Isabelle
Spent the next forty-eight hours being impatient in the penthouse. My stomach was anxious and twisted in knots. I hadn't heard a word from Sterling and neither had his father, which only made me feel that much more on edge.
I jumped when I heard the sound of the door unlocking. I looked in the direction of it and Sterling finally appeared before my eyes. He looked annoyed, maybe even pissed off even. That wasn't going to be enough for me to let him off the hook this time.
I got up from the couch and marched my way over to him. His eyes locked on mine before I gave him a firm slap to the cheek.
"Where the hell have you been?!" My voice shook with so much anger. "You leave me a fucking note like that but can't even answer a fucking phone call."
"I'm sorry." He responded lowly as he pushed past me.
"You're sorry?" I expected a hell of a lot more than that.
He continued walking to the kitchen, he grabbed a glass and his bottle of whiskey from days before. He poured some in the glass and chugged it down before pouring himself some more.
"I deserve an explanation." I wasn't going to let him get out of this one. He had me worried, the least he can do is tell me what's going on.
"I was handling some business." He set the glass on the counter. "It's nothing for you to concern yourself with."
"Bullshit." I folded my arms across my chest. "You remember you work for your father right? Your disappearance was news to him as well so don't even try to use him as your cover."
His face was expressionless as he picked up the glass again and took another swig. I could feel the tension between us grow as he tried to by himself time to give me another bullshit answer.
"I told you Sweetheart," He paused to set the glass down. "It's nothing for you to concern yourself with. Listen to my note, take some days off to relax."
"No." I shook my head. "Tell me where you were Sterling."
I'm not sure what he was up to, but my gut was enough to tell me that I wouldn't like it. No matter how much it may hurt me though, I needed the truth from him. I needed him to be honest with me, because if he can't be honest then clearly we have more issues than I originally thought.
"I can't do that." His icy blue eyes looked into mine. "Just trust me on this Isabelle, I'll explain everything once it's handled."
"Why can't you explain it now?" I pushed.
"Because."
"Because why?" I had no intention of letting this go.
He finished the whiskey in his glass before responding. "It's a personal matter Isabelle, one that I don't care to discuss until I'm damn well ready to."
"So that's it then?" I arched a brow. "You're just going to come and go as you please while leaving me in the dark?"
"It's what has to be done." He seemed unphased, his face firm as stone like the night before he left. "I hope you can respect my decision."
"Oh, I can respect it." I sardonically responded. "I just hope you can respect my decision to not do this shit again."
That note had brought up a bad memory for me. It only reminded me of when he left when he was eighteen and never came back. There may have been a miscommunication that time like he claimed, but the fact he was pretty much doing the same thing all over again started giving me doubts.
"What do you mean?" He walked over to me, closing the gap between us.
"I mean you've left me once with no explanation. I refuse to let you do it again." I forced myself to look away with him, I cannot have those blue eyes look into mine or I may cave. "This time, I'll be the one who leaves first."
I quickly turned and headed for the suitcase I had already packed. When his silence has surpassed twenty-four hours I decided it was best to prepare for the worst case scenario. I just didn't think I'd actually be using it.
"Where are you going?" For the first time since he entered the penthouse, Sterling's voice cracked.
"If you think we need some time apart or something, then I'll give it to you." I fought back all the emotions trying to take over, I needed to keep myself in control. "Except if I walk out of that door, we're done."
"It doesn't have to be this way Isabelle." His voice shook as he came up behind me. "Don't leave."
I glanced back at him. "Are you going to tell me where you were then?"
"I can't." His eyes pleaded with mine.
"We're supposed to be a team." I fought back the tears that were trying to escape my eyes. "If you can't trust me enough to let me in then how will this ever work?"
"It's not that I don't trust you!" His voice raised as his face filled with emotion. "I'm doing what's best for you!"
I shook my head as I began to feel myself begin to crumble. "You don't get to choose what's best for me Sterling."
"Isabelle, I love you." I tried to look away but he cupped my face to force me to look at him. "I love you, isn't that enough?"
"I love you too." My voice rasped. "But Sterling, it feels like loving you is just a losing game at this point."
"Isabelle." His voice cracked again as I turned away to leave, I could tell he was breaking too.
All he had to do was answer one simple question, one answer and I would stay to talk this out. He's the one who kept refusing to tell me. He's the one who's letting it get to this point when all I'm doing is protecting my heart from him.
"Isabelle!" He yelled out as my hand gripped the doorknob. "Don't go please, I'm begging you."
I paused for a moment. I couldn't look back at him right now, it would just make this hurt that much more. "Are you going to tell me the truth then?"
"I can't." He whispered.
I opened the door to the penthouse. "Then this is goodbye, I'll contact your father to break my contract."
**Author's Note**
This is me popping in to remind you all that I'm a sucker for happy endings and that Sterling and Isabelle will always be the end goal here! Just trust Sterling and I while we take you on this little rollercoaster lol.
Also! If any of you were interested in Deep Within, the paperback is now for sale on Amazon and the Kindle version is in preorder but it will go live on Friday! Thank you all for the love and support while I take the next step in this writing journey! You can find it on either site if you look up Deep Within by Lys Marie. If you're part of the Facebook group Lys Marie's Reading Addicts or on my instagram the links are there!