A/N: Thanks to Tiffany, Sherry, Cristina & Paige xx
Chapter 33
EPOV
Isabella had a fairly restless sleep, tossing and turning most of the night, even with the aid of a sleeping pill. I was glad that my father had convinced me to go to her last night. She needed me more than that scumbag did. She needed to be reassured that I was there for her, that she was safe. I knew she had grown very fond of the dog in the short period of time that we had her, and she was going to take Princess' loss that much harder, especially after everything that she had been through lately.
"Morning," I said, when she finally woke up, gently tucking a strand of her hair away from her face.
"Morning," she said, groggily. "Did you stay here all night?"
"Not all night. I had business to take care of, but I've been here most of the night."
"Thank you," she said, tucking her head into my shoulder.
"You don't have to thank me," I said, leaning in and placing a kiss on her head. "My place is by your side, Isabella. I just wish I could be here as often as I would like."
"I know," she said, "but I understand that you have other responsibilities, even if I don't act like it sometimes."
I stared down at her surprised. She didn't sound like my beautiful brat this morning. It sounded like she had done a lot of growing up overnight. Maybe yesterday's events had been an eye opener for her. One could only hope, though I would have rather she never had to experience any of it. Speaking of events, we had to talk about what happened. I supposed it would be better to get it over with. "We need to talk about yesterday, Isabella," I said, sitting up a little. Her entire body stiffened. I rubbed her back soothingly. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but I need to know what happened. I need to know what James said."
Isabella sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sighed. "I was being a brat again," she said, looking down at her hands. "I see that now. I got my period and basically demanded that Marcus go to the store and get me some tampons. I refused to cooperate and wait for someone else to go for me, so that he didn't have to leave me. I even threatened to go on my own. I was being difficult, spoiled even. I could have waited. I just didn't want to." She looked up at me, her face filled with remorse. "You didn't hurt Marcus because of me, did you?"
"He should never have left you, Isabella. No matter if you tore the entire house down or cried your eyes out. His orders were to watch you and that is exactly what he should have done."
"Princess is dead because of me," she said, defeated.
I cupped her face and made her look at me. "You didn't make that sick bastard drug her. Sure, you should have stayed here, but… You. Are. Not. To. Blame. For her death. I don't want you blaming yourself. Do you hear me?" She nodded and I pulled her into my arms, holding her for a few minutes until she calmed down enough to talk. "What happened when James showed up?"
"When Marcus left, I was upstairs in my room with Princess, lying on the bed. Someone knocked on the door a few minutes after he left. I ignored it at first, but they kept on knocking and knocking. I tiptoed to my bedroom window to see if I could see anything, but I couldn't. Part of me hoped it was you. I missed you when you were away… I understood why you were angry with me. I could have stayed here, too. It wasn't like I had to talk to your parents. Again, I just didn't want to. If I had my cell, I would have called you."
I was really happy she was opening up to me, letting me in. I finally felt like we were getting somewhere. Now, if we could both keep on top of our tempers, then maybe we could start to be a proper husband and wife.
"I knew I shouldn't have gone downstairs, but I suppose it's a good thing I did or else I would have been trapped up there, and he probably would have had the chance to drug me a lot sooner. Anyway, I snuck down there trying to see who was at the door without actually going near it. I saw the tip of his hair and knew it wasn't you. That's when I turned to go back upstairs. He started shouting, then, saying he knew I was inside. When I didn't answer, he began kicking the door. It didn't take him much force to break the door down and get inside."
"What happened then?" I asked her, urging her to continue.
"I just made it to the kitchen when he broke in. I was going to get a knife, but he got to me first. He grabbed my hair and pulled me back. I immediately recognized he was the guy from our wedding. Why was he at our wedding?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I was more interested in getting him out of there than I was dealing with him at the time, but now, knowing everything I do, I can only assume that he was there to see Garrett. He may have even been the one who got him into the building. Continue, please."
"I tried to get him off me, but he just laughed. He said Garrett and Kate had a price on my head, but they hadn't stated in what condition they wanted me, so he planned to have some fun with me first." I clenched my fists hearing that. The bastard had no intention of giving us a day, and the thought of that scumbag touching my wife made my blood boil. "I, uh, saw a knife sitting on the countertop. James never saw me looking at it. He was too caught-up in himself to notice. I grabbed it and stabbed him in his hand as hard as I could. He let me go and I ran out of the door, but then I remembered about Princess. I know you may not agree with me, but I believe every life matters, even animals. At the time, I didn't know she was drugged, not that it would have stopped me going to save her. I couldn't leave her with that sicko."
I didn't like that she had run back for the dog, but I didn't say anything. I didn't want to sound like a heartless bastard.
"By the time I got upstairs to get Princess, James was there with a knife. He told me he had drugged her, and how he had killed animals as a kid. I think he was just trying to scare me. I put Princess down and saw my purse by the foot of the bed. I knew my gun was in it. I made a dive for it, but he dove on top of me. I managed to get the knife out of his hand, that was when he took my purse away and tossed me on the bed, holding me down. When I saw the syringe in his hand, I was so fucking scared, Edward. I thought I was never going to see you again. Marcus made it just in time. If he hadn't I wouldn't be here now."
She started crying again, I pulled her against my chest. "Emmett called Marcus to tell him to take you to my parents' house. I can't begin to express how scared I was when I found out that he wasn't even with you. I thought I had lost you." I moved away to look at her, cupping her face. "I need you to work with me now, Isabella. For your own safety, I need you to stop fighting me at every turn."
"I will, I promise," she sobbed. I hoped she meant it.
"Another thing I need to ask you. Did you ever tell your sister about Jacob Black?"
Isabella shook her head. "No. I didn't tell her. I didn't feel like I should. Why?"
I leaned in and kissed her head. "I was just wondering." I didn't want to worry or scare her any more than she already was. She didn't need to know that Jacob Black was dead, or that there was a possibility we may have a rat in our house.