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Mr. Sanderson arched an eyebrow at his granddaughter. “Can you give me their names?”
Cara bit her lip and then answered. “You don’t have to do anything to them, Grandpa. Dad’s gonna have a meeting with the principal.”
“Yes, but I have ways of making their parents’ jobs disappear.”
Jessica just managed to keep her jaw from falling slack. Surely, Mr. Sanderson was joking to make his granddaughter feel better. He couldn’t really do that, could he? Then again, looking over their massive estate and the palatial Spanish-style mansion that took up its own zip code, it was possible he could do just that.
The girl giggled and hugged her grandfather again. “No. I won’t tell you anything. I’m going to get cleaned up for dinner. I hope Cecile made spaghetti like she promised.”
“She did, and I’m sure she has extra meatballs in the kitchen for you too. You get ready, and I’ll make sure she adds a few to your plate.”
Cara gave him a last hug and rushed into the mansion, which left Jessica alone with the older Mr. Sanderson. She swallowed hard before speaking. While he’d been kind and effusive with Cara, he’d still possibly threatened to end people’s careers. Not that the girls hadn’t been complete jerks (bordering on mini-sociopaths) to Cara, but Jessica tended to shy away from any Machiavellian, slash-and-burn plans. The older man turned his gaze to her, and Jessica swallowed hard at the intensity of his calculating gaze.
“And who are you?”
“I’m sorry,” she croaked out, offering her hand. “My name’s Jessica Billings, and I’m going to be Cara’s nanny. I’ll be here after school and also around on weekends while Mr. Sanderson is working. It’s nice to meet you.”
He pointedly declined to shake her hand, even as his lips curled up into a condescending smirk. “I don’t shake hands with the help. You understand that, don’t you?”
Reeling back as if she’d been slapped, Jessica tried to keep the smile planted on her face. “I’m sorry, Mr. Sanderson. I didn’t mean to overstep. I just wanted to let you know I’d be taking care of Cara from now on.”
“And are you taking care of anyone else in my family?” he asked, his voice a low rumble.
“I don’t understand the question.”
“You’re very pretty – that wavy dark hair and those brown, doe eyes. Well, my son has always had a type. Tell me, were you sleeping with him before he came up with this sinecure to spend more time with you?”
“Excuse me?” she asked, even as tears sprung to her eyes.
“Enough, Father,” a voice called out behind her.
Spinning around, Jessica was relieved to see that Brent Sanderson was behind her. “I… Mr. Sanderson, I’m so sorry. I was just making sure Cara got home from her haircut okay.”
He shook his head, and something Arctic-levels of cold had filtered into his blue eyes. “No, that’s quite all right, Jessica. I apologize for my father. He’s never had any manners.”
The older man shrugged. “Perhaps, but I know enough to manage my peccadillos. Miss Billings, I’m sure I’ll see you around.” With that, he turned around and trudged back into the house.
Bastard seemed pleased with himself, even whistled an upbeat tune as he did it. Maybe he liked sewing that kind of discord. Based on how angry Brent Sanderson was, Jessica was willing to bet this really wasn’t an isolated incident.
But that was more than she signed up for. She didn’t need the money, but she’d seen how upset Cara was, how badly the young girl needed a friend. As a result, Jessica was sticking out this assignment for Cara’s sake. After her encounter with the patriarch of the family, she definitely wasn’t staying for the paycheck or because she didn’t have other summer plans. Still, with the humiliation fresh in her mind, she wasn’t dying to make small talk with the man before her either, just so he could calm his conscience.
Tears threatened to drip down her cheeks. Desperate, she tried to brush past Mr. Sanderson but slipped on the marble stairs and started to fall. Moving her arms wildly, like a spinning windmill, Jessica tried to avoid tumbling forward and into sure broken bone territory. But she failed. Pitching forward, she screamed but soon found herself enveloped in strong arms. Breathing deeply even as her heart hammered in her chest, Jessica tried to pull herself together.
But it was hard.
Hard to concentrate on getting home when her nose was filled with the tang of his cologne, and she could feel his warm breath on her cheeks. Hard to move again when she stared into eyes as blue as the ocean and as haunted as any she’d ever seen.
