She sags and drops her face into his chest. “I don’t want another nanny.”
He kisses the top of her head and holds her close. “I know. I don’t either. But I can’t watch you run yourself into exhaustion either. Will you consider therapy?”
“Not now. Please…just not now. Charlotte is in prison, and Samil is dead. I know this. I’m fine. They’re just nightmares, likely from hormones. Let’s see how things are after the twins are born.”
Sebastian’s hand reaches down and cups her large belly. “What can I do to help you?”
She sighs contentedly. “This. This is what I need.”
“My sweetness, you need more than me holding you.”
“Sometimes yes, sometimes no.” Another heavy breath. “A nanny. Fuck, Sebastian. First Emily needs a hip replacement, and now we need to find another new person? I’m not sure I have that in me.”
“Go rest.” He tilts her chin up and kisses her lips. “Rowan and I will talk. Do you want us to wake you before we meet with Marcella? That won’t be much rest for you if we do.”
“Wake me after. I’m less concerned about her than I am about hiring a new person to watch our children.”
“You’ll need someone,” I say, agreeing with Sebastian. “Especially after the twins are born, so I don’t know what else to tell you other than we’ll do everything we can to ensure she’s not another psycho.”
Bellamy emits a small laugh, but she’s smiling, and that was my goal.
“What he said. No psychos allowed within the palace walls again.”
She drags her fingers through his hair. “You’re very cute when you say things in English to me.”
He holds her face and kisses her softly. “I’d do anything for you.”
“You’re my heart.”
“You’re my soul.”
Another kiss, then she walks back toward the entrance, too tired to continue their back and forth.
“I don’t like it,” Sebastian says the moment she’s out of earshot. “Rowan, when did everything become so fucked?”
I don’t have an answer for that. “Not all fucked. You have her. You have your children.”
He nods, but the creases in his face are unmistakable. He brushes back his hair and curses in Latin. “It’s been one thing after another since I brought Bellamy into my life. I won’t make the same mistake of pushing her away as I did after she fell in the kitchen, but I won’t lie and say that I’m at ease with anything. And now we need a new Emily.”
“There’s something familiar about her.”
His brows dip. “Who?”
“Marcella.”
Sebastian makes a sarcastic noise in the back of his throat. “Familiar? How so? She looks like every other housemaid. Honestly, most of the time I can’t tell them apart, and don’t tell our aunt I said that, otherwise, she’ll rake me over the coals.”
“You’re blinded by your wife, brother. Marcella doesn’t look like every other housemaid we have. Even in that frumpy uniform with no makeup on and her hair in a drab braid, anyone could see that.”
I get a raised eyebrow, and there’s a challenging glint to his eyes. “Oh? Noticed her hair and lack of makeup, did you?”
I roll my eyes. “Stop. That’s not what I meant. Don’t say you didn’t notice how beautiful she is.”
He laughs and nudges my arm with his elbow. “Actually, I didn’t. I was a bit too preoccupied with the fact that Emily fell to notice the girl. But clearly you did.”
I almost laugh, pushing up my sleeves against the summer heat. “Clearly I did.”
“You can’t fuck her.”