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Chapter One
***Autumn***
Thebeastofthe castle. That was the first thought I had when I spotted Griffin Phoenix sitting behind the oversized glass desk. Inside the library, he was surrounded by two-story-tall shelves full of books, but he still managed to look like the biggest thing in the room. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the man had his own magnetic field, pulling me towards him like some sort of dark magic. Then, he stood up, and I felt my knees wobble.
“Mrs. Aarons. I appreciate you coming in for an interview on such short notice.” Griffin towered over his desk, his massive frame shrinking everything around him.
I forced myself to walk closer. “Miss. And, please, call me Autumn.”
“Autumn. Have a seat.”
The closer I got, the more I felt like I’d walked through the woods and found a castle full of talking china. Not that there was anything animal-like about Griffin, besides the way he moved like he was hunting prey. And I was no Belle. It was just the amount of wealth that seeped out of the very makeup of the beach house I was standing in. That, and the fact that Griffin seemed about as happy-go-lucky as a cursed prince. Still, there was something oddly familiar about him.
I sat down across from him and felt comically small in the oversized leather chair. It leaned too far back and had all the back support of a daisy. I struggled to stay upright and eventually scooted all the way forward and perched on the edge. All the modern décor in the house almost felt like a way to keep people anxious. There was nowhere to get comfortable.
“I see that you’re a teacher.”
“I am. I’ve worked at the same elementary school for seven years now.” I shifted and forced a wooden smile. “Normally, I work the summer program there, but this year, they’ve shut it down.”
He grunted and held my resume up, blocking me from his sight. “Your record came back clean. Just a parking ticket a few years ago. That’s good.”
I dug my fingers into my knees. “I didn’t realize the nanny service released that information to clients in detail.”
“They don’t. I ran my own check. A much more thorough one.” He seemed to notice the way my eyebrows quirked and dropped the papers to clasp his hands together as he leaned forward. “I hope that’s okay with you, Autumn. They are my kids we’re talking about. I take any and all necessary precautions. It would be a misstep for me to trust some nanny service to do what I could do better.”
I shrugged. “I’m an open book.”
He studied me for a solid minute without speaking, all while I struggled not to squirm. “The service told you the job is for three children? My son, Jones, and my daughter, Caroline. They’re ten and eight, respectively. My niece, Grace, is five. Are you confident in your ability with those ages?”
Every word he said felt like it was dripping with doubt for any of my abilities. Still, I nodded and smiled. “I taught kindergarten for several years and then settled with teaching third grade. I work with kids up to Jones’ age, though, throughout the year. When you have a smaller school, like mine, most teachers float all over.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I reminded myself that I needed the money nannying for the man would provide. “Yes, Mr. Phoenix, I am confident with my ability to handle children of all ages.”
He stared at me again, his unusually bright green eyes trailing across my face but never dipping lower than my neck. His mouth turned down. “I normally wouldn’t act in such haste, but we need someone right away. The service couldn’t stop singing your praises, and it seems like the data from your students shows a significant amount of growth under your tutelage.”
I forced myself to smile politely. Of course, he wouldn’t realize that the privacy of other students mattered as much as his own. “I’m pretty sure accessing the data from students that aren’t your own isn’t protocol, Mr. Phoenix.”
He waved me off. “Here’s the contract. You can look over it.”
My stomach twisted. Everything in my body was telling me to run. Staying around went against my self-preservation. Still, I took the paperwork and scanned it. The NDA was familiar to me after spending the summers of my youth working for other rich families in the Hamptons. His went a little farther with the threats of punishment if I broke it, but it was to be expected. If only he respected other people’s privacy as much as his own. Along with the NDA was a contract for four months of work. The price tag on that work was three times the size I thought it would be.
The hungry part of me silenced every other part of my brain. I needed that money. That was what mattered. There was no survival without it. Much less anything to preserve.
“Is there a problem?”
I shook my head. “No. No problem.”
Pushing a pen my way, Griffin Phoenix raised his eyebrow in a silent challenge. “Well, then.”
I bit the inside of my cheek hard as I stood up and grabbed the pen. There was still that unnerving wobble to my knees and the feeling that I was agreeing to live with Beast for four months, but it didn’t matter. Nothing else I could do for four months was going to bring in the kind of money he was offering. I signed three different places and initialed two before dropping the pen back on the desk and unconsciously wrapping my arms around my waist.
“Feels a little like I just signed my life away.”
Griffin stood tall, his expression unreadable. “For the next four months, you did. Do I need to have a car pick you up tomorrow?”
I shook my head. “I have a car.”
“Be here at nine, sharp. I’ll have one of the staff give you a tour, and then I’ll introduce you to the children.” He moved around his desk and I got a chance to take in the full stature of him. At probably six and a half feet tall, he was broad, except for his slim waist. His thighs were like tree trunks of muscle, stretching his pants in a way that might’ve been alluring if he didn’t have the disposition of a cactus.
Dressed in dress pants and a button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up, he was probably wearing more money than I’d see that summer. The gold watch on his tan wrist had to be worth more than my car. I ignored the way the veins on his forearms seemed to call out to me and the way his large hands pulled my gaze. None of that was my concern.
I followed him to the library door, my flats lightly tapping against the stone floor. “Nine, it is.”
Griffin opened the door and ushered me out. “You can find your own way out?”
I bit back a laugh at his rudeness and nodded. “Sure.”
He looked over my head and nodded. “Here are my brothers now. They’ll be here all summer, as well. Grace is Conrad’s daughter. On the left. And on the right is Zeke.”
Conrad, oh God not that name.I turned, even though the tingling at the back of my neck told me not to. I would’ve known the man on the left anywhere. I recognized him most from my dreams. Or were they nightmares? My stomach sank to my feet, and I knew that I’d just signed a contract to make my life a living hell for four months.
