She comes along, she gets inside
She's better than anything you've tried
The rules have changed, the lines begin to blur
She makes you hard, she comes on strong
Wave goodbye to what you were
~Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth
How I came to realize I’m not invincible.
Nothing was going my way. My balls were bluer than they’d been when I wasn't having sex. I still wasn't having sex, but what I’d had was incredible, and then it was gone. At least Bella didn't walk around half dressed anymore, I had to give her credit for that.
“Masen!”
I startled out of my daydream as Bella shouted my name. “You know, if you’re going to go with my real name all the time, you might as well out me to Carlisle. And it's Edward, not Masen.”
She stood in front of me, tapping her fingertips on her waist. She was dressed as Stripper Barbie. “I don't slip.”
“You don't know you won’t until you do it. It’s my life on the line,” I said angrily.
Bella moved toward me quickly, straddling me and pushing my chest until I sat back against the couch. “So you don't want me to call your name when you fuck me?” she purred.
My dick stirred under her, I couldn't help it, but I reined it in. “You can't tease me like that after you told me we weren't going to have sex again.”
She stood just as quickly as she’d sat, adjusting the long sweater she was wearing over her work outfit. Her face clouded over, but I didn't care if she was pissed. “You need to come to the club tonight. Something major is going down with the boys; they even hid the details from Carlisle.”
“All right, let me get my jacket and we can go together.” I stood and grabbed my jacket and keys, unable to meet her eyes.
Felix let us in, giving me the usual silent treatment. I made my way to the bar while Bella went to the back to get ready. I ordered a glass of whiskey before turning to face the club, trying to discern what was going down while looking as nonchalant as a normal patron. A new girl came on stage and started dancing, and nothing happened out of the ordinary. The song went on, the girl got nude, I couldn't even find the slightest interest in her naked body, and the song ended. Bella came out next, announced as Baby Girl, and I felt it. The same possessiveness I’d felt since seeing her in the surveillance photos. Her long brown hair swept the floor as she spun upside down on the pole, and I wondered for the hundredth time how she forced herself to strip when she didn't have to do it for the money.
Everything shifted then, almost simultaneously. Bella righted herself and peeled her bra off, the door to the back room was slammed opened, and the music scratched to a stop. A few patrons gave startled gasps, and I heard a few of the girls scream. Bella stood stock still, her legs planted and her breasts in her hands. Every cell in my body shouted at me to go to her, to protect her, to cover her, but I stayed rooted to the spot. Three men came through the door that had been roughly shoved open, and one of them was clearly not going to make it through the night.
He was covered in blood and stumbled as he was pushed into the main room of the club. Jasper and Emmett followed him, the lean brother smoking a cigarette like he hadn't a care in the world. Emmett clamped his hand on the bloody guy’s shoulder, and when he lifted his head I recognized him as Petey Cap.
“There’s a rumor going around,” Jasper started, the cigarette dangling. “I've heard we have a mole. A rat. A fed.”
Emmett looked around the room, and I zeroed in on Bella again. If this had all been a set-up to lure me here so they could kill me, there wasn't a thing I could do about it. My muscles tensed, but I threw back the whiskey at my elbow and waited.
“We thought we could beat the information out of this guy, who seems to know too much of other people’s business,” Emmett said, gripping Petey’s shoulder hard. Pete whimpered. “Turns out he don't know nearly as much as he thinks he does.”
“So we’re giving all yous here one chance.” Jasper looked at the faces around the room, including mine. He met my eyes and kept moving, giving no indication that he suspected me. “This man is dead. Who’s going to stop me?” He pointed his weapon at Pete’s head, and I clenched my fist around my glass. I couldn't intervene. I could do nothing to save him, or I’d die next to him.
“Anybody?” Emmett asked. “You’re all gonna let us kill this man in cold blood?”
Jasper pulled back on the hammer of his pistol and pressed it to Pete’s temple. Pete sobbed and begged, saying he hadn't known what he was doing. My guess was that he’d sold info to one of the other families, but I wasn't sure. I closed my eyes briefly, but then I fixed my gaze on the pistol that was about to end a human being’s life. I had to remain unaffected to save my own life.
“All right, boys.” Jasper smirked. “And girls. I’m going to count to three. If the fed wants to step forward and admit who he is, maybe we’ll go easy on him.” Emmett laughed and Jasper continued. “One…” He looked around again, but everyone was mute. “Two…” I swallowed nervously but kept my gaze trained on Petey’s head, knowing it was about to blow open. “Three.”
The following sound wasn't as loud as it could have been, thanks to Jasper’s silencer, but the results were the same. The ladies screamed and cried, burying their faces in their hands. I looked up at Bella, and she grabbed her bra and rushed off the stage. Feeling that it was okay to move, I followed her, skirting behind where Emmett was instructing everyone to get the fuck out so they could clean up. I refused to look at Pete again. I had the image of his exploding skull locked in my brain already.
I found Bella getting dressed, pulling her sweater on hastily and grabbing her purse.
“Bella,” I hissed, and she looked up at me.
“Come on,” she replied quietly, punching a code in one of the doors that I thought led to an office. Instead, we found ourselves out on the street behind the club.
“What the fuck was that back there?” I growled as we hustled.
“Shut up and keep moving,” she instructed.
I listened to her for a change, sensing the danger I could still be in. We climbed in my car and I drove the Cadillac through the empty streets without saying a word, until we reached the spot I would normally turn off at for our apartment.
“Keep going,” Bella said. “We’ll go to my house.”
I had to admit that the thought of an actual bed made me so happy I could have cried. I followed her hushed directions, mostly remembering the way. When I pulled into the driveway she directed me around the side of the house to the garage. I parked inside and shut off the engine, then just sat there with my hands on the wheel.
“Edward,” she whispered.
“I let him die,” I replied, my voice not above the same whisper she’d uttered. “I did nothing to save him, instead opting to save my own ass.”
Now I did get out, slamming the door so hard it rattled in the frame before slamming my way inside her house. I didn't know my way around, so I stopped in the mudroom and spun when she came up behind me.
“I let that man die because of my own stupidity!” I shouted. “If you were able to find out my true identity, anyone else could, too!”
“Shut the fuck up for a minute!” she ordered.
I stood silently, glaring at her.
“You need a shower. Then we can talk. I’ll get food.”
Confused as to what she was talking about, I nonetheless followed her to a guest room. “There’s towels in the linen closet, there.” She pointed. “There’s soap under the sink. Meet me in the kitchen when you’re done.”
I watched her leave, her sweater covering her ass, but I still ogled her black stockings covering mile long legs and the spiked-heel shoes. Sighing, I headed into the bathroom and pulled a folded towel out of the closet before moving to turn on the shower. It was fucking massive, like the type I’d seen in catalogs and considered installing in my own condo. There were multiple shower heads, and I looked forward to getting in.
I turned to put the towel on the vanity and get some soap, then started pulling my clothes off. That was when I glanced in the mirror and froze.
My left side was covered in a fine spray of blood, cast off brains and other bodily fluids from Peter Caplan. I hadn't realized I was standing that close to him. I leaned over the sink, pushing my palms into the edge of the counter to ground myself. I was going to be sick. It wasn't the first time I had witnessed someone die, and I’d even been the man on the other end of the gun before. I’d taken lives. It was the knowledge that this man was innocent, used as a pawn to get to me. He was dead because of me.
Looking up at my reflection in the mirror again, I punched the glass hard enough that it shattered around me as I screamed out my rage. I punched it over and over again, shouting until I was hoarse.
“Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Edward!” Bella screamed.
I stopped, my shoulders and chest heaving. My knuckles burned and so did my eyes. I couldn't see for the tears that mixed with the blood on my left side and blurred my vision. She rested her hands on my shoulders until I turned around, and I buried my face in the crook of her neck.
“There was nothing you could have done. If you’d spoken up, you’d be dead, and most likely so would I. You saved the both of us.”
I didn't agree with her, but I was too drained to argue. I let her lead me to the shower and push me inside. I was still dressed but I didn't care. I let the hot water run over my face until I thought I had control of myself. When I looked out at the bathroom, Bella was gone again. I stripped fully and left my wet clothes in a heap on the shower floor.
When I was clean and dry, I stepped into the guest room and found clothes on the bed. I picked up the basketball shorts and discovered that they were mine. She must have sent someone to our apartment while I was showering. After pulling on the shorts and the t-shirt, I left the room in search of the kitchen.
I realized quickly how much my hand hurt as I flexed my fingers. I found Bella sitting at the table, hair in a waterfall down her back. Her face was clean of makeup for a change, and she was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. There were Chinese takeout containers on the table, and I took a seat across from her.
“Oh, here. Let me get you something for those hands.”
She stood and went to the desk in the corner, opening a drawer and pulling out a prescription bottle. She shook a pill out into her hand and brought a water bottle from the fridge with her.
“Bella, no offense, but I’m not taking random drugs from you.”
“It’s a Vicodin prescribed with my weight in mind. I assure you it won't knock you out. I have Advil, if you’d prefer?”
“Advil, please.”
She disappeared and came back a moment later with a bottle of Advil, which I accepted. I watched her put the other pill back in the container. “Would it be nosy of me to ask why you have those?”
“I was shot the same night Charlie went down.”
Her words were brief, and I understood I was not to tread in that area.
“I'll pay for a replacement mirror.”
“There's really no need, I assure you. I’m surprised by your reaction, though.”
She sat back down at the table and began to open the containers. The smell of sweet and sour chicken hit my nose and my mouth watered.
“I’m law enforcement, Bella. I’m supposed to protect and serve; it’s built into my DNA. I hate that I let Pete die.”
“Petey Cap deserved to die. You’re only upset because Jasper and Emmett used his death to taunt all of us. I don't believe they really think we have a fed in our midst. I think they were pissed at Petey’s incompetence and the fact that he let a thing or two slip to his mistress that caused some minor backlash. He was a tool used to remind everyone of how ruthless those two can be.”
She shoveled fried rice in her mouth, and I looked down at my plate. If what she said was true, he would have died one way or the other. I just hated that I did nothing to stop it. I knew it was necessary in order to maintain my cover, but that didn’t make it any easier to swallow.
We ate in silence for a few minutes until she spoke again. “I had Garrett sweep our place as a precaution. He does it once a week routinely, but after tonight, I had to be sure.”
“You can thank him for my clean clothes then, because I’m sure he did both.” I gestured at myself before taking a swallow of water.
“Mmm,” she hummed noncommittally.
“So we're safe, then?”
“For now.”
Yeah. For now.
That was the night I realized that I’m not invincible.
Scary.
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