Her breath hitched.
Images of different sceneries played through her head. He would use her as a secretary, a mistress, a plaything, anything to further humiliate her! Her mind wandered back to that hallway at the charity event. The way his fingers found places she didn't know existed, and the way his spicy aftershave lingered on her throat and shoulders… he snapped her back to reality when he reached out his hand to a loose tendril in her line of sight. He coiled the brown lock around his finger and tugged gently, keeping his eyes locked on hers the entire time.
She licked her lips instinctively, eliciting a swear from under his breath.
"H-how could I be useful?" Isabella stuttered.
"Plenty of ways." His voice was as breathy as hers but when he released her strand of hair the spell was broken, and he leaned away from her again. She pulled her legs together to make the pulsing sensation go away and tried to recompose herself as quickly as possible.
It was frustrating that her body reacted such a way to this man- a pompous, egotistical, maniacal brute! "Foremost, Sebastían." The mention of the chubby cherub brought a small smile to her face despite the circumstances.
She wanted to ask can I see him? but thought better of it.
Eduardo crossed his arms and tipped his head to the side, a stray black curl falling from the slicked back do it was in. "I will be conducting important business and will be traveling constantly, sometimes by plane and sometimes by sea. He will need a companion for the next few months and unfortunately his newest nanny has… exited."
Isabella grimaced at the memories of her own slew of nannies as a child. Most left because of the grueling schedules, the brazen four siblings, or because they couldn't take Renee and Phillipe's terrible attitudes. Losing caregivers so frequently was hard to understand and she often blamed herself when no one cared to explain it. Every time they came back from boarding school for holidays, there was a new nanny. It was sad, really.
But her, as a nanny?
She couldn't even fathom it.
"I have a job, Eduardo." Isabella spoke through gritted teeth.
"Wi-Fi will be available wherever we are, as I depend on it for my own work." Eddie supplied quickly.
She chewed at her bottom lip and took an extra step back, not trusting him or herself for the moment. Either he had assumed or knew that she could do her work remotely. "I'm not qualified- an agency could supply you with the right person for the job. I enjoy sleeping in and occasionally work long hours-"
Eduardo held his hand up. "Roberto will understand then."
Her heart froze.
No, her little brother wouldn't understand why she hadn't taken an opportunity to help him. "Eddie…" his eyes flickered when she said his name, "that baby needs a mother, not a babysitter." Isabella pleaded with her eyes to make him understand.
She wasn't in any position to tell him what to do with his love life, but maybe this would help him understand where she was coming from. Why should he let his son get attached to someone that would walk away after a few months? He obviously wasn't thinking clearly- it seemed he made a habit of that.
Eduardo scoffed. "I assure you he needs for nothing under my roof."
Isabella rolled her eyes at his cocky demeanor. "He's a baby, he always needs something." She took a deep breath before looking back at him. "Could we possibly settle for a cash amount? Without my parents' involvement- I can write you a check in my name."
Eduardo regarded her harshly, any hint of the playful tone gone. "You either agree to come onto my estate or your brother goes to jail. This is in your hands, Isabella."
Of course he would word it like that!
This wasn't her doing at all, this wasn't just in her hands! If Roberto was more responsible, she wouldn't have even been in this mess to begin with. Her and Eduardo could've stayed two worlds away from each other, her in California and him in Spain- part of the allure of getting her first time over with him was the fact that she was likely to never run into to him again!
And yet here she was in his private home, pleading this man to help her out again.
The organization she worked for was self-sufficient at that point and given the recent generous grant they received, both old and potential new clients would be taken care of with places to stay and food to eat for the next few months. The in-person work she did was mostly advocation to local shelters and food banks, which took up most of her time normally. Bella could do remote work if she wanted to- grant writing, community outreach, coordinating with law firms interested in pro bono work, and coaxing their other donors from her laptop was done easily.
Isabella could give up a few months of her life to help her little brother, and it wouldn't mess up her life the way a prison sentence would mess up Roberto's.
Isabella shut her eyes to curb the frustration she felt. "Four months. I can help you for four months and then after that, I will need to get back to my life. I'll work hard to find a more permanent caregiver as well."
"Six months." Eduardo countered.
She crossed her arms defensively and lifted her chin. "Four months, that's all! And I will need time set aside to do my work as well sleep."
There was no way in hell she was going to let him work her to the bone the way that she had seen Greta. Isabella enjoyed her sleep; it was one of the reasons she didn't have a kid of her own.
"Done." He took her aback by agreeing so finitely.
She felt the ground shift when he walked back around to his desk and called in Jorge and her brother, whose presence was barely felt by her at that point. Isabella wanted to shake herself out of the stupor she was in, but it was no use. She agreed to work for him for four months at his very whim, in a foreign country, on the drop of a dime.
What other stupid, hare-brained decision was she going to make next?
Eduardo regarded Robbie with a leveled look. "Jorge will escort you to the airport in ten minutes. You are banned from any establishment I own, including the states. If you are caught on my property again, I won't do you the favor of calling on your sister." Robbie nodded solemnly, looking so small and frail in the leather chair.
Her heart clenched for him the way it did when they were younger- he was the one that always got caught being naughty when they were kids, even though she tried to take as many spankings for him as she could.
Eddie leaned back into his chair, his eyes laced with ice as he spoke. "You won't have time to gather your things, but the ticket will be comped. I suggest you learn from your mistakes and thank your sister- not everyone is so lucky to have a savior at their beck and call." Her little brother nodded fearfully, his beady brown eyes never leaving Eduardo's.
Isabella was tough and whippings didn't faze her but seeing Robbie cry with a sore bottom hurt more than anything else in the world. This was the same feeling but a different situation- so many years later, and things hadn't changed much. She would always do what she had to do to keep Robbie out of trouble.
"What about…" Robbie started to inquire but when he looked at his sister, he stopped abruptly.
Eduardo said nothing and merely looked at him, or through him, and instead let Jorge answer. "Your wife will not be able to fly with you back to the U.S. She will be pardoned as you are, rest assured."
Isabella felt her claws leave her nail beds at the words she heard.
Wife? A wife? Who… what?
Robbie was practically a kid!
He couldn't have been here in Spain for longer than a month, there was no way… he was married?
Robbie refused to meet her eyes, instead taking great interest in a spot on the floor. When her brother didn't correct the marriage term, her anger grew louder in her head until she felt like screaming out. "Wife?" Isabella gritted the word out with every ounce of venom she was capable of. "Robbie- a fucking wife!" She smacked the side of his head with restraint at first, only trying to elicit some kind of response from him.
When he chose to stay silent, the dagger dug deeper into her heart.
So, he thought he was a grown enough man to get married but not grown enough to own up to his mistakes?
She should have let him burn for his own damn screw ups!
Instead, she ran to his aid like a complete fool like she always did! This was what her siblings often bitched at her about. 'You will never let him grow up!' Julio would say. 'He is spoiled rotten, and you aren't helping it!' Rosalina would say.
She suddenly had no control over her hands as they rained down on Roberto, her nails scathing across his face before he put his arms up to shield himself. Isabella took her trusted hand bag and started to pellet him with her best hits, hoping the buckle left lasting marks in his forehead. She saw Jorge lurch for her but before he got close Eduardo barked at him and like a good dog, he stood down at command.
It wasn't until Robbie cried out for her stop that she stepped away, feeling only the slightest tinge of guilt in comparison to the anger and foolishness she harbored.
How dare he.
This was something Rosalina or Julio would do to her. Robbie had been her best friend growing up, they kept secrets from others not from each other! "Get on that fucking plane and go home, Robbie. Don't talk to me until you're divorced and back at school." Her chest heaved up and down with anguish. She wanted to say much more to him but they had an audience and she was pissed off beyond comprehension.
Robbie nodded tearfully and followed Jorge out of the room, slightly turning around only to change his mind and go back the way he needed to. Even when she heard his footsteps disappear and the main door close, she still couldn't fully breathe.
She wanted to follow him still and slap the spit out of him- but she had more important things to figure out that didn't involve him, even if they were caused by him.
Isabella was still catching her breath when Eduardo's deep chuckle resounded. "That temper." He gestured to her nails, which were likely broken, and offered his glass of freshly poured tequila to her.
She accepted it and threw it back, earning another one of those shit-eating grins from him. "I'm going to be the nanny from hell, Eduardo."
