Page 35 of The Christmas Nanny

Stephanie had shed the workout clothes for a one-piece white jumper. It hugged her curves tighter than Saran wrap. I started to sit next to Christine, but Stephanie cleared her throat and nodded at the chair beside her. They were seriously trying to control every move we made in their house.

“I hope you got settled in,” Quartermain said. He snapped his fingers, and the kitchen help appeared with the evening’s meal. I had no idea what they put on my plate, but it smelled damn good. A young woman approached with a bottle of wine and filled our glasses. Quartermain raised his glass. “To our new working relationship.”

Christine clinked her glass against Quartermain’s but never looked in my direction. Quartermain did, however. He’d had every intention of taking Christine away from me. He was rich, so he thought he got everything he wanted. That’s not how things would go because I wasn’t giving up that easily. He watched me as he sipped his wine, his eyes shifting when Stephanie placed her hand on my leg.

Christine’s eyes grew wide as she watched Stephanie move her chair closer.

Quartermain placed his glass on the table, grabbed Christine’s chair, and pulled it close.

I put my glass down and watched Christine through the flickering candles. She leaned into Quartermain and kissed him. What the fuck?

Stephanie grabbed my hand and placed it against her hot crotch.

“Wait,” I said. “I see what’s going on. You two are playing some game, and Christine and I are pieces to move around the board.”

“And you’re being paid plenty to play the game,” Quartermain said. “So, quit your bitching and play the game.”

I stood and started around the table after Quartermain. A large man appeared out of the darkness and stepped between Quartermain and me.

“Sit down, Jacob,” Stephanie said.

“Fuck this,” I said and started out of the room. Another large man appeared, blocking the way out. “So now we’re prisoners?”

“Please have a seat, Jacob,” Stephanie said. “You absolutely aren’t a prisoner. You’re free to go anytime.” She glanced at Quartermain, whose jaws clenched, eyes narrowed.

I sized up the man in front of me, thinking I could lay him out in a single punch if I had to. I let the thought go and returned to my seat.

“I want to know what the fuck is going on,” I said.

“It’s simple, Jacob,” Quartermain said. “We hired you for our pleasure.”

“The two of you agreed to this shit?”

Stephanie nodded and took a bite of the meat on her plate. “You were both carefully selected.”

“How the hell was I selected?” I asked. I waited for Christine to speak up, but she stayed silent.

Stephanie took a couple of bites and put her fork down. She looked fucking fantastic in the white jumper, and the way the candles reflected in her eyes gave her an elegant, dreamy appearance. Truth be told, I would have been willing to fuck her right there on the dinner table. “Over the summer, I attended an art hop that included Tome’s in the Dark District.”

“You saw my art.”

“I saw your art and was intrigued.”

Quartermain cleared his thought, irritated that he was left out of the conversation. “Christine was selected based on past performance. We hadn’t planned on the two of you running into each other. That was unfortunate. Nevertheless, there’s a game to be played.”

“You have nothing to say?” I asked Christine. She shook her head. “What the fuck did you do to her?”

Quartermain snapped his fingers, and someone handed him an envelope. “In my world, money talks, Jacob.” He slid the envelope to Christine. “Open it.”

Christine opened the envelope and removed a handful of hundred-dollar bills. “What would you like, Sir,” Christine said.

“Charles, no,” Stephanie said. “We agreed.”

Quartermain, still watching me, moved his chair back. “I want you to suck my dick, Christine.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Christine, no,” I said. “We can go.”

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