Page 5 of Nanny and the Beast

“He’s just…misunderstood,” she replies.

“Or he’s just full of himself.”

There’s a loud crash from the ground floor. Helena hurries toward the staircase. I glance down to see two little kids standing before a broken glass sculpture. The little boy is crying, and his older sister tries to console him.

The boy kneels to pick up one of the glass shards.

Some instinct inside me kicks into place.

“Don’t touch it,” I shout as I race down the stairs.

The boy startles and spins around to face me.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break it,” he says, balling his small fists in front of his eyes.

“Of course you didn’t, sweetie.” I stop before him.

“It was a mistake.” He’s crying even harder now.

“I know it was,” I say. “And it’s okay to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.”

He peeks up at me.

“Are you hurt?” I ask him.

He holds his hand out toward me. There’s a thin red scrape on the inside of his palm. His chin quivers as I examine it. He’s trying so hard to be strong.

“What’s your name?” I ask to distract him.

“James,” the little boy whispers.I know from the job description that he’s only six years old.

“My name is Emma,” I say. “Do you like superheroes, James?”

He nods.

“They get hurt all the time, too,” I say. “But they’re strong like you, so they know they’ll always get better.”

He nods like he agrees with my sage wisdom.

But then his gaze shifts upward to the second floor. A shadow of sadness crosses his face, along with an emotion I can’t identify.

I look up to see Klaus Sinclair standing there, watching our interaction.

Something shifts inside my chest. The sudden surge of emotion is confusing as hell to say the least.

I look back at the kid.

“I have to go now, James,” I say, “but it was nice meeting you.”

“Stay,” James whispers, peeking up at me. “I like you.”

“I like you, too,” I say. “But I have to go home now.”

“We can watch superhero movies together,” he says. He’s still holding my hand.

His older sister charges forward and pulls him away.

Like her uncle, she watches me with disdain. Like I’m unworthy of her time and attention.

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