Here's to Us (Blood Money #2)

Chapter 4 - Sensible Decisions

When the light of dawn hit the wooden floor of the closet, I let out a loud sigh and turned to my side in the ottoman. The smell of musk still clung to me, straight from his white linen shirt. I was still wearing it. Almost in a daze, my hand shot up and I sniffed at his cuffs, smiling in nostalgia. Gradually, the sweetness had faded and was replaced by bitter memories. You have the right to remain silence, the man had said to him.

At that moment, I decided to get on my feet and take a shower. Afterward, I retrieved the clothes from the shopping bags I had led here last night, all drunk and giggly. Apparently, I had decided something neutral and equally feminine. Finally settling inside a black pencil skirt and a brown chiffon shirt, I worked on the loose bow on the front of my shirt. With the heels on, I told myself to stand straight with my head high. I could be powerful enough now with the paperwork but the tricky part was to look that intimidating. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, careful to get rid of any stray curls and kept it simple. 

Well, you know what, fake it till you make it. And the mirror showed a girl with a secret smile.

That morning as Silas helped with exactly what to do once inside his office, I showed no excitement. Showing no surprise, Silas offered me a small smile, his hand over mine squeezed but remained friendly. I knew that Silas was professional but I was a fucking mess. Would people dance under my orders? Would people be twisted around my fingers? Would Adrian be afraid of me?

I didn't think so.

But my job was not to suck and I intended to keep it that way.

"It's okay to be nervous," he whispered.

How the hell does he know?!

As long as Silas was pulling the strings from above my head, I could play his role in the company. I knew I had the confidence in a workplace when I knew how the work worked. But this was about money, stocks and clever business tycoons.

I smiled back at Silas.

"Red suits you," Silas stared at my lips.

"You told me once," I shrugged, running eyes over my freshly manicured nails.

"You'll be fine," Silas assured me once more as he held my hand up and brushed his lips over my knuckles. At the slightest touch, I burnt almost immediately as if the more one would wait, the more it would burn.

I pulled my hand away with a gasp. At his surprise, I bit my lip into an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry. I feel..." My eyes darted to his and some sort of unspoken promise was made from him. "I'm still scared that you'll be cold again. You'll be back to calling yourself a murderer. I don't want that. Promise me, if Adrian comes to see you, you won't show up."

After a little hesitation, Silas gave me a nod," Okay."

"Say that it's a promise," I demanded, clasping his hand between both my hands.

"It's a promise."

"Tell me you'll stay with me." As desperate as I sounded, I loved him and I might not die without him, I might enjoy being single like before, I might be rescued from mom's nagging from getting me married but who knew if I could actually live without being reminded of my loss every single time I breathed.

"I'll stay with you," he said.

I remained silent, happy to be being loved and understood for the first time in a while. No matter how much frozen he had sounded, his rigidity meant and said so much more than his words. After a long time, the green of his eyes was as bright as the oak leaves in a summer instead of being the dark pool of contempt. I knew what those eyes said and I believed that I was going to do more than what I imagined today.