Page 57 of Hesi-Dating
"Is Nosh going to come after me anytime I try to get close to someone or just when it's Seth who he can't control?"
Isiah shrugged. "How many people have you met with scruples like Seth?"
"Not many," I whispered.
"How many of the people you've slept with do you think Nosh couldn't scare into doing everything he wanted?"
"Only Seth."Shit, he just got me to admit I slept with him.
He held up his hands in anexactlygesture.
"Is he only leaving Seth alone because you told him to?"
"Perhaps. But I'm not all powerful. The sheriff scares him a little bit, I think. A bit beyond my warning. Do you love Seth?"
I stared at my hands, clasped tight in my lap. Maybe I did love him. "I'll walk away. To keep him safe."
"What about you?" he asked softly.
"What about me?"
"Who's going to keep you safe from Nosh? What about your siblings?"
My fingernails dug into my hand. "I want to be free of him."
"I have a short-term solution for you. It might buy you a bit of time if you're interested."
There was a weight behind the words that had me on edge. "What kind of solution?"
"I need a new nanny. You need safety. If you work for me, he'd be more likely to leave you alone. For a while at least."
"I can't work all the time. I'm in school, you know. I'm not a candidate for a live-in nanny."
"I only need about thirty hours a week. I can pay as much as you're getting at your current job. Maya trusts you. I don't need to background check you. Pretty sure I know most of your dark secrets." His lips tilted into a smile. "Junior loves you. I think you two could have fun."
Sounded viable. But the drive to this house was at least forty minutes. "Would you be looking for after school care or transport to and from his preschool?"
"A bit of both. Maya has started seeing patients at the clinic again." As a pediatrician, she'd taken time off during her baby's younger years but last I'd talked with her, she'd been itching to get back to work. "We need help during times we can't be here and he's not in school."
"Would I need to stay at the house, or could we go out and do things? Within reason of course."
He shrugged. "You can talk to Maya about it."
"Let me think about it. I'll talk to her about the details and see if it might work. You think if I do this it'll keep Seth and my siblings safe?"
"For a while."
ChapterTwenty-Two
JOLEY
"Marino gambled again. He—" Bruno's voice cut out a bit at the last part.
I flashed Junior a smile as he stuffed Cheerios into his mouth while watching Paw Patrol on his iPad. "You cut out. What?"
"He gambled again. Fucking slots in Vegas."
"He swore he wouldn't. I don't believe it." Marino had done so well since he finished rehab two years ago. He was part of the reason Amber went into ER medicine—it paid the highest for a residency, and she'd wanted to pay off the fifteen thousand Marino racked up while she was in vet school. Bruno and I helped here and there when we could, but Amber did the most. Marino was our brother, so of course we dealt with it for him. We accepted his faults, but Marino swore he wouldn’t gamble again.
