Page 5 of The Maid Married To The Billionaire

Skye reddened and checked the time, lifting Shona off his shoulder with an exhausted sigh of surrender. He crouched down to lift Brodie, who was mumbling in a semi-doze. ‘I’ll show you upstairs. I’ll be leaving early in the morning for work. If you want a lift into town, let me know.’

One of the bedrooms had a cot as well as a bed and Skye immediately opted for that room because she could share the bed with Brodie. Mercifully the bed was already made up and she lowered the side of the cot to slide her little sister in, covering her with her blanket.

‘If you hadn’t run into me, where were you planning to go tonight?’ Enzo asked from the doorway.

‘There’s a homeless shelter in town but that would involve social services and I’m worried that they would take the kids into care.’

‘Are you their legal guardian?’

‘Yes, but when that was agreed, I was living with my sister and working as a teacher. My life was...stable. Now everything’s changed.’

‘A teacher? What age group?’

‘Kindergarten but my first job was only temporary, and when my sister got a live-in job at the hotel, I couldn’t afford the rent of our apartment on my own. Ritchie asked me to move in with him and agreeing has to be the worst decision I ever made. For a start he didn’t want me to find another job. I should have smelt a rat then,’ she confided tightly. ‘And now here I am, homeless, unemployed and practically penniless.’

‘You’ll get through,’ Enzo assured her. ‘Now let’s both get some sleep.’

‘Thanks for everything,’ she muttered as he turned away.

‘Think of it as my good deed for the day,’ Enzo commented lightly. ‘And I haven’t done so many that I deserve your gratitude. I’m a selfish bastard at the best of times.’

‘You weren’t tonight when it mattered,’ Skye responded.

Closing the door, she turned the key in the lock. Yes, she felt better in a securely locked room now, she conceded uncomfortably. It would be a long time, if ever, before she relaxed around a man again.

She undressed her little brother and tucked him into bed, walking through to the old-fashioned bathroom to stare in horror at her reflection. Paola had given her painkillers and if she didn’t try to move too fast the pain was now a dulled ache but, unfortunately, she was aching all over, in fact even her face ached. Tomorrow she would have a multicoloured black eye.

And she still had to get their possessions collected. How was she supposed to do that without a car? She probably didn’t even have the money to pay for the necessary repairs to get her car back! Recognising that her worries were rising in an ever-increasing spiral of woe, she calmed herself. She would deal with each problem as it came up and resolve it. She had to be strong and steady, only dealing with one problem at a time.

It was painful to recall how much she had trusted Ritchie. He had asked her to marry him and, secure in that proposal of his, she had surrendered pretty much all her freedom, believing that he would offer her and her siblings a better life. So, she had ignored his lack of enthusiasm for the amount of time she spent with her siblings, his jealous and sulky behaviour if another man so much as looked at her, his eagerness to determine where she went and who she spoke to, not to mention his need to know where she was virtually every hour of the day. Yes, she had ignored, overlooked or forgiven far too much, believing that he loved her and was simply insecure.

Alana, on the other hand, had never liked Ritchie, deeming him too possessive. Skye had believed she loved him, although now she knew it hadn’t been real love because she was painfully aware that she didn’t ever want to lay eyes on him again. But she had loved him for accepting the children with her, loved him for seemingly seeing her as special when nobody had ever seen her in that light before. And it had all been an illusion, wishful thinking more than fact, because she had thought he loved her too.

After a shower, Enzo slid into bed and made plans. He would offer Skye a job as his housekeeper. He wouldn’t be at the house much because he would be working long hours but, when he was here, he wanted to be comfortable. And he wouldn’t be comfortable if he had to worry about shopping and learning to cook and all that jazz. That short supermarket visit, the first of his entire life, had been an unnerving experience. Surprisingly he didn’t really mind the kids once he had got used to their unpredictability, although that baby would sleep through a riot, he conceded in admiration. In any case, it was a big enough house to lose two kids and a dog in, he reflected thankfully.

It had never occurred to him that he might actually like children. After his disastrous experience of love at university had taught him how little some women could be trusted, he had assumed that he would never marry and never have children of his own. Only now did it strike him that he shouldn’t allow that experience to dictate the rest of his life.

Skye woke up as usual when Shona let out a hungry wail. She felt like wailing too because she was also hungry and thirsty. Her sudden movement to get out of bed reminded her sharply of her condition. A jagged moan of pain was wrenched from her and Brodie sat up with a start.

‘Bekfast,’ he said cheerfully, unconcerned by their unfamiliar surroundings.

She had a quick shower in the bathroom, took care of her siblings and was about to go downstairs with them when a knock sounded on the door. She undid the lock and peered out through the gap.

‘I heard the children and thought you might appreciate a change of clothes.’ Enzo extended a pile of clothing. ‘It’s not much and we’re a hopeless mismatch in size but it’s better than nothing.’

‘Thank you,’ Skye said. ‘That was thoughtful of you.’

Brodie squeezed past her. ‘Enzo!’ her little brother carolled in delight as though Enzo were his best pal.

‘I’ll be down in two minutes,’ she called, shaking out a T-shirt and a pair of sweats.

She shed her jeans and sweater, dispensed with her underwear and pulled on the T-shirt. She rolled up the legs on the sweat pants and pulled the ties at the waist tight to keep them up on her slender frame. She looked ridiculous but feeling clean made her feel immensely better.

Enzo took her breath away in his conservative navy pinstripe suit teamed with a dark shirt and red silk tie. He was standing with the microwave oven open.

‘S’not a toaster,’ Brodie was saying authoritatively.

‘It may have a toasting mechanism,’ Enzo told the little boy very seriously.

---