The Beast's Nanny (The Nannies)

“I’m … sorry.”

From the frown on his face, she got the sense that he wasn’t used to apologizing for his behavior.

“I don’t—” She stopped and looked away. “I can’t do this.”

“Don’t be afraid of me.”

“What do you expect after what you just did? I’m not used to this, okay? I’m not exactly … ugh, I don’t know what the hell I’m saying.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

He cupped her face and shook his head. “Don’t say you’re sorry to me. Not when I don’t deserve it. I’m the one who owes you an apology.”

“And you don’t like saying it,” she said.

“Grace, I stopped saying sorry years ago. It’s a habit I easily grew out of.”

“How come?”

“You really don’t want to know.”

“Why am I still asking, though?” She put her hand on his chest and quickly moved it away.

She had to stay focused here. This man had taken all that she’d known. Kidnapped her, and now she had to make a choice to stay with him or to leave. What kind of person forced someone to make that choice? It made absolutely no sense to her. She didn’t want to understand it.

None of this made sense.

“There are things in this world that will terrify you, Grace. I don’t want to expose you to them.”

She smiled. “You mean like getting taken against my will? Being shot at? Threatened? All of these things have happened to me. Do you really think it can get much worse?”

“I know it can.”

She tilted her head to the side. “I need to go and check on James.” She couldn’t move until he gave her space.

He stepped back and even as he did, she mourned his closeness, which was crazy.

Turning on her heel, she left his office, even more confused than when she entered it.

****

Caleb was a patient man.

He knew when to take a step back and when to move full steam ahead. When it came to Grace, he needed to take his time. Give her space. And that was exactly what he was going to do.

What Grace didn’t seem to know yet, and he was more than willing to keep it from her, was there was no going back for her. She’d be staying with him indefinitely. There was no possible way he’d ever be able to trust her with everything she’d seen. No matter her promises, he wasn’t a fool.

Grace wasn’t loyal to him just yet, but one day she would be.

What was it about her exactly that he liked? He loved her innocence. No doubt about it, he wanted to be the one and only man to taste her sweet cunt. To slide through her virginity and claim her as his own. He’d never been with an innocent before. It wasn’t about her cherry. He could buy them so easily once he got in touch with the right people. This was so much more.

Looking at her, all he wanted to do was protect her. No one had inspired these feelings, apart from his sister and his nephew.

“Do you like sweet potato casserole?” Grace asked.

Rather than let one of his men handle her ordering, he wanted the excuse to be alone with her. For the past few days, he’d been in his special location, torturing the men who’d been paid to come and kill him. The men who’d tried to kill him had been advised to go for maximum pain and destruction. He’d killed every single one of them and still didn’t have a name, which meant his enemy was faceless.

It wasn’t unusual. In his experience, though, someone always had a reason for being so vicious. He did when he’d made his way to the top. Killing people was second nature to him. He could easily kill someone while they were telling him a joke. This made the list of people wanting him dead endless. Not good.

Running a hand down his face, he blew out a breath. This royally sucked.

“Caleb?”

He looked at her. “I don’t know.”

“You’ve never had sweet potato casserole?”

He shook his head.

“Then I’m going to have to fix that. Do you like sweet things?”

He winked at her. “You can feed me whatever you like so long as it’s not poison.”

She swatted at his hand. “I wouldn’t do that. I’m sorry.” She looked at where she’d hit and turned toward the computer again, fidgeting.

He glanced down at his hand and couldn’t understand why she’d changed. “You didn’t hurt me.”

She looked toward him and nibbled on her lip. “Are you sure?”

“Babe, it’s going to take a lot more than a swat on the hand, believe me.”

“You’re right. You’re so right.” She chuckled, resting her head against his shoulder.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

She said it so fast that he knew something wasn’t right.

“Tell me.”

“I had to take a small pain pill.” She lifted her hand, showing him how small she meant.