Page 29 of The Art of Ruin

I glance down at the neat pages. Everything typed. Labeled. Cross-referenced, of course. He’s used to contracts and efficiency. “This is thorough,” I say.

“It avoids confusion.”

I run my fingers lightly along the edge of the paper, careful not to wrinkle it. “I appreciate that.”

His gaze holds on my hand for a brief second before returning to my face. “Privacy matters here,” he says.

The words land differently as he pushes an NDA toward me. I’m not surprised; I’ve signed plenty in my time as a nanny. We see everything, and most rich people don’t want their private lives to become public fodder.

Yet I still, because this one feels different. I’m going from a friend of his sister-in-law to an employee. It feels backward.

He notices. Of course he notices.

“I don’t discuss family matters outside the house,” I say evenly.

“I’m aware Isabella trusts you.”

“But you don’t.”

A pause. It’s not long enough to be rude; itislong enough to be honest.

“I don’t know you,” he says.

Something in me tightens, but this time it doesn’t feel entirely like hurt. There’s a brutal fairness to the answer that I almost respect. “Fair enough.”

His attention sharpens slightly, as if that wasn’t the response he expected.

“I expect direct communication,” he continues. “If there’s a possible problem, I want to know before it becomes one.”

“So do I.”

That earns another pause.

This one feels different.

“I don’t make a habit of hiding issues,” I add, because I cannot stop myself, because the words come too close to the wound and brush against it.

His gaze stays on mine. “No,” he says quietly. “I don’t imagine you do.”

The room seems to narrow around that.

Not because he says it warmly.

He doesn’t.

But because it sounds like he heard more than I meant to say.

I look down at the folder. “What about discipline?”

“No yelling. No threats. No empty consequences.”

“That’s reasonable.”

“She responds better when choices are limited. Two options, not open-ended questions.”

“She likes control.”

“She likes knowing where the edges are.”