A/N: A huge thank you to all my ladies for getting this back so quickly! Thanks goes to Paige, Cristina, Sherry & Tiffany x x

Chapter 29

When I woke up the next morning, Edward was still lying in bed beside me. He was staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. The corners of his eyes were creased as if something was troubling him. I wondered if he was thinking about Garrett and Kate, or perhaps his father.

I knew he would be leaving me today, for how long I wasn't sure, but I had an idea, a suggestion, or more like a demand that I wanted to put to him before he left. I knew he wasn't going to like it, but I didn't care. This wasn't something I was willing to compromise on.

"You're awake," he said, turning to face me.

I smiled up at him, wondering how best to approach the subject. Perhaps it would be better to get an idea of his mood first. "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing," he said, reaching over and gently stroking my cheek. "I was just waiting for you to wake up. I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

My heart sunk. It wasn't like I didn't know he was leaving, I just didn't think it would be so soon. We had only just opened our eyes. I thought I would at least be able to spend the morning with him, preferably not arguing. "Where are you going?" I asked, reaching out and touching his bare chest.

"New York," Edward said, as he placed his hand over mine.

"I was thinking, maybe I could come with you."

Edward shook his head, squeezing my hand. "You know you can't."

"Please Edward," I pouted, pulling my hand away from him and sitting up. "You can't leave me here."

"I can and I will," he said, getting out of bed and walking over to the dresser. "This is the safest place for you to be. You will stay here," he stated, as he began looking through the drawers for his clothes.

"I won't," I said defiantly, standing up and stomping my foot.

Edward turned to face me, cocking his eyebrow. "Please, Isabella, I don't have time for one of your temper tantrums."

"I am not having a temper tantrum!" I screamed. "I am your wife, and you will fucking listen to me."

Edward grabbed his clothes and headed towards the bedroom door, but I refused to let him leave. I ran in front of him and shoved myself against the door so he couldn't leave. If he left now, I would be stuck here, and I wasn't willing for that to happen. I wasn't going to stay here a minute longer than I had to.

"Isabella, move!" Edward growled.

"No!"

"Isabella, would you kindly get out of the way of the fucking door."

"No, not until you listen to me. I am your wife, and you will have this conversation with me instead of walking out that door. You said I am the one throwing a tantrum, but you are the one storming out."

"You are not going to New York, end of story."

"Fine, then take me somewhere else," I said, folding my arms.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I refuse to stay here. I will not stay under the same roof as him or your mother."

"Isabella, he is the head of this family, and you will show him respect."

"I don't care!" I shouted. "I am not staying here."

"There is nowhere else for you to go."

"There are plenty of places for me to go. Put me in a hotel."

"You are not staying in a hotel," Edward said, physically moving me out of the way of the door. "You are just being ridiculous now."

"If you walk out the door, you will regret it!" I yelled as he placed his hand on the door handle. "I will do everything within my power to embarrass you and your father. If you thought a black wedding dress was scandalous, just you wait till you see what else I can come up with."

"Isabella, so help me God," Edward sighed, turning to face me. "If you were a man I would strangle you right now." I humphed, glaring at him, but I refused to back down. "You win. Is that what you want to fucking hear!?" he shouted. "Pack your fucking shit." He walked out of the door after that, slamming it as hard as he could.

Although I was relieved not to be staying here, I was upset that I had caused a divide between us. I packed my things, hoping Edward would be in a better mood when he came up to get me, but he didn't come back up. He sent Marcus instead. He also seemed to be sporting the same foul mood as Edward. I wondered if that was also because of me.

"Are you ready?" he asked, looking around the room.

"Yes," I said, motioning towards my suitcases. "Where is Princess?"

"Downstairs."

"What about Edward?"

"Downstairs."

"Do you know where we are going?"

"No."

I never bothered asking him anything after that. I quietly followed him downstairs to the hall where Esme was waiting. She didn't look pleased either. "Isabella, I wish you would reconsider and stay with us," she said, reaching out to touch my arm.

I moved out of her reach. "It's for the best," I mumbled.

"You would be safer here."

"Yeah, well, maybe you should have thought of that before you went gossiping to your husband," I muttered.

"Isabella, that is enough!" Edward snapped from somewhere behind me.

He wasn't supposed to hear that. I was trying not to upset him any more than I already had. I should have known that he would be around somewhere. I looked down at my shoes, biting my lip to stop myself from saying anything else. Edward moved to my side and shoved Princess into my arms without a word.

"Be careful," Esme said, stepping forward and placing a kiss on Edward's cheek. Edward merely grunted in response. "If you change your mind or if you need us, we are only a phone call away," she said, turning to me.

I looked up to notice that Marcus had already left the hall. So I quickly headed towards the open front door, wanting to get out of this hellhole as soon as possible. Marcus was already in the car, so I jumped in the back with Princess. Relief filled me. I was soon going to be out of here, but I couldn't help but wonder if it had been worth it. Was it worth pushing Edward away so that I didn't need to stay here?

Edward got in the car a few minutes later. He was clearly still in a pissy mood with me as he chose to sit in the front with Marcus. I never even bothered to ask where we were going. I thought it was best that I remained silent. Maybe if he didn't hear my voice then he would forget that he was angry with me. One could only hope.

About an hour later we pulled up outside a small bungalow house, on a suburban street. "Where are we?" I asked confused. I had been expecting a hotel or something. I knew he wouldn't take me to New York, but I certainly hadn't been expecting this.

"Paradise," Marcus muttered.

I looked to Edward, but he didn't reply. They both got out of the car. Marcus stood by my door until I climbed out with Princess. He walked me to the house, his hand on the small of my back, hurrying me along. When we got the front door, Marcus pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, ushering me inside.

The house was a mess. It wasn't particularly clean, and it wasn't particularly well maintained either. Who the hell lived here and why were we here?

"You'll have to forgive the mess," Marcus said, picking up a few items from one of the sofas so I could at least sit down. "The maid has the day off."

"This is your house?" I asked confused.

"Yep."

"What are we doing here?"

"Hiding," Edward stated, as he dumped my suitcases on the floor and shut the front door.

"You want me to stay at his house?" I scoffed.

Edward sighed. "You were the one who insisted on being difficult, principessa. This was the only other option." I sunk down onto the sofa with Princess in my arms. "You will stay here with Marcus until I return. You will do as you are told, and you will not go outside at any time for any reason. Is that understood?"

Yeah, he was still pissed with me. "How long will you be gone?"

"As long as it takes."

Edward turned to leave. "Aren't you going to say goodbye?" I asked, my eyes filling with tears. I had truly overdone it this time. I had pushed him too far, and now he hated me.

"Goodbye, Isabella," Edward said, before opening the door and walking out.

I jumped up to follow him, knocking Princess off my lap, but Marcus grabbed my arm. "No going outside." I glared at him, trying to shake him off. "He just needs time to cool down," he stated, refusing to let go. "He is fighting a battle on all fronts, the last thing he needed was you pulling this… shit."

"I had a right not to want to stay there."

"And he had a right to want you safe. Do you think he needs to be constantly worrying about you while he is out there trying to get done what needs to be done?"

I huffed, slumping back down onto the sofa. I knew Marcus was right. I had fucked up. Big time. I wished I had my cell to contact him and tell him I was sorry, but I didn't even have that. I wasn't sure why, but the thought of him hating me killed me inside.