"Wain wain." Devin warbled.
Talia laughed. It was his repeated request to hear the song 'It's Raining Wolves' again.
Talia pulled her phone out and punched a few buttons. In seconds, the song began streaming at the speakers located around the room.
As usual, Devin's voice began yelling out the song in an earnest attempt at trying to mimic the women's vocals. Where he got stuck, Talia helped him, belting out the song in the sections that he could not quite get his tongue around.
Five repeats later, they hit a snag.
The music was loud and Devin's voice was louder, but it did not mask the thundering footsteps running up to the third floor.
The door banged open as the snarling face of the Countess popped into view.
"What is that godawful noise???" She shrieked.
Devin paused in the middle of his singing and ran to Talia, hugging her knees.
She picked him up and held him within her breasts.
"That is NOT godawful noise. THAT IS LORD DEVIN SINGING A SONG!!!"
"And you allow the child to behave in that manner?" She glared at Talia. "You are fired! Get out. Now!!!"
"No. YOU are the person who should be leaving!" Talia threw back at the woman. "How dare you burst into my room and scare Devin like that!"
"How dare you talk to me in this manner!!!" The Countess' face was now beet red, almost matching her red hair.
"I am the Countess Evelyn Larabee AND I am his future aunt!"
"Then stay in the future!" Talia yelled back. "Don't come around until the future arrives! For now you are an absolute NOTHING and have no rights to tell us what to do!"
"How dare you!!!" The Countess moved in closer to Talia, arms up with full intent to strike again. Her eyes were wild with fury.
Without hesitation, Talia threw the phone she was holding directly at the Countess' face.
Four years as a softball pitcher for the girls team at her high school and ten years of martial arts was enough to give Talia a deadly accurate pitching arm coupled with the power of inner strength.
The phone hit the Countess' nose on its edge, causing a loud meaty cracking sound.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!! You bitch! You broke by dose!!!" The Countess screamed holding onto her face as blood gushed from her nostrils.
She launched herself at Talia, with blood gushing out of her nose like a leaky faucet.
Still holding onto Devin, Talia turned her body. With a single kick, her powerful leg caught the Countess directly in the stomach, sending her flying across the room.
WHUMPH!!!
The Countess hit the wall and tumbled over.
Devin began screaming and crying as Hubert broke into the room, half-dressed, his hair still wet from the shower.
Within minutes, the Countess had been forcibly escorted out of the room by the menservants, screaming profanities so loud everyone's ears were ringing.
Talia narrowed her eyes with rage.
"Anna, please call the housemaids in here and clean up that bloody mess," she pointed to the large blood stains on the carpet.
"Yes, Milady." The maid ran off to call the housekeepers.
Minutes later, a team of housemaids went onto their hands and knees scrubbing blood stains off the pale cream carpet inside Talia's room.
Unfortunately, the more they scrubbed, the larger the stain grew. The huge blob of blood had coagulated and gunked up within the rug and didn't look like it was going to be removable.
Talia glanced at it with disgust as she tried her best to calm Devin down. He was terrified and remained in Talia's arms, refusing to be let down.
It was at this point that Talia's anger boiled over.
It had taken her the better part of two days to get Devin to move away from the fear and the terror that she had found him in, and within a matter of hours, the woman had caused the boy to return to his default state of fear and terror.
It was unforgivable!
Still holding onto Devin, she began throwing a few items into her duffle bag.
"Annie." She called out to he housemaid who was standing there wringing her hands, unsure what to do.
"Tell Hubert that Devin and I will be leaving. We will not return until that woman is gone from the property or until the Duke has returned."
"But Talia, the Duke said you and the Little Lord are supposed to stay within the estate."
"It's too dangerous for us here. You people have let in a snarling, snapping dog, and Devin is terrified of her.
Hubert chose this moment to reappear.
"Talia, please remain calm. The Duke did say for you and the Little Lord to remain within the estate while he is away."
"I am not remaining in this place while that rabid dog is still here." She turned to Hubert. "If you cannot throw her out because she is the Duke's fiancée, my only option is to take Devin out of the danger zone until his uncle returns."
"Talia, I have removed her from the main mansion. She is currently in one of the other properties on the estate and will not be a bother to you at all."
"I want her off the estate, Hubert." She turned to him, glaring. "Devin's safety is my highest priority. If it means I have to face the Duke's wrath when he returns, so be it."
"But Miss Talia. She is still the Duke's fiancée."
Talia glared at him. She could give a shit who this woman was.
"I want her off the estate. NOW! If the Duke has an issue with that, he can take it up with me!"
Hubert inhaled with a sharp hiss. He nodded his head and took off down the stairs in double steps.
When it came to something like this, although the Countess was technically above Talia in position and power, Talia was literally holding onto the trump card.
Little Lord Devin.
Countess Evelyn Larabee was a mere countess. Little Devin was of royal blood and had a title that was far higher than the Countess.
And besides, Talia was absolutely correct.
That Countess was seriously a mad dog!
She had intruded upon the Little Lord's room with intent to do harm for something that the Duke was completely happy with and even enjoyed listening to.
The Little Lord Devin was singing a song and being a joyful child. It was such a rare occurrence that it was something to be cherished.
And now the boy had retreated back into that frightened miserable shadow that he had been for so long.
It was heartbreaking.
In that moment, Hubert decided to back the Nanny Talia Fabian.
The Countess Evelyn could not be allowed to cause any more harm, physically or psychologically to the Little Lord Devin. If the Duke returned and fired him for backing Talia, he would pack his bags and go back to his family home.
In the guise of taking Countess Evelyn to the emergency room to to fix her broken nose, Hubert had the maids repack the Countess' bags and threw it into the trunk with explicit instructions for the driver to take her to a hotel somewhere in the downtown area of New Orleans.
Once the Countess was done at the ER, she would not be returning to the estate.