His Bella

THIRTY-ONE

She was feisty and smart too. I couldn't live Michigan. I was a dead man if I entered California as a prisoner. I doubted I would live up to forty-eight hours in prison before some politician had someone stab me in my sleep just to keep me from opening my mouth.

"You're wanted for countless crimes. You're a criminal and you deserve to go to jail", she said again.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't let myself be affected by a judgement. I had to think about Bella.

I smirked, regaining my confidence, "surely a smart officer like you won't throw away such an opportunity like the one I'm giving you right now"

"What opportunity?", she asked in a curious tone. I could tell from the hungry look in her eyes that it was going to be easier than I thought.

I placed my elbows on the table in front of me and stared at her, "the opportunity to arrest a whole bunch or Rivals and have the leader of the Raiders in your custody"

She sat back in her chair and stared at me, "what?"

"It would look amazing on your resume, trust me"

"This is a trap"

"Not a trap", I said, "all I need is for you to get the hostage out of there safely"

"You must really care about this person"

I scoffed, "more than you can possibly imagine"

Things were going as planned, at least from my side. Miss Susan Mathers took the bait, was probably hoping for a promotion after this- which she would most likely get. I didn't care as long as I got Bella's mom back. I managed to convince them that the only way to get to the Rivals and Noah was by using me as bait. I was what he wanted after all.

As I looked out the window on the way to Copper Country, I thought about Bella. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed detective Mathers watching me from the passenger seat in front but I didn't care. If everything went well, I would see Bella again. If it didn't, I would either be on the next flight to California and be forced to tell organizational secrets or I would be dead.

I began to feel the same panic Axel and Megan felt. It was crazy and I tried to convince myself that I was doing it all for her to be happy. At the same time, if I died and there was an afterlife, I would have to watch everyone I loved including her cry and mourn me from the afterlife. I would most likely kill her next boyfriend but if I survived then I would be with her for as long as she would have me.

I would marry her.

I had never really thought about getting married but if I was going to, it would be to Bella. I didn't see myself being on that level of commitment with anyone but her so I made a pact with myself. Try my possible best to live today, marry Bella and then make her the mother of my children if she's okay with that.

That was the plan.

"This is the place", one of the officers said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Outside the window, I caught a glimpse of the cabin in between multiple trees. It was a bit far from where the car stopped- almost out of sight just like Bella said it would be.

"I'm going in first", i said quickly.

"Wait", Susan said, "let the officers check out the area first"

"No", I said sternly, "you're wasting time. They want me and no one else. At least let me make sure the hostage is safe and accounted for before you come in"

She stared at me, "whoever this person is, he or she is that important to you? because you're risking a lot right now, including your freedom"

"She's family", I said, "and family comes first"

She nodded, "you have ten minutes"

I got out of the car and heads straight for the cabin. I glanced around the forest for any signs of the men and Axel. I couldn't find anything. I could only hope everything had gone well because there was no coming back from this.

Three men stood outside the cabin and as soon as they noticed me, they became alert

"Who are you", one of them asked. I could see he was reaching for his gun already.

"I'm Wade Steele, pretty sure your boss has been expecting me"

The door opened and he walked into the room, "Wade Steele", he said in a merry tone.

The cabin wasn't as small as it looked from the outside. It was mostly empty but it smelt like alcohol and cigarettes. Noah stood in front of me, one armed man next to him.

"I've waited months for this", he said, "put up with that fucking bitch Bella and her naivety for this", he added, "and it all finally worked out"

I clenched my fists when he spoke about Bella in that manner but I had to remind myself that I had only ten minutes and they needed to count.

"So, what's the plan Norman?", I asked, "I know you're going to explain your plan soon so I'll just wait to escape after you do"

"It's Noah!", he said angrily, " and you can't escape. I'm not completely unprepared this time, I'll just kill my ex mother-in-law if you try anything funny"

"Will you?", I smirked playfully at him.

He frowned, "you want to act cocky with me, you bastard?", he scoffed and turned to the man next to him, "go get the hostage and bring her here", the man motioned to walk to the door and Noah turned to me, "I'll show you just what I'm capable of"

"I do know what you're capable of", I said, "you deserve an Oscar you know", I added, "that night when Bella dumped you, I really thought you were hurt"

He laughed, "you were in the apartment?", he asked, "I should have killed you then and killed Bella while I was at it", he clenched his fists suddenly and released them, "it doesn't matter anyway. I have you now and I already had my fun with Bella of course"

My jaw clenched and I walked towards him but he pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, "what? Can't handle the bitter truth?", he asked as I paused, "why don't I just kill you now?!"

The door opened and the man Noah had sent to check on Bella's mom bust in, "sir, the hostage is gone", he said breathlessly.

Relief rushed through me. My men were going to live the lives of kings after this.

"What do you mean she's gone?!", Noah asked furiously.

"Most of the men are unconscious. There's gas everywhere", the man answered and Noah turned to me.

"You fucking bastard", he gritted his teeth, "what did you do?"

I grinned, "I came prepared"

He pointed his gun at me, "I'm going to kill you"

I wondered how long it had been. Ten minutes should have passed already. I wasn't planning on having my brains blown out by fucking Noah.

Suddenly, a loud gunshot filled the air and there were screams coming from outside. The man standing next to Noah rushed to a window and glanced outside, "it's the cops!", he pointed his gun at me. I sighed in relief.

Noah scoffed, "you brought the cops?", he asked me and I shrugged.

"You want to tell me why the police are here Steele?", he asked.

I smirked, "they're the only ones the public will believe when they say that Wade Steele is dead"