Page 32 of The Nanny and the Don
“I won’t, sis. I promise.”
“We’re all we got, baby.”
“We’re all we got, sis.” Devlan’s voice was shaky, and I was sure her sister picked up on that. “Talk to you soon, OK.”
“Talk to you soon, sis. Love you.”
“Love you too,” Devlan replied before ending the call.
Devlan’s eyes drifted to me cautiously. I didn’t like the heaviness that clouded the room. I wanted to lighten the mood, so I stood.
“Don’t let Sicily hear you calling her a maid,” I joked.
“Oh my God. Did I say that?” she asked, covering her mouth.
“Yes, you did,” I confirmed.
“She already let me know how she wasn’t a maid. She was a housekeeper.”
“She’s even more than that for me. She keeps this whole ship running smoothly while I work my fingers to the bone.”
“Everyone has to rest, Mr. Gray. Even jets have to refuel.”
“I realize. You never told King why you call me Mr. Gray. I never introduced myself to you that way, and I’m not that damn old.”
“I didn’t really think about it. I guess maybe because that’s the way Miguel and Sicily address you. I don’t want them to think anything is different about me.”
“You trying to protect me from their scorn?” he questioned.
“You told me that your business wasn’t their business and that I shouldn’t make them think anything is wrong.”
“You’re good at following directions. I like that.”
“When did you put this up here?” she asked, walking over to the bookshelf.
“While you were doing our little cutie’s hair.”
“Why would you do that?” she quizzed.
“I figured you needed somewhere to put your books,” I stated.
Devlan was compiling quite the collection of books. Every day since she’d come, I had gotten her two new books, one fiction and one that was non-fiction. I wasn’t sure what her reading style was or if it changed with her mood like some people’s tended to. I wanted to make sure she had choices whichwas why I only gave her a couple of the books at a time. I also liked the idea of giving them to her gradually.
“But why do it?” she reiterated her question. “Why do any of this? You’re so confusing. At this point, I don’t know what to think.”
I sneered. “You think you’re confused . . . Imagine how I feel. One week with you here and I can barely think straight. My head is all fucked up right now,” I said, tapping the sides of my head with the palms of my hands.
“Hm, maybe you feel bad and want to let me go,” she suggested.
“Good night, Devlan. Take care of my babies up here,” I told her as I drug myself toward the stairs. My feet were on fire. I needed to hurry downstairs so I could take a shower and get in bed listening to my favorite soundtrack; my princess singing to herself while she got ready for bed.
Ten
Devlan
Since Miguel had the day off, I decided to make dinner for everyone. So far, I had only been making sure the kids were fed, since Mr. Gray seemed to be able to fend for himself. I wanted to encourage him to spend more time with the kids. I had been at his house for ten days, and so far he only interacted with them in passing. I could tell that he wasn’t exactly comfortable dealing with the kids, but it would only take a little effort on his part to rectify that.
King thought the world of him. It had to be a trying time for him being away from his mommy. He’d asked me twice when she was coming back this time. I had no idea what the circumstances of her absence were, but apparently, this wasn’t her first disappearing act.
