Page 68 of Liberating Bells
I don’t hesitate. I close the distance between us and pull her into my arms. She leans her head against my shoulder and cries. The type of cry that guts me deep down to my core. I hold her and squeeze my eyes shut, my own eyes burning from the realization that this woman I love so dearly has been broken.
“Hechokedme, Ryan,”she sobs.
Finally, my own tears fall. The thought of him holding her against her will and crushing her neck has a fury of different emotions exploding within me. I bury my face in her hair and breathe her in. This woman is so precious to me. I don’t know how anyone could ever hurt her.
“You need to leave him,” I tell her. “Please, let me help you. Or Juliet. I can’t let you go back to him.”
“I don’t know if I can,” she whispers. Her body trembles against my own, and I tighten my arms around her again.
“Do you want to?” I dare to ask.
She falls silent, but then says, “I don’t want to feel like this anymore.”
“Then, please. We can figure this out. We’ll get you out, away from him. Bells, I love you. I will do anything for you. Just let me.”
Izabel curls into me even more, but she doesn’t say anything for several heartbeats until she says the last thing I want to hear. “I think we should go.”
I clench my jaw, feeling the muscles protest, but I nod my acknowledgment to her. Izabel brushes past me, her shoulder hitting mine as she walks into the bathroom. The door shuts more forcefully than I think she intends, and I hear her flip the lock. My eyes close, and I let a breath out of my nose.
Why did I have to fuck everything up? We were blissfully happy, not even ten minutes ago. I should’ve known better than to ask her to leave him. Though the decision seems evident to me, I know Izabel isn’t there yet. Or if she’ll ever be.
The bathroom is silent for a minute before I hear her begin to rustle around in her things. I decide that I’m not going to get anywhere else with her right now. So I find my clothes, then walk out of her room and into my room next door to start packing.
This weekend went by way too fast. A small part of me wants to storm back into Izabel’s room and force her to listen. Force her to think about all that transpired between us. To ask her if she felt the same way I did. As if the missing part of me was found.
But I don’t. Instead, I pack up my belongings and meet Izabel out in the hallway a little while later. She closes her door behind her, her duffle bag slung over her shoulder. I do a quick once-over of her. Her eyes aren’t red from tears anymore. Her hair is pulled back from her face, thoroughly dried from our stint in the shower this morning. She’s wearing a yellow sundress that goes just to her knees. She’s stunning, as always.
But what shocks me more than I’m prepared to admit to her is her neck. Once again, it’s entirely covered with makeup. No trace of her fiance’s anger evident on her delicate skin. My mind recalls this morning and the soul-wrenching vulnerability of her showing me what he did to her. It was as if everything was stripped bare. It was just us, and she trusted me enough to reveal what Mark did.
And now she’s hiding again.
My jaw clenches. Izabel looks at me sheepishly, giving me a small smile. Then her eyes dart to the elevators down the hall.
“Ready to go?” she asks, grabbing her bag and adjusting it over her shoulder.
I nod and follow her as she walks down the hallway. She stands quietly by me as I check out at the lobby desk, then still doesn’t say anything as we settle in the car and pull onto the highway.
Home isn’t far. It’s only a few hours, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t say a word to me the whole car ride. A sick feeling settles into the pit of my stomach. My hands grip the steering wheel as I glare at the highway in front of me.
What if he’s there, waiting for her? What if he loses control and goes after her again? What if I’m not there to save her?
What if she doesn’t want me to be?
My mind is like a battlefield the entire drive home. Izabel’s silence from the seat next to me doesn’t seem to help. I can’t stop my thoughts from spiraling into dangerous territory.
Though the drive is short, I feel exhausted by the time I pull up in front of her apartment complex. Izabel unbuckles her seatbelt and glances around the parking lot. Her shoulders stiffen slightly, and then she looks at me over her shoulder.
“Will you be okay?” I ask her carefully. “Do you want me to come up with you?
She gives me a sad smile. “I’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” I say and rub the back of my neck. “Well, if you need me, don’t hesitate to call. I’ll be over.”
“Thanks, Ryan. And thank you for letting me come with you. Sorry for ruining your weekend with all my drama.”
“You didn’t—” I start to say, but she opens the car door and hops out. It falls shut behind her, and I’m alone. I watch her run into her complex. She doesn’t stop to turn around and wave to me. She just disappears inside the building.
I rub my first three fingers over my chin, feeling the rigidness of the stubble of my beard. I didn’t bother shaving this morning. Frankly, I didn’t have the energy after everything that happened. I sit in her parking lot for another minute before pulling out my cell phone and scrolling through my favorite contacts.
