Page 28 of Nanny and the Beast

I debate whether I want to tell her the truth.

“I saw him at the club yesterday,” I admit. “We bumped into each other. I don’t think he recognized me, but I recognized him. Do you think that has anything to do with why he selected me?”

She purses her lips.

Confidentiality is something they pride themselves on at the gentlemen’s club. She’s not going to give me anything about Mr. Sinclair’s nighttime rendezvouses.

“All I’ll say right now is that he’ll do anything, absolutelyanything, for those kids,” she says. “And he’s decided that the best thing for those kids is you.”

There’s an intensity in her eyes that tells me that she knows more than she’s letting on. It seems like everyone in this town has their secrets.

I wonder how well she knows the Sinclair family. Because if there’s anyone who knows about the people who inhabit this town, it’s Mrs. Hendricks.

“Okay,” I whisper.

“Do you have any other questions for me?” she asks.

“Not right now,” I say. I’ve already been briefed about what the job entails. I know what’s expected of me.

What I’m really curious about is the kid’s uncle—the mysterious man with the haunted eyes. But I can’t ask her questions about him just because I seem to have developed some type of fascination with him.

“Well, if you need anything, you know how to reach me,” she says.

I finish my hibiscus tea and stand. I clutch my purse close to my chest. A mix of euphoria and panic floods my system.

“Oh, and Emma?” Mrs. Hendricks calls out.

I turn. “Yes?”

“We take confidentiality very seriously at this agency. The personal lives of all my clients should be respected. No matter what you see at Sinclair mansion, I expect you to keep it to yourself.”

“Of course.” I nod.

My heart twists in anticipation as I walk back to my car. There was a warning in her eyes that didn’t quite make sense.

It makes me wonder if I’m ready for whatever awaits me at Klaus Sinclair’s mansion.

8

KLAUS

It’s Sunday morning—the day she enters my life.Ourlives.

I watch her on the live CCTV feed.

I’m still unsure if she’s the right person for this job. I wanted someone who could blend into the background of my life. But ever since I saw Miss Turner, everything else faded away into the background.

She’s become my one fixation. My dangerous obsession.

There’s a flush in her cheeks as she stares up at the mansion.

I zoom in on her face, studying it like it’s a rare piece of art.

My gaze is drawn to her pillowy lips. There’s an indent cutting down the center of her bottom lip. It looks like the perfect groove to rest my thumb on. Before my thoughts can take a dirty turn, I look back at her eyes.

For some reason, it’s harder to look into her eyes.

Something about them calls to me. They make me want to be an honest man. A good man.

---