Bella
Sometime after dessert, I fell asleep after a soak in the tub while Edward stayed up conferring with Felix. I remembered thinking how lucrative being a PI for high profile clients must be. I roused slightly when Edward finally came to bed, with him whispering that Lauren's plane had touched down, and he'd sent a car to pick her up.
I wake up sometime around half past two in the morning with the worst case of acid reflux and Edward's heavy arm slung low enough on my belly that it feels like my bladder is about to burst. "If this is the beginning of my pregnancy, I can't wait for the next 32 weeks," I mutter to myself, writhing out from under Edward's grip and making my way to the bathroom.
After emptying my bladder and eating two chewy antacids, I walk back to the bedroom, feeling wide awake. A quick check on Edward tells me he's spooning my pillow to his heart's content and lightly snoring away. Grabbing my phone, I unlock the screen to find half a dozen texts from Lauren.
Pulling the bedroom door shut behind me, I tap on her name to find her messages, just asking if I'm still awake, and when I double check the time, I chance it and call her.
"Bella?"
"Hey," I whisper. "I woke up and saw your texts. Are you okay?" Curling up on the sofa, I grab a throw to toss over myself.
"Ugh, I'm fine. I'm sorry if I woke you. I just …" She sighs but remains quiet.
"Lauren, what's up? Just talk to me."
"I'm just wide awake and nervous. I don't fully understand what I'm doing here, and it was late when I got checked in, and I really wanted to talk to you, but—"
I cut off her rambling. "What's your room number?"
Lauren tells me, and I tell her to give me 10 minutes. I hang up and contemplate waking Edward to let him know but decide against it and leave a note by the bedside. Dressing quickly, slipping on shoes and a sweater, I grab a room key and my phone and slip out.
Lauren is waiting in the doorway as I come down the hall. Her room is a few floors down from ours, and at this late hour, I wonder if she heard the elevator ding, announcing my arrival. What I don't anticipate seeing is Eleazar walking out of her hotel room as I'm walking down the hall. His back is to me as he speaks to Lauren. Her face looks tight like she's trying to smile instead of grimace.
There's nowhere for me to hide, so I just turn back around and head the opposite way down the hall. I know there's a stairwell on each end of the hall on every floor, so I book it. I'm not sure of the situation I just stumbled upon, but I don't want to be caught up in it. As I'm climbing the stairs to the next floor my phone rings.
"Lauren?"
"Jesus Christ, Bella? Where are you?"
"I'm going back to my room. What the fuck was that?"
"He just showed up! He said someone told him I was in New York." She sighs dramatically. "Who could have told him that, Bella?"
"I'm sorry, are you accusing me or Edward of something?"
"You two are the only people who knew I was coming here."
I roll my eyes so hard it physically hurts. "Lauren, you posted yourself in an airplane on your Instagram stories."
"Eleazar isn't on social media!"
"That you know of." I'm clearly thinking of the hack at the magazine that came from a random person I had friended on Facebook and the bogus link they posted. "He could have a million accounts across every platform! Just because he says he doesn't, it doesn't mean anything."
She's quiet on the other end of the call, and I finally ask her what he said.
"He asked what I was doing in New York and why I didn't tell him I was coming out here. I told him that I was just bored, and I always wanted to see New York at Christmas-time."
Lauren goes on to tell me that she also told Eleazar that she was planning on doing some sightseeing and shopping. Since he always takes trips by himself, she wanted to do something just for herself.
"So, you're worried that Edward or I ratted you out, but you still lied to him and didn't call him out? Is that what I'm hearing right now?"
"Ugh, I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what to do or think right now." Her voice catches, and I suddenly feel so tired.
"I think it's best if we both go to sleep and see each other in the morning, okay?" I exit the stairwell on the next floor, walking to the elevator.
"Bella, I'm sorry. I panicked. He knocked on the door, and I thought it was you -"
"Lauren, I get it. Get some sleep; we both need it. I'll call you when I'm up." I don't offer her a chance to apologize again or try to convince me to come back to her room. I hang up when I press the button for my floor, and I'm there quickly enough.
When I enter the room, I can see a light on in the bedroom. Shaking my head, I walk straight in to find Edward sitting up with his tablet, no doubt reading his emails. He looks up when he sees me, a sleepy smile crossing his face.
"How's Lauren?"
Groaning, I belly flop onto the bed. "Is it bad that I want to murder her but also help her?" I know my voice is muffled by the sheets, but I don't care.
"I only caught half of that, but by the inflection, I can tell she's gotten on your nerves," Edward says as I feel the mattress shift and his hands combing through my hair. "Why don't you get back into bed and tell me what happened."
Grunting, I get up and start undressing as I tell him about waking up to all her calls and messages, and then going to her room to find Eleazar walking out of it.
"That's … bizarre. I should call Felix." Edward reaches for his phone, but I stop him.
"I want to check something first, but yes, you should reach out to Felix. He's supposed to have someone watching Eleazar in Delaware the entire time." I say as I slide into bed next to Edward.
He pulls me into his arms, kissing me lightly on my forehead. "You've had quite the adventure this morning."
"I don't want to have adventures like this anymore; not when I'm carrying our baby." I rub my stomach for a brief moment. "We don't know what Eleazar is capable of."
Edward pulls me closer. "I won't let anything happen to you."
"I know you'll do your best but even you can't predict how things will turn out." Tilting my head up, I press a kiss to his lips. "I need to check something before I fall out." Turning, I reach for my phone and open Instagram, heading right for Lauren's account.
"What are you looking for?" Edward asks as he curls behind me, reaching over to turn my light off.
"I'll know it when I see it," I murmur as I scroll through her followers. She has over four thousand followers, so this is going to take some time. As I'm scrolling, I can feel my eyes drooping more and more before sleep overtakes me.
When I wake in the morning, my phone is smashed between my right arm and the mattress. It takes me a moment to remember what I was doing with it last night, but when I do, I mentally cross my fingers that I'm still on the page of Lauren's followers when I wake up my screen.
My luck prevails as I scroll while walking to the bathroom. I'm sitting down on the toilet finishing my business when I see exactly what I'm looking for. I shriek Edward's name and cringe as he comes crashing into the bathroom.
"Are you okay? Is it the baby? What's wrong?" He's panting, but he couldn't have been more than 20 feet away from me.
"God, I'm sorry; I'm fine. I swear." I give him a pointed look, and he turns with a grunt as I finish up and flush. He might have knocked me up, but he doesn't need to see me wipe my vajeen. I'm washing my hands and apologizing. "I'm so sorry, Edward. I figured out who tipped Eleazar off about Lauren."
"You scared the shit out of me, woman." He presses a kiss to my hair. "I have news too."
Turning, I smile at him. "Who goes first?"
"Tell me what you found, and then I'll go. I bet they line up." He sits on the edge of the tub, looking at me expectantly.
"Guess who follows Lauren on Instagram? Maria Xavier!" I raise my arms in triumph, but Edward just smiles.
"God, you are going to hate what I'm about to tell you." He shakes his head and guides me out of the bathroom and into the front room where there's food waiting for me. "Sit down."
"Just tell me. Was I wrong? Are Maria and Eleazar not involved at all?" Pulling a plate toward me, I gesture with my fork. "Are Jane and Maria really two different people?"
"I'm still not sure about Jane versus Maria, but Felix found a birth certificate for one Maria Xavier … and the father listed is Eleazar Donnelly." Edward lets the information hang between us.
Shoving the plate away from me, I stare up at him. "So, when are we going to Delaware?"
He sighs, taking a seat next to me, reaching for my hand. "Tomorrow. We're finishing this tomorrow."