Defender's Heartbeat

Chapter 3

Manuel

"Papa, hung-gy, hung-gy," Enzo said in his baby language after a few hours of playing. According to his schedule, he had to wait 15 minutes before lunch. I wasn't allowed to feed him whenever he wanted. I didn't know why there were so many rules for even a little kid. Mr. Gerardo didn't even care about the child, but he still wanted me to follow the rules of the house. Did Gerardo make the rules by himself?

I wondered how long Enzo had been following these ridiculous house rules. It could have been after his Mama died.

"It's not time yet. You have to wait for 15 minutes," I said, even though I knew Enzo didn't understand what 15 minutes meant.

"Papa, Papa, eat!" as he realized I wasn't going to give him anything yet, he started to punch my chest and face with his tiny hands.

"Don't hit me, boss. You are not allowed to eat yet. That's a rule," I said a bit firmly.

He started to cry very loudly because he didn't get what he wanted.

"No, no, no..." Shoot. He was crying again.

I was sick and tired of this job already. I wished I had stayed in the military, where I didn't have to deal with crying babies. It was better than this.

"Okay, let's go to the kitchen and see if we can do something about that," I said.

As he understood we were going to the kitchen, he stopped crying. Now Enzo licked my face, biting softly. His saliva was all over the left side of my face, and I guess I had to put up with this kind of stuff. I had already signed an agreement stating that I couldn't resign until I got fired, and Mr. Gerardo knew my secret. I was afraid he would expose it if I didn't comply with the terms of my employment.

"Mr. Manuel, do you need something?" the servant girl I met before asked. She looked a bit surprised to see me again.

"He's hungry," I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, he has to wait 15 minutes. I'm scared to break the rules, so I can't give him anything right now. I'm sorry about that," the servant girl said, looking at Enzo with sad eyes.

"Okay, that's fine," I said, but it wasn't okay. With no other choice, as Enzo didn't get what he wanted, I headed back to his room.

"Mm... mm..." Enzo knew we didn't get food. Now Enzo was going to cry again. God, I was sick and tired of this job already.

"Don't cry. I'll give you something," I said quickly, as I was fed up with Enzo's constant crying and wanted to prevent him from starting again.

I went to my room, took out a cookie from my bag and gave it to him, but I was not allowed to give him food from outside. The job description said that it was for his safety. It looked like being the son of a billionaire was not that fun.

It was finally lunchtime, and he was supposed to take his meal with his siblings. It was a rule that he had to take his main meals with them.

When I took Enzo to the dining table, his siblings were already there. For the first time, I saw them after coming here. None of them paid any attention to me or Enzo.

His older brother, Pedro, was 15 years old. He had dark hair and striking green eyes, which he may have inherited from his mother. Pedro's skin was tan. The second brother, Louis, was 13 years old. He had pale skin, brown eyes, and brown hair. Unlike Gerardo and Enzo, his eyes were not dark. Louis had an emotionless face, without any smiles, making him look rude.

Enzo's sister was ten years old. She had brown eyes and dark brown hair. She behaved like she was a princess. It was easy to understand why, given the fancy lifestyle she had. Living in a house that looked like a palace, having maids of her own, and not having any money troubles might make her feel like a princess. However, despite these comforts, all the children seemed to have a sense of sadness, probably because they had lost their mother a few weeks ago. As an outsider, I didn't know much about the family yet, but it was clear that the mother's death had deeply affected them.