AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hated lying to him and yet I still could. Smiling, I nodded. “Yeah, Darcy is just having a fit again. Mommy duty calls.”
I kissed his cheek and placed my hand on Evelyn’s shoulder before leaving. Liam started to speak again but I could feel Declan’s eyes on me. Closing the door behind me, I leaned against it, inhaling through my nose.
“Ma’am, is everything all right?” Our butler, O’Phelan, stopped beside me, giving me a short bow and a look-over.
“I’m fine. What of the two maids I fired this morning?” Pushing off the door and standing in front of me, he gave me a small card.
“The police were contacted as you requested, and I was told their bank accounts were frozen—”
“What is going on, O’Phelan?” I snapped. “Just days ago a nanny burned my niece’s ear, now two were caught stealing. This is not how I run this house. Tomorrow, before dawn, I want them all in the kitchen. Let them know whoever is late will not only be fired but dealt with. Am I clear?”
“Yes, ma’am. I set the dinner and lunch menus for the week on your vanity. ”
“Good, you’re dismissed.” I didn’t wait for him to leave, brushing past him on the way to my bedroom.
The Callahan Manor had a total of sixteen maids, five nannies, three butlers (O’Phelan being the head butler), six cooks, and nine men for the gardens, grass, and pool management. That was a total of thirty-nine in-house staff, each one of them my responsibility. The house, our house, was my responsibility. Evelyn had done it for years, but after Sedric’s death, she just didn’t have the energy. She had made it look easy. I wasn’t just protecting our home, I was protecting our family. This house was the only place anyone could truly feel safe. I had personally sat down with each member of the staff, I had all their accounts, knew each of their names along with those of their families. I had to make sure their loyalty was cult-like. I took no chances. There were no excuses. Everything was either up to my standards or out—and when I said out, I meant they would either leave this house arrested, maimed, or dead. This wasn’t a game.
Walking past the elevator I paused, then walked back, pressing the call button. The doors opened. Leaning against the glass, I didn’t click the basement, but instead pressed the fake emergency button.
“Ma’am?” Two guards turned to me, dropping the cards they were playing. Right under the basement of the house was the security cellar, as Declan liked to call it. It showed all the cameras of the house and doubled as a jail of sorts.
Reaching down, I picked up the cards. “Slow night, boys?”
They rubbed the backs of their necks. “We were just taking a short break—”
“During this short break, someone could have gotten on the property and you wouldn’t have known, am I right? I’m not sure how much you are paid, but I’m sure it covers breaks, does it not?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Walking over to the tallest of the two, I put the joker onto his chest. “My husband, my brothers-in-law, they don’t like jokes, especially when the joke is with their family.”
They didn’t say anything and neither did I, leaving them and moving to the cells. There the maid—her clothes ripped, lips cracked, and skin dry—sat in the corner shaking. Sliding the door open, I almost gagged at the smell.
“Tough three days, huh?” I asked with a hand over my nose.
She didn’t answer, just sobbed.
“What happened, Theresa? I don’t like scenes and yet the whole house was turned upside down because you don’t know how to hold a fucking curling iron.”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“Tell me the truth.”
“I—”
“I’m the only one who can save you, Theresa, you know that. I understand Wyatt is overprotective of his sister. Tell me, is this a mistake? ”
She brushed her eyes. “I don’t know what happened. It was the anniversary of my sister’s death. I felt a little edgy, but nothing major. Then Dona just wouldn’t cooperate that morning. She hated everything I bought her to wear. She didn’t want to get out of bed. I told her everyone couldn’t wait on her. She said princesses need beauty sleep. I told her she wasn’t a princess and she said her Daddy said it so it was true. She was just being a spoiled brat! And the more I tried to talk to her, the angrier I got, and next thing I know I burned her ear. I didn’t mean to.”
“But you did.” I shook my head, stepping away from her. “Brat or no brat, your job was to take care of her. If you are unable to do so, you find me or her mother.”
“Please, Cora—”
“That is Mrs. Callahan to you.” I backed away before she could touch me. “There is nothing I can do to help you. Goodbye, Theresa.”
I stopped when I heard her snicker, muttering something under her breath.
“What was that?”
