Chapter 9 Alexander Miller
RORY POV
I went home that day thinking about how much had changed in the space of seven hours.
Seven hours. That was all it took for my entire life to look completely unrecognizable.
From Steve getting married to Katherine, to meeting the most adorable six year old I had ever seen in my life, to somehow ending up in a penthouse agreeing to be a nanny for a man who looked like he had been sculpted specifically to make everyone around him feel inadequate.
The way he moved like he owned every room he entered. The way he spoke, quiet and controlled and somehow more terrifying for it. He barely had to do anything and I was shaking. I hated that. I hated how badly I had stuttered all day, how my voice had chosen today of all days to fall apart repeatedly in front of a man whose eyes missed absolutely nothing.
And God he was so rude. Who gathered that much information on a complete stranger within hours?
What exactly did this man do?
I was so tempted to google him but I stopped myself. I had seen the wedding ring on his finger. The last thing I needed was to know more about a married man whose house I was about to spend my days in.
Though I did wonder about his wife. A woman who probably didn't stumble over her words. A woman who definitely didn't look like me.
She hadn’t been in the house. What kind of mother let her child wander around and get kidnapped? She was probably busy doing whatever rich men’s wives did. I shouldn’t judge.
My phone beeped as I crossed the street toward my apartment.
I pulled it out. A document. I read the first line and stopped walking completely.
Nanny agreement.
How did they get my number?
Of course. He had my number, my address, my blood type, and probably the date of my first tooth. Who was he?
I scrolled through the contract as I kept walking.
Start tomorrow. Eight AM sharp.
Rule 1: No talking to staff.
Rule 2: No personal conversations with the employer.
Rule 3: Not allowed to discuss anything that happened within the house with anyone outside it. Rule 4:Not allowed to leave the premises with Liam without prior authorization.
A whole list of rules that went on long enough to make my head hurt.
Then one that made me stop walking again.
You are not allowed to have a boyfriend or any sexual relationship with anyone for as long as you are employed as my son’s nanny.
I read it twice. Then a third time.
No boyfriend. As if men were lining up at my door to deal with my stutter, my hearing aids, and my "body type."
And kind of person put that in a nanny agreement?
Did he do this with everyone he hired or was this specifically designed to make my life more difficult than it already was? I wanted to be offended. I was offended. But the salary figure at the top of the document existed and my mother’s hospital bill also existed and those two things together made sustaining the outrage very difficult.
I kept reading until I reached the bottom.
Signed, Alexander Miller.
I stared at that name.
“Alexander Miller,” I said out loud to nobody.
Alexander.
Sounds like trouble.
I shoved my phone away, my stomach churning. I couldn't go to my parents' house tonight. If I told my dad I had a new job, he'd force me to hand over the money to restock his liquor cabinet while my mother wasted away in the hospital. If I said no, l'd end up with another bottle cracked over my head.
I had enough to deal with today without adding that.
I inserted the key into the lock.
A hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my scream. The man pulled back his cap, revealing a face I never wanted to see again.
"Hey, babe."
My stomach did a violent backflip. "Steve?" | breathed, the moment he released me. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be with your wife."
The shock was already hardening into something hot and angry that climbed up my chest fast. “You want another set of my teeth on you? Because I still have them.”
“I came to apologize,” he said. He had the audacity to look sincere. “I’m sorry about earlier Rory. I really love you.”