* * * * *
Isabella
Isabella didn’t think she’d ever been that angry.
He’d taken her suitcases. And her passport.
It had to be him. Who else could it be? They hadn’t disappeared into thin air!
And why? Why had he taken them?
It was mad. Utterly insane.
She had to go, for his own good, even for the children’s!
Especially after last night.
No, she couldn’t think about last night. She just couldn’t let last night happen again.
Ever.
She just had to get… out… of… there!
Not for herself, but for him.
Her father, who was a jerk, who both she and Prentice knew would always be doing jerky things that would drive Prentice up the wall.
And Jason and Sally would witness it. Heck, they already had! They could even be caught up in it (her father didn’t hesitate with his venom, no matter what your age, that Isabella knew all too well). And this was something which didn’t bear thinking about.
And the photographers, who were annoying, who both she and Prentice knew would always be hounding her and now him and the children. And Prentice would hate that then begin to hate her for bringing that in their lives.
And she was…
She was…
Weak.
Not like Fiona, who was good and talented and funny and loving and strong and confident enough to use bold colors while decorating her house.
Isabella was weak.
And, whatever was in his mind now (and something was definitely in his mind, Isabella just didn’t understand it), Prentice would begin to hate that too.
She had to get out of there. For his own good.
Didn’t he see that? Why couldn’t he see? Why was he keeping her there? Why was he doing this? Why wouldn’t he just let her go?
It was exceedingly exasperating.
She heard the SUV and her eyes turned to the door.
She was going to let him have it the moment he walked in.
She’d practiced her whole speech. Heaven knew, she had enough time waiting for him. And her speech was perfect.
The door opened, Prentice entered and every practiced word flew from her mind.
He walked into his home casually, because he did it every day (so of course it would be casually).