Mafia Princess

Chapter One-Hundred Eighty-Nine

Twilight...not mine (sigh).

Chapter 189

EPOV

I was out Christmas shopping with Bella. It had been a few days since the jury took over the case of Aro Volturi. My girl had been a nervous wreck but hid it fairly well, having extra sessions with Irina, writing her story and partaking in some significant retail therapy. We had just finished getting presents for Alice and Rose when my cell phone rang from my pocket.

"Hello?" I said, twining my fingers with Bella's. She gazed up at me with wary eyes.

"Edward, it's Phil. The jury's back," he said brusquely. "They're going to read the verdict tomorrow. Be at the courthouse by nine thirty, the case is going to resume at ten."

"So, tomorrow at ten?" I asked to clarify.

"Yep. Soon everything will be behind you and your girlfriend," Phil said.

"We'll be there, Phil," I said, smirking slightly. "Thank you." I hung up the phone and wrapped my arm around Bella. "Jury's back. Tomorrow, we're going to find out if Aro is presumed innocent or found guilty."

"Can we go back home?" she asked. "Back to your place?"

"Sure, piccolo," I whispered, guiding her out of the mall and toward her car. She pressed her keys into my palm. Helping her into the passenger seat, I put our purchases into the trunk and drove back to my condo.

"Do you have wrapping paper? I want to start wrapping the presents we bought," she asked, staring blankly out the window.

"I don't even own a Christmas tree," I chuckled. "The past few years, I'd been on assignment and hadn't been in my condo."

"Oh, that needs to be remedied," Bella said, arching a brow. "You're home now and you deserve a Christmas tree, decorations and the whole nine yards."

"I thought you wanted to go back to my condo?" I asked.

"That was before I found out you were a Scrooge." She punched a few numbers and soon her GPS was directing me to this huge holiday outlet. She sent a text to Emmett, asking him to bring his Hummer for any possible purchases we made. Three hours and several thousand dollars later, Bella and I were back in my condo, decorating the living room with a seven foot tall artificial tree with colorful twinkle lights, festive smelling candles, snowmen, Santa Claus décor, and reindeer. My place looked like a Christmas card. The décor was festive but not gaudy. I even had a small tree for my bedroom. Bella was putting some tiny ornaments on it as I was putting the holiday decorations up in the guest bathroom. "Edward?"

"Yeah," I replied, walking into my bedroom. "Wow! This looks beautiful, Bella. Thank you!" She was seated on my bed, which had strands of lights behind the headboard along with some sheer fabric over the top. She was blushing. "Everything okay, love?"

She blew out a breath before looking up at me. "On Christmas, I want to try," she murmured, staring into my eyes. She looked around the room and her blush deepened. "I want you to make love to me, Edward. I miss you. I miss us. I miss your touch. That night when you caressed my scars; it was so hard but it made me yearn for your touch again."

"Bella, I don't want you to push yourself too far," I said, sitting down across from her and taking her dainty hands in mine. "We've got a couple of weeks before Christmas."

"That's why I'm telling you now," she said, giving me a shy smile. "I want to fool around some more. Making out is amazing and touching each other over the clothes is great, but I want to move forward. Can we do that?"