Thomas hesitated for a moment before he replied to her.
"No, but, I'm not surprised. It's no secret, Mr. Walter is bothered about Damon and the future of his company. He is getting old and wants to spend more time with his family. He wants Damon to take over but," he continued, "the young man is unwilling."
"How are we sure that Damon has a mind of his own?" She asked wryly.
"I can't say anything about that ma'am, Mr. Walter, at his age, has no time to tame any unwilling son."
"So he thought hiring a nanny would be the best?"
"Mr. Walter is just doing all he can to put Damon on track."
She let out a tired sign.
"He won't hurt you, miss," Thomas added quickly.
"He jokes carelessly that's all. If he gives you trouble, call up Mr. Walter and he will take necessary actions."
"That won't be necessary, Damon would have spent almost his entire life here. Since he couldn't tame him then, his efforts now are futile. Sorry to say,"
"Can you fix that?"
"Aye, the object in question has been broken for too long. I can't promise."
Thomas paused for a while.
"They are good men, both of them," Thomas told her.
"Then what the fudge is the problem with them?! Why don't they just listen to each other and try working towards having a father and son relationship?"
"I'm ..erhm…" Thomas was lost for words. He had no answers for Lucy. "Gotta go, Miss, I wish you good luck."
Lucia needed it.
¶¶¶
Damon heard a knock on his room door. It would be his old man coming to laugh at him.
"Come in!" He growled.
The door opened, and a beautiful blonde, wearing a skin-tight bikini sashayed seductively into the room.
"Damon?" She rolled his name from her tongue seductively
Oh, shoot! He had forgotten about the escort. Fuck, Lucia!
He grinned with an unholy smirk and thought of what his father would do if he saw him here and now.
He lay down on the bed, spread his legs and ushered her.
"Come here baby doll,"
The escort shut the door behind her and then moved towards him, loosening her bikini as she came closer.
"Aw, don't worry Papi," She muttered."let me kiss you papi, and then you f*** the hell outta me,"
"I wouldn't dare if I were you," A stern voice came firmly from the door.
The escort moved away quickly, surprised at who controlled Damon Walter's activity.
Lucia stood at the door in all her glory, with stern eyes. The escort looked between Lucia and Damon, confused.
"Who are you?"
"His Nanny"
"What?"
"I am Damon's nanny," Lucia repeated. To the blonde, it sounded foolish and lame. Damon was in a haze of looking at a stern Lucia, right before he became angry.
He saw the escort picking up her bikinis, and he stopped her.
"Don't pay any attention to her," he said, reaching out his hand as he dragged her close. "Lucia here is a desperate lady who wants to get on with me, she won't disturb us."
"Won't I?" Lucia retorted and again her voice was like steel and her expression was as hard as a rock.
Damon didn't consider that as a question, he considered it as a challenge. He would be damned if he let a bitch bully him.
"Of course not," he said. "Whenwhen you are out of this room, I'll kiss her hard."
"Uh?" The Escort stuttered foolishly. She moved away from the bed and put on her bikini.
"I…. think maybe you too should settle this between yourself," She said as she made for the door.
"Good idea," Lucia praised, moving towards her.
"Bad idea," Damon disagreed. "Come back here"
"Don't you dare blonde, walk out," Lucia ordered, and grabbing her arms she dragged her out.
"Thomas, would you show Miss...Miss?"
"Natasha," the blonde told her nervously.
"And maybe give her some tips for coming here."
"Don't move an inch, Tasha," Damon commanded, but Natasha paid no attention to him, she left the room at lightning speed.
"Come along, Miss," Thomas told the blonde. He looked at Damon spitefully. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Damon," he said as he ushered the blonde out.
¶¶¶¶
"Sorry about that, nanny," Damon sneered at her.
"You should be. "She said as she bent down to pick up a fallen object.
Damon stared at her body and for a second he enjoyed the view. He felt a sensation pulsate through him, and his body heated up.
"You are not to have any females in your room from now on. Am I clear?"
He huffed instead of replying to her.
"Leave."
Lucia left without a backward glance.
Lucia was taking a walk through the mansion, in her thoughts. The past few days she has spent here have been torturing.
Damon was just too strong-headed without sight. She was quickly pulled out of her thoughts when she saw a younger version of Damon on the floor, balling his eyes out.
Why the hell is he crying here, she asked in her mind.
She should be the one crying, she thought.
"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked in a calm voice
His light green eyes looked up at her as he put his hands down. His face was probably the cutest face she had ever seen.
Short dark hair with a small nose. He had small cheeks and long black lashes. Green eyes were almost a light pastel color as they glistened from the rays of the sun.
"I - 'm hurt!" He hollered as he went back to crying. She looked at him in confusion.
"It's okay honey. Where does it hurt?" She asked as she crouched to his level.
"Right here!" He shouted again. He raised his right arm in the air and there was a small scrape on his elbow, dripping with blood.
"How about we go to my room and I'll clean it up, alright?"
He nods.
"C'mon let's go hun."...
……
Everything was just too much for Lucia. She thought about everything that had happened since she came to Walter's Villa.
She had expected a four-year-old kid to run to her. But all she met was a sexy thirty-two-year-old man in his briefs and towel on.
He just grabbed her and kissed her. He had mistaken her for Tasha. But why was he waiting to kiss Natasha? He did not even know her.
Lucia could bet that he had never seen her in his life. Maybe he had hired her for an hour.
He was doing it to upset someone.
Upset who?
She had to speak to his father. She had plenty of questions that only Mr. Walter could answer.
"He is probably in his office, on the second floor you can't miss it. I think he had been expecting you."
Mr. Walter was sitting at his desk with a telephone to his ear, and, when he saw Lucia standing by the door, he smiled and ushered her in.
Lucia didn't smile back. She simply entered the office but she didn't take a seat. She didn't want to be coerced into doing anything she didn't want to do.
"Miss Lucia. Nice to meet you."
"Not quite."
"You can't quit," he reminded her. "You signed the contract."
"Heck I know that. What I don't know is what you expect me to do! If you intended to annoy and humiliate your son, I guess you have succeeded. Beyond that, I'm at loss."
Mr. Walter smiled proudly.
"He was annoyed, good. Humiliated? even better. He has done plenty to humiliate and disgrace me. I want exactly what I told you earlier. He is my problem and he shouldn't be."
"He is thirty-two years old!" She rolled her eyes unbelievably at the man.
"That's enough reason why he needs to grow up. He is lazy. He will not work in the company. He prefers to waste his time at parties and with women. Making headlines that irritates me." He said. "I want it to stop."
"He won't cooperate with me, Mr. Walter."
He lifted a brow.
"All your wards cooperated right from the start?" He asked, his tone deceptively mild.
"Not always." She admitted.
"So you have ways?" He looked hopefully at her.
"I teach by love, care and example." She said subtly.
He nodded. "That's good." He folded his fists and looked at her.
"Love and care for Damon."
A frisson of primal fear skittered down her spine. Perhaps it was because he used the word, 'love' and Damon in close proximity, even though Lucia knew he didn't mean that kind of love she was thinking about.
She paced around the office, hands on her hips. "And you think that will work?"
She demanded finally when he just looked at her expectantly.
"I don't care whatever means you use, you assured me yourself that you would work."
"But—" she cut herself short because she had nothing to say. In fact, she had. And it had worked with all other wards. But this was different!
"He is not a child!" She argued.
"I'm his father, I know that. But I lost him when he was a child. I think I have to start there to get him back ."
It was the first time he spoke with sincerity, Lucia finally sat down. This was getting deep and complicated.
"Why?" She leaned her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her palm so she could look at him as she asked quietly. "Why?"
For a moment Mr. Walter's eyes wandered off. Lucia wondered what he was thinking. "I need him now." He finally admitted.
"You didn't before?" She pressed.
He gave her a dismissive look.
"We don't talk about the befores. Before is gone. It is now that matters, now and the future."
Lucia couldn't believe that. He had said to himself that what was happening now was a result of what had gone wrong before. But obviously he wasn't willing to talk about it.
Mr. Walter picked up a pen and tapped it on the desk, watching the movement it made for a long moment. "I want to slow down. I work too hard. I am getting old. Sixty, you know? I don't have many years left. Two years ago, I had a heart attack. Not bad, you understand. But if it scares me a little, I will not live forever. I want to spend time with my wife and children." He raised his gaze to meet hers.
"You understand?"
"Children?" Lucia said flatly
Mr. Walter paused his mouth into a thin line. For a second he absorbed the attack. Then he nodded in acknowledgment.
"My little children. They need a father."
"And Damon doesn't?"
"Damon is an adult, for all that he acts like an irresponsible idiot!"
"I wonder why that is," Lucia said silently. But she wanted Mr. Walter to finish his statement.
"I'll keep my company though." He said, "I built it!"
These last three words were spoken with the deepest and most resented emotions. "From nothing I just did it. For almost thirty-five years I have invested in it. It is my life, my legacy! I can't see it being wasted." His eyes met hers again, dark and fierce. "I won't let Damon waste it."
"You think he would?" Lucia asked him.
"Why wouldn't he waste it? See for yourself!"
He picked up a file from his desk and shoved it at her. Lucia automatically took the paper. The headlines caught her attention.
A Greek boy turns the heiress's head.
Damon the woman's star.
"You see? He knows nothing! He cares about nothing!" Mr. Walter's dark expression scared the shit out of her.
"That is what I want you to fix."