Chapter 4
Josiah led Rossalyn through the front door of his house by her hand. He felt her tug to a stop so he stopped a little in front of her, her arm stretched toward him by his hold. She was looking around with a mixture of shock and awe on her face. Looking around as well, he supposed he did have a grand entry way. Probably much more fancy than she was accustomed to seeing. He tried to see everything through the eyes of someone that was not used to being in places like his, but he was unable to. Exposure for as long as he'd lived there had made it impossible for him to put himself into her position.
"I'm going to show you to your bedroom. Its late so I figure I'll let you settle in for the night and we can start in the morning. Its just up these stairs." Josiah told her giving her hand a gentle tug to indicate he wanted her attention.
"Oh, O-okay." Rossalyn said giving her head a little shake to snap out of her oogling of the space around her. She was exceedingly uncomfortable in the place.
She followed him up the stairs to the hallway that led deeper into the house. It was nicely furnished and decorated with tasteful art. Though the rooms she could see into all seemed to be painted an off shade of white. There were several rooms lining the hallway, most of them had their doors standing open. She looked into them as they passed and seen that most were set up as offices closer to the front of the house. Toward the back half there were extra bedrooms set up. Seeing how they were decorated she thought to herself, if this does actually happen she'd need to teach the man some things about color. Everything was a beige or off white. But she said nothing of her thoughts.
Josiah stopped in front of the door to the last room on the right side of the hallway and opened it for her. She went inside ahead of him as he gestured for her to and looked around nervously. It was the nicest room she'd ever been inside in her life. Even the few hotel rooms she'd occupied on family vacations as a child didn't compare. She seen two simple duffle bags sitting in the arm chair next to the bed and she assumed they held some of her belongings as Josiah had mentioned before.
Josiah watched her as she looked around the room, seemingly in confusion. "The room has an en suite bathroom through that door over there," he pointed to the right to a door that was halfway open though dark inside, "your closet is over there." he pointed to the other door in the room in between the bedroom door and french doors that opened up on a balcony that looked out over the back of the property. "You won't find anything in here in which to harm me or my staff with. Though you should have everything you need to be comfortable. There will be someone outside the door all night that has been instructed to provide you anything you need, should you require anything before morning."
"You act as if I'm a prisoner or something." She commented looking over at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I have simply taken precautions. Until you've settled in and earned some trust, you'll not have free roam of my estate." Josiah shrugged as he moved backwards toward the bedroom door.
"I see. So when I leave the room I'll be under guard should I decide to runaway." Her eyes narrowed as she watched him prepare to leave the room.
"Rest assured you're not being held here against your wishes. Should you change your mind you're quite free to leave. But, that would reinstate your brother's debts immediately. I'm not someone that would force a woman to the alter at gun point." He said, sounding almost offended.
"You may as well have." She muttered, though made sure it was under her breath and wouldn't carry across the room to him.
"What was that?" He asked, almost sure she'd said something uncomplimentary. He wondered if she'd be honest with what she'd said or lie.
"I would like a bath." She said, implying that was what she had said the whole time. She didn't think he'd do anything to harm her, yet she was not willing to test him while she felt so vulnerable.
"I see. I will let you have some privacy." Josiah said, sighing deeply.
"Goodnight." She said with an air of dismissal. She turned her back to him gazing around the room again while she waited for him to leave the room.
He stood watching her back for a minute before exiting the room. She heard the door close and some quiet shuffling outside the door and assumed that it was the guard taking his place outside the door. She was under no delusions that the guard was placed there for her convenience to bring her anything she wished to have. He may have been given instructions to get her anything she wanted, within reason obviously, but she was sure, should she try to leave in the middle of the night, that request would not be so easily obliged.
She let out a sigh of relief and felt some of the tension in her spine release when she was no longer in his presence. She went to the duffle bags and opened them and started going through the contents. She pulled out some clothes, her travel bag of toiletries, hair brush, make-up bag, and her jewelry box. She felt a wave of anger flow through her, but it was fruitless. How could she reprimand someone for going through her belongings when the thought behind it had at least been consideration? She was angry that someone had went through her belongings without her knowledge and permission, but she wasn't upset at the fact that she at least had some things that she needed to feel comfortable.
She some thin cotton pajama shorts out of the pile of clothes along with a tank top and made her way to the bathroom. She hoped there was a really nice bathtub that she could soak in. She had little hope of the tension easing enough for her to sleep without a long bath. She had a lot of thinking to do if she was going to come to any kinds of terms with the life that she now had to look forward to. She turned on the light and looked around and happiness filled her. There was a deep jaccuzi tub situated toward the back of the bathroom with bottles of soap and shampoo on a shelf that attached to the wall behind it, low enough to be reached from the tub.
She turned the water on and set the temperature for the tub to fill while she prepared herself for the bath. After a few fruitless searches through random doors, she finally found the stock of towels and washcloths. She removed his jacket and carefully laid it on the counter to be returned to him in the morning then removed her costume, as she liked to think of the skimpy outfits she wore at the club. Once she was free of the garmets she had no intention of ever wearing again she eased herself into the hot water of the bathtub. She pushed the button for the jets and settled in to have a long think about her life and what she was supposed to do about the impossible situation she found herself in.