Page 23 of The Nanny and the Don
I was being as cooperative as my smart mouth would let me, but I was sure Mr. Gray’s patience with me was running thin. Aside from the circumstances that brought me to his house, I kind of liked it. I only wished Kelsea could have been here with me. She needed to see how the other half lived just as much as I did.
Then again, I had no idea how she was living these days. She’d been swept off her feet by some rich guy. Although that wasn’t exactly my fate, I guessed we were in the same boat on that front. Unfortunately, I’d been swept off my feet against my will.
When I made it to the living room, I stopped in my tracks frowning at the boxes on the table. Was he up here? Suddenly I felt naked in the oversized T-shirt nightgown I’d slept in. Mr. Gray had seen me in far less when he snatched me out of my house, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be exposed now. It only took a second for me to realize that he was no longer there. I didn’t know how I felt about him coming in here while I was asleep, but he had already made it abundantly clear that he didn’t care how I felt.
Apparently, he’d dropped the boxes off and left. I moved closer to the table hoping that neither of those boxes had a bomb in them. I was sure he wasn’t going to kill me until he found Brendan though. That gave me hope and anxiety all in one.
I opened the flat box and plopped down on the couch. Well actually, my knees gave out and lowered me to the couch. It was the book. My book. The one I was listening to when Mr. Gray drug me out of my house. He got it for me. Why would he do that?
I hugged it to my chest before putting it back on the table and tearing into the other package. After seeing the book, I thoughtI would never get to finish, I didn’t know what in the world to expect from the second package.
When I got to the packaging, I frowned at the name engraved on the little box. Since I knew the designer, I wasn’t surprised to find a jewelry box inside. As soon as I opened the box, it went crashing to the floor. It was like I lost the use of my fingers when the sparkly diamonds twinkled in my eyes. Obviously, he had made a mistake of leaving that box here.
There was no way he meant to give me a diamond watch. What was he doing dressing me up for the coroner? I shook my head as I picked the watch up and put it back on the table next to my new book. There was no doubt in my mind that the book was for me.
I found myself smiling as I stood and walked to the bathroom to take my hair out of the braids I slept in. If I had time, I usually put my hair in a couple of braids to keep it from getting matted and tangled at night.
As crazy as this whole situation was, I looked forward to spending time with the kids again. At the same time, I missed Kelsea. She must have been worried sick about me. Then again, it had only been a day since I was abducted.
Since she had her new man to worry about, it was normal for us to go a few days without talking to each other. Not that I was mad at that. I was happy that my girl had someone to occupy her time that actually made her happy for a change. That didn’t mean I didn’t get lonely and miss the days when my girl was single.
I buried myself in work and school hoping that I was on the right path to get out of the struggle for good. Unlike Kelsea, I didn’t feel like a man was my savior. I followed her playbook and got involved with a man with a little disposable income and look where that got me. I wanted to strangle Brendan myself for dragging me into his shit. Where the hell was he?
I was starting to think he didn’t plan on coming back. I wasn’t sure how much money he had taken, but if it was enough to make a man kidnap someone as collateral, then there was no telling when he would resurface. There was some coconut oil on the bathroom counter that I put on my hair once I had it out of the braids. I wasn’t sure what time the kids got up, but I wanted to get downstairs before they got up.
Since Mr. Gray hadn’t come up to get me this time, I tried my luck and was surprised to find that the door was already unlocked. I assumed that was my cue to go downstairs when I was ready. If not, I was walking right out of the front door. I would just have to walk ten miles to the next house. Simon and Gerry were going to have to earn the blood money they were being paid to keep me there.
It was fairly quiet as I trudged down the stairs. That was a telltale sign that the kids weren’t awake. The only time that they were remotely quiet was when I kept them busy. I didn’t mind a little noise, but I also understood that their uncle was trying to work, which was why I wanted to take them outside today. Besides, children needed to spend time outside.
I opened the front door, causing Big and Bigger to look back simultaneously. One of them shook his head as he started walking in my direction. Rolling my eyes, I slammed the door before he could get any closer.
“Wow, you are gorgeous. How tall are you?”
I was briefly startled by a woman’s voice as I looked back and spotted a woman around my age with black scrubs on. Miguel told me that he worked every other day so I assumed this must be the chef that worked when he wasn’t here.
“Um, thank you. I’m around five-ten,” I told her.
“Mr. Gray told me he finally hired a nanny, but he didn’t tell me what a knockout you were.” She grinned.
“Thank you. I hope the kids aren’t up yet.”
“No, ma’am. They will sleep as long as you let them but will stay up all night long. I’m the housekeeper, but I helped him with them for the past few weeks while Mr. Gray was looking for the perfect nanny for them. They are a handful but they’re good kids. I’m not going to pretend that I’m not happy to see you.”
I laughed, understanding her pain. Everybody wasn’t cut out to take care of children. Apparently, their uncle fell into that category.
“I spent time getting to know them yesterday. I’m going to work on getting them on a schedule.”
“More power to you,” she said with a small laugh. “I’m Sicily. What’s your name?”
“Devlan.”
“Nice to meet you, Devlan. Miguel is off today, so we’ll have to fend for ourselves. Mr. Gray usually orders in. I’m on my intermittent fasting kick to lose these last ten pounds so I don’t eat until after twelve.”
I shrugged. “I’ll probably make breakfast for me and the kids since I’m here.”
“I’ll just tell you they are picky,” she said, shaking her head.
I nodded remembering trying to get them to try green beans yesterday. “I got a little glimpse of that yesterday. They refuse to touch anything green.”
