Page 93 of Nanny and the Beast

He’s a tormented man. The war might be over, but the war in his head never really ended. And I suspect that he’s been stuck in this purgatory state for a long time now.

My heart aches for him.

Tears rush to my eyes and spill down my cheeks. The second they fall on his hand, he pulls away as if he’s been electrocuted. He blinks like he’s just coming out of a trance.

My body gasps for air as I clutch my throat.

I don’t know if I imagine it, but his eyes flash with horror.

“Are you hurt?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I’m fine.”

We stare at each other for a moment.

I want to reassure him that I’m okay, but I can’t find my voice.

“So you found the diary,” he says, glancing down at the book.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I know I shouldn’t have taken it.”

“No,” he says. “You shouldn’t have. But you did it anyway.”

He thinks that I have ill intentions against his family. I don’t know how to tell him that it’s the opposite. I just wanted to get to know him better.

What I did was wrong. It was a major breach of privacy, not to mention completely unprofessional.

“I’m sorry,” I repeat.

I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know how to explain the riot of emotions I’ve been going through ever since I met him.

His eyes flick over my face like he’ll find the truth written on my skin.

“You were a mistake,” he says, running his hands through his hair.

Those four words puncture my heart, making me bleed against my will. I swallow the pain.

“I should have known better than to hire someone like you,” he says.

My emotions do a deep dive. The desire and compassion fade. Right now, I’m submerged in annoyance.

“Someone like me?” I say. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nosy. Unprofessional. Inexperienced. Naive,” he says. “Do you want me to go on?”

I take a deep breath.

It makes my chest rise, drawing his dark gaze to my breasts. I forget how to exhale. I remain suspended in time, a slave to this man’s erratic nature.

“I made a mistake,” I say. “It won’t happen again.”

“The mistake is mine,” he says. “For letting you into my world.”

“If you want to fire me, just do it,” I say. “I’ll accept whatever decision you make.”

There’s a dark gleam in his eyes as he watches me.

“You’ve read the diary,” he says. “You know too much. I can’t let you go now.”

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