Mine 7

“Use this keycard to get into the garage and part in spot 20.”Bella told Rosalie as she held out a key card. Rosalie took the card from Bella and followed her instructions. Rosalie was very excited that Bella asked her to protect her and was looking forward to spending so much time with her mate. She had promised Tanya she would be on her best behavior. Rosalie was going to try and not let her expectations of what she wanted her mate to be like ruin time spent with Bella. While the human was getting x-rayed Tanya had told Rosalie about the conversation the pair had in the car and Rosalie learned that Bella wasn’t one who liked change. She also liked living a peaceful quiet life without many people around to bother her. Tanya got from the conversation that Bella had no friends and basically just worked and kept to herself the rest of the time. Rosalie felt a bit of regret for how she approached Bella because if Bella wasn’t that big on people of course she wouldn’t want Rosalie to push her way into her life. Pulling the car into the spot Bella told her Rosalie rushed around the car to help Bella out.

“Here.”Rosalie reached out her hand delighted that Bella didn’t hesitate to take it.

“Do you need help with your stuff?”Bella asked. She still wasn’t sure this was a good idea but for some reason she trusted Tanya. The woman had done all she could to get her away from both Edward and Rosalie when Bella had asked and had given Bella important information she obviously wasn’t supposed to tell Bella about their species.

“No I’ve got it.”Rosalie popped her trunk and grabbed two suitcases, a garment bag and a large duffle bag out of it.

Bella eyed the amount of things Rosalie was holding.”Do you really need that much stuff?”

“I didn’t know how long I’m staying so I brought a couple weeks worth of clothes.”Rosalie also brought fancier clothes for when she convinced Bella to let her take her out on another date.

“Follow me.”Bella led Rosalie to the elevator, waited until Rosalie and all her stuff got in before swiping her keycard.

Rosalie looked at the buttons in confusion. There were 19 floors but Bella didn’t push any of the buttons.”You didn’t push a button.”

“My floor is only accessible with my keycard. Even the owner of the building and the manager don’t have access to it.”Bella paid a lot of money for that perk.

“Not that I am complaining but why do you have so much security on your apartment?”Rosalie greatly approved of Bella’s home being so hard to break into but didn’t understand why Bella went to such extreme measures.

“I have problems with stalkers.”Bella wasn’t going to tell Rosalie those stalkers were mostly her family members.

“Who is stalking you?”Rosalie would kill them.

“It doesn’t matter who they are this is my floor.”Bella walked out of the elevator when the it came to a stop and the doors opened. Making her way across the small hallway she stepped up to the only door and scanned her good hand then her eye on a retinal scanner before putting in a number combination on a key pad. Once she hit enter the solid steel door opened. She waved her hand to Rosalie.”You can come in.”

Seeing the thick steel door made Rosalie even more worried about the people stalking her mate. If Bella went to such extremes they had to be dangerous. She planned on asking Bella about it again later. Now she wanted to see where Bella lived. Walking into the apartment Rosalie was was surprised with how big it was. It was a large open space that took up the entire top floor of the building. There were two door at the back of the room that Rosalie figured were the bedroom and the bathroom. The space was split up into different areas. There was a kitchen with a dining room table, a living room set up with a large tv hanging on the wall with a large cabinet under it, bookshelves overflowing with books with a overstuffed comfortable looking chair in front of a window next to them. There was a desk with file cabinets next to it that Rosalie thought Bella used for work. All that was interesting but what caught Rosalie’s eye was the multiple computers, worktables, various tools and technical supplies that took up a fourth of the entire room. Although interesting Rosalie’s attention focused in on what could only be described a female human robot. Setting her things on the floor Rosalie made a bee line towards it.”What is this?”

“It’s nothing don’t touch it.”Bella didn’t bring Rosalie into her home for show and tell.

“Did you make this?”Rosalie couldn’t believe how lifelike the robot looked. It’s skin could have passed for human if Rosalie didn’t have enhanced vision. There were even individual hairs along both it’s arms and realistic freckles. It’s eyes were closed but Rosalie bet that if they were open they would look real as well. She wanted to know it’s capabilities because looking at the diagrams on the wall and all the tools and materials laying around Rosalie thought it was likely to be very advanced.

“Yes, don’t touch it.”Bella didn’t need Rosalie breaking it.

“I thought you were a lawyer.”Rosalie didn’t know Bella knew how to make robots. Rosalie corrected herself. Bella knew how to make very advanced robots.

“I am a lawyer.”Bella kicked off her shoes and made her way into the kitchen to get herself some apple juice.”I don’t know what kind of diet you have but all I have is human food.”

Rosalie snapped her head in Bella’s direction so fast she felt a bit dizzy.”What do you mean by that?”

“I would have assumed Tanya told you about our conversation.”Bella had expected Tanya to tell Rosalie everything she and Bella talked about.

“I thought so too but I’m now realizing she didn’t.”Rosalie was going to have words with the coven leader later for keeping things from her.

“Well what we talked about is that I know you aren’t human and that if I were told what you are or admitted that I found out that I would be killed by your rulers. That being the case I really don’t care about your species. I just know that I’m not strong enough to protect myself from Edward and Tanya told me as I’m your link that you are the only one that could because your instincts demand you keep me safe.”Bella told her.

Rosalie was both relieved and annoyed that Bella knew all that. She had wanted to tell Bella about the bond not have Bella talk to someone else about it.”All those things are true. As to what I eat I can’t digest human food but I will be fine while I am with you.”

“Good to know.”Bella was actually happy that Rosalie didn’t eat human food because Bella had only shopped for the weekend and didn’t want to have to leave her apartment until she needed to go to work. Making her way over to the couch she took a seat, picked up the remote, put on the world news and drank her juice.

Rosalie shook off the shock of the conversation and pulled her attention back to the robot.”So what can the robot do?”

“It can do things and stuff.”Bella wasn’t giving her secrets to Rosalie.

“Seriously you invite me into your home and show me something as amazing as a very human looking robot and you aren’t going to tell me what it’s capable of?”Rosalie desperately wanted to know what the robot could do. She loved technology a real life robot that wasn’t used for sexual purposes was anything beyond what she dreamed possible. Well she hoped Bella didn’t use it for sexual purposes.

Bella sighed.”You aren’t going to leave it alone are you?”

“I am a tech nerd. There is no way I am leaving the topic of a robot like this alone.”Rosalie wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t find out about the robot.

“Fine. The robot can do many things to include household chores, it’s plays certain games like chess and some board games. Plus different card games. I programed it to play the piano and guitar. It can do basic forms of cooking meals. It’s wired to the internet so it can do it’s own searches for information if asked. It has basic reasoning skills. I’m working on making it an independent AI but I haven’t had a lot a time to focus on the project.”Bella wished she did but she was busy with work.

Rosalie stared at the back Bella’s head in shock.”Are you being serious right now? It can do all those things.”

“I’m not one to joke often. Yes it can do all those things plus a few others things that I can’t think of right now.”Bella’s head was cloudy from the pain medicine the doctor gave her after she got her cast. Finishing her juice she put the empty glass on a coaster on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Why are you a lawyer if you are so good with technology?”Rosalie would think Bella would want to spend all her time working on the robot. As it was the thing was likely worth millions if not billions of dollars. If Bella could make it an independent AI it would be worth more than that.

Bella wanted to snap at Rosalie and tell her to mind her own business but Rosalie had been polite and considerate since she showed up at the hospital to pick Bella up. For that reason and because Rosalie was Bella’s link Bella decided to be truthful.”I graduated from MIT when I was 12 and immediately got a job working for the government. At the time I loved technology and creating new things. Even my job wasn’t that bad. What was bad was the fact that my parents and extended family were working together to claim my patents. Since I was underage my parents filed all my legal paperwork. Including my patents. They would take money from people to put their names on my patents so that they could gain the profits from them.”

“Who did this to you? I’ll kill them!”Rosalie wouldn’t allow anyone to cheat Bella.

“The people who did have all either served prison time or are still in prison for it. My parents still have another 20 years to go. When I was 14 I found out about their scheme and hired a high powered attorney who wipe the floor with each of them. I am still getting payments from some of them for the money they were ordered to pay me from the judge. After that happened I got pretty jaded with the industry. I mean if my own family could screw me over so bad who’s to say someone else won’t. It’s also the reason I went to law school. I never wanted to be taken advantage of that way again. Now I have a way to protect myself. Well from humans I do.”Bella would never let anyone take advantage of her again.

Rosalie thought about Bella’s story. It made a lot of Bella’s reaction to things make sense. Bella had worked hard doing something she loved and the people that were supposed to protect her and support her cheated her. Rosalie was now realizing that she wasn’t going to be forcing Bella to do anything including quitting her job. Rosalie felt foolish for even thinking Bella would.”I’m sorry that happened to you and if you want all those people killed I would gladly do it for you.”

“I don’t need them killed. They are all known felons. Their lives are ruined. Killing them would be a mercy.”Bella thought living with that title attached to their names was the best punishment for them.

“The offer will always be there.”Rosalie gave the robot one last look and then walked over to the couch and sat on the opposite end as Bella. She didn’t want to upset the human by sitting to close.”Are those people the ones that stalk you?”

“I’ve had a few of the family members show up before I moved in here trying to get me to drop the charges. That or my brothers try to get me to give them money. For some reason my parents didn’t include them in their scheme so they weren’t charged with anything. They are 5 and 7 years older than me. Both of them can’t keep a job and have unstable living conditions. One of my brothers has five kids with five different women. He would try to use them to guilt me into giving him money. It never worked though. The reason for heightened security and that I live on the top floor in an apartment is they and others have tried to break into homes before to steal my belongings or any projects I’m working on.”Bella had no love for her brothers.

“The security is worth it for the robot alone. If you released that to the public it would change the face of the robotic’s industry.”Rosalie knew that Bella’s robot was decades ahead of anything on the market.

“I don’t know what I want to do with it. It just a hobby I do for fun. That and it’s far from finished. I want to make it an AI and once it is I want to reprogram it all over again to account for the changes in its original programing.”Bella had a lot of work to do on the robot.

“Well if you ever need help with it I am more than willing to lend a hand.”Rosalie would love to work on a robot.

“What kind of work do you do?”Bella asked.

“I go to high school.”Rosalie really wasn’t proud of admitting that knowing how smart Bella was and learning of her achievements.

“Wait how old are you?”Bella thought Rosalie was in her mid twenties.

”I’m 18 but my kind are stuck at the age we become one of us so I have been 18 for a very long time.”Rosalie liked that she didn’t have to lie that much to Bella.

“How old are you really?”Bella was curious about Rosalie’s real age.

“My real 18th birthday was in 1930.”Rosalie told her.

“You’ve waited for your link that long?”Bella could understand why Rosalie was so stuck on Bella being a certain way if the woman had been imagining what her link would be like for so many years.

“I have and I would like to apologize because I was very rude to you before. I just was so excited to find my link and I have always wanted to have the perfect family with the stay at home wife that keeps the house in order while I have a job that supports us. Then at the end of every work day I would come home to a nice home cooked meal. I honestly didn’t realize how wrong I was until I talked to Tanya and because of what you just told me about yourself. There is no way you ever be that woman in my fantasy and I wouldn’t be a good partner to you if I tried to force you to be.”Rosalie was ashamed of the way she treated her mate. She got so lost in the excitement she forgot that Bella was a real person not the fantasy she had in her head.

“I appreciate the apology and I accept it. I also want you to know that I am willing to give you a chance if your behavior has truly changed from before. I don’t know what it feels like to you when you find your link but from what I got Tanya has me believing it’s a pretty intense experience for your kind. That being the case I want to help you anyway I can.”Bella would not mind being around Rosalie if she continued to act the way she had been since the hospital.

Rosalie smiled brightly hearing that.”You won’t regret giving me this chance Bella.”

“Let’s hope not.”Bella mumbled.

“So what do you usually do when you aren’t at work?”Now that Rosalie was getting a chance she wanted to know everything there was to know about Bella.

“I mostly spend time in my apartment. I feel safest here. If I feel lonely and want to be around people I’ll go have a drink the the bar or go eat at a restaurant. Mostly though I’m here doing my own thing.”Bella preferred being home.

“Do you have any friends?”Rosalie didn’t like the idea that her mate locked herself away from the world so much.

“I’ve never had friends.”Seeing Rosalie’s confused expression Bella explained.”My peers have been adults since I was a young child. Adults that didn’t want to be friends with someone so young who was smarter and more talented than they were. That theme followed me through my teenage years and then when I started my own practice I jumped in head first and have kept myself busy. If I’m being honest I don’t know how to make friend and I really have no desire to have any. I can’t relate to people because of how I grew up and even in my professional life I am still far ahead of peers. As for dating I have tried exactly three times to go on dates. All three were disasters that one led to me getting a restraining order against the woman because she wouldn’t accept that I didn’t want her. She had this grand fantasy of being my trophy wife who got to live in a huge mansion and spend my money anyway she wanted.”

Rosalie looked around Bella apartment.”Are you actually wealthy?”

“Since you are my link it’s alright to tell you. I one of the wealthiest people in the world. I have over four hundred patents to my name. Some of which is technology NASA uses on their space crafts.”Bella told her.

“What bracket would you be in?”Rosalie wanted to know exactly how rich her mate was.

“I am ranked by Forbes as number 6.”Bella told her.

Rosalie hearing that had a thought.”Why didn’t that come up when we searched for information about you?”

“Bella Swan isn’t my real name. I legally changed it when I was 18 right before I started my firm. My real name is Cynthia Cooper.”Bella hated her real name.

“I know that name. You were one of the main engineers that built the Denver space shuttle.”Rosalie always had an interest in space and kept herself well informed about the industry.”I always wondered what happened to you. It was like one day you were there then five years later you were never spoken of again.”

“My government job was working at NASA. I had a lot of fun there because my supervisor encouraged me to do whatever I wanted. He gave me unlimited resources to achieve the goals they set out for me. Then when I realized that all that time I was having fun I was being robbed cause me to turn bitter towards the industry. So I attended law school while I worked at NASA and when I got my license to practice I quit my job. Law is now my passion. It gave me the tools to protect myself and to protects others as well.”Bella enjoyed practicing law.

“I think it’s sad that you lost your joy for it because you achieved amazing things during the time you were active that no one else has been able to come close to improving on yet.”Rosalie vowed to herself that she would try and get Bella to do more things with technology. It was obviously something her mate was passionate about.

“It’s neither here no there.”Bella didn’t want to talk about her past anymore.”So what is going to happen with Edward? Tanya said his father will likely back his claim on me and try to force you to stay away from me.”

“When Tanya left with you myself, Edward and Carlisle along with Kate and Irina went back to my house where a family meeting was called. Kate, Irina and two other members of their family were included as well. Before we could even explain the situation Edward started screaming at me accusing me of making a false claim. Carlisle calmed him down then proceeded to lecture me on the repercussions of claiming a false bond. Irina came to my defense by telling everyone how I reacted to you the first time I saw you. My sister Alice backed us as did her link Jasper. Edward would hear none of it and threatened to go to our rulers if I didn’t stay away from you. Alice told him that if he did it would lead to his death so that took that idea off the table for him. He then threatened to kill me if I didn’t stay away from you.”Rosalie was quick to reassure Bella when she saw her concern.”He has no chance of killing me. He has absolutely no fight training and I have hurt him many times.”

“That’s good to hear.”Bella didn’t want Edward killing Rosalie and leaving Bella had his mercy.

“After he threatened to kill me I threatened to kill him using the fact that he was trying to claim my link. It was then brought up that you and I don’t seem to get alone. Edward and Carlisle were using that as proof you weren’t my link. Kate and Irina came to my defense again to which both men ignored. Carlisle once again tried to forbid me from contacting you by threatening to take away my privileges. He was listing off the punishments I would receive when you called and asked me to spend time with you. Edward reacted to hearing your voice and lunged at me to get my phone but my siblings restrained him. After you hung up I asked everyone to keep Edward contained until I gave them word to let him go. Carlisle started screaming at me that I wasn’t your link and I was to stay away from you. I told him to go fuck himself and went to my room to pack. Once packed I came back downstairs to find Carlisle being restrained as well. Apparently he wasn’t happy about Edward being kept away from you and tried to free him. So with a promise from my family they wouldn’t let them go until I gave them the go ahead I left the house and met up with you. I gave the signal to free them when we were walking to the elevator.”Rosalie was happy her family and the Denali backed her.

“There is no way I’m Edward’s link and even though I don’t understand the depth of it completely I know for a fact I’m yours. When I met Edward he scared me. I honestly feared for my life being near him. As with you I have never felt scared or unsafe. Even when you annoyed me I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. Edward on the other hand looked liked wanted to torture for weeks before he killed me. His whole presence screamed pure evil.”Bella shivered just thinking about it.

Rosalie preened hearing Bella say she knew they were mates. She also liked that Bella had no attraction to Edward.”I want to say he wouldn’t do that but Edward doesn’t like when he doesn’t get his way. Meaning if you rejected him he would get pissed and target you. I have no clue what he would do but whatever it was you would suffer greatly.”

“How long until he gives up this idea that I’m his link?”Bella wanted to know how long she was going to have to fear for her life.

“I don’t know that he will. He has the mentality that he is always right and is owed by the world. Carlisle and his link Esme feed into that belief and have turned him into a monster. He is of opinion that if he wants something he should get it because he is better than everyone else. It doesn’t matter what it is he wants he gets it and if he doesn’t there will be hell to pay. Many times Edward has thrown tantrums that have caused millions of dollars in damage.”Rosalie had lost more than one car to Edward’s acting out.

“Tanya said we can’t kill him.”Bella wanted to.

Rosalie grimaced thinking about what would happen if they did.”Carlisle would try to kill you if that happened. Then when he failed he would run to our rulers who have a soft spot for him and we would all probably get punished for doing it.”

“So what you are just going to stay by my side for the rest of my life?”Bella liked her privacy.

“For now until we can come up with a more permeant solution.”Rosalie would prefer staying by Bella’s side from then on but wasn’t going to push Bella.

“Tanya said they will likely try to come here or confront me at my office. Can they actually get onto my floor?”Bella knew that Rosalie’s species was strong because of the wall with the hole they put in it at the hospital.

Rosalie thought about Bella’s security.”They can get into your building and your elevator but I think with the fact that there isn’t a button for your floor and your address is private and not available on the internet will keep them from getting up here. The only reason they will know you live in this building is because my car has a tracking device on it. All our vehicles do so that in case something happens we can get to the person quickly. That being the case they will know you live here but they won’t know where in the building you live.”

“They don’t have anyway to detect me?”Bella asked.

“We have enhanced senses but there are hundreds of humans in this building so there are too many smells to single your scent out. The fact that you have never been on the other floors will ruin any chance they have of finding out from someone else where you live. Does anyone other than the owner and manager know about this floor?”Rosalie at least didn’t think Bella was on any other floor.

“You’re right I haven’t been anywhere in the building other than the garage, elevator, manager’s office and this floor and no one else knows about it. Not even the other people who work in the office. I remodeled the whole thing to my specifications and paid the owner a lot of money to make him and the manager keep their mouths shut about it. I actually have a clause in my lease that says if anyone finds out about the floor they have to pay me a lot money.”Bella knew they would never chance having to pay the fine.

“Then we should be fine this weekend but they will probably find out on Monday because they are definitely going to speak to the manager to find out where you live.”Rosalie knew that Edward would take the information out of the manger’s head.

“Is my door thick enough or should we by some materials tomorrow?”Bella wanted to be as safe as possible.

“Your door is better than one for a bank vault. They aren’t getting in here.”Rosalie was confident that neither man could break down the door.

“It’s nice to know that my paranoia about my safety wasn’t just imagined.”Bella had always been hyperaware of how safe she was at any given time.

“What kind of safety measures do you have at work?”Rosalie very grateful that Bella took her safety seriously. It made her sad that Bella didn’t feel safe in the world but in this case it came in handy. Carlisle and Edward were never getting through Bella’s front door.

“My office has a safe room in it. It used to be another office but I converted it after I decided what kind of cases I was going to take. I knew it would put me in dangerous situations at times so I wanted to make sure I was safe at work where I was most likely to get confronted. Which is true and I have had to use the safe room over half a dozen times.”Bella wasn’t going to stop practicing law because of it though.

“You have had to use your safe room due the cases you take?”Rosalie didn’t like the sound of that at all.

Bella nodded.”I take on a lot of people who are being victimized by people who think they are above the law and are appalled that someone would actually go against them. Those types of people will either visit my office themselves or they send others to force me to drop the case. It never works. I not only carry a gun everywhere I’m not afraid to use on it people. I have crippled many who tried to threaten me.”

“I’m glad you aren’t afraid to use a weapon.”Rosalie felt a little better hearing Bella knew how to use a gun.

“Unfortunately in this situation my trusted gun isn’t going to help me and from Tanya said no other ones will either.”Bella preferred to be armed with something that could hurt Edward and Carlisle.

“No nothing will help you in this situation other than me.”Rosalie like Bella would prefer the human be armed against both men.

Bella yawned.”It’s been a long day. I don’t have an extra bedroom so you are going to have to sleep on the couch. I’ll get you some blankets and you can use one of my pillows.”

“You don’t have to do that. My kind doesn’t sleep.”Rosalie was very happy she wasn’t going to have to pretend to be human while she was in such close quarters with Bella.

“You don’t sleep at all?”Bella would love not to sleep. She could accomplish so much with all the extra time wasted sleeping.

“Not at all.”Rosalie said.

“I guess that you can watch tv or read a book so you don’t get bored. Tomorrow we will talk about how you usually occupy your time so you are doing something you enjoy when while I’m sleeping.”Bella wanted Rosalie to have something to keep her busy.

“Books and tv are what I usually use so I’ll be fine.”Rosalie would actually prefer to look through Bella’s computers but it would be rude of her to ask the human.

Bella stood from her seat.”Alright then. I guess have a good night and if you need anything don’t be afraid to wake me.”

“I will.”Rosalie lied. She was not going to wake her mate unless it was an emergency.

“See you in the morning.”Bella said as she made her way to her room.

“Good night.”Rosalie called after her. Waiting until Bella’s bedroom door closed Rosalie sighed and turned her attention to the tv. Picking up the remote she turned down the volume and flipped through the channels. Thinking over the day all in all Rosalie thought it turned out good. She wished Bella hadn’t gotten injured but do to that injury Rosalie was now getting the chance to stay by Bella’s side for a long time. She had also gotten Bella to accept her apology and her mate promised to give her a chance. Rosalie was going to do everything she could to prove to Bella she was worthy of that chance. Rosalie wanted to kick herself for how treated Bella initially. After speaking to Tanya and listening to Bella’s stories Rosalie hated that she acted the way she had. Her mate didn’t need in alpha to look out for her. Bella wasn’t meant to be a shy housewife who gave in to Rosalie’s every whim. Bella was strong and independent. She had been supporting herself since she was 12 and amassed a fortune Rosalie would never come close to earning. Not only that Bella had gone through a lot of situations that made her learn how to rely on herself and no one else. Rosalie knew that it was a big deal for Bella to reach out to her and ask that she protect her. To protect her Rosalie needed to come up with some type of plan. Carlisle and Edward wouldn’t be able to do anything until Bella left for work on Monday morning. Rosalie had no doubt that the pair would be waiting for Bella either outside the building or at her office building. Rosalie prayed there were humans when the confrontation happened. It would prevent them from being able to do anything to Bella. Though if they tried Rosalie would take both their heads. No matter what the consequences.