School was fun. All in all, I enjoyed it. Sure, it wasn't some big adventure like I used to have, but I'm technically in retirement from all of that. I have a wife and kid now. Speaking of which, they too enjoyed school: Rosalie because it was new and she got to spend the whole day with me, and Liam because he got to be around others his age and not around century-old vampires.
As we got into the routine of going to school, time started to move much faster. Before I knew what was happening, it was already the end of the year. For the summer break, before our last year in Forks, we decided to go and scout out some locations for our next home. We checked out some places along the East Coast and some other places in Canada. But when we decided to look into Alaska, I remembered something. I remembered that the Denali's lived there.
It only took me a couple of phone calls to get their address and make a call to them. I was happy to find out that Eleazar and his partner, Carmen, were with the Denali sisters, seemingly creating a coven like they did in the original timeline. I explained we were looking for somewhere we could build a house and live for a couple of years. They knew just the place. They lived close to the Denali mountain range, not far from a small town named Healy. It was perfect, and Esme fell in love with the place almost instantly.
We met up with the Denali coven, who were welcoming hosts. Esme and Carlisle quickly became friends with Eleazar and Carmen. While they became good friends, everyone else became cordial with each other, specifically Tanya and Kate with Edward. Sort of. Of course, Edward being Edward, he was as responsive to their advancements as I am to Julius when he sends me paperwork. I couldn't tell if he was just too stupid to see their advancements or if he just didn't care. Everyone else believed he was just blind to it, but I was certain it was the latter. The boy was as smart as they come, but was also as emotionally stunted as they come as well.
After finding the perfect spot for her new project, Esme started to draw up designs almost immediately. By then, it was already close to the end of summer break, so we headed back to Forks for our last year of school. It was going to be my and everyone else's senior year, while it would be Liam's freshman year. During the summer break and a few months before the end of Liam's 8th-grade year, he had started to grow at an incredible rate, which I had guessed would happen. He was now 15 years old, after all, standing a little over 5 foot 9 with wide shoulders and a lean physique. (Liam will look like Matthew Gray Gubler.)
We didn't know when he would stop aging but guessed it would be around the same age I apparently stopped aging, which was maybe 18 or 19 years old. But since he had my hair color and my abilities, slash my aura power, we figured he wouldn't age into adulthood.
The first day of school was just like last year's, except with the addition of Liam, who, I am proud to say, is quite the lady's man. I don't think there was a girl in the school who didn't drool when he was around, but that went for all of us. The difference was he was approachable since none of the vampires were around him all day long like they were with me. Of course, Rosalie and I had to have a sit-down with him about it. We were perfectly fine with him getting into a relationship but made it clear that we weren't going to be sticking around for long and that his relationship would have to come to an end as soon as we left. He understood and actually told us that he wasn't interested in any of them. He knew that since he was immortal, getting into a relationship with a human would only cause problems for himself if he got attached.
I felt like shit that he had that view on it, but I couldn't say he was wrong. Of course, he could have had any human he fell in love with turned if they agreed, but we didn't want to put that idea in his head until after he went through puberty. It was already hard enough to keep him away from girls as it is. Sure, the kid might understand relationships were an issue, but sex was different. You don't have to be in a relationship for a good time in the sheets.
We had to have "the talk" with him about the birds and the bees when Liam thought he could sneak out to some party. The problem was that when you live in a house full of vampires that don't sleep, it's not that easy. Of course, he was smart enough to wait until everyone left to go on their nightly hunts before sneaking out. Thankfully, Emmett and Evelyn were outside returning from their hunt when they saw Liam climbing through his room's window. Boy, was Rosalie pissed. Thankfully, I managed to convince her that stuff like that was normal for hormonally driven teenagers. We just had to make sure Liam understood that what he tried to do was wrong and that he should rethink trying something like that again. Then I told him if he made us grandparents before he's at least thirty, I was going to kick his ass straight across this continent. We couldn't just go around spreading our DNA all willy-nilly. The last thing we needed was for Liam not to know he got a girl pregnant. Who knew if the government found out or if the Volturi got their hands on them? Of course, if the government did, I would find out with how many informants Julius had spread across the world in different governments and be able to intervene. The real issue was if the Volturi did. Who knew what would happen then?
Of course, the next day when I brought Liam into the woods for our daily training, I gave Liam a box of condoms. I made it clear that they weren't an incentive for him to start sleeping around with every girl in town, but that if he decided to do something stupid behind me and his mother's back, to at least be safe. Then I started his punishment for the next six months. I made sure that he was too tired every night from training that he wouldn't be able to sneak out or use that box. Other than that, nothing special happened for the rest of the year. It was just a normal year that passed quickly.
By the end of the school year, the new house in Alaska was complete. The new house was just as beautiful as the one in Forks, but with a whole new style. This house was more compact to help retain heat for me and Liam, but with way more windows. Or so I was told. Unfortunately, right before we were supposed to leave for our new home, I got a call from James Star, the man I had put in charge of my casino, Eiden. Apparently, the mob was starting to move into Las Vegas and wanted a piece of my casino. I was on a flight there by the next day, excited to find out what was happening.
James was quite vague about it all but told me it involved the mafia. When I arrived, I was picked up by a large limo, which brought me to Eiden. I was amazed to see how much it had grown in just 16 years. Now there were dozens of other casinos, all trying their hardest to be bigger and brighter than each other. When we arrived at my casino, I was happy to see that my casino was still very popular, with thousands of people filling the casino floor. Not wasting any more time, I made my way up to James's office while my suitcase was taken to my suite.
James's office was located in the basement, under the casino. It was large and made to exude wealth and power, though as a member of the circle, wealth was something that didn't interest James. The floor was black marble, while the walls were white marble with columns lining the walls of his office. At the far end was a sleek-looking black desk with two chairs in front of it.
"It's good to see you, James," I said as I walked into the large office. James's head shot up in surprise as I walked in, not knowing I had arrived already. Bolting to his feet, he almost caused the large high-back chair he had been seated in to topple over as he walked around his desk to greet me.
"It's good to see you fath~ Adam!" James said, correcting himself before he could say "father." Ignoring it, I shook his hand. "Indeed. It's been a while," I said, spotting the grey hairs.
"Please have a seat. Would you like a drink? Whiskey, water, tea?" James asked. I shook my head, unbuttoning my suit jacket as I took a seat in front of James's desk. "No, thank you. I'm fine," I said, ready to hear why I was here. Nodding his head, James made his way to the chair next to me, taking a seat as well.
"Well, I guess I should start at the beginning," James said with a small chuckle as I nodded in agreement. I wanted to know everything.
"In recent years, Las Vegas has grown at an incredible rate," James said, "with over 15 other casinos being built within the last decade." I nodded my head. "I saw that on my way here."
James nodded his head. "Which isn't surprising for a place like this. Las Vegas is a town people come to specifically to spend a lot of money. The problem is a group of people saw the possibilities of Las Vegas before many others."
"The mob," I said, interrupting James, nodding my head.
"Correct. The mob. They opened up shop here in Las Vegas in the early fifties. They started off small, paying for their own casino to be built. But after that, they started to buy out some of the smaller casinos, using… less than favorable methods to get them to sell at insanely low prices. They did whatever it took: fear, blackmail, violence. You name it, they did it."
"Sounds like the usual mobster routine."
"Sure, but now they think they run this city now that they own close to half of the casinos in town."
"Have they approached you yet?" I asked.
James let out a sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "The day before I called you, they decided to give me a little home visit. They weren't exactly gentle," James said, standing and unbuttoning his shirt to show numerous bruises covering his torso. I winced at the sight.
"They knew Eiden was privately owned. They know I'm not the owner but thought I would tell them who was." That might have worked on a regular person, but it is impossible to do to a man who is being beaten for information about the man he worshipped.
"Thankfully, my home's landscapers decided to come in early that day, scaring off my attackers before they just decided to kill me."
"You don't have security?" I asked, knowing that with how much I paid James, he could definitely afford it.
James let out a rueful laugh. "I never had a reason to. I live in the richest part of town in a gated community. My neighbors are rich business moguls. It's not exactly the place to worry about being jumped."
I shook my head. "Have you gone home since you got beat up?" I asked.
James shook his head. "I have been staying in a room here."
"Good idea," I said, standing and stretching my back. "Where do you think I can find these mobsters?" I asked.
"The All Star. That's where they are set up."
I smiled. "Alright. I'll get all of this settled," I said, turning and leaving his office.
(A/N - If you want to read 20+ chapter ahead and to get a sneak peak at the two other stories I am starting, check out my patron. Bean_On_ Tree. The two new stories are a Grimm fanfiction (Grimm - The last Druid), and a X-Men fanfiction (The power of Jack-Jack in X-Men).