Good Afternoon, lovelies!

Thank you so much to Mel for her incredible beta work!

CHAPTER TWO

Edward

Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.

— Benjamin Disraeli

It was almost two in the morning, and my phone hadn't stopped vibrating in six hours.

I'd left my work phone behind when I'd made the trip out to Oxford, but that didn't mean I was impossible to reach. Both of my parents had gotten ahold of my personal number that I used to contact my security team, which meant that even when I was trying to be off the clock, they could still hunt me down. I'd disappeared in the middle of a meeting with three different prime ministers and a billionaire intent on colonizing the moon. It was probably bad timing on my part, but it had been the only window to successfully slip away to Oxford. I was tempted to turn the phone off, but I needed it to communicate with my team, so I let it buzz on, collecting more and more angry texts and calls from my parents. There wasn't a power on this goddamn earth that could stop Carlisle Cullen from tracking down his son.

Beside my personal cell vibrating on the dash of my car, an almost identical phone sat dark and silent, waiting. When I'd gotten the phone for Bella back in school, I'd given her a number to a burner to contact me. I'd planned to cut ties with her immediately, but three fucking years later, that burner had stayed with me, always charged, as if I was delusional enough to wait for her to reach out to me.

Like she ever fucking would.

I knew better than to expect it, and yet, some perverse part of my brain made me keep the phone. No one else had the number; it was supposed to be a Bella-exclusive phone.

It had been idiotic of me to come to Oxford. I knew that, had known that the moment I'd slipped out of the London office and climbed into my car six hours ago. My father's men were following me, and he would know in seconds where I was going.

But I had to try.

I hadn't spoken to Bella since right before graduation. I knew she'd gone off to Oxford, but in the year she'd been at the Academy, she'd done a phenomenal job at not making any connections.

It was rare for a student to leave the Academy without a choked spider's web of networks to pull on.

But Bella hadn't done that. She'd landed in England, kept her head down, followed the rules, and never once tried to reach out to any of us for anything.

It was honestly baffling. She'd had the literal world at her fingertips, and she'd turned her back on it and gone to college, as if none of that had happened.

She was either delusional or insane enough to turn her back on a truth most people killed to discover.

Either way, she had proved herself to be surprisingly formidable, and that was exactly the type of person I needed to talk to.

Finding her had been easy, and slipping my card into her coat while her idiotic-looking boyfriend had been distracted watching a rugby match on television had been child's play. I'd wanted to stay, to see her face when she discovered it, but I knew better. I had to leave a winding trail behind me to keep my father's men busy, so I moved on and waited.

I honestly wondered if she would call. If our shared time at the Academy had taught me anything about her, it was that Bella was stubborn, opinionated, and impossible to predict, all things I tended to hate in people.

We hadn't had any sort of relationship at the Academy. There hadn't been time for us to develop real rapport—not that I would have given her the chance. Aside from the one time I needed her help, the only other time I would have given her a second glance would have been if she was following me around, begging to suck my cock like most other girls had done at school.

I had half expected her to change once she learned about my family. When most people found out about the dynasty I came from, they lost their shit and became passive and sycophantic. I'd expected those things from Bella, but she'd surprised me by not doing any of it.

My personal phone was still shaking violently with the constant demands of my father when the second phone jumped to life beside it. I snatched up the burner, my hand flying to the ignition. I was peeling out of my parking spot before the call had even connected to my Bluetooth.

Talking to her was as frustrating as I remembered back in school, but some perverse part of me enjoyed what a pain in the ass she was.

When I pulled up outside of her boyfriend's apartment, I honestly didn't know if she'd get in the car.

But in true Bella fashion, she'd surprised me, climbing in before goading me to drive even faster.

It was the first time I'd ever seen her let herself be reckless and wild. She'd always been so controlled, so focused in school. She kept her head down, never partied, never tried to live the good life with the rest of us. Even at a distance, I saw how tightly wound she'd been. I didn't even know she knew how to have fun.

"Turn off your phone," I told her.

"What?" she asked, her voice laced with suspicion. I could feel her look over at me and I sighed. I picked up my phone, showing her with one hand that I was powering it down.

"Turn off your phone. I want to make it harder for them to find us."

Bella was quiet for a moment, and I glanced over at her. She was glaring at me for God only knows what fucking reason.

"What now?" I snapped, irritated that she wasn't doing this simple thing. The faster she turned off her goddamn phone, the sooner I'd be able to stop circling Oxford and get out of here.

"Why are you here, Edward?"

I groaned. "Dammit, I will tell you once you turn off your phone and we find a safe place to talk." I was getting desperate. I'd been lucky all night. There was no way my good fortune could last much longer, could it?

I felt Bella glare at me, but a few moments later, she was holding her phone up to show me. "It's off," she snapped. I nodded and punched it toward the highway. "Where are we going?" she asked, sounding surprised by the burst of speed from the car.

"Away," I growled.

"I have class," she started.

"I'm not fucking kidnapping you," I snarled, getting annoyed. "You can go back to your boring ass life soon enough."

I felt her hand connect with my shoulder. It wasn't hard, but it was her move with me. She was the only person on the fucking planet who smacked me around. My mind flashed the first time she'd hit me in the gardens at school, and I fought a smile at the memory.

"You're an asshole," she hissed.

I grinned, looking over at her. "You've got that right, sweetheart."

Bella folded her arms over her chest, pouting as we raced through the countryside. I finally pulled off the highway, navigating the car carefully toward an old abandoned farm. I'd scouted the area for a while, looking for the safest place to meet, and the barn, though old, was solid and would provide privacy.

I felt Bella's eyes drill into the side of my head as we navigated the property. As soon as I pulled to a stop inside the barn, Bella opened her mouth.

"What the—"

I held up a hand to silence her. "Hold on." I climbed out of the car before she could speak and moved across the barn, hauling the doors shut. They weren't bolted or anything, but they'd help to create at least temporary cover.

"What are we doing here?" Bella asked, climbing out of the car.

I turned to look at her. I'd been planning this for so long, trying to find my window. Now that we were here, I was suddenly unsure of my plan.

The last time I'd tried to scheme anything with her, it had failed spectacularly.

I took a second to look at Bella, really look at her. She'd changed since high school. Her cheeks were less round, her hair longer than it had been. She was dressing better too. Her clothes, while not designer, were better fitted to her body, and higher quality than the crap she used to wear whenever she was out of uniform in school.

"You look good," I said finally.

Bella lifted a finger, pointing it at me as her eyes narrowed. "I swear to God, if you dragged me out here for sex," she snarled.

I laughed. "What would you do?" I asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't the first time I'd entertained the idea of sex with her. She had a way of putting me off-balance and forcing me to think on my feet, which I felt like would be fun in bed.

"I'd kick you in the balls," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. I wasn't sure if she was telling me the truth—there was something about the set of her mouth and the rigidity of her shoulders that told me she might be lying to me. Or maybe, she was only telling a half truth. She'd likely do something to my balls, but I doubted it was a kick.

I chuckled and shook my head. "It's not about sex," I assured her. "Though I'll leave it on the table, should you be interested later."

She rolled her eyes and I felt myself grinning.

"What is it then?" she asked, her tone softening a small degree.

I let out a breath. "I have a business proposal."

Her eyes immediately narrowed. "What?"

I stepped toward her. "I want to offer you real power, not the crap you've been offered before," I said, and I saw the moment she connected my words to the memory of that dismal proposal she'd received by that ass weasel, Michael Newton.

"What the hell are you saying?" she asked, and though her tone was demanding, I could hear a touch of anxiety in her voice.

I moved away from her, opening the car door and stooping down to retrieve a manila envelope from the back seat. I straightened up, holding it out to her.

When I didn't say anything more, she scowled and stepped toward me, snatching the envelope from my hand. She gave me a hard look before cracking open the package, pulling out a thick set of documents.

I watched her eyes flicker over the first page, and I knew it the moment she realized what I was offering.

"You fucking—" Her voice was a snarl and I held a hand up.

"Calm down," I snapped. "Keep reading."

She wasn't staring at the papers though. She looked as mad as a bull, and I shifted, trying to put the car somewhat between us.

She was so meek-looking, I always expected something docile, maybe even boring, but she was a firecracker, and I was a kid playing with matches.

"What the fuck kind of game is this?" she demanded, holding up the contract.

"No games," I said honestly. "I am in a position where I need to leverage some power over my parents, and this is the only way to do that."

"By marrying me?" she screamed. "What kind of fucking moron are you? I'm no one in your world. Why the fuck are you pestering me like this?!" Bella's arms waved over her head, the contract fluttering in her hands as she began to pace.

"The fact that you are a nobody is precisely why I need your help," I told her, trying to remain calm. It wouldn't serve us if both lost our heads over this. "In three weeks, my parents are going to marry me off."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Poor rich boy with weird archaic rich kid problems," she drolled.

"She's my cousin," I continued, and that seemed to snap Bella out of her snark. "And she's not even seventeen years old yet."

Bella's eyes widened. "You're fucking sick," she screamed, stepping back from me.

"I'm not marrying her," I said, shaking my head. "Even if we weren't related and she was older, I refuse to marry her."

"Congratulations on your basic human decency," she said dryly.

I shook my head. "Do you have any idea how frustrating it is trying to talk to you?" I was getting agitated, my temper starting to slip away from me. I had to regain control before this mess got worse.

Bella crossed her arms over her chest, the contract slapping against her side as she huffed. "That's rich, coming from you."

I rolled my eyes and paced away from her, trying to regain some of my composure.

"What I'm offering," I said slowly. "Think of it like going into business together. Equal ownership within the partnership. You'd have executive function and be given access to any and all resources."

Bella scowled. "You're insane," she said, shaking her head.

"You don't have to like me," I said, and Bella snorted so hard, I was almost offended. "But think of this rationally. I'm offering you power the likes of which cannot be matched by any other person on this entire fucking planet." I pointed at the contract. "That's a Sixteen contract. We can't break them. It's the only rule we have. Once that's signed, we have to obey it."

Bella hesitated, her eyebrows dipping. "Why me?" she asked, sounding defeated and frustrated. "You were fucking every girl in our school," she said, and despite the fact that I had no shame about it, I winced. "Why me?"

I let out a long breath, reaching up and tugging on my hair. "Because you're smart enough to deal with all the shit being one of the elite comes with," I told her. "And, for no fucking good reason, I trust you."

It was a shocking confession, one I didn't even know had been in me until the words tumbled from my lips.

Bella's mouth popped open in shock and I shifted uncomfortably.

We were both quiet so long the silence grew taut.

Finally, Bella sighed. "Edward, I can't marry you. I don't like you, and I have a boyfriend and a life and—"

I looked at her. "None of that has to change," I told her. "I don't care who you fuck, and get a hundred degrees if you like." I shrugged one shoulder.

"What?" she asked, looking skeptical. "You want me to keep dating my boyfriend and marry you?"

I sighed. "I told you, think of this as business. Marriage isn't about love, not in my world. It's a strategic partnership."

Bella unfolded her arms, her free hand coming up to rub her forehead. "No, Edward. I'm sorry. I can't do it."

She dropped her arms and held out the contract toward me. I let out a breath. "Keep it," I told her. "My offer will stay on the table for three weeks."

Bella stared at me, and in the dark, I could see the pitying look in her eyes. I hated it.

"Come on," I said softly. "I'll take you back."

Bella climbed into the car as I opened the barn doors again. When I got into the driver's seat, Bella was quiet, the envelope sitting carefully on her lap.

I started up the engine and pulled out of the barn. Neither of us spoke on our way back to Oxford, both of us likely too lost to our thoughts.

When I pulled up in front of her boyfriend's apartment, Bella looked at me. It was too dark in the car to make out her features, but I could feel her eyes on me.

"I'm sorry, Edward," she said softly. "I can't help you."

I shook my head. "You can," I argued. "You just won't."

I heard her huff. "Fine, I can," she agreed. "And no, I won't. I don't want your twisted version of life, whatever the fuck it is."

I looked at her. "Bella, want it or not, it's already here for you. You've learned too much. Do you really think the Sixteen will just let you walk away like that? One day, you'll fall into line, do as expected, or you'll disappear." I wasn't trying to scare her; it was merely the fact of the matter. She'd been marked by the Sixteen, to use as they pleased. It might not be now, but one day, someone would come for her.

Unless she married me.

Bella shook her head. "I'm too tired to make sense of this," she said quietly. I heard her crack open the passenger door, and despite her words, I let out a breath of relief when I saw her take the package.

"Think it over," I told her. "Three weeks."

Bella shut the door, bending down to peer at me through the open window.

"It's never going to happen, Edward," she said, sighing.

I smirked at her. "Never say never, Bella."

She scowled, shook her head, and pushed off the door. I watched her walk back into the apartment building before I took off down the road. Now that she was gone, I felt my cocky confidence slipping away. Marrying Bella wasn't a good choice, but it was the best one to retain any degree of freedom or autonomy.

My foot pressed down on the gas pedal as I considered the possibility that she truly meant it when she said no.

It couldn't happen. I had to convince her to agree by any means necessary.

My very life depended on it.