The Reluctant Au Pair

by Melinda Barron

  Michelle jumped off the bed, turning her back on him and pulling up her panties. She pulled up her jeans, and then turned to him.

  “We need to make some rules.”

  This time the laugh was deep. “The rules are, I’m in charge. That’s the only rule.” He stood and advanced on her, dropping the paddle on the bed. She backed up, shaking her head.

  “I don’t think so, I think…” Her words stopped as she tripped over a footrest and went tumbling to the floor. She landed on her just spanked bottom, and then let out a cry of pain as her hand came into contact with a floorboard that seemed to stick out above the others.

  “Michelle!” He rushed toward her and helped her up. “Are you alright?”

  “No.” She rubbed her hand, and then looked down. Alliot was already down there, moving furniture and pulling back the rug.

  “A loose floorboard,” he said. “This house is old. I’m so sorry.”

  She nodded. “That’s fine.”

  He pushed on the board, and then muttered an oath.

  “There’s something under here.” Michelle knelt down next to him as he pulled at the board, then they both gasped as it came loose in his hands.

  “Money,” Michelle said.

  “Lots of money,” Alliot replied. “Merde.”

  Chapter Six

  “How much is there?” Michelle stared at the money, which now sat neatly piled on her floor.

  “Almost forty thousand, in American terms, which is about twenty-five thousand Euros.” Alliot stared at the money, his face unreadable.

  “Could he have embezzled it?” Michelle watched Alliot’s face as he considered her words. “Antoine, I mean.”

  “It’s a possibility. But somehow I don’t think so. And it’s not because I don’t think my brother was capable of it, everyone is, really. The amounts are small, though. Twenty-five thousand isn’t that much. Unless there’s more money hidden somewhere.”

  They both looked down, their eyes wandering the floor. Finally, Alliot pointed to the far side of the room. “You start over there, and I’ll try here.”

  Down on her hands and knees, Michelle pushed on floorboards, trying to see if anything was loose. She came up with nothing, and knew that Alliot had, too. Then, he looked at Alex’s room.

  “He wouldn’t hide something in his baby’s room. Would he?”

  “It would be perfect, really,” Alliot replied. “Who would think to look in there?”

  “Listen, I didn’t know your brother, or his wife, but I refuse to believe that they would put Alex in harm’s way by hiding money, which is probably from ill-gotten gains, in his room.”

  Alliot sat down on the bed, stretching his legs out in front of him. The money, which had been in neat stacks, fell into piles.

  “No, but there is someone else who has access to these rooms.”

  “Mrs. Thaxton.”

  “Exactly.”

  Michelle sat down on the end of the bed. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would she be worried about us going through papers is she knew the money was hidden up here? What would the papers have to do with it?”

  “Scattering the papers distracted us,” Alliot said. “Someone who is still alive doesn’t want us to find something, but I think we just have. I honestly believe poor Antoine was just in over his head, business wise, and didn’t do what he should have, which was hire a manager who could take care of things. The money we found is something totally different.”

  The room grew silent, and then he sighed. “There are two courses of action I can take right now.”

  “Yes.”

  “One, I can go into Alex’s room and feel around on the floors, see if any boards are loose. Or two, I can finish spanking you.”

  Michelle’s stomach did a few somersaults, landing in a pit at the bottom of her torso. A smile crossed her face.

  “You like that idea.”

  She shook her head to deny it, knowing she wasn’t convincing him, or herself. She had liked it and yes, she wanted more.

  “Part of the fun of spanking, though, is the wait. Knowing it’s coming, but not knowing when. I’m going to spank you today, but you won’t know when, or where, or how. I might use my hand, I might use the paddle, or my belt. I might do it here, or in the kitchen, or out in the fields. It depends on what I decide as the day goes on.”

  “It’s hard to think of it as something fun.”

  “There are different types, of course. You’ve had one punishment spanking, and one fun one. This one later today will be fun, again, unless you misbehave. Then, the rules change.”

  “And it’s at your discretion.”

  “Exactly.” He stood and stared down at her. “And don’t pretend the idea doesn’t excite you, because I can see otherwise in your eyes.”

  Michelle laughed nervously. “Fine, I won’t deny it.”

  “I want you to bring Alex in here tonight. I’m going to search his room, and then I might search others, too.”

  “Let me help you.”

  “No. As much as I appreciate the offer, the rifling of the office tells me one thing. Who ever it is, and you’re probably right that it was Mrs. Thaxton, is nervous about her secret coming to light. I want you to keep Alex close to you, just in case. And since we’ve already searched in here, keeping him in here with you makes sense. I’ll keep a monitor with me as I search. If something happens, you can let me know that way.”

  *****

  Michelle winced as the sun broke through the curtains. She hadn’t expected to sleep last night, but she had, dropping off around three. A check of her watch showed it was now after seven. Alex was fussing in the playpen Alliot had brought into the room for him.

  She got up and stretched, picking the baby up and stroking his hair. “What’s wrong? Did you wake up someplace different? I’m sorry.”

  He fussed a little more, then put his head on her shoulder. Michelle walked into his room, which looked normal, then opened the connecting door to Alliot’s room. The bed was empty, and she frowned. Had he been up all night, searching for more money? She saw no telltale stacks of bills.

  “Alliot?” No answer came and she went back to her room, putting Alex down long enough to slip on a robe and head downstairs. The kitchen was empty, which was more than a little unusual.

  “Hello?” Michelle bounced Alex on her hip. He let her know with sounds and movements that he knew they were in the kitchen, and this was where they kept the food. She put him in his chair and fixed a bottle, her unease increasing when no one appeared.

  When the bottle was warm, she picked him up and fed him, holding him close and propping the bottle against her chest so she could use her “free” hand could fix his cereal.

  “I have a whole new respect for mothers,” she said to Alex as she mixed the food with water, then popped it into the microwave. “Thank goodness for small modern conveniences.”

  “Yes, they do come in handy.” She jumped as Alliot came up behind her.

  “You scared me. Where have you been?”

  “They’re gone.”

  “The Thaxtons?”

  “Yes.” He took Alex from her. The baby didn’t fuss as he usually did when his uncle picked him up. Instead, he just continued to eat, looking up at the man who held him. “I found more money. Almost thirty-thousand Euros, hidden in different rooms.”

  “Alex’s room?”

  “No, it was clean.” He took the bottle and settled Alex in his chair. “They’ll be back, though. No one will collect that much money and leave it.”

  “You’re sure it’s them?” She sat down to feed the baby, stopping when he handed her a sheet of paper.

  “I found this with one of the bundles of money.”

  She read it carefully, then grimaced. All that was written on the paper was an amount, and a time and place. The barn, by midnight. Three-thousand Euros. “Do you think it was for Antoine? Could they have been blackmailing him?”

  “I don’t know. But I’ve alrea
dy called the authorities, and they’ll be here within the hour. When I hung up the phone, I heard a noise behind me. About five minutes later, the Thaxton’s car left the drive. I went to their house, and most of their clothing is gone.”

  “In five minutes? They packed that quickly?”

  “My guess is they were prepared for this. Something about you made her skittish.”

  “Yeah, she didn’t scare me off in two seconds like she did the others.” When Alliot leaned over and kissed her forehead, she smiled.

  “I’m very happy about that.”

  “You know, they blamed it all on you, the others leaving, I mean.” She cut her gaze to him. “They said you’re ‘difficult.’”

  “I am,” he said. “Sad, but true. But it doesn’t seem to bother you.”

  “No, I rather enjoy it.”

  *****

  “Do you think we should be worried?” Bea held Amelie close to her. Michelle shook her head as she and her friend watched different law enforcement agents come in and out of the house.

  “I don’t think so. I’m not really sure. I know these guys have been here all day, asking questions of everyone. They found more money in the Thaxtons’ house. Alliot came by long enough to tell me that it wasn’t just one person they were blackmailing. They’d obviously investigated all the people who worked here, and if they had a little secret that they didn’t want known, the Thaxtons extorted all they could from them. So far they’ve found nine workers they’d been stealing from.”

  “That sucks. They don’t think they did anything to Antoine and Luca, did they… oh my.”

  “I don’t know.” Michelle put her hand over Bea’s. “You know, if they found out what they were doing, then maybe. I’m so sorry.”

  A man walked by them with a large role of wire in his hand and Bea frowned. “Who is he?”

  “Alliot’s having all the locks changed, plus, he’s having a new security system installed. Just in case.”

  “Good idea,” Bea said, standing to kiss her husband as he came up.

  “Luc.” Michelle nodded at him.

  “Mic. It seems trouble follows you.” He gave her an assessing gaze and then they all laughed.

  “So it would seem.” Alliot joined them, putting his hand on the small of Michelle’s back. Bea lifted an eyebrow at her friend, then looked down as a smile spread over her face.

  “I hope you weren’t one of their victims, Luc.” Alliot offered his hand and Luc took it.

  “No, I have nothing they could have used. I’ve never broken the law, thank the heavens above.”

  “We’ll take Alex tonight,” Bea said. Alliot said yes at the same time Michelle said no. When he looked at her and nodded, she did the same.

  “If you’re sure,” Michelle said.

  “I think that would be best,” he said. “I thought they might come back, but now I don’t know, especially since they know I called the authorities. But, they might try come retrieve their ill-gotten gains. I like the idea that Alex wouldn’t be here if that happened.”

  “Maybe we should keep him for a few days,” Luc said. “We wouldn’t mind.”

  “No,” Michelle said. “Just one night, I think.”

  “I think Luc’s right,” Alliot said. “Until things are a little more settled, or until they find the Thaxtons, I think keeping Alex at their house is a good idea.”

  Michelle wanted to argue, instead, she and Bea went upstairs to pack a bag for Alex. When they were out of earshot from the men, Bea leaned close to her.

  “What’s going on?”

  “You know as much as I do.”

  Bea put her hand on Michelle’s arm and pulled her to a stop. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. I saw him touch you, on your back, and you didn’t flinch. That’s not like you.”

  “Nothing’s going on,” Michelle said. “We’re not intimate. He hasn’t even kissed me.”

  He’s spanked my ass, but he hasn’t kissed me.

  “He’s working on it,” Bea said. “Mark my words. I’m just amazed.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, he’s a beast, and you know it.”

  “He’s not, really. A little rough around the edges maybe, but he can be very nice. Kind of. Sometimes”

  “Keep talking,” Bea said. “When you’re mistress of this house, I expect special privileges, like extra vacation days for my husband.”

  “You’re full of it,” Michelle said, heading back up the stairs. “I give special favors to no one.”

  *****

  Michelle stood in the kitchen, staring at the bare surfaces. Sometime during the day, she and Bea had fixed sandwiches for everyone, but that seemed like hours ago. And while Michelle could fix sandwiches, she wasn’t the best cook in the world.

  Alliot stood behind her. She could feel his eyes on her, waiting to see what she would say.

  “Well, I’m starved.”

  “As am I,” he replied. “Shall I cook?”

  “I can do it. I can fix, um spaghetti. And, um, spaghetti.” She cocked her head at him and he laughed.

  “Well then, you do that, and I’ll fix a salad and warm up some bread.”

  They went to work, and while Michelle worked on the sauce, she turned to Alliot.

  “What were the Thaxtons blackmailing people about? It’s hard to believe that many people would have secrets they didn’t want let out.”

  “You’d be surprised,” Alliot said. “Everyone has something they don’t want known. In this case, we’re fairly certain they’d been doing it for years, to various employees that have come and gone.”

  “Yes, but what were the reasons? Adultery? Theft?”

  “In one case, a man had slept with his wife’s sister, and didn’t want her to find out. In another, an employee was systematically taking a case of wine a month, one bottle at a time. In a third, an employee had been in prison, and hidden it from Antoine when he applied for the job. Different things like that. Most things that could be fixed, in time, but the person didn’t want their secret out, so they paid.”

  Michelle stirred the sauce, then took a taste before adding more garlic. “Do you have secrets in your past?”

  “Of course. Everyone does. Mine are rather innocuous, though. I cheated on a test during university, for fear of failing the course. I have had a few lovers who were involved with someone else, but in France, we don’t look at that like you do in the States.”

  “True,” she said. “Is that it?”

  “I’ve been arrested before. Nothing serious, getting into bar fights and such when I was younger. I was with a group of youths who vandalized a statue in a park when I was fifteen. I’m fairly embarrassed about that now. It was a stupid thing to do, but we’d been drinking, and you get caught up in mob mentality, you know.”

  “What happened?”

  “We had to make restitution to repair the statue, then we had to clean the park for months. Now I know they let us off easily. Then, I thought I’d they were killing us. So very sad.”

  The way he was making fun of himself made her laugh. “So, you were a juvenile delinquent.”

  “Pretty much. My parents were appalled, of course, said I’d embarrassed them and they would never be able to show their faces in the village again. They reminded me that the family name was respected, and the winery could suffer because of what I’d done. My father punished me worse than authorities did.” He opened the oven and slid in a stone tray full of bread slathered in butter and garlic. “Because of that, other than disobeying traffic laws, I haven’t broken the law since then. What about you?”

  “Me? Nothing.”

  “Liar.” He leaned against the counter and stared at her. “Everyone had something.”

  “Really. I was a good girl. Still am. How did your parents punish you?”

  “My father beat me, hard. Now, stop trying to change the subject. You’re hiding something. I can tell by the look on your face.”

  Michelle bit her lip. “No, nothing
. Shall we eat outside?”

  “No, not tonight.” The way he was studying her made her nervous. “Hum. What could you have done that you don’t want me to know about?”

  She took a pan to the sink, filled it with water and set it on the stove. “Absolutely nothing.”