32

"Are y'all sure you don't want me to go with you?"

Edward sighed, his eyes shifting to Bella, who was quick to shake her head before looking back at his mother. "No, Mom."

"But are you really sure?" Elizabeth asked again.

"Yes."

This time, she sighed. "Fine, but I'm just a phone call away if you need me, Bee."

"Thanks," she whispered.

Elizabeth didn't look convinced, but gathered her purse before leaving them alone. Edward rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath about her hovering, but Bella didn't mind. She missed her mother but was finding it difficult to talk to her. Renee had been texting her several times a day, and each time Bella replied that she was fine, perfectly fine.

Except, she wasn't.

She was far from it, to be honest. While physically, she was on the mend, mentally and emotionally, she was struggling. Phillip Dwyer infiltrated her dreams, forcing her to relive every terrifying moment she'd spent with him. The feel of his knife digging into her skin, his lips wrapped around her nipples, the smell of her flesh burning as he branded her.

The only solace, if one could call it that, was Edward never left her side, always holding her, reassuring her that she was safe, that Dwyer would never be able to hurt her, or anyone else, again.

Bella wanted to believe him; more than anything, she wanted to trust him, but she still felt tense when he touched her, waiting for him to laugh and finish what Dwyer had started. He reassured her time and again that he wasn't a traitor, that he loved her, needed her, and she was desperately trying to believe him. She was in love with him, and even the seeds of doubt that had been planted inside her hadn't changed her feelings.

The sound of her phone ringing startled her, though she didn't need to look at the caller ID to know who it was. She refused the call, turning her phone over so she didn't have to see her father's face flashing across the screen. He called every morning at eight a.m., again at ten, noon, two, etc. And when she didn't answer, he'd text her.

Are you okay?

I'm worried.

Please talk to me, Bee.

But she wasn't ready to deal with him, to ease the guilt he felt for lying to her. Logically, she understood why he didn't tell her the truth about Garrett. If she'd known everything Dwyer had done to him, she would never have returned. In fact, she probably would have finished what she'd started a thousand times in the three hundred and sixty-eight days before Edward crashed into her life. Maybe she should have killed herself; maybe it would have been easier for everyone if she'd forced the blade into her skin, the pills down her throat.

"Jesus Christ," Edward muttered when his phone started ringing right as hers stopped. He glanced at her before he answered the call. "Sir."

Edward rolled his eyes before he stood and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, where, once again, he could tell Charlie that Bella was fine; she just needed time. It was something he did at least once a day, sometimes more. Charlie was persistent, Bella thought.

"You hungry?" Edward asked when he came back into the kitchen.

"Not really," she replied. "What'd he say this time?"

"Much of the same. Seems to think if you come back to DC, you'd get over it faster. His words, not mine."

Bella snorted.

"He told me I have a week to get you back, or I'm fired."

"So he's playing that card, huh?"

Edward nodded, sitting across from her.

"What are you going to do?"

He smiled. "Make us some breakfast."

"You know what I meant."

"I do, but right now, I only care about you."

"Even if that costs you a place on his team?"

"Yes," he replied immediately.

"Edward." Bella shook her head, toying with her phone. "Why?"

"Because without you as my partner, I don't want to be a part of his team."

"But it's your dream."

"And you're the love of my life."

Again, she shook her head, but instead of replying to him, she picked up her phone and called her father.

"Bella," Edward said, reaching for her phone, but she pulled it away and brought it to her ear.

"Bee? Are you there?" Charlie asked hurriedly. "Bee."

"I'm here," she whispered.

She heard him sigh. "Are you okay?"

"No."

"Guess that was a stupid question, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I've been so worried about you."

"Kind of gathered that with all the calls and texts."

"You could have answered one of them."

Bella didn't respond.

"Will you say something?"

"What do you want from me? I told you I needed some time. Why won't you just leave us alone?"

"Us?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Dad. When I don't answer, you call Masen and try to weasel answers out of him."

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't run away again."

"I need some time. You know, to deal with being kidnapped, tortured, probably sexually assaulted. Like Garrett was."

Charlie sighed again. "Would it help if you knew he didn't sexually assault you?"

"He didn't?"

"Not according to the video."

"You watched it?"

"No."

"Then how can you be sure?"

Charlie paused. "Cullen watched it."

Bella closed her eyes. "Oh."

"Figured you'd prefer him than McCarty or Whitlock. Asked Ro, but she . . . she refused."

"Hmm."

"We had to know, Bee, in order to build the case against Dwyer, we had to know."

"Thought you said he doesn't remember anything he's done?"

"So he claims. The case against him still stands, and not just because of what he did to you, but to all the girls he hurt. They deserve justice, and we're trying like Hell to give that to them."

"But?"

"But only you, Angela, and Heidi survived. The Attorney General wants to talk to you, Bee."

"I'm sure he does."

"I know it's a lot to ask of you, honey."

"No, you don't. You don't know how it feels to be . . . treated like shit."

"I'm trying."

"I never thought you would lie to me, Dad. Yet, all you've done since Masen brought me back was lie and manipulate me. I idolized you, I fucking wanted to be just like you, and you lied to me!"

"I was trying to protect you, Bee."

"Protect me by withholding evidence? Telling Masen and the others to exclude important information from the case files? We could have saved Lauren Mallory and maybe found Angela Webber before Dwyer brainwashed her into believing he loved her. You knew when she went missing that her case was tied to Henderson, didn't you?"

"I suspected as much."

"Why didn't you tell me? Tell the rest of the team? You could have found the connection between him and Dwyer and saved that girl. But instead of doing your job, you used Masen to drag me back into the fold, to make me do the dirty work. And I let you because you knew Dwyer's return would lure me home."

"I just wanted my daughter back, Bee."

"No, you wanted the Bee who begged you to tell me about your cases, who hung on your every word. You were my hero, Dad, and you lied to me. The father I grew up with would never have lied to me. Don't call me or Masen again."

And she ended the call without giving him the chance to respond and then blocked his number. Dropping her phone back on the table, she dragged her hand over her face, though her hair to the back of her neck.

"How do I trust him again?"

"I don't know."

Bella shifted her eyes to him. "I have to go back, don't I?"

"Think so."

"It's not fair."

"No, it's not."

"I wish you would have killed him."

"Me too," he scoffed, drumming his nails on the table. "I was aiming for his head, but when I saw you on the floor . . . I don't know. I shot him, and all I could think about was getting you out of there. Saving you."

"Should have put another bullet in him."

"Yes, I should have."

"He said Dwyer didn't rape me."

Edward's eyes widened. "That's good."

"Yeah," she whispered. "Cullen watched my video. Ro refused, and McCarty and Whitlock are tools, so he had him view it. Because somehow, it's better that he got to witness my humiliation."

"Would you have preferred your dad do it?"

Bella shook her head.

"Or me?"

"No," she breathed softly. "I would have preferred not being in Dwyer's videos."

"But you are. We can't change that."

"No, I know."

"Let's just get through your appointment with Dr. Long, and we can deal with everything else later."

Bella nodded. The problem was that she was tired of playing Phillip Dwyer's game.

—

Bella expected Dr. Long's office to be in the heart of Austin, so imagine her surprise when Edward drove them to Bulverde, a small town about an hour southwest. Nestled in the tree line off Highway 281, her office was a small, brick building that one would miss if they weren't looking for it.

When Bella and Edward entered the building, they found an older woman with braided blond hair that hung down her back. She had dark blue eyes, but what really drew her attention were the scars on the left side of her face, down her throat, and into the top of her ivory blouse. The woman glanced at them, a smile springing up on her face.

"You must be Agent Swan."

"It's Bee."

"Duly noted," she said, grabbing a forearm crutch in her left hand and standing. "I'm Irina. I've been looking forward to meeting you, Bee."

"You have?"

She nodded. "Ever since Felix told me about you."

"What did he tell you?"

"That you needed me," she replied. "I can see he wasn't wrong, either."

Irina walked past them, turning the lock on the front door. "Have a seat."

"Why'd you lock the door?" Bella asked.

"Office is closed for lunch."

"You . . . you closed the office for our visit?"

She nodded. "Thought it might be easier."

"Why do you care if it's easier for me?"

"Because I know how you feel." Irina settled in the waiting room and gestured to the other chairs. Bella and Edward shared a look before they sat across from her. "I'm going to share my story with you. Is that okay?"

Bella nodded.

"Have you ever heard of Vladimir Gallius?"

"No."

"Not surprised. He was before your time." Irina frowned. "My father was in the Army, meaning we moved around a lot and were stationed all over the world. When I was sixteen, we lived in Rome. A few months after we moved there, girls started going missing. Five or six. My father was concerned about my safety and told me not to venture off the base. But I was rebellious and thought I was invincible like most teenagers do," she added. "I'd snuck out one night, went to a club. I hadn't been there for maybe an hour when this guy asked me to dance. He was . . . He was handsome and charming, and he wanted to dance with me.

"When the club closed, I bid him farewell and started back to the base. I didn't realize he was following me for almost four blocks. He and his partner."

"Partner?"

Irina nodded. "His name was Stefan. He wasn't as handsome as Vladimir, and he made me uncomfortable. There was a look in his eyes, one that still haunts me to this day. Anyway, they tried to convince me to go back to their place and keep the party going. But I said no because while I liked to push my father's boundaries, I knew better than to go too far. However, they didn't take no for an answer and quickly overpowered me. The last thing I remember was the feeling of Stefan's hands wrapped around my neck.

"When I woke up, I was locked in a cage. There were other girls there, in worse shape than me. Girls whose pictures I'd seen splashed all over the news. They'd been . . . beaten, brutalized, tortured, and I knew I was next. I was scared, Bee. Terrified that I would never see my father again to tell him how sorry I was for lying to him.

"I don't know how long I'd been there when Vladimir and Stefan came for me. It felt like forever. The things they did to me . . . nobody should have to suffer through that kind of pain and humiliation. They'd have their fun, then lock me back up again. Over and over and over. I wanted to die. I begged for death, begged them to end my misery. But they'd laugh. Just laugh.

"One day, when they came, I fought back. I don't know why I did, but I . . . I fought back, Bee. I fought, and I killed them. I freed the other girls, those who weren't already dead, and somehow, we found our way to safety.

When my father walked into my hospital room, he couldn't even look at me. He just . . . he just stared at the ground. I'd always been a daddy's girl, and my daddy couldn't even look at me. Once I'd healed from my injuries, he sent me back to the States to live with my grandparents. I never saw him again because he committed suicide the day he put me on the plane."

She took a deep breath. "I'm not telling you this, so you'll feel sorry for me."

"Then why?"

"Because you're fighting for your own survival. Right now, you're scared you'll never feel like yourself again, and you won't. You will never be the same Bee you were before that man set his eyes on you. But you have to learn not to let him control you anymore. It's not easy, Bee. It's a constant struggle you'll live with for the rest of your life."

"Do you?"

Irina nodded. "I can't walk without the use of this crutch because they shattered the left side of my body. I know the way people look at me when they see the scars on my face, but I choose not to let Vladimir and Stefan own my mental health anymore, and you must learn not to let him own yours."

"It's not that easy."

"No, it's not. Felix wouldn't have sent you to me if he thought you were a lost cause. My son told me you were a fighter."

"Felix is your son?" Bella asked.

Irina smiled as she nodded. "His father loved me when I didn't love myself. He told me every day that I was beautiful, and together, we had a child who is kind and compassionate."

"Your husband sounds like a good man."

"He was," she said softly. "He passed away last year. I miss him every day, Bee. Every single day. But I know he would want me to keep living, keep fighting for him."

She nodded, her eyes shifting to Edward. "I know what you mean."

"I suppose you do. Now, let's check your wounds and get you back home."

Home, Bella thought. She didn't have a home anymore. And she wouldn't until she stopped running away.

Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews! Huge shout out to Sunflower Fran for being an awesome beta!