The Beast's Nanny (The Nannies)

Now, when she entered the kitchen, whoever was in there left.

She hadn’t meant to cause such a scene, but at least James actually ate now. Until then, he’d been nibbling on what he could stomach.

After dropping him into a chair, she moved toward the fridge. “What would you like, sweetie?” she asked.

“Grace, are you my mommy?”

She paused as she reached in to grab some cheese. James loved anything with cheese. She’d make him some pasta.

Spinning around, she offered him a smile. “No, sweetheart. I’m not. I’m your … nanny.” That was what you called a person who took care of kids. That or a babysitter. A nanny made this feel less like a kidnapping. Now she was just going plain crazy. Nothing could ever make her feel better about being taken against her will.

At night, she lived in fear of those men coming back, which was so stupid because Caleb had killed them all. He was a monster and what was more, even monsters feared him.

She ran her fingers over James’s head and grabbed a pan. Once she’d filled it with water, she placed it on the stove and found the pasta she knew he’d love. He liked to slurp up anything.

Finding the salt, she seasoned the water and got the pasta in to cook as she poured some milk into another pan.

James was more than happy to play with the spoon she’d given him. He wasn’t such a bad child, not really. He was content in his own world, and she was happy with him. Her life hadn’t been filled with pain.

The one time she tried to leave, the guard had escorted her back to her bedroom, which was a beautiful room. Her life was perfect. Only, she’d been stolen, and this wasn’t her life.

After grating up the cheese, she added it to the milk, with a little black pepper. She had a taste, finding something missing. She returned to the fridge and took out some cream cheese. Once she’d added in a couple of tablespoons, she gave it a stir and another taste, and drained the pasta. Stirring the cheese sauce into the pasta, she served them both up and sat next to James at the counter. They started to eat.

Every now and then, James would make a noise. The sound of contentment made her smile. It meant she’d done good.

Twirling her fork in the spaghetti, she slurped it up. She was so focused on eating, she didn’t hear him enter until James alerted her with a squeal.

She tensed up. Couldn’t help it. In a matter of hours, this man had turned her perfectly organized world into chaos. She’d seen him kill and that alone scared the crap out of her.

Caleb nodded at James. He moved forward, rustled his head, and then snapped an instruction. One of his guards came into the room.

“I want you to take James for bath time while I speak with Miss Page,” he said.

She looked toward the guard then at Caleb. “I don’t mind taking him for a bath.” The very last thing she wanted was to be alone with this … horrible person.

He was a monster.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he said. He nodded at the man, and then just like that, the small semblance of peace she’d been able to find shattered. Her hunger vanished. She put her fork down and looked toward the exits.

Being alone with this man was never good.

Gritting her teeth, she clasped her hands together, hoping she had the strength for whatever was going to come.

Fear traveled up her spine, threatening to make her vomit.

Caleb put his hand down on the counter and started to drum his fingers as he stared at her. She licked her lips, keeping her gaze averted.

For two weeks, this man had changed her life and she had yet to decide if it was for the better.

He kidnapped you. None of this is ever going to be okay.

Whatever happened, she needed to keep her wits about herself.

****

Caleb stared at the woman who’d turned his life upside down.

She was scared. It didn’t take a genius to figure that one out. He didn’t blame her either.

From the moment she’d paid for him to be fed that awful breakfast and refused his money, he’d needed to have her. In his world, he was used to having women at his beck and call.

Grace Page didn’t come from his world. From the moment he left her until he picked her up, he’d learned everything there was to know about her life. Twenty-one years old, parents died in a car crash when she was eighteen. A good student and a kind soul. She volunteered at the animal shelter on her days off. Took extra work to help pay for her kind heart.

There wasn’t a bad bone in this woman’s body. She was kind through and through.