Page 16 of Number 10 Affair

My parents went all the way to Poland to adopt me when I was only a toddler. Apparently, my mum’s mother was Polish, so my mother was familiar with the culture, and since my parents couldn’t have any children of their own, they’d both decided that they wanted to adopt a child from Eastern Europe. I knew I had a sister somewhere in the world, but I didn’t know what had happened to her. We were separated when I was adopted. I wasn’t sure if she’d stayed back in Poland, and since I only knew a few words, it was difficult for me to communicate with anyone there to find out what had happened. After I’d graduated, my career took off. I’d travelled there a few times but never got anywhere with the local authorities. I wasn’t willing to give up just yet, though. I hoped someday I would find her again.

In the past month, Veronica had been paying for everything, and I wanted to make it up to her. Spencer’s assistant had sent me my new contract, and when I’d seen the salary, I just about lost my mind. It was seventy thousand pounds a year! This would have been an impossible sum to make before, not to mention inclusions of all the other luxuries, such as accommodation and travel expenses and other perks.

Veronica usually worked every other weekend, but she attended to her exclusive clientele throughout the week, so whenever I worked, we would rarely see each other. Maybe Spencer wanted me to distance myself from her because she worked for the Emperor VIP Club. I was discreet, but he was probably apprehensive, especially after what had happened during the first night we’d met.

The next morning, a car took me back to Number 10 with Cath, one of Spencer’s assistants, greeting me at the door.

“Are you sure this is the correct salary?” I asked Cath upon my arrival, whilst she waited for me to finish reading the contract and the NDA.

She glanced at the sum I pointed out and nodded.

“Yes, it’s correct,” she said and smiled. “You’re working for the head of state, so it’s only fair that you should be compensated well. Mr Banks also asked me to send you an advance payment for any other expenses. Will that suffice?”

As a notification of a five-thousand-pound transfer popped up on my temporary phone, my jaw dropped. Damn! This job was paying more than I could’ve imagined, I no longer had to stress about bills.

“Yes, that’s more than enough. Thank you,” I said after recovering from my mini heart attack.

We completed all the paperwork, and Catherine took me back to the residential part of Number 10.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Laura,” Maja said as I walked into the kitchen. “Tell Phoebe she needs to make me pancakes for breakfast.”

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it,” Cath said, giving me an encouraging smile.

Phoebe had already started tidying up the kitchen.

“Good morning, Maja,” I said with a warm smile. She was so cute in her school uniform. “Did you sleep well last night?”

She gave me an inquisitive stare before responding, “Yes, thank you.”

“I said to Miss Maja that I've already made waffles for her. We don’t want to throw any food away. There are a lot of kids out there who are starving and would be very grateful for such a tasty breakfast,” the woman grumbled in a thick Scottish accent. She was much shorter than me, with thick, dark hair pulled back in a bun, and even thicker eyebrows.

“Phoebe, please, my dad likes pancakes, and I think he'll have breakfast with us if you make them,” Maja whined.

Just then, Cath walked into the kitchen and handed me my phone. The screen had been fixed, and it also had a new case on it.

“One of my assistants just brought it in,” she said.

“Oh, really? Thank you so much. How much do I owe you?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it. Now, I've to run. Good to see you both,” she chirped before exiting the kitchen.

I ran my hand over the brand-new screen. It was so nice of him to do this, but I needed to tell him to deduct the repair cost from my salary.

I turned around and took a step towards the housekeeper. “I’m sorry, we haven’t been introduced. My name is Laura—”

“Laura Watkins, this is Phoebe, our housekeeper, who we very much adore. Laura is my new nanny,” Spencer’s deep voice interjected. He looked so damn handsome in a grey suit and crisp white shirt, accompanied by a dashing smile.

My mind screamed at me to keep it together, but my ovaries were having none of it.

“Oh, another new nanny,” Phoebe commented. “I hope she isn’t going to be chased away like the others were.”

Maja seemed distressed, and unfortunately, Spencer had already declared that he had to leave for an important conference call and turned to make his way back out of the kitchen.

“What about the pancakes?” Maja muttered to Phoebe.

“Your father probably has a million things to do and, as usual, no time for breakfast,” she replied.

“A word, Spencer.” I hurried after him as he left the kitchen and then stopped, turning to face me.

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