Monday, June 4, 2018

FAÇADE Chapter 5


You got a cold, cold heart
Do you feel at all?
You built a house of cards
But it's gonna fall
You think I don't see who you really are
I've got news coming
I've seen it all from the start

~Ruelle, Secrets And Lies

How I came to realize I was royally fucked.
I spent all my down time looking for a decent but cheap two bedroom apartment. I really couldn't kick Bella out, despite our disagreement. I’d promised to bring her with me when I moved, not to mention that I still felt like her protector. I snorted as I circled yet another possibility in the newspaper and then downed the last of my beer. Bella had an enforcer for a boyfriend. I sure as hell didn't need to get between the two of them. Hell, maybe she’d move in with him and I’d be off the hook.

I scrubbed at my eyes. I’d been worrying more than sleeping. I needed fresh information, but my only lead was Bella, and she knew nothing. I hadn't seen Carlisle since the Omerta ceremony, and even Jasper had backed off and left me to my own devices. There was something I was missing, but I didn't know what. It was there, just on the edge of my brain, but I couldn't grasp it.

There was a knock at the door, and I went to answer it. Felix was standing on the other side, and I lifted my brows in shock. What the hell did he want from me?

“Felix,” I greeted him as I opened the door, not truly expecting a decent reply. Felix was the strong and silent type.

“Boss wants to see you,” he said in his gravelly voice. It made me want to offer him a throat lozenge.

“Sure thing. Let me grab my stuff.”

My keys and my wallet went in my pockets, and I shrugged into my leather jacket. The air had warmed slightly over the past month, but it was still wet and fairly cool.

Felix took me to a sleek black car with darkly tinted windows. He was lucky it hadn't been stolen or chopped while he was upstairs waitin’ on me. The back seats were plush leather, not surprisingly, and I leaned back into the comfort. I realized that Felix was more than merely a doorman for the club, but I was still curious why he was picking me up. I remembered the area that Cullen’s house was in, the sprawling red brick mansion that was overly decorated in an 80’s theme. I closed my eyes for the fifteen minute ride, but I couldn't let my guard down, so I changed my mind. Sitting upright, I glanced out the dark windows and realized we were going in a different direction than the one I’d expected.

Ice swam in my veins before I reigned in my gut reaction. Panicking wouldn't get me anywhere. “Ya know, Felix,” I started conversationally, “I’ve been to the old man’s place, and this ain’t the way.”

I waited for him to take the bait, but he remained silent. Shit. I rolled my shoulders, taking a critical look around the interior of the car to judge what could be used as a weapon. Unless I could steal the side piece from the Hulk, I was thoroughly fucked.

By the time we pulled up to massive wrought iron gates I was sweating. I wanted to convince myself that it was just another mansion out of the many Cullen probably owned, but I didn't really believe that. The house was massive, all white stone and windows. After we passed through the gates the driveway made a loop around a fountain that sprayed jubilantly. There were blood red flowers planted around the base, making me chuckle wryly at the symbolism.

Felix parked and opened my door, standing like a sentry as I got out. The iron gates had slid smoothly closed soon after we entered, so my last choice was to stare up at the front door and face my fate. The steps were wide and curved, and muscle man followed me as I climbed them. I stopped at the immense door and frowned. Felix solved my dilemma by knocking loudly once and pushing it open for me.

Our footsteps echoed as we walked through the three story foyer, and I wiped my clammy hands on my jeans as I worried over what they knew. Was I being called on the carpet? Had I fucked up a collection, or a payment? Were they pissed that Bella was still with me?

Or had they discovered my closely guarded secret?

Felix stopped at a closed door, then knocked before opening it, much the same as what he’d done at the front door. I had no doubt that security was high in this place and that every little move was recorded on CCTV. The room we entered was white, like most of the rest of what I’d seen of the house. Felix left me alone, so I walked around with my hands in my pockets, trying to look casual and not scared as piss. I knew when I was being left to stew, probably in the hope that I’d break and start babbling about my secret. I was more seasoned than that, had been in similar situations before, where the best thing to do was to keep my mouth shut and not act suspicious.

Finally, after what felt like hours—but was likely only thirty minutes—had passed, the door I’d entered through opened. I didn't turn, instead schooling my features into an impassive mask. I would let him come to me, let him try to break my cover, and hope I didn't die today.

“Hello, Edward Masen.”

My heart thudded painfully as a million thoughts raced through my head at my real name being spoken, and not only that, but the fact that the voice was feminine and intimately familiar. I’d obviously made a wrong turn somewhere, let my guard down where I shouldn't have, something completely and utterly stupid. But it couldn't matter, because she was just a stripper, after all.

Wasn't she?

I turned finally, facing one Isabella Swan, dressed to the nines in a skirt suit and three inch pumps. Her makeup was flawless, her hair brunette and flowing over her shoulders in meticulous waves. My mind flashed back to our first conversation, and the first night at the club after she moved in with me.

My father was Charles Swan.

Felix would be smarter if he kept his thoughts to himself.

I scrubbed my hands over my face. Fuck.

“You have two choices. One of them is to work for me. The other is death. Make your decision.”

Her voice was stone cold, devoid of emotion. What would she demand of me now that my cover was blown? As an agent, I couldn't work for her in good conscience. Neither could I let them kill me.

I raised one eyebrow as I looked her up and down. She didn't flinch or fidget. “You’re going to have to explain things to me, doe eyes.”

Her eyes narrowed at the nickname, and she finally moved, coming to stand closer to me. “I could say the same thing to you,” she challenged.

“From where I stand, it looks like you have all the answers between us.”

Several more minutes passed, and I refused to acknowledge the cold sweat trickling down the back of my neck, or the fact that my heart was still galloping in my chest.

Finally, Bella pointed to a chair. I sat obediently, looking up at her expectantly. She took the other seat, crossing her legs at the knee, looking like an entirely different person in this setting than she did at home or at the club.

“I told you my father was Charles Swan,” she started, and I nodded. “Somebody high in the organization had him killed, but I haven't yet figured out who. I only trust Carlisle, Garrett, and Felix. Those are the only three people that know the truth. When Dad died, Jasper suggested to Carlisle that they deserved my inheritance, because I‘m only a girl, after all,” she sneered. “Emmett vehemently agreed, and I haven't forgiven them since. Carlisle runs the day to day operations, sending his sons on errands meant to make them feel important, but they’re peons. I run this shit.”

She stood, pacing the room with her arms folded, but it wasn't long before they were flying as she gestured with each word spoken. “A year, and I’m no closer to finding out who betrayed us. I choose to live under their noses, undermining them every chance I get. They want to see me as the dirt poor stripper? They want to laugh at me because they took what was mine? That's fine,” she spit. “But when I catch who had my father killed, God help them if they were involved. I’ll cut them down without thinking twice.”

Fuck, she turned me on. I cleared my throat. “So Garrett and Felix are your eyes and ears? That means you aren't dating the Garroter.” Thank God for small miracles.

“No, I’m not dating Garrett.” Bella spun to face me. “You, you were a twist in my plan I couldn't have seen coming. But I know people in Chicago, I know people in the Volturi Family. It didn't take much digging to find out only one person had heard of Tony Di Stefano, and after that little nugget of information, I hacked the FBI’s facial recognition software. I’m not as uneducated as the boys in this Family seem to think.”

She paced again, stopping at the bar in the corner and pouring herself a drink, throwing it back before looking at me again. “Imagine my surprise when you didn't come back as some petty conman, or even local police, but goddamn FBI. I haven't told anyone, not even Carlisle. I don't want to force his decision between me and the safety of his crew.” She took a deep breath and leveled a stare that went straight through me. “God knows I tried to stay away from you. In the beginning, yeah, I tortured you. It was easy, and you were so cute trying to be a gentleman.” Her expression clouded over. “But you’re a fed, and I’m the head of the Mafia. There's nothing for us to do but work together.”

I stood, slowly stalking her across the room. Bella all but admitted she was into me, and I didn't know what to make of it. I wanted her still, I had wanted her from the moment her surveillance picture captured me. She’d just lost her father when that was taken, and made the decision to hide in plain sight as a stripper. Now, she was offering me a chance… to do what, exactly?

“So I help you track down Swan’s killer, or you’ll kill me?” I clarified. As I drew closer to her, she backed away until she bumped into the wall.

“Yes,” she breathed, her hands flexing on the flat surface behind her.

“And you don't want to explore whatever might be between us, because I’m a fed, even though you’ve given me no choice but to break the law to work for you?” I leaned in close to her, caging her against the wall with my hands on either side of her head.

She nodded, the pulse in her throat jumping.

“But you do want me, don't you?” Leaning even closer still, I stopped an inch away from touching her lips with mine. My pants were so tight it was painful. I had no idea where my morality had gone, but she did that to me.

Bella’s eyes drifted closed, then popped back open. She licked her lips and swallowed. “You need to make your decision.” She failed to sound as stern as she did when she previously made her offer.

“Oh, I’ve made my decision. Now it’s up to you.” I heaved a huge breath. “Either kiss me or kill me; I have no other options.”

Yeah, I was royally fucked.





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