The mate of his nanny

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.

There was a long silence. I sensed a 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 me your studio, Ethan."

"It was a pleasure," Ethan replied. Our eyes lingered on each other for a moment before I glanced over at Edrick, who seemed to look at me with a hint of fiery jealousy in his eyes.

"I'll come with you," Edrick suddenly said.

"Come back any time," Ethan called after us as 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 smiling, almost knowingly, as if he could tell that there was something more between Edrick and I than meets the eye.

As soon as the door shut, 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 in my tracks in the dark corridor.

"What's your problem?" I asked, feeling my hands curl into fists at my sides. "I don't appreciate you touching me like that."

Edrick glared down at the floor for a few moments, then back up at me. "You shouldn't be so trusting of him. He's not who he seems."

"He's your brother-"

"Ethan is not my brother."

I was taken aback by Edrick's stern tone, and the way his face flashed with anger as he said those words. We stood 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 time as he glared at me.