The Beast's Nanny (The Nannies)

She fell to the floor, and he wanted to help her, but instead, he played his role. “Make sure she doesn’t come to my office again.” He snapped his fingers, hearing Grace sob. Closing his door, he counted to twenty as he went to grab his gun.

This was his fucking castle and whoever had a grudge against him thought they could take him out here. They were in for a fucking surprise.

He had a damn good memory, and he scrolled through the list of his men. Caleb left his office, keeping the gun close to him, but not for anyone to see.

The man at his door nodded at him. They had the details and were on the alert. They would not react until he gave the signal.

Down the hall he went, and he decided to start from the outside and work his way into the main house. He passed two guards, one from the list, the other he didn’t recognize. Caleb stopped close and looked at the man who nodded at him, turning his neck. He noticed the ink on the back of his neck and attacked. He slammed his fist against the man’s face. Each person who didn’t work for him, they were the target of who could have taken out his sister.

When the guard pulled out a knife, Caleb twisted his wrist, taking the knife and jamming it into his neck, killing him.

“Holy shit, I thought he was one of us, for certain,” the other guard said.

“Shut it.”

“No, you don’t understand, I told him about the alert.”

Caleb thrust the knife into his shoulder. “You fucking asshole. You will never work for me again.” He twisted the blade as the man screamed. “When did you tell him?”

“Just, I just told him. Asked him what he thought when you showed up.”

Caleb pulled the blade out and stabbed him in the neck. He wouldn’t have gotten out of here alive.

With the two men now dead at his feet, he wanted to kill his guard again for being so fucking stupid.

Instead, he made his way outside of the house, coming into contact with his men. They were waiting for the signal. Entering his home, he found two more men, and as a third came rushing forward, gunshots rang out, killing him.

Four men were down, but that still meant a fifth.

He stared at the bodies just as he heard a feminine scream.

Caleb didn’t stop and think. He reacted. Rushing upstairs, he ran toward James’s room. The moment he got to the doorway, he saw James was on the floor, unconscious. Grace was pushed over the bed. A hand on her head was holding her down. Her hands were held at the base of her back. Then, he looked into his enemy’s eyes.

“So, you figured it out,” he said.

He didn’t know what he was expecting. A moment of clarity. To look at his enemy and to know exactly why this son of a bitch hated him. None of it came to him. Nothing at all.

This man was nothing more than a stranger.

A scar ran down his cheek to his lips. He had brown eyes. Was tall, built to fight. He shoved Grace across the room and she fell to the floor with a grunt.

The man laughed. “I never took you for a fat-girl lover.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Caleb tensed up, aware his men were waiting.

He sighed. “You know, Caleb, I’ve been watching you. You and I, we’re not so different. You hide behind these walls. Throw your weight around as if you own the place.”

“I do own the place.”

“It’s one of those areas that’s rather murky, don’t you think? You own the place, but do you, really? I mean, I was able to work for you, get paid, and kill your sister, all so easily.”

He still held the knife he’d taken from one of this man’s men. “Don’t you talk about my sister.”

The man laughed again. “She was so happy when she got that date. She had no idea it was with me, or that the moment she let me inside her apartment, she was going to die. She begged and pleaded with me, and I told her not to worry. She’d be seeing her big brother and son very soon. I’m a man of my word, but again, so are you.”

Caleb waited, watching.

The man pointed his gun at Grace. “I wonder how you’ll feel when I’m fucking your woman.”

“It’s funny you think you’re going to make it out of here alive.”

“Oh, I will. I’ve gotten out of tough scrapes. Right now, you don’t have a clue who you’re dealing with.”

“Then enlighten me,” Caleb said. “Tell me who you are.”

The man stared at him. The only sounds to be heard were Grace’s breathing. He wanted to go to her, but right now, he had to ignore her. She wasn’t important right now. This man was, killing him before he took another person from him.