His Secret [Completed]

Chapter Eleven

She had been lying there for about an hour, her eyes wide and alert. The tossing and turning of Noah on the creaky furniture kept her awake, each time she closed her eyes he would change position and her alertness would peak.

A streak of light from outside shone through the blinds illuminating the room only slightly, but gave Sophia the opportunity to be nosey; after all, what else was she to do when she couldn't sleep? The dark grey wallpaper covered three of the four walls, and the other was painted white. She pushed herself up and rested her back against the headboard to examine the room. It was only partially furnished, evident that it wasn't slept in very often. As she surveyed the room her thoughts drifted to the gala, the charity and more importantly, the kiss.

Her hands sat interlocked in her lap, not quite sure what to do in the early hours of that morning - the clock on the bedside table read just past two am. Her mouth was dry and she wished she could freely walk downstairs and pour herself a glass of cool water, but she was in an unfamiliar house in a room with a man... she hadn't shared a room with a man since college.

"Are you awake?" His rough voice pulled her from her thoughts, and she looked over at him. He was facing the wall. Sophia wondered if she should keep quiet, aware he wouldn't know if she was awake or not.

"Yeah...I can't sleep," Sophia whispered, not wanting to wake anyone else who was asleep in the other rooms. His body turned to face hers and he propped his arm under the white pillow.

He stared at her for a moment. "You sounded like you were crying." Her hands instantly found her cheeks and as they did, they came into contact with tears she hadn't realised she was shedding.

"I'm fine." She wiped the tears away refusing to look at him; though she wasn't embarrassed, Sophia didn't want to make it into a bigger deal than it was. As hard as she tried to stop, the tears continued to fall from her eyes. They were closed at that moment and the only image she could see was one she wanted to be rid of. The image of the man who had made her life a living hell was burned in her mind. The horrific things she'd been through in childhood and in college rushed to the foreground of her mind.

She'd lived life knowing they could strip away her money, her house, her innocence and even her family, but they couldn't take away her future. It was undecided, and she was going to make it the best future possible.

"Hey..." the bed dipped beside her and a strong pair of arms enclosed around her shaky body. She flinched at his unexpected touch and Noah pulled back with a remorseful look on his face. "Sorry, I..." He was at a loss of words. The guilt on his face compelled her to pull him back - he was a good man, she was sure of it. She cried into his chest and as his arms came back around her she suddenly knew she felt safe in his arms. Noah made her feel safe. He soothingly stroked her head as she continued to cry as if he knew all about her broken past. She hadn't told him a word about it, it was her business after all, but she knew that if she did, he would most certainly be running for the hills. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not tonight." He didn't push nor accept her answer, instead he kept quiet. It was a sign he was there for her. He rested his head on top of hers and gave a subtle nod. To him, it was an acknowledgement of her past. He knew everything, from her younger brother's death at age twelve to her hard life in college. She had never spoken a word to him about her past but he desperately wished she would open up. Sophia was a closed book, and the burden sitting on her shoulders weighed her down - that much was evident - but he knew she was stronger than she let on, and that was something he admired. He was ashamed of the ways he came to know about her past, so he made a promise that he would come clean one day, when it was all over.

"Why are we sharing a room?" Sophia asked the question that had been burning in her mind since they entered. She wanted something to take her mind off of the demons lurking in her thoughts.