Love Me? Like You Do.

Chapter 17

Brielle felt oddly comfortable in Jack's arms, as he carried her easily through the porch. His house was a magnificent mansion, complete with a large surrounding garden and the most brilliant decor within.

"Brielle?" said Jack when they were finally inside. He still hadn't put her down. "I don't have any female staff. I'm afraid there's no one to assist you."

"Oh that's all right." said Brielle with a genuine smile. 

He carried her to the floor above and from the many doors in the corridor chose to open the one to the prettiest room Brielle had seen. A lush carpet adorned the wooden floors and the red velvet curtains hung from the tall windows. The queen-sized bed was covered in what Brielle suspected was supple silk. Several small vases full of fake flowers adorned the side tables and an intricately designed crystal wind chime heralded them as they entered.

"Is this room okay? Some people think its too old fashioned." commented Jack as he opened the door to the connected bathroom.

"Jack, this room is beautiful. It has so many details, someone must have spent a lot of time deciding them." said Brielle as she noticed an antique lamp shade. Funnily, stick figures had been drawn on it, as though a child had been there before.

"Thank you. I made the mistake of showing my mother's room to Naomi and Claire. They both preferred my modern apartment in the city."

"Your mother?" repeated Brielle as he set her down on her feet inside the bathroom.

"Yes." said Jack his eyes warm and bright. But only for a nanosecond.

"Get in the bathtub." said Jack.  "The water should be warm. I'll get you some spare clothes."

"Thank you." said Brielle gratefully, as she closed the door behind Jack. 

"Tell me in detail what happened tonight." came Jack's husky voice from outside the bathroom as Brielle sunk into the hot water.

"From in here?" she asked surprised.

"Yes. Keep talking to me. That way I'll know you're awake." said Jack taking out his cell phone. He glanced at his watch and grimaced. It was already 3 a.m.

"Okay." came Brielle's sweet voice. "How should I start? Well, you know tonight was supposed to be special, you heard Amanda, right? Zachary and I went to have dinner at this expensive restaurant but for some reason they hadn't kept a table for us. He got really mad and started a ruckus. It was pretty weird since Zachary said he'd booked the table a month ago."

"That's the time we first met." said Jack as he wiped his face. "Obviously my uncle and cousin have been thinking this through." 

Jack paused for a moment to call his butler on the bedside phone and left a quick message requesting a meal.

 "The reason your booking was cancelled was because Zachary made a mistake. He lost a lot of money last night gambling, and as a result had none left to pay for the dinner. I'm guessing he planned the fiasco at the lobby." he explained to Brielle.

"Makes sense. I had to pay for the taxi ride back to his place." agreed Brielle as she scrubbed away at her skin. It felt therapeutic to have the warm water ease her aching joints. "Then he took me to his house. We, um, started undressing, and making out when I noticed a camera overhead."

"A camera?" exclaimed Jack angrily. "The bastard was making a tape."

"He became a different kind of person when I asked him to stop. He was aggressive and mean, but I kicked him between the legs and ran for it. Unfortunately I left behind my clothes and purse."