Page 123 of Fractured
Scrolling through my emails, out of the corner of my eye, I catch headlights in the camera feed from the front gate. It’s Isabella and Anna. My heart races and I follow them, clicking on the camera by the patio, watching Anna park in front of Isabella's house.
Isabella steps out of the car, reaching in to grab a few bags, and I smile. There is my Isabella, her black hair shining in the light from the front porch. She looks happy, carefree. Something I’ve never seen on her face before.
Anna hops behind her, her hands full of more bags, poking her ass with her finger to hurry Isabella up to unlock the door and the girls disappear inside.
A wave of relief washes over me. Isabella’s home. She did not run. According to the bags, she used her card as well, which I’ll take as a small reassurance she is accepting us as a couple.
My phone vibrates on my desk, and I flip it over, making me smile.
Isabella:Sorry we are late. We had a blast, time got away from me. I’ll meet you in the library for breakfast. Nite, butterscotch.
Alexander:I’m glad you had a good day. You deserve it. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night, Mrs. Russo.
Shutting down my laptop, I turn off the light as I leave, heading up to my room. I take off my suit, put my track pants on and a t-shirt and grab a beer from the fridge by the TV stand. I cross the hall and take up my seat in her window and watch the house. Every instinct has me wanting to go down there and kiss her goodnight, smell her hair, run my finger through it.
The front door opens and Anna hugs Isabella as she leaves. Anna isn’t staying over? I thought Anna would just stay since it’s so late. I watch as Isabella closes the door. Anna is halfway to her car when she stops and looks over at the patio.
Danny walks around the edge of the pool, closing in fast on a stunned-looking Anna. He picks her up and hugs her to his chest, burying his face in her neck just holding her. Anna just hangs there, her legs dangling in the air for a few minutes, then she wraps her leg around his waist, gripping his neck, tight as she hugs him back.
I take a sip of my beer before heading back to my room. My heart goes out to the guy. He’s not much of a talker, or emotional. But with Anna, he’s lost without her. He loves her and he’s been trying to get her back for months. I should tell him to buy her a plant.
I just leave the door open as I head to my bed, tossing my shirt to the floor. Stripping out my pants, I sit on the edge of the bed and plug my phone and hit the lights. Rubbing my chest in the dark, thinking about breakfast tomorrow and wondering if Isabella will make her burrito pancakes and bacon again. I might actually try one. I chuckled to myself as I roll over, punching my pillow and settling in for the night. She is so fucken cute without even trying.
I blink in the darkness. Something’s not right. I lift my head off the pillow and listen. A slight hiccup noise? What the hell. I flip the cover off and sit on the edge of the bed listing. A light from the hall shines dimly into my room, making a small rectangleon the floor. I get up and go over to the door. Isabella’s door is open and there is a light on. I step past the door and my heart stops and breaks all in the same moment.
The bathroom light is on. She’s curled up on her window seat staring into the yard; the letters crumpled in her hand as she wipes her eyes. I grab my chest; the pain is visceral. Oh my love, she read them.
“Isabella, love?” I come in slowly towards the couch.
“Please, just sit. I have so many things to say. Questions I need to ask.”
She won’t look at me, and I can see her damp cheeks in the dim glow of the light. I slowly pad closer to her. I want to take her in my arms and hold her. As I reach out, her voice hitches.
“Please don’t touch me. I need to get through this without falling completely apart.”
“Okay, love.” I draw my hand back as hard as it is for me to do and sit on the arm of the chair close to her.
She wipes her face and clears her throat. Her voice is weak, but I can hear her, feel her pain.
“I knew my father had died. Working in the library gave me access to lots of newspapers. I just kept looking for news from home. And one day his name was on the front cover. Shock was what I felt, but not sad, like I should have been. I felt horrible that me, his daughter, was numb to the feelings of loss his death should have made me feel. I grieved in my own way, I guess. The loss of what I knew we never would have. His love.”
She hunches her shoulder and wipes her eyes on her house coat sleeve. I look around and grab a box of kleenex from the coffee table and hand it to her, not touching her.
“My father was never what a father should be. He was cruel and liked to make me feel small and insignificant. I grew upbelieving it, I accepted it. My Nonno was the only one who made me feel like I was worth something to someone. I could feel his love was real. It wasn’t a lie to manipulate me. He loved me.”
She wipes her eyes again and my heart is splintering into a million pieces for her.
“I don’t remember the accident. Until tonight, I didn’t really know if it was real. All I remember is waking up on the floor. It was cold and dark and I was tied up and gagged. Days they would kick me, laugh and throw water on me or worse. I won;t go into detail, you can most likely guess.”
She waves her hand in the air, letting me know what worse would be. I clench my fists, wanting to kill the fuckers all over again.
“That was the first time I escaped into my head. I made a safe place where they couldn’t hurt me anymore. It was months before I came out and once I learned my Nonno was gone, well. I fell right back in for a while. It was my escape. I called it home.”
“That’s where you wanted to go from the start. Home, your home?”
She sighs and pulls the Kleenex apart in her hands.
“Yes. But I never had the courage. I should have. I was going to before we got married. I stopped eating your food and just kept my focus on being free, no matter which way I had to do it. Starve, run or disappearing in my head were many of my plans. flushing my medication, I thought that if all else failed, one day you’d push me too far and my brain would do it for me, but it never did.”
