“Everleigh, oh my god. I’m so sorry.” She didn’t think twice before leaning over and hugging the woman she had just met. When Everleigh grimaced a bit she realized she had been shot in her shoulder.
As if her body knew when Silas was looking at her, she opened her eyes and found him staring at her through the glass door of the balcony on which the three of them stood. He made her feel self-conscious the way he seemed to be scrutinizing her.
“I’m so glad to have another female in the family,” she said again before allowing Arabelle to release her. “Of course, you must be a supermodel, nothing less for Silas. Now tell me how did you meet? I didn’t even know he was dating anyone.”
“We…” Did Silas normally date supermodels, is that Everleigh assumed she was one, although in what world that would be possible for her boggled her mind?
“Wait. Was this an arranged marriage?”
Arabelle nodded but still had no idea the reason for her marriage. She could offer Silas nothing… except her maybe her body. Was an heir all he needed from her?
“Trust the Knight brothers to do something like that. I’m not surprised. Mine was arranged as well. In fact Parker wasn’t even present when we got married, he sent his lawyer instead. Can you beat that?”
“Easily. Silas didn’t want me at mine so my dad and his lawyer went in my place,” she said laughing. They were certainly a pair. With one difference. The fierce possessive and universe-reaching love Parker had for his wife shone through whenever he looked at his wife in the sparse moments that Arabelle had been in his company. That was true love. That’s how she had dreamed her husband would look at her. Instead, she got Silas who hated her.
“Hey. Chin up. I know they can be mean, and big bullies, with resting grouch, faces every day of the week, but… just hang in there.”
“I’m not holding my breath,” she said softly. “Silas doesn’t even like me, and I can’t find a reason for him to have married me,” she said despondently.
“Just wait and see. They’re also the type of men who don't do things for no reason. Just wait and see and you’ll be quite surprised at what you discover.”
She was never a pessimist, but somehow she didn’t think there was anything salvageable for her and Silas.
Dinner was a buffet style of the sumptuous and comforting food available. Arabelle filled her plate and added a few things for Everleigh, then sat in a chair beside her bed and they continued talking about everything and anything. She was completely aware that the tension that Silas had worn in the car matched the ones his brother carried. She sensed something was seriously wrong by the way they spoke, the stance of their bodies. She detected a brimming violence in them that they barely held in check and it didn’t help that their gazes landed on her more than once. But it was Silas who hadn’t taken his eyes off her yet.
She wasn’t imagining things. Something was going on and it seemed she was the main attraction.
Pushing aside her depressing thoughts, she put every effort into having a great conversation with Everleigh.
“And these are for you. Just a little something to welcome you as a new bride. It’s just some silly things. I promise I will shop properly once I get better.”
A servant brought in three huge boxes, all prettily wrapped with ribbons and bows.
“Everleigh, you didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I wanted to. Now you’ll like the first two boxes but,” she giggled. “The third box… well I hope you really, really enjoy that one.”
Everleigh’s naughty grin was so infectious Arabelle found herself grinning as well without knowing why, or what could possibly be in the box.
The servant carried the boxes to Silas' car and Arabelle promised to visit Everleigh regularly and had made a date to come by next Wednesday to do her hair and nails. As rich as they were, Everleigh didn’t want any strangers around her and Arabelle couldn’t wait to see her new sister-in-law again.
The ride back home ensued the same way as before. In utter silence.
She so desperately wanted him to answer her questions. She wanted to know about his childhood. What kind of life did they lead if Everleigh had been attacked? She had said her husband had enemies. Normal people didn’t have the kind of enemies who went around and shot them.
A deep unsettling wave of nausea dropped in her belly. She didn’t know how, or why or what, but something bad was going to happen to her. The worst thing being the emptiness she felt inside her soul if she never got to see Silas’ grouchy face ever again.