43-Isabella

**Saviera's POV**

Having Zuri back feels like a ton of bricks has been lifted from my chest. I was doing my best to accept that she was moving on with someone else, although the days were still hard. I know she's feeling conflicted between her heart and mind, but things are going to fall into place and I'm going to prove to her that she made the right choice by coming back to us.
Zuri just finished her second shot of whiskey to take the edge off and now she's acting like her laid back self again.
"You want to watch a movie or something? We can just spend time together and relax tonight?" I ask. I know she isn't drunk, but she's feeling emotional.
"We could do that. Or we could do something else." She puts on one of our favorite songs, A Moment Like This by Kelly Clarkson. She walks around the island where she was sitting, places her hands on my waist and we dance together barefoot in the kitchen. We haven't randomly slow danced together just for the hell of it in a very long time. Something so simple feels so intimate and special. I breathe in her scent that I've missed so much and savor this moment.
"I've missed you, Zuri." We lean in for a slow and passionate kiss as the song comes to an end. When we pull apart, we notice Daveed was leaning against the doorway. I have no idea how long he's been standing there, but the look on his face tells me it was long enough.
"And all is right in the world again." He said.
"Finally. It felt like an eternity." I added.
"I promise not to run off again when things get hard. I'm sorry, guys." She sticks her arm out to invite Daveed for a group hug. He wraps his arms around us and kisses the tops of our heads.
"You have nothing to apologize for. What matters is what we do from now on." He reassures.
We hear the doorbell ring and Daveed makes a confused look. "Did anyone order food?" He asked. We shake our heads and we follow behind as he answers the door.
When he opens it, a beautiful blond haired blue eyed bombshell is at the door. And she has a fancy duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She's wearing a tight white spaghetti strap tank top, a blue jean mini skirt that shows off her legs and strappy wedges. Her nails are perfectly manicured and toes perfectly pedicured. She's taller like Zuri, curvy in all the right places and wearing glasses that give her a sophisticated touch.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" His voice came out cold and hard as steel.
"I'm coming back-" Is all she said before looking over his shoulder at Zuri and me. "Who are they?" She asked. She doesn't sound bitter or mean. She sounds hurt.
"I asked why you're here. We haven't spoken or seen each other in a year and a half, Issy. You can't just show up to my house unannounced." Daveed is fuming.
"Our house, remember? My name is on this mortgage too, Daveed!" I look over at Zuri and she looks at me with the same 'oh shit' look that I'm giving her. I'm assuming this is Isabella and Daveed has things to take care of.
"We'll be in the bedroom." I take Zuri by the hand and drag her into the room with me.
"Do you know who that is?" She asked.
"I'm guessing it's his ex, Isabella. I don't know anything about her, but Daveed said he would tell me about her soon. He just hasn't gotten around to it. I guess she's the reason he wasn't big on commitment by the looks of it." I respond.
"She's hot. I wonder what happened." Zuri said.
"Smoking hot. Makes me want to punch her because now I know she's been with our man. She's lucky I'm pregnant." Zuri shakes her head.
"At some point, you gotta stop being violent." She's amused, but still the mature one.
"Yeah, no. It works for me." She laughed and agreed.
We sit on the bed for a few more minutes and Daveed walks into the room looking stressed out and livid.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
"I have bad news. She's not leaving." He rubs the back on his neck. "She's on the lease and because of that, I can't make her leave."
"Okay, so it looks like she's joining us for a movie night then." I shrug my shoulder and start to walk out of the room but he stopped me.
"No, no, no. I do not think that's a good idea." He said.
"I will not let another woman make me feel uncomfortable at my man's house. We're going to go about our night like we had planned and if she doesn't like it then she can leave." I hope Bombshell likes the show, because she's about to get one.
"Oh boy. Here we go." Zuri says. "Maybe Sav is right though. We can't let her ruin our night. I just got you two back and we're supposed to enjoy one another."
"Just keep in mind that she might say things to piss you two off. She's not usually a confrontational person, but she's definitely different now, than she was when I was with her." He warned.
"You two want a shower first? I want out of these clothes and into my pajamas." I go ahead and walk into the bathroom. They follow behind.
We didn't take a long shower like I expected before our surprise guest arrived. We washed ourselves in an awkward silence and got dressed. Zuri and I are both wearing one of Daveed's t-shirts and black boyshorts. He made sure we were wearing shirts that Isabella has never worn to prevent any extra awkward moments.
"Would you like to give us a little run down so we don't get any more surprises when we go out there?" Zuri asked him with an eyebrow up.
"Promise me you two won't get mad and leave. Let me explain before you jump to conclusions." Now I'm worried.
"We promise! Now spill. I'm getting nervous." I rushed.
"Isabella and I were really serious, obviously. I asked her to marry me and we got this house together. Of course I didn't let her pay any of the bills or mortgage, but it was supposed to be her home too so it was only right to have her on the lease. We were together for a few years and I thought we were ready for it. The night of our bachelor and bachelorette party came. Isabella went with the women and I went with the men. My brothers and Rory threw my party and at first it was cool. We had a ton of drinks at the casino, won a bunch of money and ate a really nice dinner. We went back to our hotel and I thought we were calling it a night until a bunch of strippers walked in. I mean, we were outnumbered if that gives you an idea. One of the strippers came up to me while I was sitting on the couch and started dancing in my lap. I made sure my hands weren't touching her and I didn't want to push her off. She was paid to be there so I couldn't embarrass her in front of everyone when she was doing her job. I was going to tell Isabella about it when I got the chance, but that didn't happen because she walked into he suite at the worst possible time. She came by because she forgot the key card to the women's suite on the counter in our suite. When she locked eyes with me, she looked like she just caught me in the middle of cheating. At that point, I had no choice, but to push the stripper off of me and chase after her. I explained how it all happened and that I didn't know they were going to show up. I thought I eased her mind and we would move on from it. Apparently, it was more serious to her than I thought because she left me standing at the alter after I already said my vows. The last time I saw her was when she packed her bags that night. She flew back to be with her family in New Jersey and I didn't hear from her after that. I tried calling her, but she had me blocked."
Wow. He was really serious about her. I know a lot of women aren't okay with their men going to strip clubs or being danced on. To some people, it is definitely considered cheating if it's done intentionally behind their partner's back. It's not like he's the one who paid for them to be there and it doesn't sound like he enjoyed it either. What makes me worried is the fact that he loved her enough to want to spend his whole life with her. She left him, not the other way around. I wonder if he still loves her. Does it hurt to see her again? Could he end up wanting her back? I go sit on his bed because it's a lot to take in. Zuri must be thinking what I'm thinking because he looks worried.
"Please say something." He whispered.
"Are you still in love with her?" Zuri asked.
"No. Absolutely not. I've had plenty of time to move on and get over her. Looking back, I realized we weren't going to work out anyway. We never agreed on anything and we were never on the same page. I won't lie, the sex was great and we looked good together. We were just used to being together and staying together was convenient." He said.
"Okay." I look at Zuri and take her hand. "We're going to trust you to be honest about your feelings when it comes to her." She nodded her head to agree.
He flashes a small smile and pulls us in for a hug, "I love you two so much. I promise I'll take care of this." He kisses our heads.
We walk out, prepared to face the past.