Jason
"Do you think it's a good idea for us to be out in the open like this?" I asked Isabella and Kate. "What if someone recognizes us."
Isabella munched on a carrot and waved me off.
"They're like two people here and no offence but they don't look like the kind of people who obsess over the Callahans." Bella spoke as she eyed a man completely immersed in picking his nose.
I looked at Kate who was sitting next to me, absentmindedly stirring the soup she was working on.
I put my arm over her chair and smiled down at her.
"You okay?" I whispered.
She smiled back and nodded.
I remembered what Harry said about her pretending to hold it together for our sake.
I needed to get her out of here soon.
The only issue right now was breaking the news to Bella.
I wanted it to be in a public place but it became obvious that this place's restaurant wasn't somewhere I'd call 'public'.
And Bella could still cause a scene if she wasn't happy.
"So, now can we talk about where we go next?" Isabella asked as she took a sip of her juice.
I tensed up at the question and looked away from her.
"Shouldn't we wait for Alex?" Kate asked. "Where is he?" She frowned.
"He's resting up in our room." I responded not wanting to mention that I had given him something for the pain from his shot after I had patched him up. He was probably still sleeping it off.
"Well we can start without him." Isabella spoke. "I think the best course of action at this point is to leave the country. I have a friend who owns an airport back in Dallas. He has all these private jets and small planes that we could use."
I looked at Kate who was listening attentively to the suggestion.
I sighed. It was now or never.
I turned to face Bella.
"Harry and I were talking and... We think it's best if we go our separate ways." I voiced out.
Bella froze.
"What?" Kate asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I turned to face her and took her hand in mine.
"It means you and me do what we've been planning to do all this time. We run away together."
Kate opened her mouth to say something then closed it again. She looked behind me at Isabella.
"We can't just leave Isa and Alex." She told me in a hushed voice even though Isabella could obviously hear us.
"This was Harry's idea." I revealed to her.
This really seemed to take her by surprise.
She gaped.
"I-it was?"
"Unbelievable." Isabella muttered before sliding out of her seat and storming out the door leading outside.
Kate just sat there quietly seeming deep in thought.
I scooted closer to her and placed my hands on hers which were laid out on the table.
"Hey, this is what we wanted, remember?" I told her.
She looked at me with a worried look on her face.
"Yeah but that was before Alex and Isa got involved. I feel like we're abandoning them."
"They can take care of themselves." I assured her. "And you don't have to worry. Harry wants us to go. He told me so. We're not abandoning him."
"What about Isabella?" She asked in a small voice.
I tucked a strand of hair away from her face.
"She's a big girl. She can take care of herself. Besides she can't leave her father. The Boss especially wouldn't do anything to her because of his friendship with Uncle Ben."
Kate pulled my hands away from her, causing me to frown.
"No, Jason." She started. "I mean what about you and Isabella?"
"There is no me and Isabella." I muttered bitterly.
"I've sorted out my issues with my ex. Maybe you should do the same." She told me.
I sighed. "Kate, Bella and I are done. Our story is over. We have no issues to sort out."
"Yes you do." She insisted. "You've done nothing but argue this entire time. If we're going to leave, I want you to be one hundred percent sure."
"I am sure, Kate. I want you and only you. Are you looking for excuses not to go?" I asked her.
She sighed and turned to look out the door Bella had stormed out of.
She turned back to look at me. "No. That's not it. I just think Isabella deserves some kind of proper goodbye from you after all you two have been through. You need to do this. Not for me or her but for yourself." She spoke.
I turned to look in the direction of the door Bella had disappeared.
Honestly, with all she had said to me, never seeing her or talking to her again didn't seem too bad.
"Go get your closure." Kate urged me as she got up from the table. "Come find me when you do."
She walked away probably heading back to hers and Isabella's room.
I ran a hand through my hair and let out a sigh.
Great. Now I had to face Bella one last time.
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I found her in a bar across the street from our motel.
I don't know what bottle she was on but it didn't really matter, she has always been able to hold her liquor.
Two men were on either side of her looking like they desperately wanted her attention.
Knowing Bella, she was probably just playing along to get free drinks.
I walked to where she was.
She rolled her eyes when she saw me.
"Pardon me, boys but it looks like my darling ex has decided to join me."
The men around her looked at me with distaste.
"Do you want us to take care of him?" The burly one asked.
Isabella just waved her hand to dismiss the pair.
"No. I'll handle him." She told them.
And like the obedient little fellas they were, they got up and left.
It's a good thing too, with the way my temper had been rising lately, I might end up really hurting someone if it came down to a fight.
I slid into the stool next to Bella, facing the front rather than looking at her.
I could feel her rolling her eyes at me.
"Shouldn't you be halfway around the country with Kate by now?" She asked bitterly.
"I should be." I responded. "But she thinks I need some kind of closure from you before we leave."
Isabella scoffed. "Sounds like something she would say. But if you want an apology or a teary goodbye, you're not going to get one Callahan. We are not Kate and Harry."
"So you've mentioned." I muttered irritably praying that she wouldn't go into another well thought out analysis of why Kate and Harry were better than me and her.
"What I mean is that unlike them, we're not afraid to hurt each others feelings. We can just be upfront with each other. And Kate's right. We need this conversation once and for all. For once, you need to be honest with me. One hundred percent honest."
I shifted in the stool to look at her.
Her eyes presented a challenge that I could not say no to.
"Fine. Let's be honest with each other." I conceded.
She stared at me as if wondering if I was being genuine.
"Fine." She begun. "First things first. Ethan."
I flinched at the name. Why did she have to bring him up first?
"Was it your idea to take him along on that mission?" She asked. Her face was straight and I could tell that she was trying hard not to show any emotion but I caught her lower lip slightly quiver.
"He wanted to come along and prove himself." I looked at the ground. "I couldn't stop him. And I wish I tried harder." I spoke with remorse.
She was trying not to cry.
Honestly, I was too.
"Candice Chapman, that girl in Maine that your father told you to seduce to get information on her father. Did you sleep with her while we were together?"
"No." I replied immediately. "I already told you, I got the information and when she tried to make a move on me, I spiked her drink and she passed out. I left her in her hotel room."
Bella pursed her lips unconvinced.
I sighed in frustration.
"Bella, I swear. I never cheated on you while we were together. I might have kissed a few other girls but it was just business. You know that."
Bella turned to face the bar and nursed her drink.
She was quiet for a while before speaking again.
"I think part of me has always known that..." she admitted. "I want to hate you Jason. For everything. But the truth is I should hate myself for what I became because of you."
"Still sounds like you're blaming me." I muttered trying to figure out if she was letting me off the hook or not.
Her eyes fixed on her drink for a while.
Finally she looked up staring at nothing in particular.
"There's something you should know." She started in a small voice.
I listened even though I just assumed it would be another insult. I knew that this was a bad idea.
She let out a deep breath. "After the Candice incident... I was jealous... really jealous. I honestly thought you slept with her-"
"But I didn't." I spoke cutting her off.
"I know that now!" She snapped. She rubbed her temple in frustration. "I did something to get back at you..."
I furrowed my brows at her. "What did you do?"
With Bella, I really felt like I had seen it all when it came to her punishments.
Green hair dye in my shampoo. Waking up with half my brow shaved off. Leaving me deserted in the middle of nowhere...
Needless to say, our relationship was... intense.
She swallowed. "That night when I heard that you had followed Candice to her hotel room... I... I went to... I went to Dean's apartment."
I immediately groaned at the doucebag's name.
"Bella, you didn't..."
She buried her face in her palms.
"I knew that Dean always had a thing for me..."
"So you slept with him?" I exclaimed. "You've been giving me crap all this time for being unfaithful yet you slept with Archibald?"
"I was trying to get back at you and I knew that you hated him..."
I got off the stool and let out a humourless laugh.
"The truth is I'm not even mad. I have Kate now so I have no reason to be mad. You know what? Harry was right. You do have serious issues that you need to work through. I'm just glad you won't have me to blame anymore."
I turned to leave but her hand clenched around my arm.
"Jason, wait."
I pulled out of her grip and glared at her.
"I think we're done here." I spat at her.
She frowned. "I know you probably hate me-"
"I don't hate you. I feel sorry for you."
"Well I don't want your pity!" She yelled, her usual mean self coming back. But tears were steaming down her face now. "But I care about Kate and I need to say this. Dean wanted me, turns out 'the little thing' he had for me was more than just a crush. He really fell hard for me. But I told him we couldn't be together because I was engaged to you. And... I think that's why this whole thing started. To get back at you and your family for taking me away from him. It was all some twisted revenge plot."
I couldn't believe that Archibald was messed up enough to go through all this for revenge.
And I thought I had issues.
But Bella put not only my family in danger but hers too. She should have owned up to this earlier. We would all have been safer if she did.
I was about to tell her exactly this when something out side the window caught my eye.
I froze in panic.
"How long have those SUVs been there?" I asked.
Bella looked in the direction I was looking and the same panicked expression took over her features.
I didn't have to wait for her response.
I needed to get to Kate.