Page 19 of Nanny and the Beast

I have to remind myself that he’s an asshole who cares about nobody else but himself.

“It’s just nerves,” I tell her.

“Just nerves?”

I nod and force myself to smile. “Thank you for checking up on me, though.”

She sits down on the stool next to me.

“You still look like you need a drink,” she says. A bartender appears in front of us, waiting for our order. “What would you like?”

I shrug. I don’t know what to order because I don’t drink much.

“Dealer’s choice,” I say.

“One lemon drop please, Arthur,” Mrs. Hendricks says to the bartender.

I watch as the bartender selects a very expensive-looking vodka bottle and breaks the seal. He makes the cocktail in record time and sets it before me. It looks delicious.

“Have you decided?” she asks.

“About what?” I ask, a little distracted.

I fight the urge to glance over my shoulder again even though I don’t feel his eyes on me like I did before.

“About Elysium,” she says.

I take a sip of my drink. It’s sweet and tangy and perfect for me.

“You can take your time to think about it, of course,” she says.

“I think I’ve already made my decision,” I say, taking a deep breath.

Mrs. Hendricks raises her eyebrows.

“I’ll do it,” I say. “I’ll work here.”

“The girls will be thrilled to hear it,” she says.

“Gigi and the twins are taking the job as well?” I ask.

She nods and smiles at me.

Relief washes over me. All of this is way out of my comfort zone, but knowing that the girls will be with me makes it infinitely better.

My only hope is that I don’t have any more encounters with the devil.

6

KLAUS

When I return home, I find James curled by the fireplace in my office.

He fell asleep in my armchair.

Like me, he has bad dreams sometimes. And every time he has one, he comes and finds me. We don’t talk even though I know he wants to.

It’s not the warmth of the fire that he seeks. It’s not my company, either.

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