Alex stood silently, surprised at the tension he could feel rolling off Miguel in waves. What was the guy’s deal? Really. “Why don’t I show you to the servant’s quarters?” He said, lifting his nose in the air like Alex was beneath him.Tariq stepped in.“Uh, Miguel, David will not be staying at the servant’s quarters.”Miguel froze. Uh-oh. Alex had a really bad feeling about this. Miguel’s eyes were literally spitting flames when he turned.“Excuse me, sir? All the servants stay at the servant’s quarters. Why is he an exception?”Mr. Tariq took a deep breath and stiffened his shoulders. The air suddenly seemed to shift, becoming colder. “I don’t know Miguel but for some reason, I’ve noticed that you’re quite saucy and disrespectful today.”Shocked, Miguel’s eyes widened. “Sir…”Tariq lifted a hand, effectively cutting him off. “I never said I was done.” He said in an authoritative tone. “Do not interrupt me.”Miguel lowered his gaze. “Sorry, sir.”“I think you’ve forgotten that
Alex walked to the garden with unhurried steps, his heart beating wildly for reasons he could not quite understand. When he arrived, he paused and looked over the impressive display of flowers and maze of exotic plants. In the distance, he could sight a water fountain which was sculpted in the shape of Zeus with water spouting off his fingers. It was beautiful.After scanning the area for a few minutes with no sign of Miguel or Camila, Alex had to turn to the nearby guard for help. “Hey, man. Have you seen Miguel? The head housekeeper.”The uniformed guard nodded and pointed towards the statue of Zeus. “He’s by the fountain with Miss Camila. I saw both of them a few minutes ago.”Alex nodded. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”He stalked towards the fountain, wondering what Miguel and Camila were doing all alone at the innermost part of the garden.As he approached, voices filtered in his direction, both male and female voices. Alex tiptoed further, wondering what they were talking
“What the hell are you going here?” The guard from earlier asked, his face set in harsh, straight lines. “Are you a spy? Is that it?”Alex shook his head.“No, no. I’m not a spy.” He said quickly. “I’m the new head cleaner. Miguel is supposed to assign my duties so I came looking for him.”“I understand that but why are you peeping from the bushes?”“I just…”The guard looked over the hedge of plants and Alex fully expected him to explode at the sight of Miguel and Camila hugging like they knew each other intimately. Instead, he stepped back, folded his arms like nothing happened and asked;“Why didn’t you just draw his attention?”Alex was shocked at his reaction. He opened his mouth to ask a few choice questions when the guard cut in;“Miguel doubles as head housekeeper and Miss Camila’s therapist. Sometimes she breaks down during the sessions. That’s all. I know the sight can be misleading but that’s all there is to it.”Alex paused for a moment, mulling over his words.“Therapist
Camila shot him a look over her shoulder.“What do you mean? I just need you to zip me up. That’s all. I’m not asking for anything else.”Alex took a deep breath to control his raging nerves and stepped back.“I’m sorry. I don’t want to disobey your orders but doing this was never in my job description. I cannot do this, Miss. I apologize.”Camila turned to him and opened her mouth to speak but a deep voice interrupted her from down the hall.“Camila, what are you doing here?”She turned and Alex watched her eyes brighten as the stranger approached. He’d wanted to go back inside but instead, he leaned against the door and waited to see the man who was capable of making Camila smile.“Ethan! Oh, thank God. Can you help me with my zipper? I’m running late.”“Sure, Unicorn. What are you doing here? I’ve been looking for you.”Alex’s chest constricted painfully when he heard that nickname. He even had the right to call her by a nickname? Who was this guy and what was their relationship?
Alex was not surprised. It was very clear from their body language that the cleaners hated him. “But why? I mean, we just got introduced. I know I’ve definitely not troubled anyone since I came here. Why the hate?”Amanda looked away, her chin quivering with indecision.“Uh, sir…”“Just tell me. I promise I won’t tell anyone about our conversation.”She nodded and took a deep breath.“Do you remember the guy you reprimanded earlier?”“Diego?”“Yes. Diego Sanchez.”“What about him?”Amanda twisted her fingers over and over.“Well, let’s just say the cleaners are not particularly happy that Mrs. Maria appointed an outsider to head the unit. They all feel that Diego was more deserving of the position since he’s been here the longest.They think that Diego was cheated and you’ve been given a position that belonged to someone else.”Alex shut his eyes for three seconds and took deep, calming breaths.He could already see the disaster that a situation of this nature might pose. “Well, tr
The atmosphere in the room was stiff and tense as Mrs. Maria spoke. Even Alex could not control the sweat that broke through his pores. It was a miracle that he was able to look unbothered.“Yes, detective. His name is David Wyatt. He was recently employed as my head cleaner and has been working here for a short period but I have reasons to suspect that he isn’t what he says he is.” A beat passed.“Of course. I’ll have my PA send you all the details shortly. Thank you very much.” She ended the call without saying anything more. “There. Are you satisfied, Miguel?” Miguel tried to act all humble but he could not hide the subtle happiness in his eyes. Alex knew the bastard was eager to see him leave. Not in this life.“Partly, ma’am. I’ll be even more satisfied when the detective tells us the result of his investigation.”Mrs. Maria nodded, but her expression was still hard and stoic.She turned her attention to Alex.“I really hope you haven’t lied to me, David. I hope you’re who you
Every single person in the room froze, eyes wide with shock. The tension was so thick, so palpable that it could be sliced through with a knife.Alex’s heart was already pounding overtime as he stared at the shattered pieces of ceramics at his feet. He could barely speak. He couldn’t even make a single sound.Diego, on the other hand, looked like he’d seen a ghost. His face was as white as a sheet. This was bad. This was very bad.What Alex was not expecting was for Diego to start screaming like someone whose precious cat just died.“David, look what you’ve done! Madam will definitely have your head for this.”Alex was shocked. He stared at Diego for a moment, trying to assimilate what he’d just heard. “Excuse me?”Diego did not wait for him to recover. He had to act wisely otherwise, he’ll be in big trouble.“Stop trying to pretend like you don’t know what you did!” He snapped. “You’ve destroyed Mrs. Maria’s statue. This statue cost two hundred million dollars!”Alex was beginning
They all waited silently as Tariq placed a call to the surveillance unit of the mansion.“…okay, okay. That’s fine. Please be here soon.”Finally, he shut off his phone and faced the crowd.“Good news. The surveillance unit is sending one of their tech. guys over right now with the footage from twenty minutes ago. I’m sure all of this will be cleared up very soon.”Diego slowly got to his feet. The drama he’d put up a few minutes ago was long forgotten. Miguel’s face was twisted like he’d just swallowed a gigantic toad. After what felt like an eternity, the tech. guy finally arrived. He was a dark skinned young man with thick curly hair and large, chunky glasses. He bowed before Mrs. Maria first before going to stand beside Tariq.“Everyone, this is Thomas Vegas from the surveillance department and he’s here to reveal the truth.” Tariq quickly introduced.“Thomas, do you have the footage?” “Yes, sir.” Thomas held up a tiny flash drive. “That’s great. Play it. We want to know who’