Hey everyone! Two updates in one week! Pretty good. I know that It had been a while since I started the story and when I updated. I apologize, there really is not excuse, I'm just sorry.

Anyway updating should become more regular. I'm shooting for a chapter a week but sometimes there will be two. Depends on how much free time I have. Promise it will be no more than a week though.

Thank you too all who reviewed. The support means so much.

Enjoy.

EPOV

Five fucking days. It had been five fucking days since Bella and I had had that fucked up conversation with our fathers. The same conversation where Bella had sat there like a mute, refusing to at least fight for our futures.

It had been four days since I had last seen or talked to Bella. Our last conversation hadn't gone very well, and it ended with a dagger being thrown at my head. And they call me temperamental. Anyway…

It had been three days since I had talked to my mother. Some help that women had been. She was so excited over planning our wedding it was like she completely forgot it was being forced upon us. That or she just didn't give a flying fuck. Seriously, aren't moms supposed to guard and protect and all that shit. Cuz, if we got married, I was pretty sure Bella was gonna end up killing me in my sleep one night.

Just sayin.

It had been two days since Jasper had gotten home, and he and Emmett forced me into a black SUV. Guess where they took me…Fucking Tiffany's. Yeah, that's right. They wanted to make sure their little princess got a top-notch engagement ring. Fuckers! Hell no was I buying a ring yet. That was just a sign of my agreement to go along with this sham. And I was still trying to find a way out. Needless to say, we left empty handed.

It had been one day since Charlie and my dad had invited their associates, the Volturi family and the Denali family to come to mine and Bella's engagement party. Both Tanya and Heidi had texted me already, wanting to know if I was still going to be needing their services now that I was marrying Bella. I hadn't responded because, truthfully, I didn't know.

On the on hand, I refused to live a life of celibacy and I very much doubted Bella would ever give up that ass. On the other hand Emmett had already told me he'd fuck me up if I fucked over his sister. And I really didn't need him busting my chops. Cuz I might be trained in various forms of combat, but that fucker scares the shit out of me. I mean have you seen his arms? They're like the size of tree trucks!

And that brings us to today. Today is the end of the week; also know to me as D-Day. Today our fathers would be expecting an answer on whether or not Bella and I were getting hitched. I still wasn't sure what my answer was going to be.

All week I'd been thinking. Thinking about running, about how much money I would need to make it on my own, what my skills were in case I needed to get a job. And let me tell you, my only skills, are shooting and swearing. Literally. At least Bella can cook. If she was kicked out she could probably go and become a chef or something. Me, I'd be fucked.

Getting cut off would not be okay for me.

So then my train of thought switched over to what it would be like to married. Would I have to have children? Probably, our fathers hadn't stipulated it, but what good was keeping the business in the family, if there was no heir to hand it over to. But would Bella even let me impregnate her? Probably not. In fact I'd probably become a eunuch if I even tried.

So I had come to the conclusion that I was good and properly fucked. And not in the fun way.

I was in my room getting dressed, still mulling things over when there was a knock on the door. I told whoever was out there they could come in but regretted it as soon as the door opened.

Carlisle came in first, followed by Charlie and then Bella. Both my dad and Charlie had big grins on their faces but Bella was looking down at her ridiculously high shoes. She had definitely dressed up for tonight's dinner.

She was wearing this little green dress that stopped at mid thigh. It molded to her body like a second skin. It was strapless but had a V cut on the top, giving me a good glimpse of some cleavage. If all that wasn't enough she had paired them with these sexy black heels that made her legs look miles long. Yeah, I could definitely see those legs wrapped around me. Fucking tease.

"What do you need?" I asked, looping my tie around my neck. I hated formal dinners and I hated ties.

"Charlie and I wanted to talk to you both before we go down to eat."

Bella looked up at me, her eyes red and bloodshot. She had obviously been crying. "They want our answer."

I stared at her, taking in every little detail. While she had certainly dressed up, something about her was lacking. Her hair wasn't as shiny as it normally was, and her face was pale, despite all the make-up she had on. She looked sick. I hadn't seen her like this since her grandmother died right before high school started.

Could our fathers not see what this was doing to us? I didn't even really like Bella and I could see how torn up she was. My anger surged up again and I had to fight to keep myself from doing something stupid.

"What do you want to do?" I asked her, still completely ignoring our fathers.

She looked at me thoughtfully for a second before walking toward me so that we were face to face. She leaned in, almost like she was going to kiss me, but kept going until I could feel her hot breath on my ear.

"We play their game." She whispered.

"And then?"

"And then when they least expect it…" she trailed off.

"Yes."

"We Fuck. Them. Over."

Good enough for me.

She pulled away and went back over to where her father was standing. Him and Carlisle's smiles had somewhat faded and they looked a little worried. They should be worried, because Bella and I were going to take them down.

"We'll do it." I said.

And just like that the smiles were back. Charlie came over to me a patted me on the back before he left. Carlisle went over and hugged Bella, whispering something to her, before he too took his leave.

"So." I said, my hands in the pockets of my slacks.

"So what?"

"We're working together?"

"For now." She shrugged. "They think that they can play us like chess pieces, moving us around the board until they're satisfied with the results. Fine, then we turn the tables on them."

"When did you think this up?"

"Two nights ago."

"Alright, and I'm assuming you have a plan." I sincerely hope she did. And I hoped it was a quick one.

"I've got a few ideas."

"Are you going to tell me them?"

"Let's just get through this dinner, and then I'll tell you everything I've come up with." She gave me a small smile then made her way toward the door.

I had one final thing to ask. "Does this mean you aren't going to try and kill me anymore?"

She turned her head and looked me up and down before her face broke out into a full smile. "Maybe." And then she kept walking.

"But I'd still watch your back Cullen." She called over her shoulder.

Damn. If we could get along and actually work together, this marriage thing may not be that bad. I mean we were more a like then I think either of us wanted to admit.

But our parents were still going down.

xXx

Dinner was a nightmare. Truly something out of a Stephen King novel. I was kinda flying high after Bella's and mine conversation. I mean we had a plan, which was a hella of a lot more then we had a few days ago. But my mood was almost immediately killed as soon as I sat down.

Let me just lay it out for you. First, mom was already drunk. No joking. Apparently, she'd hit the wine early and was shitfaced by the time dinner rolled around. And a drunk mom is a crazy mom. Every other second she'd be dropping innuendos like bombs. And almost all of them were about Bella and I.

Then a fight broke out between Jane and Heidi, both Aro Volturi's daughters, about guess what…yours truly. Yes, I had slept with both of them, but I had been very upfront at the time that I wasn't looking for a relationship. However, that didn't stop them over arguing on who would get the honor of gracing my bed tonight. Um news flash hoes, it's neither one of you. However, there was no reasoning with them.

And seriously, their father was sitting right there! Not proper conversation to have in front of your dad. At least, that's what I thought.

After the sisters bickering, I noticed Bella glaring at me, which actually wasn't that different from a normal Swan/Cullen family dinner, but it seemed strange to me since we'd just had that semi pleasant conversation in my room. I wasn't sure what her problem was this time but I figured I'd ask her when we talked again later.

But the icing on the cake was when Tanya, the little slut she was, announced to the table that she would gladly be my mistress after Bella and I got married. Yeah, she was drunk too.

Needless to say, that little announcement caused Eleazar, her father, to give me the stink eye, much like Bella. It caused Heidi and Jane to stop fighting, which, would have been a blessing if it hadn't ended with them throwing their drinks in my face. A very nice 2002 Pinot Noir in case you were wondering. That shit stains. And it led to Jasper hitting me in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. His fucking gun! I'm lucky the bastard didn't shoot me.

No I have an Armani shirt that is beyond repair – one of my favorites. A lump on the back of my head the size of Texas. And a very unhappy fiancé that was currently standing in front of my bed where I lay, her arms crossed in front of her chest and a bitch brow cocked at me.

"I think we need to set some ground rules."

"Uh, okay." Whatever at this point. Obviously, my life was being run by everyone but me.

"I'm serious Edward."

Oh believe me Bella, I can tell. She still held her glare from diner and she stood completely rigid, not giving any hint as to what she was thinking.

"Fine. What are your ground rules?'

"First, no sleeping around. I don't care if this marriage is a sham or not, I can't stand cheating."

"What makes you think that I'm going to cheat on you?"

"Edward, I know all about your man whore ways. Plus, I was there at dinner. I saw your skanks fighting each other to get a chance to jump on your cock."

Ah, now I knew what she was pissed about…

"Don't worry baby, those girls ain't got nothing on you."

Yup, that was sarcasm. Cuz even though Bella had a body to die for and big brown eyes that kinda just got to you, she was kinda crazy and hated my guts. At least the others girls actually liked me. Or at least liked my dick.

"And what about Tanya."

"What about her?"

"You know we have history and you know I can't stand that bitch!" Yeah, she was screaming now. "I don't trust her and I don' trust you with her!"

"You don't have to worry about her."

"Please you said that once before."

"Please that was such a long time ago!" And now I'm yelling.

"That doesn't mean I've forgotten it! I will never forget it!"

"Tanya doesn't mean anything to me. You need to leave the past in the past and trust me when I say nothing is going to happen with me and her."

God I can't believe she brought that up. The only time I'd ever felt incredible guilt over something I'd done. I hated when any mention of that incident was brought up. Even now the familiar feelings of regret were starting to come back and I was actually feeling kind of sorry for her. I had fucked her over pretty bad.

"Whatever." Bella sighed, her anger simmering out. "All I'm saying is you better not stray. Because if you do, what Jasper did to you at the dinner table, will seem like a love tap to you when I'm finished."

Stupid bitch. Who does she think she is threatening me? There went all the guilt I was feeling.

"Well maybe you wouldn't have to worry about me straying if you weren't such a frigid bitch."

"I told you not to call me a bitch!" And the screaming is back. "I'm not frigid either! I just don't go around having sex with anyone with a dick! Especially someone with an overused one like yours!"

I stood up and stalked over to her. I could see fear in her eyes and I smiled at it. Instead of the anger I'm sure she was expecting, I made my voice low and deep, something that always got Tanya and them going. "There is nothing wrong with my dick. Trust me sweetheart, you wouldn't be able to handle it anyway."

I chuckled at her expression as I pulled back. If I didn't know better I would say I dazzled her.

"Trust me man whore, I could do things with your dick you've never even dreamed of." And ladies and gentleman, snarky Bella is back.

"Care to show me?'

"Ugh you disgust me."

"Are you sure your not mistaking disgust for overwhelming passion? Cuz I've been told that they're easily mixed up." And yeah, the smirk was going strong.

She completely ignored my comment and kept going with the "ground rules". I just kinda went along with it. It seemed easier to just let her get through with all her demands then to rile her up. Although she was kinda hot when she was pissed. But she'd already said she wouldn't be jumping on my cock anytime soon so it was best not to dwell on things like that.

"Second, we don't let anyone else in on the plan. Not Rose, not Alice, not Jasper, not Emmett, not anyone."

"Agreed." That was actually pretty smart, because while Jasper and Rose didn't have any problems keeping things from our parents, Emmett and Alice were fucking suck ups, doing whatever they could to get in the rent's good graces. And everyone else in the organization was loyal to Charlie and Carlisle. Even if we were taking over.

"And we have to set a time table. The quicker we get this over with the quicker we get our own free will back. So we can't fuck this up."

"The sooner the better." Seriously.

"So…" she said, very hesitantly. "Do you think we can work together?"

What choice did we have? It was a heavy task to take on, especially for the two of us. And if we fucked up I had no doubt our parents would end us. There are four more of us to fall back on and as our parents had already proven, we were interchangeable.

"Yeah, I think we can work together."

Ooooo! There is history between Bella, Edward, and Tanya. I wonder what that could be...

Review and let me know if you think you know what's going on there.

Also I'm wonder about the addition of two characters. I want to add Jacob and James into the mix but not quite sure what to do with them. Let me know if you have suggestions.

L.