Page 16 of Hidden Desire

Robert looked surprised and then repulsed. “God, no. Your daughter is still a teenager, isn’t she?”

Emmet shook his head. “No. She’s twenty-four.”

Robert looked shocked. “Hell, I never would have guessed that. She’s so small she looks like a child. I knew she had to be at least eighteen to get this job.”

Emmet laughed. “I know she’s quite unattractive and ignorant, but she’ll obey you. I’ve trained her to do that, at least.”

Jesus Christ. What kind of father talked about his child like this? The fact that she’s not unattractive but beautiful confused him. Robert can tell she had been educating herself,with no help from her father or a teacher, while reading everything she could get her hands on, which makes her quite intelligent, too.

Robert had to call on all his strength not to jump at Emmet over the desk and beat the living shit out of him, and to pretend he didn’t care.

He chuckled. “It doesn’t matter what she looks like, and all I’ve heard from my housekeeper is that she’s very quiet, doesn’t talk a lot but does her job.”

Emmet nodded and looked pleased. “So, you haven’t had a chance to talk to her?”

“Now, why would I want to do that? I’m a busy man. That’s why I needed a nanny so badly. I don’t have time to take care of a child.”

“I understand that. Fortunately, when Grace’s mother died, she was old enough to take care of herself.”

It just kept getting worse.

His phone rang. He wasn’t going to take the call but wanted to check who it was. When he saw Taylor’s name, he answered.

“What’s going on? Where are you? Grace’s father has been sitting in my office for a while, and we are busy men.” He kept his tone gruff and a scowl on his face.

“That asshole is still there?” Taylor asked. “Damn. Hannah has to use the bathroom.”

“Yes, well, you’ll have to deal with it.”

“Call me when he’s gone,” Taylor said.

“That’s fine.”

Robert set down on his phone and sighed. “That was my housekeeper. I asked her to go with the other two to make sure everything was okay. I don’t know your daughter enough to trust her outside the home.”

“That’s smart. Knowing her, they would be lost,” Emmetsaid.

Robert chuckled. “Yes, well, they aren’t lost, but they are stuck. The crowd at the book fair was bigger than they expected. Taylor, my housekeeper, said she tried to get them out early, but Hannah wanted to buy some things. They are just getting up to the cashier now.”

Emmet scowled. “Did my daughter buy anything?”

“I didn’t ask. I’m not worried about her. She has the money I put in her account every week.”

Robert studied Emmet to see if he showed any guilt at all in taking his daughter’s wages but found nothing but cold, empty eyes.

“Well, I don’t have time to wait. I’ll stop by again in a few days,” Emmet said and stood.

Robert walked around his desk and shook the man’s hand. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out. If you call next time, I can make sure they are here.”

“I’ll do that. I really need to talk to Grace. I hate to say this, but she’s had some mental issues in the past, and I want to make sure she’s doing well.”

Robert tried to look concerned. “I wish you had told me that before I hired her.”

“Oh, she’s not violent at all. She just gets so depressed that she needs professional help. Just call me if you see a change in her behavior.”

“I can do that.” Robert nodded but tried to look displeased. He showed the man the front door. He waited until he heard the car pull away from his house before he started cursing as he walked back into his office.

That motherfucker. God, I hope the Good Knight Society finds more damning evidence on the man. He wanted to bury the asshole so he never had to see him again.