Match, Set, Love 2

“You did wonderful sweetheart.”Irina told Bella once the human settled into the backseat next to her in the Jaguar Irina had arranged to drive them around during the tournament. Bella was always the last one out of the locker room as Irina made sure no one saw Bella in the state of undress. She knew that Bella didn’t care but Irina was a vampire and Bella was her mate. That meant Irina’s instincts would demand she kill anyone who saw Bella without clothes on. Even some of the outfits Bella wore for training and competitions set her teeth on edge but she had learned to live with it. She would prefer Bella wait until they got back to wherever they were staying to change but Bella had a public persona to uphold and that didn’t include her leaving the venue sweaty and disheveled.

“I need to think about upping my strength training for my left wrist. I noticed that it wobbled when I was returning one of her serves with my backhand.”Bella said.

“I didn’t notice but we can watch the replay and then go from there.”Irina may not have seen what Bella was talking about but she had learned that Bella knew better than she did when it came to her body’s reactions to things.

“Did Kate say anything about my shirt?”Bella asked.

Irina held back a growl thinking about what Tanya told her. She was not pleased to hear that Rosalie had a mate bond with Bella. That being something she wasn’t going to tell Bella about until after the qualifiers.”She wanted me to tell you that Kate Denali is my hero is trending on twitter.”

“I really need to get better at games.”Bella was horrible at every competition but tennis and was constantly losing bets to Kate.

“I don’t think you are really that bad at games. It’s the fact that you challenge vampires that have been on this earth for hundreds of years. They have more experience.”Irina told her.

“I just want to beat my mother once at anything.”Bella would not rest until she won a game against Athenodora.

“How many times do I have to tell you she’s a cheater. You won’t win no matter what you do.”Irina had seen the queen cheat many times but was smart enough not to call her out on it. She always told Bella after the fact.

“The only incentive I have to become a vampire is so that I can finally be on the same level as her and Kate.”Bella wasn’t planning on being a vampire anytime soon. It would just be nice to not be at a disadvantage all the time.

“Don’t jump into it for silly reasons.”Irina would prefer Bella be a vampire. She would have insisted on it if it wasn’t for the fact that Bella needed to be human to fulfill her dreams.

“I’m not worried about it right now. All I can focus on is the gold medal.”Bella had been striving for Olympic gold since she was a small child and saw two women playing tennis in a gold medal match.

“A gold medal that will take the place of honor in your trophy room.”Once Bella had agreed to move in with the Denali Irina had the house remodeled to add a trophy room. She also had Tanya build Bella a personal training center. It included an indoor tennis court, a full gym and other various things Bella needed to train while in Alaska. Irina’s favorite feature being the hot tub.

“I need to make sure my left wrist is strong enough to get me to the podium.”Bella said.

“We don’t know if it’s your wrist strength or just the way the ball hit your racket. Let’s go over the tapes before we change any part of your weight training.”Irina told her.

“I want to see the ball speeds as well. I think she may have been hitting it a little faster than she has the previous times I’ve gone against her.”Bella may have won the match but she had not done so flawlessly. That meant there was space to improve her game and she was going to do everything she could to find out how.

“The guards already have all the information waiting for you at the hotel.”Irina had initially balked at having Volturi guard members protecting Bella but quickly came to the conclusion that they were the best people to keep Bella safe. Something Irina was ashamed to admit she couldn’t do by herself.”And the chef has dinner waiting for you when we get there as it’s almost time for you to eat.”

“If I qualify we should have Carmen cook a feast of every bad food I can’t eat and gorge ourselves. It would be the perfect way to celebrate.”Bella was on a very strict diet and only allowed herself to break it when celebrating milestones.

“Not if you qualify, when you qualify. There is no way you aren’t representing the US in Paris.”Irina told her.

“I don’t want to get cocky. Things happen all the time.”Bella never went into a match thinking she was going to win. She went in with the mentality that she was fighting for her life.

“I’ll be cocky for you then.”Irina was not biased in saying that Bella would win the gold. Her mate was the best women’s tennis player in the world. It wasn’t just Irina’s opinion either. It was a proven fact. Even the other women in the sport were expecting Bella to take gold and most of the speculation was on who would win silver and bronze.

“Do I have time for a massage in the morning?”Bella asked.

Irina pulled out her phone and checked Bella’s schedule.”I know you hate to have your meals interrupted but if you are willing to do the interview with Vogue while eating breakfast that will free up an hour for you to get one.”

“That’s fine.”Bella used her meal times as a chance to relax and take a moment to herself without any outside pressures.”The massage is important.”

“Are your muscles tense?”Irina asked.

Bella shook her head.”No I just didn’t feel as fluid on the court as I usually do.”

“Then I will give you a massage in the morning.”Irina had taken classes in sports medicine to learn how to help Bella take care of her body. One of the things she learned was how to give massages. Not only did she like being able to help Bella but she refused to let anyone other than herself touch Bella’s naked body.”The room already has the table set up.”

Before Bella could say anything else Irina’s phone rang.”Who is it?”

“The queens.”Irina answered the phone and put it on speaker.”Hello your majesties.”

“Hello Irina is Bella with you?”Didyme asked.

“I am.”Bella said.

“Darling you did phenomenal today.”Sulpicia’s voice was laced with pride.

“I enjoyed the girl crying in her mother’s arms the best.”Athenodora said.

“I don’t know why she was so upset. It wasn’t like she had any chance of winning.”Irina wasn’t sure why the girl was so emotional. She had played against Bella three other times and Bella won every match. She should have been expecting to lose.

“She had just had her Olympic dreams taken away from her. Anyone would be upset if that happened to them. I know I would.”Bella would be beyond distraught if she lost in the qualifiers.

“Well it’s a good thing that would never happen to you because we all hate when you are upset.”Didyme said.

“How did you think you did today?”Sulpicia asked.

“I had an incident with my left wrist wobbling on a backhand return of a serve that Irina and I will be going over.”Bella always went over her matches with the queens because they liked to rewatch them with Bella’s perspective.”I also think that I wasn’t as fluid in my movements as I could have been.”

“I made time to give Bella a massage in the morning before her match.”Irina told them.

“What are you thinking was the problem with your wrist?”Athenodora asked.

“I felt like she was hitting the ball harder and my wrist wasn’t strong enough to return it properly.”Bella explained.

“I told her that we would look over the replay and see if it was weakness or just the way the ball hit the racket before we decided if we need to add onto her strength training.”Irina was hoping it was just the racket. Bella didn’t need to have any more exercises added onto her routine.

“We will look it over as well.”Didyme said.

Bella wasn’t surprised by that as the queens were very involved in Bella’s career to include keeping herself physically fit and making sure her game was the best it could be. To do that they hired the best specialists around the world from nutritionists, personal trainers, private tennis coaches, chefs, doctors, even therapists so that Bella’s mental health was taken care off. The queens were her biggest supporters after the Denali and wanted Bella to have all the tools she needed to achieve her goals. From the first time she met them Bella had felt a connection and had happily let them take on the maternal role in her life.”I think that I should use my backup racket tomorrow just in case it is the racket.”

“If she was hitting harder than she had before then it would be smart.”Athenodora agreed.

“Speaking of rackets. How is the personal line with Wilson coming? Will they be ready for the Olympics”Sulpicia asked.

“The last update I got was they will be out within a month.”Irina told her.

“And the final design?”Didyme asked.

“The Denali crest will be featured on the strings and the Volturi crest will be on the end of the handle. They were hesitant at first but easily agreed after Bella showed them her tattoos.”Irina had been proud when Bella came to her with the idea of putting her family’s crest on her personal rackets. The fact that it was the prominent one was an added bonus.

“Did they ask the meanings of the crests?”Sulpicia asked.

“Bella told them that they were the crests of two families that adopted her after the situation with her biological parents.”Irina was unsurprised by the three growls she heard over the line. Bella’s human family were a bunch of dirtbags who exploited and abused Bella. Irina had wanted to kill them once she found out how bad it was but Bella stopped her because she was a famous person and their deaths would get public attention.

“Well I for one think it’s wonderful that our crest will be on Bella’s rackets.”Athenodora said.

“They want to feature my tattoos in the advertising campaign as a way to link them to me.”Bella told them.

“How do you feel about that Irina?”Didyme asked.

“I don’t like the fact that to show off her tattoos she needs to be topless but I understand the reasoning for them wanting to use them.”Irina loved Bella’s tattoos. The problem was the one that needed to be featured covered her entire back. It was a scene depicting the Volturi castle and the Alaskan mountains with both the Volturi crest and the Denali crests featured. It was extremely beautiful but Irina wasn’t to keen on Bella showing it off.

“Well when she gets her spot for the Olympics she will have another one to show off.”Sulpicia said.

“You will as well or did you forget your promise?”Bella had made the queens agree that if she made the Olympic team that they would get matching tattoos of the Olympic rings with Bella and the Denali.

“We did not forget and are looking forward to proudly showing off the Olympic rings that proved our daughter made the team.”Athenodora told her.

“It’s just to bad you aren’t representing Italy.”Didyme said.

“I can’t represent Italy. I’m not a citizen of the country.”Bella had this same argument with Didyme many times. The queen wanted Bella to become a citizen of Italy so she could win a medal for the country they called home for thousands of years.

“I told you I figured out a way for you to become one and could be eligible for the Italian team.”Didyme reminded her.

“I’ll tell you what. Let me get through this Olympics and we’ll see about representing Italy at the next one.”Bella wasn’t opposed to being on the Italian team she just wanted to win a medal with her home country first.

“I will hold you to that.”Didyme said.

“Are you worried about anything for your match tomorrow?”Sulpicia asked.

“My opponent really does not like me. The last time we played each other she threw her racket at me. Then in the locker room she broke into my locker and wrecked my stuff. I worry that she might escalate things if she does poorly.”Bella told her.

“We will have two extra guards put in the locker room to prevent anyone from touching your things. To deal with anything happening on the court I will have Heidi contact the organizers and get permission for you to have guards standing by the benches. Her past actions should be enough to prove we have legitimate reasons to worry.”Athenodora told her.

“Thank you mother.”Bella felt a lot better knowing that the guard would be there to stop her opponent from attacking her.

“I just don’t understand why they didn’t do more to that girl other than fining her.”Didyme said.

“It was her first offense.”Irina had wanted a suspension but was refused.

“Everyone always says what a nice and genuine person she is and how what she did shocked them so I guess that it’s just me that she has an issue with.”Bella hadn’t done anything to the girl she just for some reason didn’t like Bella.

“It’s because she’s jealous. You have been a star player ever since you came on the scene and have done more in the two years you have been playing on the adult circuit than she has the eight she’s been on it. When you knock her out of her chance at the Olympics her hatred towards you is going to grow. Something that we will make the guards aware of. The last thing we need is for her to try to attack you or send someone else to attack you.”Sulpicia told her.

“Ms. Denali we are at the hotel. Do you want to go through the front door or the service entrance?”The driver asked.

“We will go through the service entrance.”Irina didn’t want to deal with a crowd that would cause Bella stress. Turning her attention back to the call she spoke.”We are at the hotel now.”

“Alright we will let you go.”Didyme said.

“We will go over the match and call you in the morning to go over our findings.”Athenodora told her.

“Thank you for your help mother, mom and mamma.”Bella called each queen their own version of the word mother so that she didn’t confuse them.

“You’re welcome my darling girl. I love you very much and will talk to you tomorrow.”Sulpicia said.

“I love you too. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep.”Didyme told her.

“Not that it needs to be said but I love you as well and don’t worry we will figure out this wobble issue.”Athenodora assured her.

“I love you all good night.”Bella said.

Irina disconnected the call.”Tanya mentioned that she would probably not get a chance to do a video call with you tonight because the Cullens are there.”

“Why do you guys even hang out with the Cullens?”Bella had never met the vampires but had heard all about them from both the Denali and the Volturi and no one had anything good to say about them.

“I constantly ask Tanya the same thing and her reply is that she would rather have them as friends than enemies.”Irina regretted not forcing them to break ties with the Cullens years ago now that she found out that Rosalie had a mate bond with Bella as well.

“I just hate that you guys have to deal with them because it prevents the rest of the family from coming to the matches.”Bella always felt less nervous with at least Irina and her sisters in her family box watching her matches. Sometimes Carmen and Eleazar would come or even some of her friends from the castle but the sisters were Bella’s good luck charm and never missed a match since Bella officially became a member of the family. Not seeing them there was unnerving.

“They want to be here. They just couldn’t put off the Cullens anymore.”Irina knew that Tanya and Kate weren’t happy about missing out on such important matches.

“They better be there in Paris.”Bella wasn’t going to compete without her family there.

“They will all be in Paris even if they have to kill the Cullens to make it happen.”Irina wondered how they were going to adapt to Rosalie being mated to Bella. Tanya hadn’t really explained what they had talked about in regards to Bella and the mate bond. Irina suspected that the Cullens were already causing problems because of it and would be a continued issue that would not likely go away anytime soon.

“I don’t care what they have to do I just want them there. We all worked to hard to get there it wouldn’t be right not to experience it together.”Bella said.

“Don’t worry sweetheart they will be there.”Irina didn’t care what she had to do to make that happen but she would do it. As the car came to a stop Irina waited for the guard to open her door before holding her hand out to Bella to take. Walking to the elevator hand in hand with her mate Irina thought about the day. Bella’s match had gone exactly as they planned it. Even the wrist wobble wasn’t that huge of a deal. The main thing was Bella wasn’t injured in anyway and was still at peek physical condition. She was more than ready for the match the next day. Her opponents temperament was concerning but with the guards in the locker room and on the court Bella would be safe. Then after tomorrow’s match there was one more until the final. Then Bella would be the officially a member of team USA. After she got her spot Irina was going to keep her in bed for a day and show her how much she loved her and how proud she was by worshipping every inch of her perfect body.