Love Me? Like You Do.

Chapter 40

Jack kissed the top of Brelle's head tenderly as he got up from the bed.

"I'll be right back, love. There are a few calls I have to make." he said as he caressed her cheek. Brielle nodded.

"I love you." he said huskily, his voice thick with tiredness and lack of sleep. They had both been awake for over twenty four hours.

"Love you too." she said reluctantly letting go of his hands. He gave her such a dazzling smile, that Brielle was sure had she been standing, her knees would have let her down.

Jack wrapped a white towel around his waist and went out into the balcony, busily dialing numbers on his phone. Brielle watched his well sculpted muscles ripple as he moved. His body was perfect, to her, it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It was hard for her to believe that she had been able to touch him, feel him ever so deeply a only few hours ago. It was even more unbelievable to her that this amazing man loved her and wanted to belong to her for the rest of his life.

She felt an inexplicable sense of loss as his lips left her forehead. As he left the room, she found herself missing him almost immediately. Was it normal to feel like this? To feel as though her every breath depended on knowing he was safe and loved?

"Get a grip on yourself Brielle." she chastised herself. "It is not practical for Jack to be with you twenty four into seven. Remember when you were all alone and had to do everything yourself? You can't lose that Independence. It is what makes you you."

Childishly, she sulked for a couple of minutes, unhappy that she couldn't have Jack all to herself at that instant. She thought of going up to Jack in the balcony, clad in a bed sheet and drag him back to bed. Sighing deeply she decided it was futile, she didn't want to be a clingy, attention craving partner. She wouldn't want Jack to behave that way with her, after all.

"I'll watch some tv then." thought Brielle as she dug out the remote control from under the covers. "Nothing like a bit of Desperate Housewives to put things in to perspective."

Switching on the television she browsed through the channels looking for one which was in English. She barely knew any German, but was forced to stop at a regional channel because they were displaying Jack's picture with big headlines she could not read.

Brielle sat up quickly and crawled towards the tv, trying to get a closer look. The screen showed several people gathered in front of Dixon Enterprises back in California. Reporters with microphones and large swinging cameras were swarming all around. They all seemed to be hell bent on recording the video of a beautiful woman standing on a stage at the center of the crowd. As Brielle looked closer she thought the woman looked familiar.

"Wait a minute." she said aloud. "She looks an awful lot like Claire."

Brielle strained to hear Claire's voice under the thick dubbed German accent. She couldn't understand the words, but as she observed Claire's beautiful face, she could see anger and hatred reflected in her perfect features.

"This can't be good. I doubt she's announcing her donations to the orphanage here." thought Brielle as her mind raced.

"What could she be saying that she had to do it in front of Dixon Enterprises? It must have something to do with Jack." deduced Brielle before slumping back on her pillow. "But they had broken up long ago, hadn't they? What's wrong now?"

She looked at the television again. Claire was now carrying a child in her arms. Brielle sat back up so quickly she might have snapped her neck. Rubbing the strained muscle she stared at the child. The more she looked, the wider her eyes grew. Brielle was shocked to notice the striking similarities between the child and her parents. The resemblance was unmistakable, and Brielle found an uncomfortable lump forming in her throat as she blinked away sudden tears that had arrived at the edge of her eyes.