CHAPTER FOUR

Bella

"A marriage of two independent and equally irritable intelligences seems to me reckless to the point of insanity."

― Dorothy L. Sayers

"A church?"

Edward glanced at me as soon as the words were out of my mouth. He was scowling, his eyes flickering to the mirrors of the car as he stopped the engine.

"Shut up," he said, his voice low and distracted. I watched him climb out, and after a second where I considered trying to hotwire the car and run away, I pushed my door open and followed him.

Edward headed straight for a back door, and though it certainly should have been locked, it was no great surprise when he opened it with ease. I couldn't imagine there were a whole lot of locked doors in Edward's world.

We both slipped into a narrow hallway with white wood doors along one wall. Edward headed purposefully to the third door, pushing it open. He glanced back at me, motioning me in before him.

Letting out a breath, I stepped forward, glancing at the gold plaque on the door as I passed it.

Whoever Father Gregory was, I hoped he didn't mind us using his office.

The interior of the room was plain. Old, carpeted floors, a single stained glass window too high to look out of, a plain brown desk and cushioned chair behind it while two wood chairs faced them on the other side. There was a bookcase in the corner which was the only hint of personality in the room. Unsurprisingly, it was stuffed with religious texts.

I examined a few spines as I heard the office door shut. I turned to Edward as he flipped a small lock.

"Are you religious?" I asked.

"What?" he asked, looking surprised. "No. Why would you ask that?"

I shrugged and motioned around me. "I saw in the contract you'd want us to be married in a Catholic service."

Edward let out a short, tight breath. "That's not out of some religious guilt," he said, throwing himself into the chair behind the desk. "That's just part of the game."

I turned to fully stare at him. Here it was, my chance to actually ask him directly what the hell was going on. I could ask him about my funding or my visa, or any number of shitty things that had gone wrong in my life since I'd met him. I could demand honesty or I'd walk out of here. For once, I had the edge I needed between us.

It was a heady realization.

"Tell me why," I said, taking a breath and settling in a chair opposite him.

"Why what?" he asked, sounding bored.

"Everything," I said, my jaw growing tight. "Tell me the truth, all the truth, or I walk out of here and you never hear from me again."

Edward snorted. "You have too much to lose," he argued.

I leaned forward in my chair. "Let's get one thing straight," I hissed, teeth clenched. "You could take everything from me, you could leave me destitute and alone, and you know what? I'd be better off than you. I come from nothing, but I've made something of myself, even before you and your psychotic secret society. I made me who I am, and I'm perfectly fucking fine clawing my way up from the bottom to do it again. It won't destroy me like it'll destroy you."

Edward's jaw was tense, his eyes narrow and furious. I'd never really been able to get to him like this, and I found a deep amount of satisfaction in it.

I leaned back in my chair, feeling smug.

"The Sixteen families run the world," Edward said, and I saw his jaw swivel slightly, as if he was trying to stretch it out. "We have for hundreds of years. It goes back to the Templars."

I scowled. "I thought the Templars were celebate."

Edward rolled his eyes. "Sure, some of the more"—he hesitated—"'noble ones' might have been, but be honest. All that power and money and you think a couple of virgins are going to manage it without being corrupted?"

I frowned and he shook his head. "The council sprang up in the wake of public opinion turning on the Templars. Contracts were drawn, and deals were made. Sixteen families would take the wealth of the world and bury it, hide it in conspiracy theories and misdirects. All the while, they would continue to amass a fortune greater than the world had ever known." Edward looked at me. "The Sixteen made kings; they started revolutions, destroyed empires. Their wealth and influence knew no bounds." He paused and barked out a rough laugh. "Actually, only one. There was only one thing that had grown with enough power to fight them. Any guesses?" he asked, lifting his hands and waving it around.

"The church?"

Edward nodded. "The Catholic Church had too much power by the time the Sixteen rose up. So, we struck deals with them." He paused and chuckled. "Not all the deals went well. The Spanish Inquisition was a retaliation from the church that got a little out of hand." He snickered. "To this day, the Catholic Church is considered our only true enemy."

I sighed. "You're at war with the pope," I asked dryly.

Edward shrugged. "Nah, he's all right. It's everyone else that we have to look out for."

I rolled my eyes. "So why are we meeting in a church?"

Edward leaned back. "This is neutral ground. No one from the Sixteen will look for us here, and as long as we are within these walls, we'll be left alone."

It seemed so medieval, archaic even, to think of a church as a literal sanctuary.

"Okay," I said slowly. "So what does the Sixteen do now?"

Edward shrugged. "Everything."

I frowned. "What does that mean?"

He gestured outside. "War, disease, famine, scandal. There isn't a world leader we haven't hand selected, nor a single conflict or trade negotiation we haven't signed off on. We are the puppet masters of the universe."

"You can't possibly be in charge of everyone," I said, shaking my head.

Edward snorted. "Do you even know why a guy like Putin has such a following? He's been hand picked, and every decision he makes has been planned and mapped out since long before he ever stepped onto the map. Everything that is happening has been orchestrated."

It felt like the world was tilting out from under me. "To what end?" I asked.

Edward shrugged. "Our eternal quest for more power." He sighed. "About twenty years ago, the Sixteen fractured. The families turned on one another."

"I remember," I said.

"When I sent you…" He paused, and for the first time, I saw something that looked like guilt on his face. It was gone before I could even comment on it. "I wanted to know why. For hundreds of years, the Sixteen had operated as a mostly cohesive unit. Nothing divided us, not until whatever happened twenty years ago."

"Did you figure it out?" I asked.

Edward shook his head. "No. Whatever it was, my parents both used it to gain more power than ever. I figured if I knew what they had done, I could hold it over their heads, get some of my own power." He sighed. "It was a pipe dream anyway."

I felt my lips purse. "What happened to Alice?" I asked, my voice annoyingly shaky. I'd been afraid to inquire, afraid to know what that night had cost her.

Edward shook his head. "I honestly don't know," he said, sounding sincere. "I tried to find her after graduation, but she's a ghost. She's vanished off the face of the earth, which means someone is hiding her if she's still alive."

I blinked back sudden and fierce tears, turning my head away from him.

Edward was silent as he waited for me to pull myself back together.

"Okay," I said, clearing my throat. "So why the marriage?"

Edward let out a long breath. "Back in the day, the Sixteen only married each other. It was our attempt at keeping the money and power relatively secluded. Nowadays, marriage between the Sixteen isn't allowed. It's too close to inbreeding, and the power imbalance it creates is chaotic to say the least."

I frowned. "But your parents—"

Edward nodded. "My parents broke the rules. And before you ask, no this is not what caused the rift. It would take a hell of a lot more than a forbidden marriage to rip apart the Sixteen."

"Okay, wait," I said, shaking my head. "I don't understand. Why would your parents try to marry you to your cousin if it breaks the rules again?"

Edward let out a breath. "Each Sixteen family has a head, a ruler, if you will. My parents are both head of their family lines, which is what made their marriage against the rules. No one would have cared as much if one of my parents was like eighth in line or whatever." He shook his head. "But because they are both heads, their combined power is overbearing. No one can say no to them."

I nodded. "Okay, so how does your cousin factor into this?"

Edward winced. "She's my cousin on my mom's side. The marriage they are trying to force on me would essentially make me ineligible to become the head of my mom's family line and give that power to my cousin instead."

I frowned. "But you want both?" I asked, unsure.

Edward gave me a grim smile. "Who doesn't want power?"

His voice was flat over the question, making me wonder what he truly wanted out of all of this. "So, how would marrying me change anything?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Our marriage would force my parents to name me as head of both their lines," he said. "It'll force their hand."

"And what about me?"

"What about you?"

"What would be my duties?"

Edward shrugged. "You can be as involved or absent from the business as you choose. I don't care either way. If you want to step in and run things, I'll teach you how. If you want to spend the rest of your life getting plowed on a beach in Fiji, I'll set you up with a private plane." He motioned vaguely toward me. "The point of it is your autonomy."

He was a serpent and the contract in my lap was a beautiful shining apple.

"What about children?"

"They will be required at some point, but if you're adamant that sex is out." He flashed me a cheeky grin which made me roll my eyes. "Then we'll have a few eggs removed and fertilized in a surrogate," he said with a shrug.

"Would I have any say in how they are raised?"

"If you want," he mused. "Though likely, they'd go to the Academy at birth like all Sixteen kids do."

I let out a chuff. "Right. Like I'd want my children being raised in that asylum."

Edward shrugged. "I don't know anything different," he pointed out.

I tried to imagine being at the Academy my entire childhood. It was no wonder he was such a psychopath. I don't know how anyone would make it through there unscathed.

"What about divorce?" I asked, feeling tired from this headache of a conversation.

Edward shook his head. "That's one thing we don't do. Ever."

I frowned. "Okay," I said slowly. "Why the Catholic ceremony? Is that just some sort of fuck you to your family?"

Edward's lips pulled up into a thin smile. "Something like that," he agreed.

I shook my head. "This is insane," I protested. "Do you know how batshit all this is?" I looked at him and groaned. "Of course you don't. You were born into this toxicity."

I stood up, placing the contract on the desk. "I can't fucking do this," I said, pacing away from him. "I want a life of my own, not this," I gestured toward the desk. "You can pull all my funding, force me out of my apartment; hell, you are probably even behind my mom eloping and not telling me, and you know what? I don't fucking care."

Edward looked puzzled but I turned, pacing away from him again. "It's not anyone else's life but mine, and my god, I have to at least try to live it."

I stopped pacing, noticing a small carving hung high on the wall in front of me. She looked simple, but I could tell from the flowers around her and the halo atop her head that she was meant to be Mary, the Virgin Mother. I couldn't imagine giving into faith as blindly as she had. I didn't have that in me.

I was a person of reason, of logic, and of sense. I was going to get my master's then doctorate, even if I had to go to some D-list school to do it. I'd scrape a life together that was my own, and I would relish in that accomplishment because it will be mine.

The Virgin gazed down at me, her face meant to be serene, though all I could feel was judgment.

She'd had the chance to change the world, and she'd taken it, no questions asked. All of human history changed in the blink of an eye when a young woman was given a choice.

What if I could have that sort of impact on history? What if it was my job to change the world, to step into this terrible power and lead this society into a brighter, better future?

What if I was destined for this?

I'd worked my entire life for even an ounce of power. I'd scraped and clawed my way through the world, and I knew no matter what I did, I could never accomplish this.

I could change the course of humankind.

The potential swam through my head, making me dizzy.

Imagine what I could accomplish.

I turned to Edward, my forehead throbbing from the conflicting thoughts pulsing through me.

"Who revises these contracts?" I asked, pointing to the desk.

His eyebrows rose in surprise. "You're considering it?"

I let out a tense breath. "All my life I've fought for everything I've had. Not a single moment hasn't been brutally strategized and planned for." I looked at him. "And I have gotten almost nowhere on my own. I'm tired of ripping myself apart for a power I'll never find in the gutters."

Edward leaned back, looking surprised.

"You're serious? You'll marry me?"

I pointed to the contract, my finger pressing against the envelope. "We'll revise this first?" I asked.

Edward nodded. "Yes, of course."

I let out a breath and sank into one of the wooden chairs.

"Fine. Edward Cullen, I will marry you."