Rolling over on my back, I stared up at the ceiling. It was amazing how soundly I’d slept as a captive in a rich man’s house. He was as cold with the children as he was with me so thankfully, I didn’t have to see him much yesterday. I was still working out the logistics of this ce and where exactly I was, so I nned to talk to Miguel more today. There had to be a way for me to get out of here.

    My heart sank when I recalled that he wouldn’t be here. I shook my head as I crawled out of the huge bed and found another overpriced outfit to wear. I wanted to take the kids outside so I went with the most casual thing I could find. I wasn’t even sure if I was allowed to go outside. Maybe Mr. Gray woulde with us, not that I wanted hispany.

    I grabbed the silk shorts and matching shirt with the familiar logo all over them, shaking my head at how someone could afford to spend my rent money on a single item of clothing. I could only imagine a life where I didn’t have to worry myself to death every minute of the day about rent and bills. I guess right now the most important thing on my mind was living through this hostage situation.

    I was being as cooperative as my smart mouth would let me, but I was sure Mr. Gray’s patience with me was running thin. Aside from the circumstances that brought me to his house, I kind of liked it. I only wished Kelsea could have been here with me. She needed to see how the other half lived just as much as I did.

    Then again, I had no idea how she was living these days. She’d been swept off her feet by some rich guy. Although that wasn’t exactly my fate, I guessed we were in the same boat on that front. Unfortunately, I’d been swept off my feet against my will.

    When I made it to the living room, I stopped in my tracks frowning at the boxes on the table. Was he up here? Suddenly I felt naked in the oversized T-shirt nightgown I’d slept in. Mr. Gray had seen me in far less when he snatched me out of my house, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be exposed now. It only took a second for me to realize that he was no longer there. I didn’t know how I felt about himing in here while I was asleep, but he had already made it abundantly clear that he didn’t care how I felt.

    Apparently, he’d dropped the boxes off and left. I moved closer to the table hoping that neither of those boxes had a bomb in them. I was sure he wasn’t going to kill me until he found Brendan though. That gave me hope and anxiety all in one.

    I opened the t box and plopped down on the couch. Well actually, my knees gave out and lowered me to the couch. It was the book. My book. The one I was listening to when Mr. Gray drug me out of my house. He got it for me. Why would he do that?

    I hugged it to my chest before putting it back on the table and tearing into the other package. After seeing the book, I thought I would never get to finish, I didn’t know what in the world to expect from the second package.

    When I got to the packaging, I frowned at the name engraved on the little box. Since I knew the designer, I wasn’t surprised to find a jewelry box inside. As soon as I opened the box, it went crashing to the floor. It was like I lost the use of my fingers when the sparkly diamonds twinkled in my eyes. Obviously, he had made a mistake of leaving that box here.

    There was no way he meant to give me a diamond watch. What was he doing dressing me up for the coroner? I shook my head as I picked the watch up and put it back on the table next to my new book. There was no doubt in my mind that the book was for me.

    I found myself smiling as I stood and walked to the bathroom to take my hair out of the braids I slept in. If I had time, I usually put my hair in a couple of braids to keep it from getting matted and tangled at night.

    As crazy as this whole situation was, I looked forward to spending time with the kids again. At the same time, I missed Kelsea. She must have been worried sick about me. Then again, it had only been a day since I was abducted.

    Since she had her new man to worry about, it was normal for us to go a few days without talking to each other. Not that I was mad at that. I was happy that my girl had someone to upy her time that actually made her happy for a change. That didn’t mean I didn’t get lonely and miss the days when my girl was single.

    I buried myself in work and school hoping that I was on the right path to get out of the struggle for good. Unlike Kelsea, I didn’t feel like a man was my savior. I followed her ybook and got involved with a man with a little disposable ie and look where that got me. I wanted to strangle Brendan myself for dragging me into his shit. Where the hell was he?

    I was starting to think he didn’t n oning back. I wasn’t sure how much money he had taken, but if it was enough to make a man kidnap someone as coteral, then there was no telling when he would resurface. There was some coconut oil on the bathroom counter that I put on my hair once I had it out of the braids. I wasn’t sure what time the kids got up, but I wanted to get downstairs before they got up.

    Since Mr. Gray hadn’te up to get me this time, I tried my luck and was surprised to find that the door was already unlocked. I assumed that was my cue to go downstairs when I was ready. If not, I was walking right out of the front door. I would just have to walk ten miles to the next house. Simon and Gerry were going to have to earn the blood money they were being paid to keep me there.

    It was fairly quiet as I trudged down the stairs. That was a telltale sign that the kids weren’t awake. The only time that they were remotely quiet was when I kept them busy. I didn’t mind a little noise, but I also understood that their uncle was trying to work, which was why I wanted to take them outside today. Besides, children needed to spend time outside.

    I opened the front door, causing Big and Bigger to look back simultaneously. One of them shook his head as he started walking in my direction. Rolling my eyes, I mmed the door before he could get any closer.

    “Wow, you are gorgeous. How tall are you?”

    I was briefly startled by a woman’s voice as I looked back and spotted a woman around my age with ck scrubs on. Miguel told me that he worked every other day so I assumed this must be the chef that worked when he wasn’t here.

    “Um, thank you. I’m around five-ten,” I told her.

    “Mr. Gray told me he finally hired a nanny, but he didn’t tell me what a knockout you were.” She grinned.

    “Thank you. I hope the kids aren’t up yet.”

    “No, ma’am. They will sleep as long as you let them but will stay up all night long. I’m the housekeeper, but I helped him with them for the past few weeks while Mr. Gray was looking for the perfect nanny for them. They are a handful but they’re good kids. I’m not going to pretend that I’m not happy to see you.”

    Iughed, understanding her pain. Everybody wasn’t cut out to take care of children. Apparently, their uncle fell into that category.

    “I spent time getting to know them yesterday. I’m going to work on getting them on a schedule.”

    “More power to you,” she said with a smallugh. “I’m Sicily. What’s your name?”

    “Den.”

    “Nice to meet you, Den. Miguel is off today, so we’ll have to fend for ourselves. Mr. Gray usually orders in. I’m on my intermittent fasting kick to lose thesest ten pounds so I don’t eat until after twelve.”

    I shrugged. “I’ll probably make breakfast for me and the kids since I’m here.”

    “I’ll just tell you they are picky,” she said, shaking her head.

    I nodded remembering trying to get them to try green beans yesterday. “I got a little glimpse of that yesterday. They refuse to touch anything green.”

    Her eyes widened with excitement. “Oh, they don’t do vegetables at all.”

    “I’ll work on them. I have a few ideas. In the meantime, I’ll make apple cinnamon oatmeal and cut up some fruit for them.”

    “That sounds simple enough to work. You know he’s fully stocked with everything you can think of,” she exined.

    “And then some. I hear you’re responsible for that.”

    “More or less. I take care of the basic household things and Miguel does the grocery.”

    “Good to know. Hey, did you happen to pick up a book?” I asked her.

    “No. Are you missing one? I don’t remember thest time I read something other than the caption on a social media post.”

    We shared augh as we made our way to the kitchen. I moved straight to the pantry where I was sure I’d seen some steel-cut oats yesterday while I was watching Miguel cook. Standing in the pantry, I grabbed the oatmeal, honey, and a huge container of cinnamon. I ced them on the counter and moved back to the kitchen.

    Once I got everything set up, I left Sicily to her duties and went on with mine. It was close to eight in the morning by now. I knew that the longer the kids slept the harder it would be to get them to go down at night. It wasmon sense. I was also sure that the people in this house let them sleep as long as they wanted to because they enjoyed the peace and quiet that would surely be disturbed as soon as the little ones were up and at em.

    Since I was working on building a routine for them, they would be up by eight and down at eight. That was plenty of time to learn, y, and burn off the energy that might otherwise prevent them from sleeping at night. I was going to tire their asses out and hopefully my own in the process. I was up until after two this morning only to wake up by seven. I went to King’s side of the bed first.

    “King,” I sang his name as I gently shook his shoulder.

    His handsome little face brightened with a smile as I tickled him awake.

    “Ms. Devy, you came back,” he said through a fit of giggles.

    “Yes, I did. I want you to get up so we can brush our teeth and wash our face. Then you are going to help me make breakfast.”

    “I’m too little to make breakfast, Ms. Devy.”

    “That’s why I’m going to help you. Do you like apples?” I asked him.

    “Yes!”

    “Good. Get up and put on your slippers while I get Evie.”

    As I moved around to Evie, I could see that her side of the bed was soaked. I had to keep in mind a cut off time for her drinking before bed. Since I was banished upstairs at night, Mr. Gray was going to have to help with that and even consider taking her to the bathroom during the night.

    “I didn’t pee this time. I’m getting to be a big boy. That’s why I can help you cook breakfast.”

    “That’s right. You’re doing a good job,” I said, acknowledging King as I picked Evie up and carried her little sleepy self to the bathroom connected to the room they shared.

    Evie was still knocked out as I turned on the bathtub to run enough bath water to get her cleaned up. I moved back to the room and quickly found something for her to change into.

    “You see my toothbrush, Ms. Devy?” King asked as I walked back into the bathroom.

    “Oh wow! A superhero.”

    “Yep, just like Uncle Steel. He saved me and Evie from those bad people that took us from our mommy. They didn’t even give us nothing to eat even though we were crying.”

    “That must have been scary,” I said, sympathizing with the talkative little boy.

    “Yes, I miss my mommy, but she said that Uncle Steel is going to make sure we are OK until shees back. She still loves me, but she has to go away for a while. That’s what she said.”

    “I’m sure your Uncle Steel will take good care of you,” I assured him although I wasn’t so sure about that statement.

    I didn’t know the man from a can of paint, but there aren’t a lot of people that I can think of that would take on the responsibility of other people’s kids. None of my siblings’ dads or any of our distant rtives came to the rescue when I was tossed into the system like trash. I had no idea where they were these days, neither did I care. It was honorable of Mr. Gray to take in his sister’s children. Not everybody has it in them to do.

    “Help me put the toothpaste on,” King requested, causing me to turn to him and help him with his task of brushing his teeth. I wet a washcloth and added a little mild soap.

    “Do you know the happy birthday song?” I asked him.

    “Ms. Devy, I’m not a little baby like Evie. Everybody knows the happy birthday song.”

    “Oh, well good. Sing the happy birthday song two times while you brush your teeth.”

    “OK,” he said, smiling devilishly like I had told him to do something naughty.

    “When you are done brushing your teeth, take this washcloth and wash your face really good,” I instructed.

    “OK.” He nodded his little head.

    Once I got him squared away, I undressed Evie and put her in the tub. Feeling the warm water must have been Evie’s cue to wake up. As soon as I put her in the tub, she started wailing at the top of her lungs.

    “Hey, hey, hey, you’re OK, Evie. It’s Den. You remember me?”

    I’m not even sure that she could hear me over her own screaming. Thankfully I had reinforcement.

    “Evie, look at this,” King suggested, holding up a little tugboat. “It’s bath time, Evie. You like bath time.”

    Her brother’s reassurance did the trick, and she immediately dried her tears and epted the toy. The water was shallow, so I allowed her to ssh her little heart out while I gave her a quick bath. Minutester, I was whipping her out of the tub and drying her off.

    After putting on her cute little pink outfit and putting a diaper on her. She was potty trained, but I noticed yesterday that sometimes as soon as she said she had to pee she started peeing. I was grateful to find pull-ups in their bathroom. They would be perfect for bedtime. I ced Evie on her feet, and she quickly took off behind her brother.

    “Buddy, remember that we are inside. We need to use our inside voices. Evie, show me an inside voice,” I said, as I walked behind them.

    Sicily and I bothughed at her adorable face as she imitated someone whispering the way I’d shown her multiple times yesterday.

    “Good job. Pick a chair, you guys. Let’s get settled down for breakfast.”

    “I thought I was helping you cook breakfast, Ms. Devy,” King stated, looking up at me with sad eyes.

    “You are. I’m going to give you an important job. You will cut the apples,” I told him.

    “With a knife?” he quizzed, frowning at me as if I were delusional.

    “Yes. It’spletely safe, but remember you have to be extra careful.”

    I walked over to the counter and picked up an apple from the basket, washing it in the sink before cing it on the cutting board and quickly cutting it into slices. I raked the pieces into a bowl then grabbed a butter knife and moved over to the table.

    “Now I want you to cut these into little, tiny pieces. We are going to put them on top.”

    “OK.” The smile on his face was worth a million dors.

    I didn’t know the specifics of what had taken these children away from their mother, but I knew that it had to be hard on them all. There was no way someone had willingly left their children behind. Then again that was exactly what my own parents had done. Drugs were the specific thing that robbed me of having a rtionship with my mother.

    There was no telling where she was in the world these days or if she was still among the living. I decided when I connected with Kelsea that I had a new family. I didn’t waste my time wondering why she continued to choose drugs over us. All I knew was that if I was in her shoes, nothing in the world would keep me away from my children. It didn’t take long for me to whip up the oatmeal and toss in the apples that I’d cooked in butter and cinnamon. I walked over to the table to check on my assistant.

    “Are the apples ready?”

    “Yep, see I cut them up really tiny like you said,” King confirmed.

    “Great job. Now let’s let everything cool off just a little bit. We don’t want Evie burning her mouth, do we?”

    “No,” King agreed by shaking his head.

    “No! No! No!” Evie chanted, causing me to smile.

    It was a good thing that the kids were here because they were a great distraction from the reality of the situation. I walked over to the window and looked out to where Sicily was doing something in the yard. Deciding to take a chance, I went to the back door and found that it wasn’t locked or anything. I could just go right out.

    “You bringing the kids out here today?” she quizzed.

    “I was thinking about it. It’s nice out.” I observed as I looked around taking in my surroundings. The yard was massive. Trees lined the edges of the property at a distance making me wonder what was on the other side. “There aren’t any bears out here, are there?”

    “The worst thing I’ve seen was a deer. We get a lot of rabbits too. There’s miles of forest over there. Mr. Gray owns all of it. I think I heard him tell someone that a mile of thend around him, on either side, belongs to him. Then there’s a house a few miles down the street, and he owns that too.”

    “Damn,” I muttered.

    Sheughed. “I know right. Everybody ain’t able.”

    “You ain’t joking.”

    “Well at least you get to live here with him. I don’t think anybody has lived upstairs since his sister left.”

    That made my ears perk up. “The kids’ mother?”

    “Yeah. She used to live upstairs. It was way before she had the kids. I didn’t even know he had a sister, but I heard him telling his friend Four that someone was finally up there after all these years, and he didn’t know how to feel about it because he had that apartment built for Ang.”

    “Wow.”

    “He must really like you. I clean this spotless castle from top to bottom every day, and I’ve never spent the night here.”

    “Well, the nature of my job calls for me to live here, I guess. The kids are always here,” I noted.

    “Who do you think took care of them up until you got here? I didn’t spend one night here. He made sure that I got out of here at eight so I could be back by eight.”

    “How long have they been here?” I quizzed.

    “A few weeks. Maybe a month now. Let me tell you, he is clueless when ites to those kids, and he’s not interested in learning what to do with them from what I can tell. He’s all business all the time. They’re just another thing that he has to handle or have someone handle.”

    “So, where is their mother?” I asked, hoping she could shed some light on that part of the mystery.

    “Who knows? He’s so elusive to questions. If you like your job, you learn not to ask too many questions. I love my job, so I try not to pry. I didn’t even know he had a sister until he told me to get the rooms ready for the kids.”

    I wondered what he’d told her about me. I knew that he hadn’t initially nned on bringing me here because he couldn’t have known that I was at Brendan’s house. He came there with intentions of confronting Brendan and just took me as coteral. Still, I wanted to know how much she really knew.

    “Did he have you to clean the upstairs apartment before I came? It was spotless.”

    “Girl, no. I only found out that you were here through Miguel. He called mest night saying that Mr. Gray hired a gorgeous nanny to take care of the kids. He knew how we were struggling with them. I can tell you know what you’re doing because they are still sitting at the table waiting for you toe back.”

    “It just takes a little patience.”

    Sheughed. “Who are you kidding? It takes a lot of patience. I mean a whole lot.”

    “Thankfully, I have it.”

    “Yeah, you’re good with them. Miguel and I have a bet going on.”

    “You’re betting on how long I willst? Is it because you think I’ll quit or that he’ll fire me?” I asked, just to see what she would say.

    “Neither. We think that you two are going to end up being an item,” she revealed.

    Now it was my turn tough. If only they knew the truth. “What?”

    “He’s been single for as long as I’ve been working here. I’ve known him to entertain here and there but mostly it’s work, work, work. Now that he has no choice but to be in thepany of a beautiful woman, he will have no choice but to acknowledge his carnal side.”

    “Y’all are tripping. What’s the pool? I kinda want to get in on that action,” I joked.

    “No ma’am. That would taint the experiment. I’m not even going to tell you the time frames we picked. Just know that I’m going to win, and when I do, just say congrattions.”

    “What if I don’t like him? Did either of you consider that?”

    “No, because we knew that you have eyes. Who wouldn’t have a crush on him? Not only is he fine, but he’s also rich. Miguel even swoons over him and he has a sexy ass husband. Under all that hard beastly exterior is a real softie. He doesn’t want to show it, but he can’t help it. When my mom was in the hospital, he gave me the entire two weeks off with pay and even covered her medical bills without me asking. Hell, we didn’t even know until the bill came in the mail showing that it was paid in full. When I asked him about it, he said that he didn’t need me stressing about medical bills when I was trying to do my job. He needed me present and happy so I could do a good job.”

    “Sounds like he might have a thing for you,” I teased.

    “Girl please. I’ve been here long enough for him to make a move if he wanted to. Most of the time it’s only us here. At first, I thought I was too young for him, he’s almost forty and I just turned twenty-seven. I’ve seen the women he entertains though. Age ain’t the issue. Either way, he barely notices me. I prefer it that way.”

    “Why is that?” I wondered.

    “For one, I like my job. Thest thing I want to do is get involved with the boss and mess this up. Honestly, I find him intimidating. That and the fact that my second wedding anniversary is in a couple of weeks. My husband and I have been together for six years.”

    “Happy early anniversary,” I said, smiling.

    “Uh oh, there he is,” she said through tight lips.

    My heart raced when I saw Mr. Gray walking out of his office. I didn’t mean to, but I almost sprinted back in the house. I didn’t want him to see me outside, but it was toote. The stern look on his face as he walked deeper into the kitchen showed that he wasn’t pleased with my ten-minute break.

    “Hey, Uncle Steel,” King said, greeting his grumpy uncle as he leaned against the counter to observe us.

    “Good morning, buddy,” Mr. Gray grumbled.

    “OK, guys. You ready to eat?” I asked the kids, trying not to sound as nervous as I was.

    “Yes!” King cheered.

    “Let me make sure your food has cooled off,” I said, moving over to the counter.

    The bowls were only warm to the touch, so I picked them up and ced them in front of the kids.

    “OK, King, put some apples on top and let’s see what you think,” I instructed.

    “What are you giving them? You should have asked them what they wanted to eat! Do you know how long it took Sicily to get the oatmeal off my walls and out of my carpet from them throwing it. He doesn’t eat oat—” Mr. Gray’s words were cut off by the sight of King stuffing a spoonful of the apple cinnamon oatmeal in his mouth.

    “You were saying?” I smirked as I looked over at him.

    For the first time ever, I saw a hint of a smile y on his lips. Maybe this evil man who’d torn me out of my boyfriend’s house in the middle of the night was human after all. Granted, he must have kept his humanity buried deep down somewhere. Satisfied with his faint smile as a response, I sat down to help Evie eat.

    “I thought you didn’t like oatmeal, King.”

    “It’s good, Uncle Steel. You got to learn how to make it with apples like Ms. Devy. Uncle Steel don’t put sugar in his oatmeal, Ms. Devy.”

    “Her name is Den, King,” Mr. Gray corrected him.

    “It’s OK for him to call me Devy. I think it’s cute. It’s like Evie,” I said, pinching her cheek and causing her to giggle.

    “Where is your watch?” he asked, catching me off guard.

    “You took it, remember?” I said, reminding him of how he’d taken my watch and stuffed it in his pocket. I assumed he was deducting it from what he perceived I owed him just for being affiliated with Brendan.

    “The one I gave you,” he corrected.

    “Oh, I left it upstairs. I didn’t think you meant to give me that. I actually was going to give it back to youter.”

    “I’m well aware of what I’m doing. You don’t think I would have missed a diamond watch?”

    “Why would you give me a diamond watch?” I frowned.

    “Because I wanted you to have it. You are putting the kids on a schedule, and you need to be able to tell time.”

    “But I had a watch.”

    “That was likely purchased with stolen money, my money. If you’re going to have something that I bought anyway, then at least it should be up to my standards.”

    That didn’t make sense but who was I to argue about someone giving me jewelry. He’d taken the gold watch that I adored and upgraded it. I didn’t know what to say. This man was so confusing.

    “Thank you for the book,” I said, changing the subject.

    “You’re wee,” he said, before pushing off the counter and heading out of the kitchen. I guess that was enough interaction for the day.

    “Wait a minute,” I said, standing to catch up to him. “I want to take the kids outside today. I have some activities I want to try with them, and I think just being outside in general will do them some good.”

    “Later,” he stated.

    “It’ll be hotter.”

    “I have a conference call in about thirty minutes. I don’t know how long it’s going tost.”

    “What does that have to do with me taking the kids outside?” I quizzed.

    He lifted his eyebrows as if my question was absurd. “Can I trust you to go out there and not try anything crazy? I’m not above using physical force, neither are my people.”

    “We’re just going out to y.”

    “Don’t live to regret it,” he warned me.

    “Well, aren’t we morbid,” I said, shaking my head.

    “You don’t know the half. Make me a list of what you need for the kids. I know this ce ain’t exactly kid friendly. I have a couple of packages that shoulde today, but I was just getting what I could think of.”

    “OK.” I nodded.

    “Follow me to my office. I’ll give you a notebook to write in.”

    I trailed him to his office and stood by the door while he walked inside. He grabbed a small tablet before walking back over to the door and extending it to me.

    “Put anything you can think of that will help you with them. King is starting school next year, so help us get him prepared.”

    “Are you going to be working with him too?”

    “I think you got it. They like you,” he replied.

    “Yeah, but they love you, especially King. He thinks the world of you.”

    “They don’t know me, Den. I didn’t even know they existed until my sister called asking me to take them. I don’t know how long they will be here, so there’s no use in anybody getting attached.”

    “Wow.” I scoffed.

    Then he did something unexpected and reached out and toyed with the ends of my hair. My breath caught in my throat when his eyes dropped to mine. I knew that was happening because he scared me, but why did my pussy also react to his touch?

    “I like your hair like this,” he said, before shing that faint smile again.

    With those words he turned his back and closed the door in my face. This man was so perplexing. I couldn’t wait for him to find Brendan and clear my name.