Sam Evans knew something wasn't right with the scene in front of him. He either should be rushing the girl to the hospital to see if she had a concussion or calling the police and letting them deal with the matter. His eyes wandered back to the female lying on his bed with a make shift ice pouch over her forehead. He could have taken her to a guest room, but hadn't thought it through. He was tired and knew he had to lay her down somewhere. Maybe a part of him thought he would be able to sleep in his bed as well, but knew no sleep would come to him until she woke up. Sam glanced at his closet door where he hid her pack, already knowing the contents that it contained. He had looked through it an hour ago after making sure she was okay. What he found only confirmed his suspicions that she was indeed a thief and had been trying to steal from him.

Sam knew he should call the cops and let the matter rest. That had been the original plan when he heard the floorboards creaking and went to investigate until he saw the nasty fall the girl took. He hadn't been able to see when her head hit the bookshelf, but heard it nonetheless and saw when she hit her head a second time against the hardwood floor. His anger had melted into shock that the burglar was that much of a klutz, but when he noticed it was a female laying of his floor moaning in pain the thought of calling the police slipped his mind as he ran to check if she was fine. He was only able to catch a glimpse of her caramel eyes before she fell unconscious. Now his mind was running in circles filled with questions. Why had she targeted this house? Was there even a reason? Should he call the police? What if the hit to her head had hurt her badly? The more he thought about it the more worry began to claw at him. Just as he was about to walk to the phone to call for an ambulance a groan broke through the silence in the room. Sam looked over his shoulder to see the girl waking as her eyes slowly opened. He watched silently as confusion clouded her gaze as she looked around before they met his gaze. Confusion melted into surprise before mingling with slight guilt. Before Sam could come to any conclusions from the emotions showing through her eyes she flinched as she removed the ice pack from her head and sat up slowly.

Wordlessly Sam grabbed the Advil pills he placed on the nightstand, along with the glass of water, and passed them to the girl. She looked at him, surprised for a moment before taking the pills and drowning them down with the water. He grabbed the empty cup from her and placed it back on the nightstand. Silence reigned over them again as he waited for her to speak.

Rachel had to think of something quick, but the blows to her head were making it really difficult. She didn't know what to expect when she woke up, but she definitely didn't expect to wake up on a soft bed and have a man hand her painkillers without saying a word. Not to mention, from what she had seen of the room, Rachel knew it was the master bedroom; which only proved that the man standing beside the bed was the owner of the house she had been trying to break in. At any moment he could call the cops on her if he hadn't already. "Come on think!" Another wave of pain hit her, causing Rachel to clutch her head.

"Are you all right?"

She heard concern mixing in with the fatigue in his voice as he asked the question. Rachel looked over at him and met his gaze. "Not really, it hurts." She rubbed her head lightly to ease the pain. "Where am I?" Rachel wanted to smack herself in the head for asking such a clichéd question. But maybe if she played the amnesia card, he would let her go or something. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand when he narrowed his eyes on her.

"You don't remember?"

Rachel shook her head. "…I'm sorry."

"Do at least remember your name?"

"I believe it's…" Rachel pretended to think hard as she looked away from him contemplating about telling him her really name, but she saw no harm in it. "Rachel…"

Sam could see right through her lie as clear as daybreak and he didn't know why it amused him so. Ever since being forced to go on his vacation and moving into the town of Shadow Falls where the wealthy of old and prestige families that founded the town lived, he had grown bored. The only few exceptions being Noah Puckerman, the town's sheriff, and a few of the elderly folks who were truly kind—instead of pretending—provided him with amusement on a few occasions. At age thirty, Sam, at times regretted not having married yet and starting a family—especially when he had to leave on his vacations. He hated being alone and so he would throw himself into his work. There had been a time when he did contemplate getting married with his friend Quinn Fabray, but the when he had finally gotten the courage to ask her out, he found out that she was dating the CEO of Hudson Corp.—which is in charge of distributing sports equipment and made billions of dollars annually.

Not to say that Sam was nowhere near as powerful or rich as Finn Hudson. When it came to power and wealth, Sam rivaled that of Finn's and, one could even say, he surpassed the other man. However when it came to the dating field, Sam lacked in that category. He had his fair share of woman, but none of them ever caught his attention like Quinn had and when he heard of their engagement—it was like a punch to his gut. When the wedding took place, Sam went because Quinn had asked him, but he was gone by the time the sun had set and only took one picture with her—making sure to congratulate her and Finn before leaving.

Afterward, everything from there on went downhill. He couldn't concentrate and would snap at his workers. Three months later, they had enough and booted him out of his own company—forcing him on a three-month vacation. He couldn't even curse them because they were still paying him a salary. So, to kill time, he had bought a new house in Shadow Falls and barely finished moving in a week ago. He hadn't really contacted anyone to announce his move; he guessed they could easily track him down and he sure as hell wasn't telling Quinn. She was the last person he wanted to see or talk to. So far his stay in Shadow Falls had been nice and he would hang out with the elderly folk. They had entertaining stories that would help the hours pass by quicker, not to mention they would constantly try to hook him up with their granddaughters.

And now his house was about to be mugged by what appeared to be a young woman who was faking amnesia. Shadow Falls was truly something else. At least he knew she was saying the truth about her name since she was carrying her ID—which was a really bad idea when one wanted to rob. If she wanted to lie, then two could play at that game. "What else do you remember?" He asked faking his concern as he walked closer to her.

"Nothing really." Rachel frowned at him.

Sam had to bite back a smile when he saw her looking at him warily. "I was afraid of that." He frowned. "The bump to your head caused you to get amnesia." Sam took a seat on the bed and wondered for a moment if she would slap his hand away as he raised it toward her. "You gave me quite the scare." He whispered to her, hiding his own surprise when she didn't slap his hand away and let him tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

Rachel felt a blush burn her cheeks as his eyes soften as he gazed upon her. She gulped nervously. "What is he trying to do?"

"It's hard to believe that you have forgotten about me." Sam looked at her with pleading eyes. He wanted to give himself a pat on the back when he saw the panic in her gaze.

"What are you to me?" Rachel asked the question she was dreading. He looked like a handsome man, but she knew something was wrong about him by the way he was acting with her. She hadn't forgotten her memories and he was trying to take advantage of her fake amnesia. "What am I to you?"

Sam knew it was time to go in for the kill by the way her body went rigid. "You're my wife."

A bomb could have exploded in the front yard and it would have been ignored. Rachel felt dread fill her. She wanted to yell at him that she wasn't and hit him for taking advantage of the situation. "B-b-but how? I don't even have a ring!" She pointed to her empty ring finger.

"That's because you threw it out the window after our argument saying you wanted a divorce." Sam looked at the window with saddened eyes. "I tried to reason with you, but you wouldn't listen. The next thing I knew, you were walking out the room and had slipped on the rug. Your head hit the staircase railing and then the hardwood floor."

Rachel looked at him with disbelieving eyes. He was twisting the story completely! "Are you sure you didn't push me down?"

Sam had to clear his throat to keep himself from bursting out laughing. He couldn't believe she just asked him that. He risked a glance at her to see the horrified look in her eyes. "I'm highly offended that you just asked that question. I hope you know I have been nothing but loving to you. Although I may put my work before our marriage, that doesn't mean I love you any less." Sam pleaded with her making Rachel more nervous. "I know it's been a while since I've taken you out for a romantic dinner and that you have been implying that it's been months since we've done anything other than sleep next to each other on our bed."

"What?"

But Sam continued on as if she hadn't spoken. "I'll take you out to dinner and remind you why you love me like I do you. I swear, Rachel, I'm not cheating on you. I just want to be with you. Let me spend this vacation winning you back." He saw the way she shook her head and knew she was about to crack. "What do you say?" He was giving her a chance to come clean now and then he could decide what he would with her. All he wanted to know was why she broke into his house and—if he let her go—was she going to try again.

Rachel took a deep breath to calm herself, she couldn't believe what was happening. She could tell him the truth then he might just call the cops and she would be fined, and would have to be bailed out with money she didn't have. Rachel could not fail; her father needed her. She had to find that portrait no matter what, even going as far as to deal with a fake marriage with a man who was taking advantage of the situation. "I'll give you a chance." Rachel barely noticed the surprise look in his gaze. "But the moment you mess up, I'm walking out with or without my memories of you."

To say that Sam was surprised was an understatement. Why would she put up with this situation? He knew he was placing her between a rock and a hard place only because he wanted to know what she was doing breaking into his house. Now that she agreed, he knew that it wasn't a random break in. She wanted something—badly—and he was curious to know just what was it that she wanted. No one in the public knew about him purchasing and moving into this house. At least he didn't think so—unless it had been leaked. This would be very interesting for him. "Thank you." Sam whispered to her as he pressed a kiss against her cheek. He felt her inhaling sharply. Sam pulled away to see her blushing for only a moment before he met her gaze.

"Don't you think I should at least know the name of my husband?"

"It's Sam Evans." He waited to see the recognition in her gaze, just like everyone else when he said his name, but instead he saw genuine confusion. "She doesn't know who I am." The thought brought a smile to his lips as he got up and walked to the door. "You should go to bed."

"What about you?" Rachel watched him suspiciously.

"I have to make sure all the windows and doors are locked." Sam said as he opened the door. "You don't know what type of people might want to break in." He winked at her over his shoulder before walking out. He had a few calls to make to have their fake marriage appear as realistic as possible.

Rachel watched after him, shocked. "Does he know?" She thought frantically. "No it can't be. Why would he be acting like this, then?" Rachel tried to calm herself again as she looked at the closed door. She knew she should look around for clues but, at the moment, she was tired and her head was beginning to hurt again. Rachel lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. She hoped that maybe tomorrow she would find the portrait and leave without dealing with Sam Evans anymore than necessary. He was too much for her to handle at the moment. As Rachel drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help, but think she heard or read of the name Sam Evans before. But she wasn't that sure.

In the back of her head, she felt when the other side of the bed dipped slightly under extra weight and rolled toward that side when she felt the warmth it offered. For a moment Rachel could have sworn she heard a chuckle, but thought she was dreaming.

AN: As you can see Sam knows Rachel is lying and wants to see how far he can push her buttons before she cracks and tells him what she was doing breaking into his home. I hope you liked this chapter. I want to thank The Wonderful Mistique and serena527 for reviewing! As for the rest, come on! I know you're reading it cus of all the hits. What I don't understand is why can't you leave me one review? It doesn't have to be big or anything. =) It can be small and you can tell me whether you like it or not and how I can improve you get my drift. So please review it helps me out and it means a lot to me. (^_^)

AN 2: A special thank you to my beta MissBreePhoenix613.