Isabelle tiredly climbed the steps and opened the screen door. Everyone was back from working on the new house, and they were now watching a movie in the living room. They all turned to look at her when she entered.
"Where have you been all day?" Ethan inquired.
Isabelle shrugged absently. "Around."
"You missed Aiden."
"I said goodbye to him this morning."
She moved forward to lean against the doorframe. She stared blankly at the action movie they all turned back to watch. She found her gaze traveling involuntarily toward Stefan. He sat in one of the recliners; his feet propped up, and his gaze raptly focused on her. It took all she had to turn away.
"Where's Jess?" she asked as strode toward the fridge.
"She moved out!" Ian called to her.
Isabelle froze with her hand on the handle. "What?" she blurted as a bubble of hope bloomed forth. She shoved it aside. "Why?"
She stepped back to peer into the living room again. All heads turned toward Stefan. He looked at her, his face expressionless, and his eyes distant. "We broke up,” he explained.
Isabelle thought she might be sick. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and swung the fridge open. She was hungry, and in desperate need of a shower to ease the chill in her bones. She grabbed a bag of blood and headed for the stairs.
"I'm going to take a shower so don't even think about flushing the toilets!" she yelled over her shoulder.
"Would we do that?" Jack called innocently.
Isabelle ignored their laughter as she made her way up the stairs.
"Why does she do that?" Stefan asked the minute Isabelle was out of earshot.
"Boss us around? Because it makes her feel better," Ian answered absently.
"It makes us feel better," Ethan added with a chuckle. "It keeps her happy, which in turn keeps the rest of us happy."
"Yeah, Isabelle can make your life a living hell if she's mad at you," Mike supplied.
Stefan knew firsthand how miserable she could make someone's life when she wanted to, but all of that was going to change tonight. Jess was out of the house, and Isabelle no longer had any reason to fight him, or herself. He began to harden as he thought about all the wonderful things he was going to teach and do to her.
"I already figured that out," he muttered. They all shot him questioning looks he chose to ignore. "I meant why doesn't she feed in front of you?"
"Because we used to tease her about it when we were younger. We told her she was ugly when she did it, that she looked like a freak, and all kinds of other stuff. She hasn't fed in front of anyone since she was eight," Ethan explained.
Stefan was stunned to find himself annoyed with them. All he could picture was a small Isabelle, in pigtails, crying over her brothers’ taunting. It was something that obviously affected her. His jaw clenched as his hands curled involuntarily into the arms of the chair. It didn't matter they’d all been children, all tormented each other, all he could think about was the anguish they’d inflicted on her.
He'd never felt so protective or defensive of someone. He was growing to care for the girl, he realized with mixed feelings of awe and dismay. No matter how much he never wanted it to happen, it was a pleasant realization. The thought helped to ease the anguish of his joyless soul, a soul he would never let her glimpse.
He would have her, she would be his, but she would never know anything about his past. It was the only conclusion he came to in the long, discomforting night. She helped to ease his torment, because of that he wanted her more than any other woman he’d ever met, but he vowed she would never know the more sinister side of the world, or himself.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, a small smile crossed his face as he thought about what tonight would bring. He had to get the little witch to concede to his will, but he was certain it wouldn't be too difficult. He was beginning to understand why she’d stayed away from him. For all of Isabelle's bluff and bluster, inside she was scared and frightened of being hurt. He could, and would, ease her fear.
The screen door swung open again. He opened his eyes, tensing as Jess came into the house. He had spoken to her a little this morning as he'd helped her carry her stuff out, but he hadn't expected to see her again, and he didn't want to see her now.
"I forgot my toothbrush," Jess said.
Before Stefan could stop her, she headed up the steps.
Isabelle was coming out of the bathroom, dressed in one of Ethan's old T-shirts, with her clothes tucked under her arm when Jess stepped into the hallway. Isabelle couldn't breathe from the force of the hostility radiating from the girl.
"I hope you're happy now!" Jess spat.
Isabelle was taken aback by the waves of hatred beating against her. She’d never thought it possible for someone to hate her as much as Jess did. "Jess, I didn't want this," she whispered.
Jess snorted angrily. "I doubt that."
"I didn't!" she protested. She wanted to tell her nothing was going on, but she wasn't going to lie to her. Something was going on; she just wasn't sure what it was yet.
"Don't for a moment think you're special, you're just like all the other sluts he's fucked. He'll use you and toss you aside too, you're—"
"If I were you, I would get your toothbrush and get out," Stefan growled.
Isabelle's eyes flew to Stefan as he stepped off the stairs. The cold hostility in his voice sent shivers down her spine as Jess turned to face him. Isabelle wanted to tell her to run for her life, but the words caught
