A/N This is the last chapter, my friends. Thank you to everyone who has read, enjoyed and commented. I hope to see you again when I begin posting my new story, "Torn". Summary, photos and a banner are on my Facebook page if you want to take a look - facebook dot com slash hankslady

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Edward's POV

"Where's Emmett?" I demanded minutes later. In a very short space of time, everyone else had been evacuated from the ballroom and I was surrounded by Paul, Rosalie and two cops. Nobody was telling me anything.

"He's answering some questions with the cops," Jasper said, striding towards us.

"He's not hurt?" I gasped.

"Just winded; he was wearing a vest."

"Thank God!" I exhaled rapidly. "What's going on?"

"They're deciding whether to arrest him or not."

"This is bullshit!" I was shaky, but the fright had passed and I wanted to know exactly what was happening. Emmett had been protecting me, had thrown himself in front of me to stop me being shot, and they were thinking of arresting him? What the hell was wrong with England? This would never happen in the States. What was worse, was that as I looked around I could see Laurent on his feet, hands cuffed behind his back, but looking completely unscathed. Emmett had said he had 'got him' which I had taken to mean he had shot my attacker, but he certainly hadn't shot Laurent.

"Mr Cullen, we need you to come down to the station to make a statement," an officer said to me moments later.

"What for? Can't I do it here?" I protested. "Where's my bodyguard?"

"Mr McCarty will be taken to the station too."

"Alright," I agreed immediately. Maybe at last I would find out what had happened in the blur of the last few minutes and Emmett would be free to go. Despite protests from Paul, none of the others were required and were advised to return to the hotel. I could see it being a very long night and I took the opportunity to call Jacob while I was driven away to the police station. Predictably he was horrified and I doubted anything I said would have dissuaded him from coming to me now. Rather than argue, I agreed in relief and told him he should meet me in Ottawa as we would be leaving London the next day and may miss each other if he was delayed.

It took two hours for the officers to get my statement. They made me coffee and asked a number of times if I needed anything, but it didn't make the fact that I sat in an interview room like a criminal any better. I was upset and angry and they still wouldn't let me see Emmett. It wasn't until I was at last offered a car to return me to the hotel that I realised he was waiting for me by the front desk and he grabbed me in a bear hug when I reached him, flinching when my hand touched his back.

"Gonna have a hell of a bruise," he grimaced.

"You didn't tell me you were wearing a vest," I said as we sat in the back of the car.

"I dunno, I just got this feeling if something was going to happen, it would be at that party. Thought I better be safe than sorry."

"So what happened?" I asked. "They wouldn't tell me anything. I gave them the details of the letters and email and the phone calls, then Laurent giving me the champagne, but...I thought you'd shot him!"

"It wasn't him," Emmett said. "He was just a puppet following instructions. With any luck they'll lock him up too, but the real stalker is some guy called James - an American. He's the one who tried to shoot you. I was looking around from the side of the stage while you did that speech, trying to see Laurent, and this blond guy caught my eye. He was just acting weird; he didn't look like a guest or staff, he just didn't fit right. He couldn't see me from where I was although he would have known I was there. He pulled a gun out when everyone stood up cheering. I got him in the shoulder before I fell on you."

"Fuck," I shuddered. "I can't believe this is happening. Do you know why? I mean, who is this guy?"

"I don't know much; only that he flew to London yesterday from New York and obviously hates you for some reason. They told me it doesn't seem to be about religion. Laurent just used that to scare you. Maybe you refused to give him an interview one time; or maybe he's a failed actor who's jealous; a gay hater or even a fag scared to come out of the closet. Who knows what starts these freaks off? We might never know."

"Well, I hope they lock him up and throw away the key," I muttered.

"They probably will. I doubt he'll go to trial here; they'll most likely send him back and make him face the music in the States."

"I hope so."

"Did you call Jake?"

"Yes, he's meeting us in Ottawa," I said, smiling at last.

"Well, at least for the last few appearances, you can relax a bit," Emmett said.

"Yeah, unless there's some other creep after me."

"I doubt that, but you can be sure I'll get him if there is."

My cellphone rang suddenly and I pulled it out of my pocket as the car halted in front of the hotel. Emmett opened the door for me and spoke to the cops for a few seconds as I answered the call, which was Dad.

"Edward, are you alright, son?" he asked urgently. "I'm watching the news...!"

"Oh, God," I groaned. "It's live already?"

"There's a reporter outside the hotel where the dinner was. They showed a photo of you being put in a cop car. Are you hurt? Is Emmett hurt?"

"No, we're both fine. He got shot, but he was wearing a vest." I told him the whole story as Emmett ushered me into the lounge where Paul, Jasper and some of the others were waiting and I could hear him regaling them with details of our trip to the station. Dad was horrified and all set to fly out to meet me as well. I protested again, but in the end agreed to him meeting us in New York; that way he would get to spend the last four days with me before I returned to Barbados.

I barely got any sleep that night. Leah called shortly after I'd finished talking to Dad, demanding to know what happened and suggesting she cancel the rest of the tour and get me home immediately. I refused, determined to finish the tour and deal with the questions I was likely to be met with in the interviews. I could imagine the attack would take precedence over everything else and then the movie would come a close second, leaving not a great deal of opportunity for me to be asked about my lifestyle and plans.

I was exhausted the next day and struggled not to yawn during the final interview I had to do before we all returned to the airport and headed for Canada. I was glad to leave London behind and realised I was actually looking forward to the last few days now that what I had feared was behind me. I slept on the plane and by the time we reached the hotel in Ottawa, I felt much better.

Emmett was in some discomfort and when I saw him without his shirt, the huge purple bruise between his shoulder blades shocked me, but as usual he joked about it and made out that it was just makeup to make the women think he was a hero. I knew the only woman on his mind at the moment was Rosalie, unusually for him, and he was determined to try to get a date with her when he returned to LA after spending a few days with Jacob and me at home.

Jacob arrived late that night, the concierge calling my room to announce him and refusing to let him come up after the drama in London. Emmett went down to get him and then stayed in the bar to give us some alone time. As soon as the door closed behind him, we were in each other's arms. With the anxiety and exhaustion and Emmett being present, we hadn't managed to find time for even one episode of play with the iPads and we fell upon each other like starving men, scattering clothes across the room as we made our way to my bed.

"God, I missed you so much," Jacob groaned, breaking our heated kiss and pulling me tighter against him. "Thank God this is the last time."

"I'm not going anywhere without you, ever again," I said determinedly.

As desperate as we were for each other, we made each other come with hands and mouths to relieve a little pressure so that we could then take our time making love, relishing every second until we came again together, my arms and legs wrapped around Jacob holding him tight to me, our hearts pounding in unison and eyes locked. I felt as if I were home already, even thought Barbados was still a week away.

The next few days flew by - after Ottawa there was Montreal and Chicago and then we were in New York and Dad joined us in the hotel. He had managed to get a room on the same floor and spent a good deal of time with us, even being invited to join me and the others for a couple of the interviews. It was on the second day when I received another surprise. A call came up to my room, which Emmett answered despite the risk of anyone else bothering me being extremely low.

"It's your mother," he whispered a moment later, his hand over the receiver.

"On the phone?" My eyes widened.

"In the hotel. They want to know if she can come up."

"Yeah...of course." I hadn't really expected to see her again, at least not any time soon and Jacob and Emmett left me alone before she reached the room, even though I asked Jacob to stay. I let her in and closed the door after her.

"Mom; I didn't expect to see you here," I said cautiously. "Will you sit down?"

"Thank you, Edward." She made her way to the sofa and I took a chair opposite. It was like looking at a stranger. We had never been very close, but now it seemed as if I barely knew her. "Where's...um...your friend?"

"Jacob? You can say his name, Mom. He's downstairs with Emmett. He wanted to be considerate by not forcing you to acknowledge him," I said with a touch of sarcasm.

"Edward, I'm sorry that I've been so distant," she said with a sigh. "I don't blame you for being angry with me."

"I'm not angry, I'm just...disappointed. I am really happy for the first time in my life and I really wish you would be happy for me. You shun me and worry about public opinion all the time and yet you must have seen what the press and my fans are saying; none of them care, not really. I love Jacob and he's going to be part of my life forever. If you can't eventually accept that, then I don't see how we can have any kind of relationship. On this occasion he's been considerate to you, but if you want to see me in the future, he'll be with me."

"I'm sorry, Edward," she repeated. "I've let my views get in the way of everything. You're entitled to make your own choices, of course you are. I've just found it difficult to understand. I still do, but I want to try to put things right between us. What happened to you in London made me realise that life is too short and I've made some terrible mistakes in my treatment of both you and your father."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Dad still loves you, you know; he told me that. I hope you can work things out too. As for me; I would much prefer it if you were part of my life, Mom, but like I said - my life is with Jacob and you are going to have to get used to it."

"Yes, I know that and I will, I promise. I hope that one day you can forgive me for the way I've pushed you away and tried to manipulate you. I've had a lot of time to think lately, especially since your father moved out. I'd like to think that we can put this behind us."

"I'm sure we can. Perhaps you could come visit us in Barbados," I suggested. I had been tempted to give her a hard time when she arrived, but I didn't see that it would achieve anything. What I really wanted was for her to change her attitude and accept me and it seemed that she was determined to at least try to do that. The attempt on my life in London coupled with Dad moving out from the family home had obviously made her rearrange her priorities and I just hoped that it would last; I was certainly willing to give it a go and welcome her efforts.

"Perhaps," she said. "I mean, yes, I'd like that, but I want to spend some time working on things with your father first."

"From what he's said, I know he misses you. I think he's just waiting for you to make a move, one way or the other."

"Well, I won't waste any more time. He's here in New York, isn't he?"

"He's staying in the hotel; room 2140," I told her with a smile.

"Thank you, Edward. I'll speak to him before I go."

"You're going straight back to LA?" I asked.

"Well, I wasn't quite sure of my reception. I could stay a night or two until the end of your tour, if there's a room available. I'll ask."

I showed her out and gave her a light kiss on the cheek before she left the room. I hadn't expected this kind of turn around from her, but it was good to see and I was certainly hopeful that things would improve between us - maybe even finish up better than they had been throughout my life up to now.

Jacob's POV

The end of Edward's tour couldn't come fast enough for me. The call I'd received from him from London had horrified me and I'd watched the news on my laptop while I waited at Grantley Adams for a plane go to him. The fact that the guy had tried to shoot him sickened me and the trip from Grantley Adams to O'Hare and then finally to Macdonald-Cartier had seemed endless, until I could actually see him and know that he was really alright. I had been worried about Emmett too, but as usual he had laughed it all off and made out like it was all part of a day's work for him.

Finally the New York premier was over and we were heading back to the hotel in a Limo, Emmett cursing as he yanked at his bow tie in an effort to loosen it. On this occasion I'd accompanied Edward although I hung back on the red carpet and let him do his thing, posing for the cameras and signing autographs, finally leaving the crowd of fans behind with an armful of cards and flowers and a couple of soft toys that people had given him. Now all we had to do was collect our baggage from the hotel and change out of our suits and we would be on the way to the airport. Edward's jet was to take him and myself and Emmett straight to Bridgetown while the others would fly back to LA the following day along with Carlisle and Esme.

I'd been surprised that Esme had made such an effort over the past couple of days, but I guessed that realising her son could have been killed gave her a kick up the butt that she had desperately needed for some time. I still wasn't convinced that she would start to act like a proper mother over night, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and talked to her politely for Edward's sake when we had dinner with her and Carlisle in the hotel. The pair of them had decided to try to patch things up when they returned to LA, with Esme apparently doing most of the running.

We got some attention when we arrived in Bridgetown, from fans of Edward who happened to be vacationing on the island, but we made it outside after about thirty minutes and took a cab back to the house. It was the middle of the night and Emmett of course was joking about the fact that he brought earplugs, but in reality all anyone wanted to do was sleep. Emmett stayed four days and then became restless to get home. I had been amused by the fact that Edward had taken to teasing him about his apparent liking for Rosalie and looking uncharacteristically sheepish, Emmett admitted that he had talked to her on the phone and asked her to have dinner with him. I couldn't really believe that he might have found someone he actually wanted more with than one night in the sack with, but stranger things had happened. I had Edward after all and not too long ago, when he had cried in my arms over his break up with Bella, I had thought that pretty unlikely too.

We spent a couple of months just relaxing and enjoying being home with all the excitement and pressure behind us. Carlisle and Esme came to visit for a few days and elected to stay in an hotel rather than our guest room, which initially I thought was more to do with Esme's discomfort over Edward sleeping with me, but was actually more to do with the couple wanting their own privacy since their relationship was back on track. The pair of them seemed more relaxed together than I'd ever seen them and Edward was delighted that they worked things out and that his mother had made such efforts to get over her obsession with public image.

We had read news reports in the aftermath of Edward's attack, stating that James had indeed been returned to the States and was currently on remand awaiting trial, although it was doubtful he would be free for a very long time. He had been refused bail and had reportedly been badly beaten by a fellow prisoner, following which he was locked up in solitary. Laurent had been sentenced in London and was already in jail, although his stay behind bars wouldn't be that long, given his more minor part in what had happened. Emmett was eagerly awaiting a summons to court to recount his version of events from the attack and surprisingly he had recently celebrated a month dating Rosalie, admitting to us with some embarrassment that he was growing very fond of her.

'The Chains That Bind Us' had been a huge hit at the box office and was expected to win awards later in the year. Many people bemoaned the fact that it would be his last and the other main cast, plus Rosalie herself had all received a lot of attention for it too. Edward would probably have to return to LA at some point if the movie was eventually nominated and he fully intended to have both me and Emmett with him if that happened.

It was April when we finally got around to taking our first trip anywhere. Edward had booked tickets to Cairns, Australia, via several jumps including lay overs in Paris, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur so that we could have a few days in each city before spending some time diving over the reefs. I planned to keep a journal of our adventures and consider turning it into a book when we returned, given the initial success of my novel.

Edward switched on the television to catch the news before the cab came to collect us and I listened in as I finished packing my hand luggage. Sam Uley was being interviewed, halfway through making his movie, however, the reporter didn't seem interested in his first starring role. The questions were about Bella's baby, which Sam had just been granted full custody of. Bella had given the little girl a ridiculous name that no one could pronounce and proceeded to leave her with a nanny for most of the time while she flitted from one city to another, trying to get attention for herself during her current lack of movie offers. She had resorted to looking for movies which had roles for babies, with the intention of using her daughter to regain public acceptance and make money. The courts had been quick to grant Sam custody and he had changed the baby's name to Emily after his mother and vowed to have her with him on set, cared for by his sister, until filming was over. Following this he intended to give the baby girl his undivided attention and in addition, keep her away from the public eye as much as he could, only giving her a leg up into the world of acting if she wanted it when she was old enough to decide.

I hadn't really known what to make of Sam the previous year when he was first talked about in the press after being caught with Bella in Canada, but Edward's initial thoughts that he seemed quite genuine and just as much a victim as Edward himself had been right. He was clearly a pretty decent guy and intended to do everything he could to give his daughter a good start in life.

I shoved my iPad into my hand luggage with a grin, remembering when I had first bought it and how shy Edward had been about letting me see him. I zipped up the bag as a cab honked loudly from the end of the driveway and checked again that I had my passport.

"You ready, babe?" I called as I headed for the door.

"Yeah!" Edward switched of the television and joined me, a backpack over his shoulder. We were sharing one large suitcase for the majority of our things and I pulled out the handle to wheel it to the car. "I hope the public aren't going to be too much of a problem," he said.

"They're bound to want a few photos since we practically disappeared, but it'll die down. The new Golden Couple are keeping most of their attention."

Jasper and Alice had gotten engaged on Valentine's Day and were planning a huge wedding in the Fall, which Edward and I had already been invited to. The only one who hadn't yet settled down was Paul, but he was in the middle of starring in the lead role of an action movie, even doing some of his own stunts. He was hugely popular after 'Chains' and revelling in his sudden fame.

Now I stowed the suitcase into the trunk of the cab and slid into the back seat beside Edward, lacing our fingers together as we travelled the short distance to the airport. At last our lives were our own, or at least most of the time, and eventually the attention would diminish the way my own had when I first left Hollywood behind. I glanced over at Edward and grinned at the happy smile on his face. He raised an eyebrow.

"You look happy," I said.

"I am. I finally got what I always wanted," he said. "My own life to do what I want with. And you."

"I only get second billing?" I teased.

"Jerk." He pulled his hand free of mine and punched me in the arm, then leaned over to plant a warm kiss on my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The driver cleared his throat and announced that we had reached our destination and we quickly separated, paid the man and took our luggage. The world awaited us and we had the rest of lives to explore it together.