CHAPTER FIVE
1136 Words
Emilia’s POV
He moved in front of me, an aura of confidence oozing from him with every step he took. I tried not to oogle at my new boss as the butler, who I’d learned was called Alfred, pushed the doors open before we even got there.
“Thank you, Alfred,” Mr. De Luca muttered as he moved further into his living room. Without all the booze, music, and drunk dancing students, the place looked bigger than I remembered.
And stunning.
The dark tiles gleamed with the precision of an expert cleaner, and the dark furniture made the space look haunted, yet for some reason, safe. I stopped in the middle of the room, my hands clasped in front of me, my eyes staring at nothing in particular.
“Alfred,” Mr. De Luca started. “Can you please get Isabella here?”
“Yes, Sir.”
The man, who looked like he could blend into the background perfectly, walked out of the room and returned a moment later with the girl from last night. She was really pretty, with her hair in two pigtails and her lips in a grim line.
Alfred dropped her gingerly on her feet, and she padded to the couch, watching me warily. Her eyes never left my face. It felt like she was trying to say something, with the way her gaze narrowed, with how she bit the tip of her pinky.
“Bells.” Mr. De Luca sounded different when speaking to her. He picked his words way more slowly, and he actually looked into her eyes. “I want you to meet your nanny. Her name is Emilia, and she will be here to take care of you when I’m not home. Is that fine?”
Isabella remained where she was, nodding once. She looked at Mr. De Luca for a fleeting second before returning her gaze to me.
“Hey,” I whispered, stooping till I was the same height as her. “You can call me Lia. Can I call you Bella?”
She nodded again.
“Bella, how old are you?” I asked with a grin. She kept staring, like I never said anything.
“She doesn’t speak,” Mr. De Luca muttered. I got on my feet and turned to look at him. He had grabbed a t-shirt from a chair and was shrugging it on. I almost felt sadness reach for me as the ink on his body disappeared underneath the black tee.
“She doesn’t speak?” I repeated, confused at how possible that was. “Mr. De Luca, I know she is your daughter, and I have…I have no right, but have you…”
“Bella, can you go to your room, please?” He said, cutting me off. “The guards will take you to school soon, and then you can meet Emilia later tonight.”
Another nod. That was all she seemed capable of doing as she leaned away from the couch. I watched her as she walked to the giant stairs at one corner of the room, looking back only for a fraction of a second before she disappeared from view.
“Mr. De Luca…”
“Sit.”
But he didn’t do that. Instead, those green eyes watched me as I dropped onto the couch, and as I scooted to the edge, my fingers digging into my skirt.
“Isabella belongs to my brother,” he murmured, running his hand through his low hair. A shadow crossed his eyes, and he moved across the room. Silence followed him as he reached for a bottle, but he seemed to have a second thought before returning to me.
“Where is … he?”
“Dead.”
He said it flatly. No emotions. But his eyes don’t lie.
“So, she…”
“Bells is a little sensitive right now, so ensure you do not mention anything about her father to her.”
“Right,” I muttered, nodding.
“No, Emilia. This isn’t about saying you understand.” He took a step closer. “It isn’t the same as coming into my room in the middle of the night during a f*****g arts party. This is a child’s life, and I need you to pay attention to everything I tell you. One wrong move and I won’t hesitate to throw you out the door.”
A shudder ran through me as my head nodded emphatically. I couldn’t mess this up. It was important to get my tuition paid, to see me through the semester.
“Use your words, Emilia.”
“Yes, Sir.”
My phone just had to ring at the wrong moment. I reached for it at once, my eyes scanning Ashley’s message.
“s**t! s**t! s**t!” I jumped to my feet and rushed towards the door. “I’ll be here later tonight, Sir!” I called over my shoulder. “I promise. And thank you for the job again.”
***
Ashley met me by the curb close to his house. “Hey, girl,” she greeted as I slid into the passenger’s seat next to her. Compared to last night, she looked much better in her slicked-back hair and her glossed lips.
“What are you…”
“I forgot something last night,” I said in one breath, not wanting her to pry. I avoided her gaze, too, using the seat belt.
She arched her brows. “You forgot something? Emilia, did you…”
“I called in advance, okay?” I muttered, leaning into the seat. “Alfred let me in and…”
“Alfred?”
“His butler.”
“And you know his butler…how?”
“Ashley, is this some kind of interrogation?”
She raised her hands in the air in mock surrender. “I was just asking.”
“We are going to be late for class.”
Nodding, she pulled out back onto the road, driving like a maniac. As usual. We barely had three minutes to make it in time to our first class, and neither of us hesitated as we raced through the car park and down the hallway.
By the time we got in, Adrien was already in. He kept space for us in the middle of the class.
“How did it…” he began to ask, but I shook my head at once, reminding him that Ashley was still there. She had no idea what was going on.
“I am so excited to meet this hot Professor,” Ashley chirped. Now, the lip gloss made sense. Typical Ashley.
I was about to say something about that when the door at one corner, at the front of the class, pushed open. And then, he walked in.
Mr. De Luca.
- Writer
