Castle

Chapter 1

ONE

After about ten minutes, I found myself seated before a very intimidating man who lounged behind a large cherry-wood desk in an equally impressive office.

The house was exquisite, to say the least. A gothic colonial mansion fit to be called a king’s castle with their lawns neatly trimmed, a huge mermaid sculpted fountain at the entrance and a lake house on the other side of the mansion. The house was built sometime in the early eighteenth century according to the butler that showed me to Mr. Montgomery’s office.

It was pretty clear to me that these people were wealthy beyond my imagination and working for them would be like a dream come true.

I was good with kids. In fact, I used to babysit some kids from the neighborhood for extra cash and it worked out well, so I knew I could do this, too.

“Millie,” Mr. Montgomery addressed me, pulling me out of my thoughts, “Is it okay if I call you Millie?”

“Yes, that’s totally fine.”

Devin Montgomery could have told me he worked in some Hollywood movies and I would have believed him. His rumpled hair was the color of a coffee latte, and eyes so green as if he held an entire amazon jungle there. He was tall and wore a casual white shirt that highlighted his toned body. Men like him usually just appeared in my fantasies and never in real life.

“That’s good.” He flashed me a grin. “I’ve read through your resume and you mentioned here that you’re pretty great at handling kids.”

“That’s right,” I responded. “There were a lot of kids in my neighborhood, so I’m experienced where they are concerned. Kids love me, so you wouldn’t have to worry about your son or daughter. I’m also good at engaging them in outdoor and indoor games, although we never had too much outdoor space where I lived, so I think that wouldn’t be a problem here.”

I was rambling! Sometimes my mouth could run miles without my knowledge.

His smile did not falter as he regarded me with a curious look on his face. “Well, that’s a relief, but I’d like to clarify; I’m not married and I don’t have kids. It’s my brother that I need a caregiver for, and he’s not a kid. He’s….” Devin looked away into the distance trying to come up with the right word, “He’s just difficult sometimes.”

“I see. Well, I thought he’s a kid since the advertisement said you wanted a nanny.” I might have been a teeny-tiny bit thrilled by the fact that Devin wasn’t married.

“Really? That’s strange. I think someone made a mistake when they posted that ad.”

How bad could this job be? If his brother was a nasty, disobeying teenager, I was confident I could teach him to stay in line. I was guilty of pinching rowdy kids when their parents weren’t looking, so this rich Montgomery teen had better be nice.

“Are you usually great with people who throw tantrums?”

I gave him my most confident smile. “Of course. It’s difficult in the beginning, but I can assure you that your brother and I will be best friends in no time.”

I was trying to sell this too hard, and I was hoping I wasn’t sounding too desperate like a salesperson trying hard to sell the expired products at a cheap price.

By the looks of it, Devin seemed sold because he said, “Millie, you’re hired.”

Wow! That was easy…

Too easy…

I couldn’t keep the excitement out of my voice. “Awesome! When can I meet your brother?”

“All in due time,” he said, pushing a document towards me, “We have a rule. Every person under our employment signs a contract. It states that you’ll be keeping this position for at least a year, but before that, you’ll be working on a one-month probation period. We’ll be monitoring you and we’ll have the power to dismiss you if we think you don’t meet our expectations. We've had a few caregivers before you who didn't treat my brother with the respect he deserves, and we were left with no choice, but to let them go. You can go through the entire document, take your time to read it and I’ll?—”

I picked up a pen and signed my name on the document.

My desperation had no limits whatsoever. Anything was better than the hellhole that consisted of my uncle and his son.

“I want this job, Mr. Montgomery, and I completely understand that you would want to protect your brother from harm. I promise you I won’t be that person.”

I scanned the few pages while he was talking to me and it all seemed legit. I didn’t want to waste more time when he could just decide that I wasn’t fit to do this job and hire someone else.

He gave me a pleased smile, his eyes crinkled at the corners, “Call me Devin.”

The butler of the house, Mr. Winston, showed me my room, which was on the second floor of the mansion. The room seemed comfortable with a queen sized bed, a matching dresser, a wardrobe, and even a flat-screen. A large window overlooked the lake.

It was like looking at a painting, and I knew could get used to this scenery. There was no other place I’d rather be.

I was quickly falling in love with this bedroom as I noticed the walls covered in baby pink wallpapers with little cherry blossom petals on them.

This place was more than what I’d expected and I knew I was going to be happy under this employment.

Devin was excessively sweet and his mannerisms screamed ‘Gentleman’. He’d mentioned that excluding Castle, (the one they employed me as a caregiver for) had two more brothers and a sister, Dayana. I took all the information in as he told me about Theodore, who was seventeen and studying in high school, and then there was the youngest, little Chandler, aged eleven.

A tragic boat accident by the property lake killed their parents two years ago, leaving only their grandfather, Hugh Montgomery, alive. The man was eighty-five and bound to a wheelchair.

As I listened to Devin reciting the tragic story of his family, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them.

It was all so depressing and I could feel the sadness creeping into the atmosphere. Devin had to shoulder all the responsibilities of being the only mature man in the family, and my heart went out to him.

The house was easy to get lost in; the passageways were endless and there were so many rooms that I could only cover them all in one week. There was also a private movie theatre upstairs, and a library on the same floor. Devin was quick to tell me I was allowed to use them in my free time.

We stopped in front of a room when he turned towards me, “Millie, just a heads up. About my brother Castle, he may not like you right off the bat and he’ll take his time to warm up to you, so I will suggest you learn to be patient with him.”

I placed my hand on his. “I will never give you a chance to be disappointed.”

He smiled, and then his gaze followed where I touched his hand. I quickly lifted my hand off his shirt sleeve.

“I expect you won’t.” he narrowed his eyes at me, heat radiated from his green eyes. “This is Castle’s bedroom. Are you ready to meet him?”

I nodded.

He turned the knob and opened the door. “Castle, look who’s here to see you.”

The room was empty.

The décor was masculine; the walls painted a deep gray, and the furniture was rich, polished wood, everything in gothic style. It was obvious they had restored the home in its original unique style from the 1800s.

A mini train moved over the tiny track, puffing out a little smoke, going inside the little tunnel and then zigzagging through mini-mountains and forests.

I stared at the train, and Devin watched me in amusement. “Castle loves trains. It calms him down to just look at them.”

There were other miscellaneous toys sprawled on the floor, along with a drawing book and crayons.A lot of loose papers were on the floor with scribbles on them, scribbles that made little sense like the person who was drawing it had an idea at first and then they abandoned it because they couldn’t remember.

I smiled. “I can’t wait to meet him. He sounds lovely.”

“He is.” Devin agreed proudly.

My eyes then rested over the wooden bedposts by the headboard. There were ropes tied on either side of it.

A chill ran down my body, thinking about the ropes.

Why were they here?

“What are those for?” I inquired, curiously.

Devin followed my gaze, and his smile faltered. “Well, as I mentioned before, Castle can be a little difficult. We only use the ropes for emergencies.”

Something about his tone told me this topic wasn’t up for further discussion.

What exactly were these emergency purposes?

Did his family tie him up?

That seemed cruel, but I decided not to push it.

He glanced at his gold Rolex. “I’m sure we’ll see him downstairs in the dining room, since it’s already time for dinner. Join me.”

“Thank you,” I said.

I couldn’t wait to meet Castle.