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He takes my glasses from me and slips them on. “Better?”
I nod, humiliated.
“What were you doing in the pool alone and at night?”
I shake my head, my sense of embarrassment warring with the knowledge of what could have happened if Silas hadn’t shown up.
“What the hell?” Ethan comes running up behind Silas.
Silas takes one look at him in his swimsuit, beer inone hand, phone in the other, and the concern in his eyes morphs into something else. He straightens and stands, stalking toward Ethan.
“What the hell were you doing?” Silas demands, shoving at Ethan’s chest.
“Fuck off. I’m giving her swimming lessons.”
“From inside the fucking house, you imbecile? She’s afraid of water and you left her in it alone? Are you that fucking stupid? Is there any fucking activity in there?” Silas knocks his knuckles on the side of Ethan’s head.
I watch them, seeing the differences between Silas and Ethan physically, but more than that. So much more. How does Silas know about my fear of water?
“Why don’t you go back to your servant’s quarters and mind your own fucking business, bastard,” Ethan says.
Silas’s hands fist, and he leans menacingly into his younger brother. Stepbrother? I don’t know what you call them, but I know now, although no one speaks of it, that Silas is Mr. Fox’s illegitimate son with Esmerelda. I don’t really understand the dynamics between them all, how Mira can be fine having Esmerelda and Silas on their doorstep.
“Silas, honey,” the woman says, wrapping pretty, manicured hands around Silas’s arm. “He’s a kid,” she whispers.
“Old enough to know better,” he says to Ethan then turns back to me. He scans the pool area, and when hefinds my towel, he brings it over, wraps it around my shoulders and lifts me up in his arms.
Shocked, I gasp. I’ve never been this close to him. I rarely interact with Silas, even though I see him around a lot. Honestly, he makes me a little nervous, like I never know what to say and I just end up staring. If we do interact, it’s in passing or when he comes to talk to his mom while I’m around. That day they moved in was probably the longest conversation we’ve ever had.
Now, this close to him, all I can do is cling to his shoulders as he carries me into the house, his bare chest against mine, the smell of aftershave beneath that of chlorine. My heart racing in my chest.
He looks down at me, raises his eyebrows.
I’m staring. I blink, looking away. “I’m okay. You can put me down.”
He ignores me and takes me not into the main house, like I thought he would, but to the cottage, which is dark. He switches on the light, and I look around as the woman and Ethan follow. Silas carries me into the bathroom, a simple room with simple fixtures with two towels hanging up on the towel rack and two toothbrushes by the sink. I see one of Esmerelda’s hair ties and notice a bottle of his aftershave. I know it’s his because I’ve smelled it at the mall and smelled it on him. They must share the bathroom.
“Can you stand?”
I look at Silas again, and nod.
He sets me down but keeps an arm around me as he reaches to switch on the shower.
“I’m fine,” I say, shivering, my face burning red when I see the woman and Ethan watching us.
“You’ll warm up, then I’ll take you home.” He tests the water then switches it to shower mode before turning to Ethan. “Make yourself useful and get her clothes, idiot.”
Ethan flips him off, but he goes. I don’t miss the ringing of his phone as he walks away or him answering. It’s Anya. Again.
Silas mutters something under his breath and turns to me. “Get in the shower, O. You can hand me your bathing suit once you’re in. I’ll be right back.”
“I’m fine. I’m really… I can just shower at home.”
“I’m guessing you don’t want your father to find out you nearly drowned, do you?”
I shake my head.
He gestures to the shower, and I step in. He nods, then sends the woman away. I’m grateful.
