The Second Chance (Forbidden Romance)

11. Games

Hunter's POV

After I managed to force open the door to Isabella's room, I went inside and found a sight that made my blood boil.

 Isabella is curled up on the floor trying to pick up the broken vase with her hands and, apparently under the influence of panic, she doesn't even notice how the pieces of glass hurt her. When I reached her, I took her scared and crying face in my palms and tried to stop the fear in her eyes.

"Isabella, what happened? Please look at me." I begged but she did not react to my words.

When I realized that she was in a complete mess, I grabbed hers with my hands and moved them away from the glass on the floor. I pulled her up and she raised her watery eyes to me.

"Please tell me what happened." I said putting the first cloth I could get my hands on over her cuts.

 Taking a closer look at her palms I was relieved to see that the wounds were only superficial and there were only a few of them.

"I can't believe he's up to this kind of thing," she said in a weak voice.

"Isabella, please. Enough of the secrets. I need to know who's bothering you. Otherwise, I cannot protect you from any danger." I asked her again and she nodded her head decisively.

"But first come with me to the bathroom so I can clean your palms." I said taking you with him to the bathroom at the end of the upper floor. 

She didn't let go of my hand the whole way. After I sat her down on the edge of the tub, she showed me where the first aid kit was, and while I gently washed the wounds on her palms, she started talking.

"The flowers on the floor were sent to me by my ex. The person I've been trying to run away from for the last two years, but it seems he'll always find a way to get to me." She said quietly, still upset, but I could tell in her voice that that wasn't all.

"Is that the Mario you mentioned the other night in Mrs. Valeria's apartment?" I asked carefully, since she didn't know about the things she said that evening.

Visibly shocked by my knowledge of his name, she looked at me questioningly and nodded her head. I didn't know to what extent I was allowed to question her, so I remained silent in the hope that she would continue the story on her own.

"I rune.....I mean, I broke up with him less than eight months ago. Since then he hasn't called or caused me any problems, until now. Last week he tried to apologize via text message, and that evening at Chiara's fashion show, he approached me in the garden and insisted on reconciliation. After I explained to him in a nice way that I continued on, I thought he would give up. But obviously not."

She said sadly and looked at the roses on the floor. I wanted to believe the version of the story she told me, but with everything I learned from Mrs. Valeria, it seemed to me that the asshole didn't leave the breakup so smoothly.

I didn't want to put too much pressure on her to tell me the whole story so she wouldn't get upset again. I looked up from her palms and asked her carefully.

"Isabella, are there any other things about him that I should know that could affect your safety?" She looked at me blankly and after a few seconds of no response, she just shook her head.

"Fine if you say so, but I just want you to know that you can confide in me if he happens to be blackmailing you or bothering you in any way. If you went through certain things in the past that made you react like this to his attempts at contact of any kind, you don't have to go through that anymore...alone. Because you are not alone. You have me."