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“Maybe I’m wrong, but something feels off.”
If I wasn’t so lost in my own feelings, I might’ve laughed at his delivery, but as it is, I’m really not in the mood. My face is getting hot against the comforter, not to mention the fact that my nose is starting to hurt from the position, but until the man next to me leaves, I will not move.
Silus is silent for a while. I don’t know what he’s thinking or where he’s looking; if he’s watching me, if he’s looking at my ass, or if he’s suddenly deciding that he’s grown tired of me and wants to get rid of me.
He told me he’s a man of his word, but how can I trust him with my life? How can I believe him? Red, blaring sirens go off anytime I’m with him, reminding me how stupid I am for letting the man dominate my thoughts.
What Silus says catches me so off-guard that I have to roll onto my back and sit up just to process it: “Would you like to see your brother?”
When I prop myself up, I’m slow in looking at him. “What?”
“In person,” Silus adds. “Would you like to see Max in person?”
The question rings in my head, echoing over and over, like I’m caught in a rewind. Did I hear him right? Is Silus asking me if I want to see Max in person? What… “Why?” It’s the only question I can muster up.
He studies me. “You’ve been good. I could arrange a little something for you two. If it would make you happy, I don’t mind it. Of course, it would be at a tertiary location, but—”
I literally can’t believe what I’m hearing, and unlike most of the time when I use the word literally, I mean it, well, literally. My mind can’t comprehend what he’s saying. Am I imagining this? Is this some kind of weird dream that’s digging down deep into my subconscious?
“I would do it for you, if you want,” Silus carries on. “As much as I’d like to keep you to myself, I do not want you going mad here. You and your brother are all the other has, so it must be difficult to be away from each other for so long.”
He leans closer to me, caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. The slight, tender touch sends ripples through me, and it’s only due to my incredulousness at his offer that I don’t immediately melt into him. “You are mine, love, but I suppose,” Silus whispers, “I wouldn’t mind sharing your time with your brother, occasionally.”
Am I a possession to Silus? Is that what this is? Yet another reason why falling in love with him is a bad idea. A man like him can get whoever and whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. Can someone like him ever truly return the kind of emotions love demands? I know I’m not the poster girl for love, but I’m more likely to be better at it than this jerk.
Silus’s hand falls away from my face, and the way his black eyes nail me in place, he must know I’m wrestling with something I don’t want to share with him. “Tell me what you want, Thea, and I’ll give it to you—other than your freedom, of course.”
I drop my stare to my lap as I fiddle with my fingers. A ghostlike sensation lingers on my cheek, where he touched me, and unless I’m mistaken, my heart beats faster than it did before, too. There’s nothing else I can say besides, “Seeing Max would be nice.”
I mean, who knows? Silus might be blowing smoke. He might not really set up a meeting between me and my brother, so why not test it out and see? I won’t be disappointed if it never materializes, and I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it does.
“All right. It might be a little while until I find a good location and can set something up, but I’ll work on it.” He stands and tugs at his suit jacket, smoothing out any wrinkles that might’ve formed when he sat down next to me. “What would you like for dinner? I realize I’ve chosen every single meal so far. Maybe you—”
“Pizza.” The word leaves me with no hesitation whatsoever. I don’t know what game Silus is playing right now, but if he’s letting me pick dinner, then I want pizza. “The thick, crunchy kind. No extra toppings.”
Silus cocks a single brow down at me. “Just cheese? Thick, crunchy, cheesy pizza?”
That sounds like heaven, honestly. “Yes.”
“Very well. Then thick, crunchy, cheesy pizza it is.” He lets his stare linger on me a few moments more, and then he leaves me to my thoughts.
Shit. I’m glad I might see Max, but at the same time, I’m kind of pissed at my brother for putting the idea of love into my head. Don’t get me wrong: I knew I had a crush on the guy before, but a crush and love are two very different things. I’ve had countless crushes in my life, but love? I’ve never been in love before. I don’t know what it feels like, but I’ve heard it makes people crazy, makes them do things they wouldn’t normally do.
Goddamn it. I’m going to kill my brother.
Chapter Seventeen – Silus
Something’s off with Thea. I can feel it. It’s why I offered her the choice of dinner, along with telling her I would arrange a meeting with her brother. I thought those things might make her feel better, but as I sit across from her at the table, eating her chosen thick, crunchy, cheesy pizza, I realize she’s still out of sorts.
And I don’t know why.
She hardly looks at me. In fact, it’s as if she purposefully turns her eyes everywhere but me, like she’d rather look at anything else instead of my face. She fidgets a bit more than usual, too. We sit at the table in the kitchen-slash-dining area, where we take our meals now. I’ve eaten only one piece, but Thea is on her third.
I wonder if being trapped in that room for so many hours of the day is getting to her. I’ve started to let her out, to give her more freedom, but perhaps it’s not enough. Am I being unreasonably cruel to her, expecting her to be my prisoner, to pay me back for her and her brother’s idiotic plan?
No. Not cruel. Cruel would be having her chained and tortured, letting my men have at her whenever they want. If anything, I’m being too goddamned nice to her.
And yet her foul mood still bugs the shit out of me. I can’t say why.
