Love Me True (Love Me Book 2)

Chapter 19

Faye was restless and she awakened in the middle of the night. Silas's arm was wrapped around her waist and he was holding her close. His breath was steady so she thought he was sleeping, but she knew he wasn't when his arm tightened around her.

"Do you need anything?" he asked softly,

"No," she whispered. "I'm just having a hard time sleeping. Probably because it's all I've been doing the past two days."

They lay there silently while he held her close, there was no awkwardness, and she felt her breathing sync to his. She had never been this close or intimate with a man before but somehow it felt natural and right, and if she hadn't already realized that she was in love with him, she would have realized it at that moment.

"Faye, I need you to trust me," he buried his face in her neck.

"I do trust you, Silas." And she did, she barely knew anything about him, but she knew she trusted him with her life.

"There are things happening in my life, promises I've made, and I can't back away from them," she felt him take a deep breath, "I can't share the details because it's not my business to share, but would you please hold on to this moment right now and know that it's real."

Faye couldn't help but think that this had something to do with Chloe and her father.

"It's going to get worse before it gets better, and you're probably going to think the worst, but know that things are not as they seem. There is nothing I would like more right now then to make love to you and hold you, but I can't because I don't want you to be hurt."

Faye rolled over needing to look at him. The moonlight fell across his face, and she could make out the sincerity in his grey eyes as they met her own. He was only inches from her, and she reached up and traced the scar on his cheek. He had said the word love and her heart jumped a little.

"I moved here to make things easier and to let things calm down, but my problems are following me here, and then there's you. I never expected to meet you, and now that I have, I wish to God that I had settled it all long ago."

"Are you talking about Andrea and Aaron?" she asked softly.

He gave a rueful smile. "No, they are problems, but problems that I hope will follow me to the ends of the earth." He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "They liked you, did you know?"

"I liked them, I think, Aaron is a lot like you, he didn't say much, and Andrea pretends that she's young and foolish but she's not, you know that, right?" She didn't know why she was speaking on Andrea's behalf, but she felt she needed to after what had happened.

"Andrea has her moments, but she is foolish at times, and the predicament she has put me in is not a good one."

"Are you talking about the underage drinking, because she told me why she did it," Faye said before she could think better of it.

"She did?" he sounded surprised. "Why did she do it?"

Faye remained silent pressing her lips closed.

"Faye," he warned, "this is my daughter you're talking about."

"It's not my business to share," she said, throwing his words back at him.

He said something under his breath that didn't sound very nice. "Fine, I'll ask her."

"Good, you do that," Faye agreed with a smile, having won. It was a small battle, but it was a battle she had won against Silas, and she didn't think that happened all that often.

His phone rang at that moment and it broke that spell that had woven its way around them. Silas took a deep breath as if to prepare for what was about to happen when he answered the phone. He picked it up and held it to his ear not saying a word as he listened.

The volume was too soft for Faye to tell who it might be but a moment later he hung it up and turned towards her, tracing her bottom lip with his thumb, looking at her as if he was memorizing the moment.

"Remember what I said liefje," he said urgently before he sat up reaching for his clothes, and she watched him change before her eyes as he became the Silas she had first met. Their tender moment was over, and he had withdrawn, becoming as cold as he had ever been.

It hurt to watch, and she bit her lip as she did her best to hold back the tears.

"Do you need to use the restroom or get a drink?" he asked as he dressed.

Faye shook her head and said no in a shaky voice, but he didn't turn to her or try to comfort her in any way.

"I need you to stay in here for the rest of the night, and tomorrow I need you to move back upstairs." His voice was toneless and his accent heavier than it usually was. It was the only hint that he might not be happy with what was happening.

"Alright," she agreed softly, watching as he buttoned his dress shirt and then tucked it into his slacks.

It had turned from one of the best moments of her life to one of the worst moments in only minutes, and it was all due to that phone call.

He didn't look at her again as he left the bedroom, closing the door behind him as he did. She heard him moving around the apartment, unsure of what he was doing, and then she heard the front door open and shortly afterward she heard Chloe's voice.

It was soft, but she recognized the cadence of it as she passed by the bedroom door. It was evident now that Silas had been straightening the apartment and he didn't want Chloe to know that she was there. It felt like a punch to the gut and she silently cried herself back to sleep.

When she awoke the next morning the bedroom door was open, and her clothes were sitting on the chair in the corner of the room. She stood up and walked into the main room of the apartment, but Silas was gone.

Faye showered and dressed before she did a quick cleaning, throwing all the linens in the washing machine. She had noticed that the couch had already been stripped, and it confirmed that Silas had cleaned up before he had let Chloe in the night before.

As she moved past the couch toward the door, she saw a note on the table with her name scrawled across it. She picked it up with hope, and slowly unfolding it, she noticed only a few short lines. It told her that he had cleared her from work for two more days and that she could return after that. It was signed with his initials.

Faye's hand clenched around the note. He had warned her, but it was all so sudden, and she hadn't had enough time to accept his interest. How could she hold on to hope in the face of such coldness?

There were too many questions left unanswered.

She closed her eyes and pulled herself together, it wasn't the first time she had been disappointed and it wouldn't be the last, but she wished it had all happened before she realized that she was in love with him.

She closed the apartment door behind her and walked up the steps, toward the backdoor. She reached for the knob and gave a sigh of relief when it opened. At least she wouldn't have to see her brother or answer his questions about where she had been if he cared to ask any, which he probably didn't.

Feeling sorry for herself, she took herself off to bed, she would give herself one day to feel the pain then she would go back to the way she had been living, showing a brave face to the world, acting as if she had everything under control, and her life was great.

Maybe she would eventually get to where she once again believed it.