His Nanny Mate By Eve Above Story

Chapter 22: Family Ties
Moana

“Ahem.”

Ethan and I jerked our heads up from the portfolio of his childhood drawings, our train of conversation now broken, to see none other than Edrick standing in the doorway — and he didn’t look happy.

“Oh, hello,” I said, feeling a bit nervous under the billionaire’s strangely disapproving stare. “Ethan was just showing me some of his work.”

Without a word, Edrick slowly walked into the studio. His shoes clicked loudly on the concrete floor, echoing through the room’s tall ceilings. For several long moments, the Alpha billionaire slowly circled the studio and looked at all of the art with his hands in his pants pockets. I noticed that he wasn’t looking around with wonder, like I had when Ethan first turned on the light, but rather with an almost disgusted look on his face. He almost seemed repulsed by the art, which was surprising considering the fact that he had plenty of expensive artwork hanging in both his mansion in the mountains and his city penthouse.

Finally, Edrick turned to face me and slowly walked up to where Ethan and I stood, stopping in front of me. He hardly paid any mind to Ethan, as though his brother wasn’t even there.

“Ella is looking for you,” he said to me in a deep, irritated voice. “You should be with her.”

“I’m sorry,” I replied, feeling even more nervous as the Alpha billionaire towered over me, looking down at me with an aggravated look on his handsome face. “I thought she was with her grandmother.”

“She is,” Edrick said. His gaze finally slid over to Ethan. There was something dark about the way he looked at his own brother, as if he didn’t trust him. Meanwhile, Ethan only looked back at Edrick with an almost amused sparkle in his eyes, as if he had been experiencing this behavior from his brother for a long time already.

“Hello to you too, big brother,” Ethan said.

palpable air of discomfort, and it involuntarily made me take a step backwards. “I’ll go back to Ella, now,” I said, heading nervously for the door. “Thank you for showing

Ethan replied. Our eyes lingered on each other for a moment before I glanced over at Edrick, who seemed to look at me with

with you,” Edrick suddenly

we walked out of Ethan’s studio. Edrick closed the door behind us, and the last thing I saw before the door closed was Ethan’s face. He was

Edrick angrily took my arm and pulled me down the hallway. He was being a bit rough with me and his hard grip burned my bare arm, so I yanked my arm away and stopped

I asked, feeling my hands curl into fists at my sides. “I don’t appreciate

a few moments, then back up at me. “You shouldn’t

“He’s your brother–”

not my

there silently in the dark corridor for a few moments. The ceiling, I was now realizing, was made of patterned glass, which allowed the moonlight to shine down onto the marble tiles and cast designs on our faces. It made Edrick look both incredibly handsome and incredibly frightening at the same

anything else, he turned on his heel and

I don’t want you to leave my side for the rest

We briskly descended the stairs back to the main floor, then passed through the garden to make our way back to the

eyes on me. The music had come to a bit of a lull by the time we entered, while the guests milled about and sipped their drinks. I felt my face flush hot as I crossed the room right next

darling,” Verona said, holding her hand out for Edrick. Her smiling eyes flickered over to me, as well as Ella’s, who was sitting

before pushing himself up out of his chair and beckoning for Edrick to

Ella exclaimed, holding out her hand as Michael and Edrick walked over to the bar. “Grandma gave me a present.” On Ella’s wrist was a delicate silver bracelet with a small charm that had the letter “E” on it. Smiling, I took the little

very pretty,” I

charm bracelet,” Verona chimed in. “As Ella gets older, she can add

Kelly ambled over to us from where she stood at a table nearby, champagne glass in hand. “Verona loves to spoil Ella,” she said. Her face was the perfect picture of sweetness, but I could sense a hint of what almost sounded like

Verona replied, squeezing Ella’s shoulders. “It’s my job to spoil

mouth to speak, but Edrick suddenly returned. He had a sour look on his face as he

and twirling a bit of hair around her

play again. I immediately recognized the song as one of my favorite classical pieces: Vivaldi’s Winter. Verona, seeing the