"You're not serious!" I looked down at them.
"Oh but we are," they smirked.
"I can't allow you to do this!" I shook my head at them.
"But we want to," they whined.
"They've never done this for any of their nannies," the guy, whose name I found out is Luigi, told me.
"She's not our nanny," Camilla scowled at him.
"Who is she then?" Luigi asked in confusion.
"She's Rita," the four girls replied.
"I already know that smarty's! I want to know why you're tagging along with her. Does your dad even know about this?" Luigi narrowed his eyes at them.
"She's standing right here," I mumbled, only to be ignored.
"It doesn't matter why we're with her. We like her and she's better than any nanny we've ever had. Daddy doesn't care, as long as we're taken care of," Caprice replied.
"And you're just in on this?" Luigi turned to me.
"Hey, I'm not the bad guy here," I defended.
"No, you just kidnap little girls from hotels," he challenged.
"You're here aren't you? Would I really have kidnapped them and still stayed in your presence? Please don't insult my intelligence," I scoffed. He looked surprised.
"Ok, point taken, but I still don't know about this," he said unsurely.
"Look Luigi, I myself don't know what this is, but I do know for a fact that the four of them are safer with me than at the hotel. You are aware that Ivanka left?" I asked him.
"She left? When was this? She was just hired like three days ago!" he said incredulously. When the girls giggled, he very quickly caught on.
"Come on guys! She's like what? Nanny number forty?" he asked.
"Forty three!" the five of us corrected.
"You're aware of this?" he asked me amusedly.
"I was there when she quit," I laughed.
"And then you took it upon yourself to be their guardian?" he chuckled.
"I guess so," I nodded.
"And you are aware of their schemes and evil little hearts?" he raised an eyebrow. The girls mock gasped.
"Oh please!" he rolled his eyes at them.
"We're not evil Lui!" Calinda pouted.
"I'm going to have to agree. They may be mischievous, but I don't think evil is the word to use when it comes to them. They just need some TLC to set them straight," I smiled.
"You are officially the first woman to not see them as the spawns of the devil!" Luigi said in amazement. Even the girls looked shocked by my statement.
"It's true though," I shrugged.
"We definitely like you! Now go and try on the clothes!" Caterina said before I was pushed towards the changing rooms.
I'd learnt that Luigi was twenty seven and had been their driver since Harry left, and that he's one of the few people the girls actually don't hassle and enjoy the company of. Apparently he's the cool older brother they never had.
I also learnt that he carries one of Mr Maestri's black cards, which belongs to the girls' bank account. I choked on my own spit when he told me how much goes into the account every week, and that the girls basically have leeway to buy whatever they want and their father doesn't even question it.
YOU ARE READING
The Maestri Amour (Wattys 2015) - ON HIATUS
General Fiction"Child, he doesn't know anything about his own life. You think he's a mystery to you and the world? Little do you know that he's a mystery to himself. He doesn't know of the lies that surround him. He has dark secrets Rita, dark secrets that practic...
