Chapter Text
Chapter 1
EPOV
"Alice, bring me the Swan file." I heard Emmett command from near the fireplace, throwing the contents of a filing cabinet on the thick Persian rug.
"What am I, your secretary?" I shook my head, laughing, as I looked down at the Swan file. Charlie Swan ran a small casino downtown, but recently "business" wasn't great for him, so he came to me. My family loans money to small businesses, at a very high interest. Most of the people can't or don't pay back within the six months we give them, so we take a 'collateral', namely, a person. We figure the easiest way to make sure someone pays back is to take their most valuable family member, such as a wife, child, or parent. We don't hurt them, of course. They live quite nicely in the mansion. The Cullens have just found it to be the most effective incentive.
"I have the Swan file right here, Em. It seems that Swan's divorced, a messy affair, really. He threatened to kill her. Even had court-mandated therapy. Seems like his only family is his daughter, Isabella. From the looks of things, loves her to death. Wouldn't let a thing happen to her." The files aren't exactly kosher. A lot of the facts come from hacked laptops and bugged rooms. But in our kind of business, anything goes.
"What does it say about his finances? Will he be able to pay back?" Jasper, Alice's fiancé, called from the adjoining kitchen. He was always worried about the financial part of our business, which is surprising for someone of his background. He fell in love with her when he was one of the hostages here. When he left, they kept e-mailing each other until one day she kidnapped him again for an entirely different reason.
"I don't know, Jazz. Cash looks a bit tight for him these past few months. He's gotten caught in a few raids, and bail's put him a bit low on cash. Why don't you check out the figures?" He put the apple he'd just taken out of the fridge on the table and walked over to the desk, taking the file from me. He didn't have much time to look through it, though. Just after he sat down, Rosalie, Emmett's wife, stormed into the office.
"Swan called. He wants an extension on the loan."
"That's impossible. He still owes us three month's payment. Jazz, how do the figures look?" Sometimes I hated being the oldest, the one to lead the family business. I mean, Alice and Emmett help a little, but they're not the ones who get blamed if the business fails.
"According to his accounts, we're not the only ones he owes money to. And they'll actually do things to him if he doesn't pay back. He has a couple bank loans. If he doesn't get those, his house and his business get taken away."
"That bad, huh? Maybe we should give the guy a break. He seems pretty hard up." Alice was always the humanitarian of the family. She felt sorry for the people who came here and always tried to befriend them. Of course, when they found out she was a Cullen, they wouldn't speak to her. We're not exactly the most liked.
"Alice, we can't go soft on him. He signed a contract, and, like the banks, if he doesn't pay, we take something. Emmett, take Isabella Swan."