Chapter 8

He had been sleeping in the guest room. In the room just down the hall when he heard Valentina  scream. He rushed into the room, this time, not bothering to knock.

She was seated upright, in a pool of sweat, her hair plastered on her face. She had a hand on her chest and she was panting slightly. The room was unbelievably cold, despite the fact that the windows were locked.

"What's going on?"

He asked as he rushed to her side.

She broke her gaze and stared at him, she looked like she was suddenly coming out of whatever trance she had been in.

"Bad dream."

She murmured.

"Are you okay?"

He asked as he touched her shoulder slightly and she nodded.

She went back to fluffing her pillows, as if he wasn't next to her, half naked and scared shitless that something bad had happened to her.

"I'm fine."

She muttered as she laid back on the bed, ready to sleep.

"Okay."

Remy murmured.

Her back was turned to him and she seemed like she was waiting for him to leave. He felt strangely hurt that she could be so cruel.

"Okay then."

He answered in a clipped tone as he made his way to leave.

"Remy?"

She called out when he was halfway across the room.

Remy sighed in relief, relieved that she was coming to her senses.

"Yes?!"

He rushed back to her side.

She turned and looked at him, really looked at him.

He was wearing boxer briefs and that really left nothing to the imagination. She could see everything. The outline, the shape, just everything!!!

And he was shirtless too. Upfront she could see he had a lot of tattoos, interesting ones, if she wasn't so weary of him she would actually be interested in looking at them and studying them for a long time. And his hair, oh gods his hair.

It was the first time she had seen it loose. And the dark wet waves fell across his face and neck, just looking at it, she could tell that it was soft and sikly and she wondered how it would feel running her hands through them

"Don't forget to switch off the lights on your way back out."

She finally said and turned back to her pillow.

Remy stood there. Utterly dumbfounded.

"That's it?!"

He asked incredulously and she sat upright to look at him.

"Was there something else you were expecting?!"

She asked she raised her eyebrows and he ran a hand through his hair as he groaned.

"A thank you maybe?"

"I practically ran across the hall when I heard you screaming. I was worried something happened to you."

"I told you, it was just a bad dream."

She answered and he glared at her.

"Fine then."

He murmured as he walked out.

He didn't switch off the lights on his way out.

Valentina narrowed her eyes at him.

"So petty."

She grumbled as she stood up and turned off the light switch herself.

Breakfast had its fair share of awkwardness the next morning. Ellen had made sure to drag Valentina downstairs for breakfast and she met Remy at the dinner table in the middle of eating a piece of toast. The table was set, the chef had made an array of eggs, waffles, toast, warm syrup, cheese, steaming black coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice.

Valentina was  famished. She and Remy had both murmured their good mornings, with her eyes avoiding his. She had found it hard getting that image of him shirtless out of her head even though she was fighting hard to forget it.

They both said nothing else to each other as Valentina piled eggs onto her plate while Remy pretended to read the morning paper. He had put his hair back into a bun again and it looked like he had shaved. When she passed him he smelled of aftershave and mint. Fresh and clean. She was determined to ignore him all day.

"Oh! I think I heard you screaming last night, was everything okay?"

Ellen asked and Valentina nodded. She had been thinking about the nightmare. She wondered if the girl was someone she knew. Or someone who Remy would know, but asking him would mean that she would have to have a conversation with him.

"Yes. Just a bad dream."

"Oh. I'm sorry about that..."

"Thank you."

She murmured in reply as she quickly glanced at Remy and found out that he was watching her.

Kale came to join them at the table. He was wearing grey silk pyjamas. She didn't know who he was to the Albrechts but he seemed to be a very good friend of Remy. They talked in hushed tones when she was around and disappeared into his office together.

"What was the dream about?"

Remy was the one who asked.

Valentina shrugged.

"Just some girl in the woods. She grabbed me."

"Did you recognize her?"

He asked and she shot him a look.

"If I did, would I have been screaming?!"

She retorted. Remy ignored her retort.

"What did she look like?"

Valentina struggled to remember, the details were already getting hazy. But she remembered those eyes and the curly blond hair.

"She had green eyes and curly hair."

"Speaking of curly hair, Marielle just called, she's coming today."

Kale interrupted.

Remy'e eyes shot up to his friend.

"Really? So soon?"

Kale nodded. A small smile on his face.

"Yes. She heard about Valentina being back and decided to come home."

Ellen smiled.

"That's good. We could really use her help around here."

Ellen looked relieved and Valentina wondered who Marielle was. They all looked happy to know that she was coming back.

"Who's Marielle?"

She asked and they turned to her.

"She's a good friend of mine. she lives here."

Remy was the one who answered.

Valentina poked at her food.

"Will you be doing any painting today?"

Ellen changed the conversation as she glanced at Valentina.

Valentina looked mortified. Oh the thought of her in that stuffy dark room with all the grotesque paintings made her want to throw up.

She quickly shook her head.

"Yea... I don't think I'd be doing any painting for a while."

Thankfully, Ellen didn't ask anymore questions.

They made more small talk, with basically Kale and Remy talking about their plans for the day while Ellen pitched in once in a while.

Valentina realised that none of them actually had a real job, or talked about having one. Sure Remy went about running his errands and Kale often spoke to him about stuff she didn't know about, she strongly believed that he didn't have a job.

"What do you do for work?"

She asked out of the blues, her question directed at Remy. He looked surprised.

"Me?"

He asked and she nodded as she took a sip out of her coffee.

"You don't mention work. So I was wondering what it was you actually do."

"Real estate."

He answered.

Valentina raised her eyebrows, a smirk on her lips.

"Is that a fancy way of saying you're unemployed?"

She asked and Remy chuckled.

"No. It's a fancy way of saying I'll never have to worry about money for the rest of my life."

Interesting.

She said in her mind as she studied him.

She had the overwhelming feeling that he was hiding something.

All of them were hiding something from her, She just couldn't figure out what it was. At the moment.

But till then, she couldn't trust him. She couldn't trust all of them. And even though she didn't know who or what person A was referring to in the texts in her phone, she had a strong feeling it was all about him.

Marielle's arrival brought a buzz around the house. Clearly she was special enough for everyone to like her. And for some reason, Valentina was extremely curious about her and who she was to the family.

Marielle was stunning. She had the kind of beauty that you would see on magazine covers. Tall, lithe, with dark smooth skin that reminded her of hot chocolate and coily black hair that she let frame her face. She had strong features too. Deep brown almond shaped eyes with high cheekbones and full lips. She had the brightest smile and Valentina looked at her and Remy hug happily with an unfamiliar feeling lodged in her chest.

Sooner than later someone knocked on her door and she tried to make herself look presentable. She had tied what she could of her choppy black hair with a hair band and had worn the pink and red dress that she found lying in the closet.

Marielle walked into the room with Remy and she notice that the high end tall boots she was wearing made her seem as if she was on the same height with him.

"Hi!!!!"

She squealed ashe she pulled Valentina in for a hug.

"I was so excited when I heard the news. I'm happy you're back."

Sh sounded genuined.

Valentina smiled uneasily. She wished she could remember her.

"Thank you."

"What happened to your hair?!"

She asked with a small gasp and Valentina touched her hair slightly.

She didn't know. She had no idea. Remy told her she  had long black hair but somewhere around when she ran off she must have chopped it all off.

"She doesn't remember anything either."

He answered and Mariellle looked sympathetic.

"I think I can still fix it a little and give you another haircut. This looks uneven."

"I appreciate that."

Valentina replied.

Marielle, she didn't sound so bad. And the more she talked, the more Valentina ealised that she didn't actually mind her, or her company.

It was nice having a friendly face around.