Page 46 of Ma Belle Marguerite
Looking from Bella to me, Josh sighs and changes screens on his laptop. “So, to catch you up, we found out that Amara has been following Rex around and was the one driving the truck that ran him off of the road.” He presses play on a video that shows Amara getting into the truck and following me throughtown. “We are still trying to figure out who was in the truck with her and shot at Rex.”
I feel Bella take a deep breath and hold it in as she watches the video. “It’s okayMa Belle, I’m fine.” I feel her exhale at my words.
“I know, Rex, but this is still crazy to see. Knowing someone intentionally ran you off the road while shooting at you is insane. Not to mention, hearing that she’s been stalking you and may be my half sister. It’s a lot to process.” Sighing, she continues, “Plus, I just got you back; I don’t want to think about losing you already.”
“You won’t lose me baby, don’t worry.” I kiss her shoulder lightly and feel her shiver. It makes me feel powerful knowing I have the ability to do that to her. If I add in the fact that she just said she doesn’t want to lose me, there’s hope that not all is lost, even though she has been trying, and failing, to keep her distance until tonight. “What was it you were showing me earlier about Amara possibly being related to Bella?” I ask Josh.
“Right,” he says as he goes back to the report from the hospital he was showing me before. “So I decided to dive into her medical history to see if there would be anything relevant there. There were a few times when she was younger she was brought into the hospital for broken bones. It said suspected abuse, but nothing ever seemed to be done about that.” He scrolls through some pages that show us the reports he’s talking about.
I wish I could feel bad but after what she’s done I can’t bring myself to feel any sympathy at the moment. She almost killed me after all.
I feel Bella’s body deflate against me. I wish I knew what she was thinking right now. I gently rub my thumb on her thigh to try and remind her that she isn’t alone. She has me now, and I am not going anywhere no matter what Josh is showing us right now.
“On this last report, which is what I was showing you, Rex, it says she got a blood transfusion from Bella’s father. Looking into that, it seems that he is also Amara’s father.” He closes the report and opens another before I can see the reason she needed a transfusion in the first place. “I took the liberty and decided to check Amara’s blood against Isabella’s since they both had their information in the hospital's database, and it came back saying that they are indeed half siblings.”
Bella and I both lean closer to see what is on the screen. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Amara is in fact her sister, and she is only about five months older than Bella, according to her birthdate on the report.
“My father never said he had another child. Why did he hide this from me?” She sinks back into me as she seems to be thinking out loud, her voice almost robotic. “Did my mother know? This has to be wrong.”
“It’s okayMa Belle, we will figure this out together.” I hug her as close to me as I can comfortably get her. “Josh, is there anything else?” I ask, without even looking at him. He is not my priority right now.
“That is all I found for now. I still have searches running at home on this and the other thing.” I can hear that he is hesitant to bring anything up in front of Bella, not knowing what he is allowed to discuss in front of her at this point. I can only assume he’s talking about my missing guns and whoever had been following us.
“Let me know if anything comes up. Thank you. You guys can stay here tonight if you want, but I need to get Bella to bed.” I dismiss them as I get up with her in my arms bridal style and walk towards the door to her part of the bedroom. Bella sinks into my arms with a sad sigh.
“Goodnight boss and boss lady,” D says. I almost forgot he was here. He is always so quiet and observant. I’ll need to remind him to watch what he says in front of the kids.
Grunting my version of an answer I kick the door closed behind me and walk to Bella’s bed. As I put her down, she clings to me. “Please stay with me?” She asks meekly.
“I will stay until you fall asleep. We don’t want the kids finding us in bed together.” I lay beside her and she curls up to my side. “Although I wouldn’t mind, I know that you’re not ready for that yet.”
I feel her nod as she quietly starts sobbing on my chest. “Okay, I’m sorry.”
She tightens her grip on my shirt, and hesitantly nudges against my skin. I can almost swear she’s going to speak again, but then she shakily exhales and buries her face in deeper.
Not knowing what to say, I just rub circles on her back. It doesn’t take long before her breathing evens out, and she is fast asleep. I’ve missed the feeling of her against me. I could die a happy man right here like this. I wish I knew why she said she was sorry.
I don’t like that she feels the need to apologize for something that is in no way her fault, whether she’s apologizing because I’m leaving the bed without sleeping or because of what she overheard about Amara. Neither should make her feel that way.
She cannot control others' actions. As much as she feels she can sway them or change their minds, people will ultimately make their own choices. I will do everything in my power to make sure she knows that I am not upset with her and show her that she is my world and always will be.
I wait about an hour before I attempt to get out of bed without waking Bella. She looks even more beautiful when she’s sleeping. As I try to move away, she squeezes me tighter. I really don’t want her to regret this if the twins catch us. She isn’t readyfor them to know about us and our history, and I understand that.
We still don’t know what is going on ourselves. How do you explain that to young teens? Plus, it hasn’t been that long since they lost their father. I want to do this right. I want us to become a family. Something that I have always longed to have with her.
It breaks my heart to pull away from her, but I know it’s the right thing to do. I quietly make my way to my room. Once we’re more settled and we figure out how this relationship will work, I think I’ll make this bedroom my new office. Then I can be closer to Bella.
I slide into bed, and it feels cold and lonely. Just that small amount of time with Bella has me wondering how I managed to sleep all those years without her. I have to force myself to stay here and not sneak back into her bed.
I must fall asleep, because I wake up to my phone ringing on my desk where I had left it last night.
I get up and look to see who is calling at 6 am. Great, it’s my father. What could he possibly want now?
“Good morning, father. To what do I owe the pleasure of this wake-up call?” I ask, letting him hear exactly how I feel.
Grunting, he says, “What took you so long to answer? I have called five times.”
Skipping pleasantries and getting right to the point this morning, apparently. “I was sleeping. What do you need?” This is not how I wanted to start my morning. I can think of many other much more pleasant ways to be woken up. All of them include Bella, of course.
