The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1)

by Freida McFadden

Nina Winchester

Cecelia

There’s something about this room that’s making a little ball of dread form in the pit of my stomach.

Nina Winchester,

Do you know those movies about the scary cult of, like, creepy kids who can read minds and worship the devil and live in the cornfields or something? Well, if they were casting for one of those movies, this girl would get the part. They wouldn’t even have to audition her. They would take one look at her and be like, Yes, you are creepy girl number three.

Is there something wrong with me that I am scared this nine-year-old girl is going to murder me?

“This is Millie,” Mrs. Winchester tells her daughter. “Millie, this is my daughter, Cecelia.”

I’d say there’s at least a twenty-five percent chance she’s going to murder me in my sleep if I get this job. But I still want it.

There’s something in his expression that sends a chill down my spine. And then he shakes his head, almost imperceptibly. Almost like he’s trying to warn me. But he doesn’t say a word.

“Wilhelmina Calloway?”

I wonder if she would feel the same way about me if she knew I spent the last ten years of my life in prison.

Long Island

“I am Enzo.”

“Piacere di conoscerti,”

why would anyone want to lock me in here?

Sometimes it feels like Nina has a split personality. She flips from hot to cold so rapidly.

As I shut the door, I notice marks in the wood. Long thin lines running down the length of the door at about the level of my shoulder. I run my fingers over the indentations. They almost seem like… Scratches. Like somebody was scraping at the door. Trying to get out.

The landscaping guy, Enzo,

I type into the browser window: Translate pericolo. The signal must be weak up here in the attic, because it takes a long time. Almost a minute has gone by when the translation of pericolo finally appears on the screen of my phone: Danger.

“Andy, she’s been working all day. She doesn’t want to have dinner with her employers.

I was never locked in the room after all. Nina didn’t have some crazy plot to trap me in there. The door was just stuck. But I can’t seem to shake that uneasy feeling. That I should get out of here while I still can.

I went to prison when I was seventeen.

“Right, that’s exactly what I told her. I’m so glad I checked.”

Haloperidol is an antipsychotic medication, used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, delirium, agitation, and acute psychosis.

Andrew Winchester is somehow standing behind me, as wide awake as the people on the television screen. Damn. I knew I should have stayed in my room. “Oh!” I say. “I, uh… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“Um, I think I would know if my daughter were allergic to peanuts.” He snorts. “Anyway, do you think we would keep a big jar of it in the pantry if she were allergic?”

“Gosh, what’s the big joke you’re laughing about down here?” I whip my head around. Nina is standing at the foot of the stairs, staring at us.

Nina stands there, her arms folded across her ample chest, watching Andrew trudge up the stairs, like he’s a child she’s sending up without supper. It’s unsettling to see the extent of her jealousy.

“Millie,” Nina says, “in the future, I expect you to wear appropriate attire around the house.”

She throws her head back and laughs. It’s a disturbing sound, something almost between a laugh and a cry. “Is that what you think I’m worried about? Andrew and I are soulmates. We have a child together and soon we’ll have another baby together. You think I’m scared that my husband would risk everything in his life for some trampy servant living in the attic?”

I’m not completely useless. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

I close my eyes for a moment and think about what it would be like to live in Nina’s shoes. To be the woman in charge of this household.

“Sei pazzo!” he yells at me. He rakes a hand through his black hair. “Che cavolo!”

“I’m Amanda,

The box is filled with baby stuff. Little white baby blankets, rattles, dolls. There’s a little pile of tiny white onesies. Nina had been blabbing to anyone who would listen that they were expecting a baby soon.

He turns his hand and gives my hand a squeeze. At the touch of his palm against mine, a sensation shoots through me like a lightning bolt. It’s something I’ve never felt before.

But just before he disappears up the stairs, he gives me one last long lingering look.

I spend the next week avoiding Andrew Winchester. I can’t even deny anymore that I have feelings for him.

“So,” he says, “now that Nina is gone, I have a confession to make.”

Finally, he says, “I’ll go with you.”

I just have to remember to do it tonight when we get back. After Andrew’s BMW turns back into a pumpkin.

“You have great legs. And there’s no harm in looking.”

“You look beautiful tonight, Millie,” he breathes. “I’m not sure if I told you that. But you should know.”

“Millie,” he whispers. And then he kisses me. And God help me, I kiss him back.

TWENTY-SEVEN

So yes, I slept with my married boss.

We were basically ripping each other’s clothing off at that point.

We made out in the elevator like a couple of teenagers.

And it was good. No, more than good. It was freaking amazing. Just what I needed.

“You won’t say anything to Nina, right? I mean, we were both really drunk and…” Of course. That’s all he cares about. “I won’t.” “Thanks. Thanks so much.”