Love Me True (Love Me Book 2)

Chapter 18

He laughed as he walked into the bedroom and Faye snuggled down under the blanket falling asleep almost instantly, feeling happy that she had made him laugh. The trip to the bathroom and eating had taken its toll and she was exhausted.

*******

When she awakened a second time, the sun was streaming in the windows and she guessed it to be mid-afternoon. On the table in front of her was a water bottle, a medicine bottle, the remote control, and what could only be described as a bodice ripper romance, at least that was what the picture on the cover implied.

She gratefully reached for the water and took the medicine before reaching for the remote control. She flipped until she landed on a news station where the images flashing across the screen caught her attention. The news was about a small eastern European country, and Faye thought it might be the one where Chole's father was working.

She continued to watch as the station flashed an image of Valentine Juric on the screen, he had been fighting against his uncle for the freedom of his small country for the last ten years, at least it been making headlines for that long. Faye watched the images as the handsome Valentine, who was aptly named, shook hands with some world leaders from the UN, he was attempting to get his country recognized with the UN but there had been some upheaval at home, so he had to leave the talks, bringing everything to a halt.

They showed an image of Valentine Juric from before he had begun fighting his uncle and the difference in his appearance was dramatic. He was no less handsome, but his dark hair had streaks of grey, and the lines around his eyes had deepened, but the changes only made him appear more dangerous.

She wondered if Chole had ever had the chance to meet him before, it was a passing thought and she soon grew tired of the horrible images she was seeing, so she turned the channel until she found a game show to watch. She spent the next hour trying to guess how expensive things were. It was no wonder she was always broke.

Eventually, she fell back asleep wondering when Silas would return.

*******

When she heard his key in the door, she awakened immediately, peeking her head up over the couch in time to see him enter while carrying a bag of something that smelled delicious, and her stomach growled loudly.

"You are on the road to recovery by the sound of it," Silas said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. It was the smile she was used to seeing him give strangers.

"Is everything alright?" she asked as she watched him put the bag and his keys down on the table.

He paused, turning to look at her as if considering something important. "It's fine, why do you ask?" He took off his suit jacket and threw it over the back of a chair, then he took off his tie, and rolled up his sleeves, but through the entire process, she noted his mind was somewhere else. She didn't even bother to answer him, what would be the point since it was obvious something was wrong, but he didn't want to talk about it.

She stood up and walked on shaky legs over to the table, pulling out a chair and sitting as she reached for the bag of food.

"You don't have to get up," he insisted, watching her as she began to pull stuff out of the bag.

"I think I do, I need to move a little bit." She inhaled deeply in appreciation as she pulled the lid off her soup container. It looked like Chicken Noodle.

Silas reached into the bag and pulled out a fresh loaf of bread to go with it. He worked around her while she ate, cutting the bread and fixing them drinks while she sipped at the soup. He was still distracted so she didn't try to make conversation as she snuck the occasional glance at him.

"I'll take a shower now, if you don't mind?" Faye said once she was done eating.

He looked up at her as if he had forgotten she was there. Whatever was weighing on his mind must be heavy, and she wished he trusted her enough to share. He nodded and stood, walking to his bedroom and then reemerging a moment later with a fresh shirt that he handed to her.

"That's all I have, please keep the door open a crack so that I can hear you if you need help. I promise I won't look." There was no teasing tone to his voice like there had been the night before.

Faye nodded and moved quietly towards the bathroom, thinking that Silas was a stranger and she really knew nothing about him. As she stripped and turned on the water, she thought about what she knew about him.

He was stubborn and kind, he had two grown children who adored him only he wasn't their biological father, he had married their mother for the children's sake, he was a baron, he worked in war zones, he was a trauma surgeon, he was rich, Dutch, and handsome, and for some reason, only known to him, he claimed to like her and even desire her. Why? Why her, what was so special about Faye Brantley.

She really couldn't see it.

Faye stepped under the water and let it wash away the sweat and germs of the last two days. She reached for some shampoo and it smelled like Silas, she reached for his soap and thought how there was something very intimate about using it on her own skin.

She wanted to stay under the water forever, but eventually, she started to tire, and she turned it off, reaching for a towel. She halfheartedly dried herself off and reached for the shirt he had given her. It was at that moment that she realized that she had no underwear.

She pulled his button-down dress shirt over her head without unbuttoning it. It fell to her knees so she was decent, but she knew she wasn't wearing any underwear, and if Silas was smart, which he was, he would know the same thing.

"Put your clothes in the basket, I'll wash a load tomorrow," he called. It was all so domesticated.

"I can do a load," she said as she rejoined him in the main room, the tile floor was cold on her feet.

He looked up from his computer and when he saw her something flared in his eyes. It looked like a cross between ownership and desire all rolled into one. No man had ever looked at her that way.

She self-consciously padded in her bare feet over to the couch and sat down, reaching for the remote control to change the channel. The vibe in the room was tense and she was looking for a way to break the tension when her eyes landed on the book. She reached for it and held it up. "I didn't think this was your type of reading material doctor?" she teased.

He smiled, but again it didn't reach his eyes. "I've read one or two in my younger years to see what the hype was all about, but that one's not mine, Andrea left it behind."

Faye nodded then laid it back down, reaching for the remote once more. "Is it alright if I change the channel?" she asked.

He nodded, turning his attention back to his computer screen.

Faye landed on the news again, they were back on Valentine Juric and the talk was of a potential coup and hostage situation. Faye listened for a moment and was trying to understand what was going on when she heard Silas let loose with some words that sound fierce.

A moment later his phone rang and he answered it immediately. "Yes, Chloe, I've heard. No, I have no news." He switched to Dutch and Faye caught on that he didn't want her to know what was being said, so she stood up and walked towards the bedroom door. She was halfway there when Silas reached out and caught her arm stopping her.

He looked down at her as he listened to Chloe's voice on the other end of the phone. He didn't say anything, but he was trying to reassure her with his look, that much she got.

Faye gave him a smile and pulled away, walking towards the bedroom. She had a lot to think about, but she didn't want to, so she would try to go to sleep.

She crawled into bed and closed her eyes tight, willing sleep to come, eventually, it did but it wasn't such a deep sleep that she didn't feel when Silas crawled into bed beside her and pulled her close.

When she was in his arms once again, she drifted off into a deep sleep, knowing that for the moment she was safe and cared for, whatever was wrong in the world.