A/N: Thanks goes to Cristina, Paige, Tiffany & Sherry xx

See you tomorrow xx

Chapter 25

I woke to the sound of my phone ringing the next morning. I grunted as I reached for it on my nightstand, not even bothering to check the caller ID. My eyes were still too heavy to fully open. "Hello," I mumbled.

"Isabella?" Kate questioned. "God, you sound awful. Are you sick or something?"

"No. I was sleeping," I moaned.

"At this time of day?"

I forced my eyes open and glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was only eleven o'clock. It wasn't that late. "What do you want, Kate?" I groaned.

"That's a charming way to speak to your sister," she bit back. I rolled my eyes. "I was only calling to see where you were. I'm in Detroit. I wanted to come see you, give you a late birthday present."

"I told you I wasn't celebrating."

"Yes, well, you will want this present," she said, unamused by my enthusiasm. "I've been thinking since the funeral, about a lot of things actually, and I believe I owe you an apology. I can see now that Edward isn't any good for you. I shouldn't have stood by our parent's decision. I want to help you escape your marriage, Isabella. I want to help you get away from Edward."

"Huh?" I mumbled, because I could have sworn that my sister just offered to help me run away from Edward. "I don't understand."

"You haven't fallen in love with him, have you?" she asked, almost sounding disgusted by the idea.

"No, of course not. I, uh, just don't understand. I mean, why would you help me? Why the sudden change of heart, and what about Garrett? He would be furious with you if he ever found out."

"Don't worry about Garrett; he wants to help, too. He'll keep Edward busy in New York, while I get you out of Detroit."

"Garrett is at the same meeting as Edward?" I asked, confused. All this was too much to process. I had only just woken up. What was the meeting about? Why were they both there? And why was I always the last to know these things?

"Yes, didn't Edward tell you? Well, of course, he didn't. He doesn't trust you or respect you. See, this is why you need to get away from him. Pack your things, Isabella. I'll be there to get you in about an hour and I promise you that you'll never need to see that man again."

Is this what I wanted? Did I really want to run from Edward? Would I spend my life running, looking over my shoulder, and would he ever give up looking for me? What would happen if he caught me? God, it would destroy the bond we had just built. He would hate me. He may never trust me again, and he may even try to hurt my sister. Plus, Kate was forgetting about one crucial thing, my bodyguard. "What about Marcus?" I asked confused. The entire thing was far too much for me to process when I had only just woken up.

"Don't worry about him. We will take care of him. I'll see you in an hour," she said in a clipped tone, before hanging up.

I stared down at my phone, unsure if I had that conversation with Kate or if I had dreamt it. Why the hell had she suddenly decided that she wanted to help me, and why now and not before when she knew I was unhappy? Why not before I was married and bound to Edward for life? The entire thing didn't make sense and something felt off, very off, but I wasn't sure what.

I needed coffee, a strong coffee, and time to process everything she had said. I headed to my en suite, and splashed my face before heading downstairs to the kitchen. Marcus was sitting at one of the tables when I entered, going over some paperwork. Princess was in a basket, sleeping near his feet. "Morning," I mumbled, as I went over to the coffee pot, fetching myself a cup. Marcus merely grunted in response. I was beginning to understand now that he wasn't being rude, this was just who he was. He was a man of very few words. "Have you spoken to Edward this morning?" I inquired, still trying to work everything out in my head.

"Not since before he left."

"When did he leave?"

"Five."

"Will his meeting be finished by now?"

Marcus arched his eyebrow at me. "What is it with the fifty questions? Is there something wrong?"

I should have realized that Marcus would have noticed all the questions. I didn't normally bother to ask anything. I didn't normally care enough to ask. I simply shrugged as I took a sip of my coffee. Yes, there was something wrong, but I wasn't ready to discuss it with him just yet. "Did he say what his meeting was about?"

"No, I don't ask the boss questions."

"Did he say when he would be back?"

"I didn't ask him that either." I sighed with exasperation. Marcus wasn't much help at all. "Maybe you should call him and ask him your questions yourself."

I suppose I didn't have much choice, since Marcus lacked any of the information that I needed. I didn't usually call Edward, so I knew he would probably guess that something was up. I just hoped I got the information out of him before he figured it out. His cell only rang a few of times before he answered. "Isabella, what a pleasant surprise, is everything okay?"

My eyes glisten with tears at the sound of his voice. He sounded genuinely happy to hear from me, which only made this harder. "I was just wondering how your meeting went," I said, opting not to lie to him and tell him that everything was fine, when it wasn't.

"Good, great, actually, I was planning to discuss it with you when I got home, but since you are on the phone, I'll tell you now. Your father's Consigliere went over your father's last living will. He wants me to take over New York."

"Oh."

"Look, I know how you feel about New York, and the memories are still too raw for you, but this doesn't mean that we will have to move here. Not unless you want, to and even then we can move later down the line. I can manage things from Detroit. You don't have to worry, this won't change anything for you, not unless you want it to."

"What about Garrett?" I asked. "I just always presumed that he would be the one to take over, given that Kate is the oldest."

"So did I," Edward agreed, "but it seems like your father didn't feel he was up to the job. I don't think Garrett is too happy about the decision."

"When was the decision made?" I mumbled.

"What?!"

"The decision, the will, when was it read?" I asked, annoyed that I had to repeat myself when time wasn't exactly on my side.

"About an hour ago, why?"

I heard the sound of a loud bang coming from outside the house. I looked over at Marcus as he looked at me, wondering what was going on. I saw him reach for his gun as I mumbled the words, "Edward, I think I'm in danger."