The Beast's Nanny (The Nannies)

“It is.”

“I got shot.”

“It will be safe from here on out,” he said. He shouldn’t be here with her, but dealing with the four people his men had captured. They weren’t people he recognized. They even looked like military trained. Well, they made a big mistake coming to his home. There were an additional five bodies also being taken care of.

The attack had been unexpected. He’d lost six of his own men as well, which pissed him off.

It seemed he was going to have to deliver a message. There were always people willing to take him on, and he dealt with them swiftly. With Grace, James, and his sister’s death, he hadn’t been swift enough. Now people were taking advantage, and that just plainly pissed him off. They would all learn that attempting to take him out would have severe consequences.

The doctor finished stitching her arm and gave her a list of instructions with the promise he’d be by in a week to see how it was.

Caleb saw the doctor to the door for one of his men to see out, then turned back to Grace.

“Don’t you ever fucking run off like that again,” he said. “Do you even realize that you could have had your brains blown to bits? It’s not a fucking joke.”

“I’m not laughing,” Grace said.

Her voice was clearly a bit hoarse from screaming. Anger filled him. “You’ve got to learn to do as you’re told.”

She climbed off the table. From the glare in her eyes, it looked like she intended to let him have it, but she went a little unsteady. He had no choice but to rush toward her side to hold her. She gripped his shoulders and moaned. “I’m sorry.”

“Let me take care of you,” he said.

Graze looked up at him and nodded. With his arm wrapped around her back, he walked the few steps until they got to the door.

“How are you?” she asked.

“There’s no problem with me. No wounds, nothing.”

“How are you feeling?”

He frowned and stopped. “What?”

“I don’t know if this is a regular thing for you, but if it had been my home shot at, I’d be pissed.” She placed a hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe I just cursed.”

He chuckled. “If it makes you feel better, it sounded sexy.”

She shook her head. “No, it doesn’t make me happy. I can’t believe I swore. My mom always said a lady never curses.”

“Your mother sounds like a good woman,” he said.

“She was. She always knew what to say or do to make me feel better.” She sighed. “I got bullied a lot in high school.”

“You did?” He had no interest in making small talk, but when it came to Grace, he loved listening to her voice.

“Yeah, being the fat kid, glasses, and even braces. I was the perfect target. I never cried in school, but I’d go home and she’d be waiting, ready to impart her wisdom and tell me what to do.”

The smile on her face was one filled with pain. He wanted to take it away, but he couldn’t perform the miracle of bringing her mother back. “What would she say to you?”

“She would ask me a bunch of questions about who I was as a person. You know, was I kind? Did I make someone smile? Did I help someone? Was I happy to come home? She’d tell me that I was the one who was the better person because I was happy and that was something no one could take away from me. If I’m happy, I won’t let the bullies win. They only want to bring me down, and no one can allow that happen but me.”

“She sounds like a … wise woman.”

She giggled. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“I imagine in your world you’d have hated her. She wouldn’t have been strong enough for this. For any of this.”

“You’re right.”

There was a brief silence, but rather than look away from him, Grace continued to stare. He didn’t glance away, keeping his gaze on hers.

“What were your parents like?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Maybe I do.”

“Where is all the courage coming from?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You always look away. Rarely do I get invasive questions. Do you care to share with me what’s new?” he asked.

She turned her head and pointed toward the counter. “It could have something to do with those. Doc made me take them, and well, I’ve never been good with pain medication. It makes me really vocal. I just figured with everything we’ve been through, you’d be more open, you know, talk more, but if you don’t want to, I get it. Talking is so overrated.” She blew out a breath. “Being shot is so sucky, but this isn’t too bad at all. I can’t feel it.”

He smiled. She was high, or getting to it. Only, Grace being high made her very open. She rolled her head, tilting back and groaning.