Good Morning Loves! Thank you endlessly to Mel!

CHAPTER THREE

Edward

"Knowledge may be power, but money buys both."

― V.E. Schwab

I'd never seen my parents cornered before.

Somehow, Bella had managed to shock the hell out of all of us with her negotiation prowess. I'd fully expected to walk away from the conversation with nothing to my name except a legacy of shame. Instead, I was walking away more powerful than ever.

Bella had been shrewd and confident in her decision-making. I wouldn't tell her this, but watching her take on my parents, I could see the resemblance to Charlie Bourgault.

She wasn't that different from him after all.

My parents sent an assistant to draw up the paperwork while we ate, and by the time dessert was served, we all had contracts in front of us. We spent a few minutes poring over every detail, making sure all was exactly right before the four of us signed in triplicate.

And just like that, my place in history had been solidified, all thanks to the cunning woman I'd married out of sheer desperation.

My parents didn't stay after the contracts were finalized. The silence was heavy as I walked them out of the penthouse, and it was only when we reached the elevator that my father turned to look at me.

"You're a bastard," he said, but his words didn't hold the heat I would have expected. "But you married quite the Machiavellian woman." He shook his head, and I was stunned to see he looked almost impressed. "Call me next week and we'll begin the transfer paperwork for a few assets you are now entitled to." His lips pursed and he shook his head. "Of course, they will be significantly fewer than before we sold half the free world to Charlie."

I resisted rolling my eyes. My price, apparently, had been majority control over a number of countries, as well as half the Indian ocean. I was almost flattered they'd bargained so much away just to make sure I stayed alive.

My mother cleared her throat and I looked her way. "I hope you learn something from your wife," she sniffed.

It was clear I wasn't the only one blindsided by Bella's shrewd mind. I heard more praise in my parents' voices when they spoke about Bella than I'd ever heard in anything directed at me.

The lift arrived and my parents stepped into the car, giving me one final look before the doors slid shut. I let out a shaky breath and nearly collapsed on the spot. How the hell had Bella managed to turn this nightmare around so fucking quickly?

It chafed in my mind, realizing that if we'd stayed fucking put, Charlie would have handed us over anyway as soon as he got back.

At that, I froze, my head shaking slightly. No, that hadn't been right. Charlie would have let me go, but Bella still would have been a prisoner. My parents hadn't known about Bella, so there was no way they could have or would have bartered for her release. No one had seen her fucking coming.

I reached a hand up, tugged on my hair, and let out a long breath. After a minute of standing in the foyer trying to understand how Bella had ended up strong-arming my parents, I turned around and headed back into the apartment. I needed a stiff fucking drink.

I ran into Bella in the living room. She was staring down at Tokyo, her arms folded across her chest, a frown etched into her brow. She looked up at me when I entered, and for a moment, I wondered if she was still in tigress mode.

Would she swallow me whole? It seemed like she might try.

Then her shoulders slumped, and right in front of my eyes, the confident woman melted away, leaving behind the scared girl I'd seen glimpses of more and more.

"You okay?" I asked, surprisingly concerned about her well-being.

"No," she huffed, shaking her head. "No, I'm not." She turned her back to me and I moved across the room, stepping beside her. There was distance between us, but not so much as to isolate her.

I could see her reflection in the glass in front of us and I let out a small breath.

I wanted to say something, something about what happened on Charlie's boat, maybe even tell her about how I could not stop fucking thinking about how soft her skin was.

Love and marriage didn't go hand in hand in the Sixteen, but I'd never even heard of Sixteen spouses liking each other.

And it was clear from my increasingly obsessive thoughts that I liked Bella. She was sort of insane, but in all the right ways that kept surprising the hell out of me.

"Bella." I didn't know what I was going to say, but it didn't matter because the second she turned to look at me, Alice emerged, shattering my window to speak.

"Alice," Bella said, her eyes widening.

Alice strode over to Bella, a scowl on her face. She thrust a notebook into Bella's chest and shook her head. "I'm done being the keeper of this," she hissed.

Bella blinked and looked down at the book, her eyes widening.

"What is that?" I asked as Bella cracked it open.

"A journal," Bella said, glancing up at me. "From the vaults under the Academy."

I felt my eyes widen. "You said you didn't find anything."

She shook her head. "I didn't. This isn't anything important. It's just…" She trailed off, looking back at the book. "It's a journal kept by Eleazar Cordova," she said, her voice growing distant as she flipped through the pages.

"The writer?" I asked, unable to hide my skepticism. "Why would you grab that?"

Bella looked up at me and scowled. "His book is important to me," she snapped, pressing the journal to her chest. "And sue me for feeling sentimental for once in my fucking life."

Before I could say anything else, she stormed out of the room, the journal pressed to her chest. I turned to look at Alice, who shrugged in a I-don't-get-it-either sort of way before she turned and left the living room.

Letting out a heavy breath, I turned to the bar and poured myself a drink. I'd need something fucking strong to get past this day.

Bella

I was exhausted after the confrontation with Edward's parents, but with Cordova's notebook in my hands, I felt my curiosity finally demand to know what it was I had stolen.

So instead of crawling into bed and sleeping like I was dying to do, I made myself comfortable on the mattress and propped myself up, opening the book on my knees to begin reading.

Most of the first few pages were written in Spanish, and they outlined some notes that I recognized would later become some of the plot of his book. It was interesting to see how his mind had worked, and almost as soon as I started reading, I felt myself calming. Cordova had always been one of my favorite writers, so it was familiar and comforting to fall back into his words once more.

About twenty-five pages into the book, the notes began to change, and new passages outlining some sort of conspiracy began to emerge.

Frowning, I bent over the notebook, desperate to read more.

It was decided that the power had become too controlling, and the only way to get anything was to take it for ourselves. We met several times under the guise of striking a land deal in order to discuss the details. What we came up with was the perfect cover-up, the perfect plan, but it hinged on putting my faith in Charlie.

My palms went slick and my heart thudded heavily in my chest the moment I read that name. I leaned back, taking a deep breath. It couldn't be about Charlie Bourgault, could it? There were so many Charlies in the world.

This couldn't be about my father.

I took another deep breath before bending back over the notebook, continuing my reading.

We set our plan into motion, and for a long time, no one was the wiser. Charlie ordered the evidence to be destroyed, but I hid it, burying it like my heart.

The passage ended there and I blinked, flipping to the next page. But it was merely a sketch of a room, perhaps a library, with large shelves stacked with thick volumes. In the corner of the room was a window that looked out to a rose garden that…

I squinted at the picture, my heart flipping in my chest. Not just any rose garden.

My eyes scanned the drawing once more, taking in the details of the fireplace mantel and the baroque clock sitting atop it. It was a drawing of the Academy … of the view in Valencia's office that led to the vaults.

Something was buried in the Academy vaults. Some sort of evidence that Charlie had wanted destroyed. What if it was enough to bring his world crashing down around him?

Before I could stop myself, I flew off my bed, the notebook clutched to my chest as I raced out of my room. I had no idea where the hell Edward's room was, but it turned out not to matter. I found him sitting at a large desk in a study down the hall from me, a glass of liquor in his hands.

"Edward," I gasped, rushing into the office.

"Bella? What's wrong?" he asked, starting to stand.

I shoved the book in front of him, pushing him down into his chair. He leaned back, taking the notebook while I climbed onto his desk in front of him.

"Read this," I told him.

"Is this in Spanish?" he asked with a scowl.

"Yes. You've had one of the best educations in the world; I know you know Spanish. Just fucking read it."

Edward glanced at me over the edge of the notebook before he focused his gaze on the words. I watched his eyes track across the page, a scowl on his face.

"What am I reading?" he asked tiredly.

"This is the journal of Eleazar Cordova," I said, tapping the book. "He went to the Academy."

Edward shrugged. "So? A lot of people did."

I grunted and tapped the book again. "Look, he's talking about Charlie."

Edward turned his gaze back to the notebook, and I could see it when he reached the part about Charlie. His eyebrow went up before he finally looked at me.

"Okay," he said, shaking his head. "So maybe they knew each other."

I grunted and flipped the page. "Look," I said, nudging it in front of his face.

"That's the Academy," Edward said slowly.

"Not just the Academy," I said, shaking my head when he looked up at me. "Those are the vaults." I tapped the drawing. "I think something is in there. Some sort of evidence against Charlie. What if it's the leverage we need to take him on?"

Edward appeared skeptical. "It seems like a long shot," he said, shaking his head. "Most people can't just access the Academy. Even if Cordova went there, he'd have a hell of a time getting back."

I leaned forward, practically crawling in his lap to tap the page. "What safer place is there to hide something?" I asked, nudging the sketch toward him. "You said so yourself, you couldn't get in as a student, right?" When Edward shook his head, I continued. "Well, you're an adult now. An adult being named heir to two family lines," I reminded him. "How could they say no to you?"

Edward scowled. "I'm not taking you back to the place where you almost died—twice," he hissed.

I rolled my eyes. "Edward, I'll be fine," I insisted. "Besides, we have to try. What if there is vital information there? Cordova probably died trying to bury this evidence and keep it from Charlie. What if we could find out what it was?"

Edward let out a breath. "I don't want to be within a hundred miles of that place," he said softly.

I leaned forward, settling on his knees as he leaned back in his desk chair. I could see the trauma in his eyes, and I knew that however bad I had it at the Academy, Edward had to grow up there. I couldn't imagine the horrors he'd known.

"We need to do this," I said, my voice soft. "I have to know."

Edward let out a wary breath before he finally nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "We'll go back."

I smiled at him, my body relaxing a fraction now that I knew I wasn't going to have to fight him on this.

"Thank you," I said softly.

I felt Edward's hand come up to rest on my hip, and that was when it fully registered that I was straddling his lap.

I felt my cheeks flush as I tried to extract myself from his chair.

"No," Edward said, his other hand coming to land on my other hip. "Stay."

My heart beat out an irregular rhythm in my chest. "This isn't in our contract," I said softly.

"Who fucking cares about the contract?" Edward said, shaking his head. His emerald eyes met mine, and I felt myself swallow hard.

"Edward …" What could I say? It was clear things between the two of us were changing, but into what? We might be married, but our union was a business deal, nothing more. Sex wasn't supposed to have any part in our relationship.

Edward's fingers brushed across my hips before splaying over my lower back. "I want you to know," he said, his voice low and rough. "That even though we were drugged, what happened between us wasn't …" Edward stopped, looking uncertain. "What I mean is … I wanted it."

I frowned, swallowing hard. "He assaulted us, Edward," I said slowly.

"I know," Edward said, shaking his head. "And I'm sorry if you feel like I played a part in that." He looked pained at the thought and I quickly shook my head.

"No, you were a victim too," I argued.

Edward nodded in agreement. "Yes," he said softly. "But Bella, if you consented to it, I'd do it all the fuck over again."

My stomach flipped and I shook my head. "You're drunk," I said softly.

"I'm not," he insisted. But I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and I knew that he was probably being so candid because his inhibitions were lowered.

He'd never say something like that to me sober.

"Get some rest," I told him, pressing my palm to his chest. "I want to leave tomorrow for the Academy."

For a moment, I wasn't sure he was going to let me go. His grip tightened on my hips before he let out a long breath and released me. I scrambled to my feet, looking at him sheepishly.

"I'll make the arrangements," he said, his voice flat.

I stared at him for a moment before picking up Cordova's notebook and moving from behind Edward's desk.

I glanced back at him once before I slipped out of his office. He was watching me, his eyes bright and burning with some sort of fire I couldn't name.

I shut the door and left him alone before I said or did anything I'd regret in the morning.