A/N: Big thanks to my ladies, Paige, Tiffany, Sherry & Cristina.

Sorry for the slow updates, my health has been acting up and the kids are off school.

Chapter 3

EPOV

"Where's Bruno?" It was the first thing she had said to me in hours. I was just glad that she had finally snapped out of her daze because she had certainly been scaring the shit out of me. I was beginning to think I was going to need to have her committed, or something. I would give anything to have my screaming brat back. I would much rather she was shouting at me or trying to hit me. Anger was easier to fix than this… I had no idea what to do with a broken wife and to me, she certainly looked broken, but in all honestly, who could blame her? After everything she had been through who could really blame her for falling apart? It had been a long time coming.

"He's still in Detroit," I said, cutting the engine. We had just pulled up outside of our new home. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, an exciting new chapter in our lives, but there was a huge ass wedge between us, and I knew I had done my part to put it there, as had she. "Emmett is going to bring him up in your car. I thought you would like to have it here so you can come and go as you please. Now that the Russians are no longer a threat there is no reason you can't drive yourself around."

"When will he be here?" she asked, her finger drawing patterns on the car window. She had yet to look at me, that fact hadn't gone unnoticed.

"He'll be here when you wake up in the morning," I assured her. She never reacted or responded so I got out of the car and walked around to her side opening her door. "Do you want to come and see our new home?" I asked, extending my hand toward her. Isabella blinked at me a few times before unclipping her seatbelt and putting her hand in mine. I pulled her into my arms, keeping her close as I shut the car door and led her up the steps to our house. She felt icy cold to the touch. I prayed she wasn't coming down with something, though it wouldn't be surprising if she did, not after the way she had been living these past few weeks.

I gave her a brief tour of the house, covering the main living areas, as well as our bedroom, the large dining room where I hoped we would entertain a lot, and the outdoor pool; though I only showed her that from the window. I didn't want to risk her getting cold again, not now when she was only starting to warm up. "As you can see I had someone furnish the house, but if there is anything that you don't like, you can change it. I didn't have them put any of the little finishing touches on the house. I thought that would be something that you would want to do yourself." At least that was the sort of thing that my mother and sister enjoyed doing. I realized then that I had no idea what Isabella liked to do, and I had made no effort to find out either.

"Listen," I said, sitting us both down on chairs at the dining table in the main living area. I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze until she looked at me. "I was hoping that we could start fresh, new house, clean slate and all that. I know I've fucked up, and I'm sorry. I should have been there for you and I wasn't, but I plan to make it up to you. I hate to see you like this. I hate to see you so… upset. Someone as beautiful as you should only ever be seen smiling. So, what do you say? Can we start over, try again?"

Isabella stared at me for several moments, her eyes filling with tears before she pulled her hand away from mine. "I'm tired. I think I'm going to lie down." I wanted to snap at her, tell her that running away from me wasn't going to solve any of our problems, but at the same time I didn't want to upset her more than she already was. "Wake me up when Bruno gets here," she stated. "I don't like not having him with me." She got up and walked down the hall toward the bedrooms. I saw her pause outside our bedroom door before she turned and went into one of the guest rooms.

I wanted to punch something. I wanted to scream and break shit, but I knew it wouldn't solve anything if I did. I got up, running my hands over my face as I made my way through to my office. I needed a drink. I sat down at my desk, putting my feet up as I switched the computer screen on. I had CCTV installed in the house, not the bedrooms, but at least I would be able to keep an eye on her if she left the bedroom. I opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a glass, pouring myself a drink. I then proceeded to check my cell. I had a few missed calls from my mother and a text message from Emmett to say he had left Detroit. I sighed, hitting the call back button, I knew I was just about to get an earful from her. She answered after several rings. "Edward, I've been trying to reach you for hours."

"I've just checked my phone."

"The house is a mess." I sighed, I knew this. I had asked her to take care of it after all. "How did it get in such a mess?"

"Isabella hasn't been feeling well," I stated. It wasn't a complete lie. She had been out of sorts.

"Edward, the house looks like it has been trashed by a group of angry teenagers." No, just one angry teenager. "It's going to take the cleaning people days, possibly a week to get it cleaned up."

"I don't care how long it takes or how much it costs; just see that it's done." My mother took a deep breath, pausing. I knew she had something else she wanted to say. "What is it?"

"Is Isabella depressed?" she asked hesitantly. "I don't know all the details about what has happened, but she has been through a lot. I just hate to think of her hurting. I did try to see her when you were away, but like I told you she wouldn't let me inside the house, though it's no wonder if it looked like this, and she barely answered my calls. I only managed to see her a handful of times that I was able to convince her to come out for lunch. Even then, I felt like she was only doing it to appease me. Maybe I should have tried harder... Yes, I should have tried harder."

"Look Mom, it's not your fault. Isabella is just struggling to deal with her shit right now, but she'll get through this. I know she will. She's one of the strongest people I know. She just has to work through things in her head first."

"Edward, I know you're busy, but promise me you won't leave her alone. She needs you. She needs someone and now the only family she's got left are two hours away."

"I'll try my best," I mumbled. I knew Isabella needed me, but there was still so much I had to take care of in New York. I had to prove to the other families that I had what it took to run this empire. If only Marcus was still around. Perhaps letting his ass go to jail hadn't been my wisest decision, but I had been so pissed at him at the time that I thought I was teaching him a lesson. It looked like that idea had backfired.

I needed to find someone who would be around to look after Isabella when I wasn't there. I knew a guard wouldn't work. I don't think she would accept anyone other than Marcus and I had already told her that she could go around on her own. No, it needed to be someone she would accept. Someone she wouldn't see as a guard.

"Edward, are you still there?" my mother asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I want you to make a few phone calls for me. Find me a housekeeper. It needs to be someone local who can cook and clean. A mother figure if you will, but I don't want them as a live-in. I still want our privacy."

"That sounds like a great idea, Edward," my mother beamed. I could even hear the smile in her voice. "I'll make a few phone calls and let you know what I come up with."

"Great." I hung up from my call with my mother and did a round of the house, checking all the doors and windows to ensure they were locked before heading to bed. I paused outside the guest room where Isabella slept. Part of me wanted to open the door and climb into bed beside her, but I wasn't sure I would be welcome. Instead, I headed into my own cold, empty bed.