CHAPTER 10

          Without waiting to be invited in, Shawn slipped into the apartment. Isabelle couldn’t believe her eyes. He was truly there, incredibly gorgeous, showing no signs of... pain, suffering, or regret for what he had done to her. No, nothing of the sort. Shawn was as beautiful as ever, charming as a snake looking well-rested and his scent started to torment all her senses.

          She shook her head in disbelief. Why was he there? Was he there to… gloat, to make fun of her? Isabelle felt she couldn’t trust him so she stood still, keeping the door open. She wouldn’t fall for his tricks. This time, she wouldn’t allow Shawn to sweep her away with his sweet talk and his devilish ways.

“No, I didn’t miss you. What are you doing here? Did you not understood the words I said to you last night? Not finding me there, waiting for you, wasn’t clear enough?”

          Isabelle slamming the door but avoiding to approach him. She didn’t want to get near him, not after he spent their wedding night with another woman.

“If this is the case, maybe I should draw you a picture? It might help you grasp the concept,” she teased him.

“I must be honest here and tell you that not finding you at home, waiting for my return, did hurt me a lot. It made me think that maybe, you don’t love me as much as you made me believe...” Shawn replied with an expression of fake seriousness on his face

“Oh, this is rich coming from you! You’re talking to me about love… You?!” Isabelle shouted furiously.

          What he was saying to her was outrageous! Isabelle had to sit down; she was feeling a bit ill.

“Do I need to remind you that you were the first one to abandon our home? That you left me alone and run straight into your mistress’s arms? Shawn, just get out of here! Leave me alone, please!” she added and went to open the door, in order to usher him out.

“You shouldn’t have left our home and run away like this,” he replied calmly and closed the door.

          Shawn tried to take her hand in his, but Isabelle turned away from him. Isabelle clanged her fists until she felt the nails entering her palms. But that pain was nothing compared to the suffering his words were inflicting on her soul. He had the guts to judge her behavior? To dispute her choices? Really?!

“I will admit that entering the house and not seeing you there was heartbreaking. I fell asleep holding your wedding dress in my arms, searching for your warmth, your scent, imagining that it was your body. Do you have any idea how I felt finding our house empty?” he said a little angry this time.

          Isabelle felt ill again. She never expected to hear something like this from Shawn ever again. But she couldn’t afford the luxury of falling into his sweet-talking trap, to look for her image in his eyes again. Just one sign of weakness on her part and Shawn would hurt her again. She had to be strong.

“Shawn, you were the first to leave our house, to walk out on our marriage!” she accused him in a tone angrier than before. “You went to meet with your beloved Danielle. What did you think I would do? That I would stay there, in tears, waiting for your return, while you were having sex with her on our wedding night? Are you serious right now? Go to her, I don’t want you anymore!” Isabelle yelled feeling all the anger inside bursting out like a volcano.

          Shawn looked at her and understood that the aggression she was showing was only an act that hid the fact that she was so in love with him. ‘Little Belle’ still wanted him, but she didn’t want to get hurt again. Seeing her like this, Shawn remembered that day, in her room, at the villa, when she threw the pitcher at him.

“Belle, baby, stop shouting...” he said calmer than before.

“I’m not...” she started but stopped and cleared her throat. “I’m not shouting, I’m just making my point a little louder.”

“And what point is that?”

“That I will remain here! That I don’t want to be with you anymore! So, stop calling me ‘baby’ or ‘love’! You don’t have the right to call me that anymore!”

“Love,” he said emphasizing the word, “you know very well that I wouldn’t allow you to stay away from me anymore than you already did...”

“Shawn, I believe you have some hearing problems. I said that I don’t want to be with you anymore. I don’t want to be the wife of a man that is fooling around with other women,” she informed him, raising her chin.

“So, that great love you said you had for me has already run out? Wow… it lasted so little…” he whispered approaching her slowly. “At the first sign of crisis, you already abandon me? Instead of standing next to me, fighting for the two of us, you chose to run away from me?” Shawn added and slowly took her hands in his.

          Standing in front of him, feeling his hands on hers, was more than she could bear. How was it possible to keep being in love with him after all he had done to her? How was it possible to feel so weak every time she was in his presence? Isabelle lowered her head to avoid looking into his piercing eyes and to regain control over her body.

“What you did to me hurt me deeply, Shawn. I couldn’t be so angry, so in pain, if I wasn’t hopelessly in love with you.”

          Hearing herself saying that last part made Isabelle tremble. There it was again… that weakness she was feeling every time Shawn was near her, touching her. It was too late to hide her true feelings and play the careless part. Isabelle looked up and let him see the truth in her tears.

“I don’t know if there is a way back for us from this. I’m afraid that this time love won’t save us. That love won’t be enough to pull us through...”

“My beautiful, wonderful, stubborn wife...” he whispered and a sly smile appeared on his lips.

“Don’t think for a second that your sweet words will sweep me off my feet. They will get you nowhere. I’ll never forget what you did to me. And I no longer want to talk to you, so you should go now.”

"Oh, my love, I too would like to stop talking and do something else with you."

“Don’t you dare touch me!” she exclaimed and tried to get away from him. “And I told you not to call me ‘my wife’ or ‘my love’. You lost this right the moment you chose her.”

“I will call you as I please and I will touch you when, and how much I want.”

          Shawn pulled her towards him, without paying attention to her protesting. He brought his face closer to Isabelle's and looked deeply into her eyes.

“You are my wife and always will be. You must know it by now. And one thing more… When you look at me with those eyes, I can't think of anything else than making love to you.”