CHAPTER 2: THE BOSS’S GAZE
Clara quickly stood up, smoothing down her cheap gray uniform.
“I’m Clara, Mr. Vance,” she said, keeping her chin up despite the fear racing through her veins. “The new housekeeping hire.”
Julian stepped fully into the room, his dark, piercing eyes scanning the broken glass before settling entirely on her.
“The housekeeping hire,” he repeated, the words sounding lethal on his tongue. “And why is my housekeeping hire communicating with my son when his own expensive nanny cannot?”
The nanny whimpered from the corner, backing away toward the hallway.
Clara didn’t blink. “Because he was scared, sir.”
“He was angry,” Julian corrected sharply, taking a slow step toward her.
“He was unheard,” Clara fired back, the words slipping out before she could stop them.
Silence crashed down over the room.
Even Julian’s heavily armed bodyguards standing in the hall seemed to stop breathing.
You do not correct Julian Vance in his own home.
Julian stared at her, his jaw ticking as he closed the distance between them.
He towered over her, smelling of expensive cologne, dark coffee, and something distinctly metallic.
“Say that again,” Julian whispered.
“Your son is deaf, Mr. Vance,” Clara said quietly, refusing to back down. “Yelling at him only isolates him further in a silent, terrifying world.”
She expected to be fired on the spot.
She expected him to order his men to drag her out of the estate.
Instead, Julian looked down at little Leo, who had crawled over and wrapped his small arms around Clara’s leg.
Julian’s hard eyes softened for a fraction of a second.
“You know American Sign Language fluently?” Julian asked, his gaze snapping back to her face.
“My younger sister was deaf,” Clara explained, swallowing hard. “I’ve signed since I was a child.”
Julian turned sharply toward the trembling nanny in the corner.
“Pack your bags,” Julian ordered coldly. “You have ten minutes to get off my property.”
The nanny didn’t argue; she practically sprinted out of the room.
Julian turned back to Clara, his dark eyes trailing over her beautiful, flushed face.
“You aren’t a maid anymore, Clara,” he stated smoothly.
“I’m not?” she asked, her heart pounding against her ribs.
“No,” Julian said, stepping close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his chest. “You belong to Leo now. You are his private teacher.”
