Thank you handsome." I turned away from their very public display of affection.

"Really Emmett?" A man who had a voice of sex asked.

Emmett and Rose pulled away. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself." He looked at me with a goofy smile on his face. "Hello, Bella Swan. It's nice to finally meet you."

I smiled at him. "Hello, Emmett! It's finally nice to put a face to the teddy bear that Rosalie talks about a lot."

He immediately toughened himself up a big. "Teddy Bear? No. Grizzly Bear? Yes." He playfully growled. Rose just chuckled and nudged his arm. "Ladies, meet my sister and brothers. The one at the end of the table is my brother, Edward Cullen. My sister, Alice, is the only other lady here tonight. The man next to Alice is her husband, Jasper Whitlock."

Emmett pulled out a chair for Rosalie to sit. Edward stood up and pulled out a chair for me that was right next to him. "Thank you." I smiled at him nicely.

"It's nice to meet you, Rosalie, finally!" Alice chimed with a bell-like voice.

"You too." I could tell that Rosalie was nervous about tonight because she kept fiddling with the hem of her dress. "I love your dress!"

Alice was wearing a pretty lavender dress. "Thank you. I love your dresses. I really like the lace on your dress, Bella."

"Thank you. Rosalie actually designed this dress for me!" Alice's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Emmett didn't tell me that you are a designer!" She playfully glared at her brother.

Rosalie relaxed a little bit. "Yeah. Have you heard of the brand Rossa?" Alice nodded. "That's me."

Alice smiled. "I actually reached out to your marketing manager yesterday about possibly getting some of your designs in my store. She said that she had to speak with the brand's owner. I mean I knew that your name was Rosalie, but I didn't know that you were the Rosalie."

"Yeah. That's me. It's named after my Nonna."

Our waiter walked over. "Welcome to Sapori di Italia. My name is Franco. I will be your server for the evening. Can I start you off with something to drink and an appetizer?" He looked at Edward. "Signor Cullen?"

Edward looked at Franco like he was stupid. "Ladies first, Franco. Always start with the ladies."

Franco immediately looked at Alice, Rosalie, and me. His gaze stayed on us for a little longer than what I was comfortable with. "My apologies, le signore. What can I get started for you?" Alice and Rosalie ordered wine while I ordered peach sangria. The men just ordered themselves some man cocktail. Edward ordered bruschetta for the table.

"So Alice, you own a clothing store?" I asked.

She nodded. "I do. My store is called Oasis. My Mamma is an interior decorator, so I help her out with that too." I nodded my head. "What do you do, Bella?"

I felt a wall build a little bit. For some reason, a few people have turned their noses to me when I tell them my job. "I'm an author. I write children's books in English and Italian."

"I love that," Alice said. "How long have the two of you been friends?"

"Since birth. Our great-grandfathers were best friends." I looked at Edward, who was just staring at us. "I'm sorry that the ladies are hogging the conversations."

Franco finally came over with our drinks and appetizer. "Are we all ready to order?" We all ordered our entrees. I got a pasta ala vodka.

Everyone kind of fell into their own conversations. "So, Bella," Edward said. I turned my head to him. That's when I got a good look at his beautiful velvet emerald green eyes. Damn, his eyes are beautiful. "Thank you," he said with a smirk. My eyes widened as I stared at the table. "Your eyes look beautiful too." He winked.

Oh, my insides turned into mush.

My cheeks were burning hot. "Just forget I said anything that you weren't supposed to hear."

He shrugged. "I most likely won't." He winked. "So, Italian huh?" I nodded. "We are too. Well, Sicilian. My great-great-grandparents came over from Palermo."

"Messina," I said.

Suddenly, our food was placed in front of us. I immediately dug in. "What made you want to be an author? Specifically a children's author."

I blushed. "It's kind of childish." He just looked at me to continue. "My Nonna had a very imaginative soul which is passed on down to me. She kind of convinced me to take that route. We spoke Italian in our house growing up, and we didn't have any children's books written in my Nonni's primary language." I paused because I felt myself go to a dark place. "Plus, kids don't know the real evil of the world, so if I could create something that keeps them away just for a little longer. I will." I shook my head of these negative thoughts. "Enough about me. What do you do?"

He chuckled. "I own this restaurant, Eclipse casino, and a security company." I could tell he was hiding something, but I didn't know him much to get that information from him.

"Well, you need to give your chef a raise because this is delicious." He chuckled. "Emmett is your younger or older brother?"

"We are actually the same age." I looked at both of them, and I saw very few similarities. "Biologically, Emmett and Alice are my cousins. They were adopted by my parents when they were toddlers." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Jasper and Alice looked at each other in shock.

Naturally, I left that alone too.

"That's very noble of them," I said. His eyes peeked up for a millisecond before they went back to me. I noticed that has happened a couple of times like he was watching for anything that could be coming. "How old are you?"

"32. You?"

"26," I said. "Dinner was delicious."

He smiled. "I'm glad you like it." He looked at the rest of the table. "Anyone interested in dessert?"

"No thanks, Eddie. Mine is coming home with me," Emmett said with a wink at Rose.

"First off, don't call me Eddie. Secondly, Ma raised you with manners. Use them," he said.

I turned to Rose. "Do I need to call an Uber? I'm toward the edge of town and don't want anyone to go out of their way," I whispered.

"It's okay, Bella. I have no issue taking you home," Emmett said.

They all started to stand up. "I didn't get my check," I said.

Edward chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Tesoro." I raised my eyebrow at him questioning the nickname. He held out his hand. As soon as our hands touched, the hair on my arms stood up. "I'm glad you liked dinner."

I nudged his arm with my elbow. "As I said earlier, you should give your chef a raise."

He put his hand on my back in a protective manner as we walked out of the restaurant. "Good night, Tesoro," Edward said once we reached the cars.

"Good night, Principe Azzurro." I got into the car next to Rosalie.

On the ride home, I pretended not to notice that Emmett was sitting in the very back constantly looking out the window with his hand on his side.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight - Stephanie Myer does. or the cover photo.