Mafia Princess

Chapter Ninety-Eight

Twilight...not mine (sigh).

Violence warning...just saying. Got a description of a particularly brutal/sadistic flashback.

Chapter Ninety-Eight

"Edward, stop it. Not tonight. You're drunk," my mom, Elizabeth spat. I got up from my bed and opened my bedroom door. My father was stalking my mother like she was his prey.

"You don't get to say no, Elizabeth," my sperm donor snarled. "We're married. If I want to fuck you, then I fuck you."

"Not like this," she whimpered. He backhanded her. "Edward, later. When you're more sober. You hurt me when..."

"You're mine, Elizabeth. I don't care if I hurt you," he growled, throwing her onto the ground. "Spread those legs, bitch."

"Stop it, Daddy," I lisped, coming out of my bedroom. "She said no!"

"Fuck! Why can't you just disappear?" he hissed, turning his stalking to me. "You little cock blocker. I wanted to fuck your mother. Hell, I may still do it after I beat the shit out of you, Eddie."

"Leave him alone," my mother bit out. "He's covered in bruises from you, you monster. If you want a punching bag, hit me. Not him. He's just a baby!"

"Good. Then one punch should knock him out," he smiled evilly. He reared back, his fist hovering over me ominously. He made one mistake. He didn't hold me. I ran away and he punched through the wall, cursing loudly. "Oh, that brat just signed his death sentence." He hopped over the couch and grabbed me. I was no older than seven, so he was huge compared to me. He threw me onto the cocktail table, causing it to crack. I cried, tears leaking onto my cheeks as my body protested in the agony he was inflicting on me. He flipped me over and stripped off my pajama bottoms. He ripped off his belt and began wailing on my bottom with the belt, the buckle cutting into my skin. I was sobbing, begging him to stop. He wouldn't. He was relentless in his assault on my body, moving up to my back. My mother was trying, fruitlessly, to stop him. He eventually pushed her off him, causing her to fall against the corner of the wall. She fell in an unconscious heap on the ground. "Watch little boy," he sneered, turning my head toward my broken mother. "Watch as I take what a woman should give to her husband freely."

The picture morphed in front of me. My father changed into the man from the club and my mother was now Bella. He was brutal with her, making her scream in agony. I blinked my eyes and it was my father again, raping my mother. Blood covered him and he smiled wickedly as he took her over and over and over...

"Edward! Wake up!" Bella chanted over and over again. My eyes cracked open and I felt emotionally drained. "Don't cry, Edward. I'm fine."

"No! No! NO!" I sobbed, hopping out of bed. "Make them stop!" I crouched in the corner, feeling jittery, nervous and helpless. I felt like I was seven all over again.

"Baby, come back to me," she whispered, crawling over to me. "Edward, we're safe. Open your eyes, angelo. Please, baby? Please?"

I opened my eyes and saw my Little One crying in front of me. I reached for her, touching her cheek to verify that she was real and fine. I fell to my ass and pulled her to me. "My Bella," I whispered against her hair. "My beautiful Bella. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for not protecting you. Please? I can't lose you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please..."

"Edward," she soothed, rubbing my back. "There's nothing to apologize for." She pulled back and looked into my eyes. "How bad was the flashback?"

"Horrific," I whimpered, toying with the curl of her braid. "My dad liked to take from my mother frequently. I was seven and I asked him to stop. I got my ass whipped raw by his belt before he raped her right before me."

"Oh my God," she whispered.

"Yeah, but in my dream, it was you and the guy," I spat bitterly. I looked at her, so ashamed and sad that she had seen me at my worst. Really at my worst. "I don't know if I'm cut out to be..."

"No. No, you don't get to do this, Edward. You don't get to push me away," she snarled, straddling my waist. "I feel safest when I'm with you. Don't let what happened to you when you were seven or what happened last night dictate how I feel or how you should react. What happened to your mother was awful. What you dad did was monstrous and to make you watch was cruel. Probably the cruelest thing he could ever do to you. What happened last night was a fucking fluke. You protected me and stopped it from happening. You. Stopped. It."

"I'm still sorry," I frowned.

"I'm sorry that you're hurt like this, Edward," she said, brushing my hair back from my forehead. "As soon as we get home, I'm calling the doctor and getting you a name of a shrink."

I nodded, burying my nose into her neck, inhaling her sweet, comforting scent. Carlisle had told me that it was too long. I needed to get these issues dealt with. Yes, I saw a child psychologist, but I was a bright kid. I knew what to do and what to say to get them to back off. Regardless of how much they said that my father was sick and that he was to blame, I took the brunt of all of my self-hatred. In my mind, fucked up as it was, what happened to my mother and to me wasn't his fault.

It was mine.

Now, I'm beginning to realize that it truly was my father's fault, but the overwhelming need to protect who love is blinding. I couldn't protect my mother from the brutal attacks of my father. I will, however, protect Bella from Aro, from the feds, from everything.

It was my second chance and I was going to succeed.

Because I loved her.

A/N: Sorry about the graphic nature of the flashback. Edward Sr. is a douche. An asshole. The lowest form of man. Anyhow, we're getting closer to Edward's birthday. He needs some loving. So, let's give him some.

>\''\