Page 1 of Trust In Me

“No, Liam. No, no, and no once more. I forbid you to let Mia move in. Whatever romantic hero bullshit you think you are playing here…well, you can think again. I am not interested. Now, pass me those baby wipes before this little monster decides to crawl away again,” I whisper-shout at my best friend, as I pin my almost seven-month-old to the floor. Her old nappy is off, which means we are in dangerous territory. This is when she most enjoys running off and basically shitting everywhere. Now that she’s mobile, it means I need eyes in the back of my fucking head.

“She is not a monster, don’t ever call my beautiful Hallie Bear that,” Liam coos, as he hands over the wet wipes.

“She doesn’t look so beautiful with shit smeared all over her back and down her legs. Seriously, how does a person so little and cute produce so much shit?” I ask, more to myself than to Liam. I can feel him rolling his eyes at me. Hallie can do no wrong in his book. She could literally take a shit on the kitchen table and he would see the funny side in it.

Liam huffs before responding. “Look, baby shit aside, or actually, this is exactly the main reason why we are letting Mia move in. Firstly, after all the stuff that’s been going on with Bree, she wants to have Mia close by. Plus, we have a lot more work coming in. Desmond has pissed someone off. He was working with someone to get financial backing when he was planning to make a move for London, and since he’s currently on our side, he decided to cut all ties with this backer. He mentioned something about him being the worst kind of bad guy, which is rich coming from a psychopathic prick like him. Even so, he thinks this guy is playing the long game, and will ultimately want to make a move on us. We need to stop that before it happens. My wife’s first year of rule will cement who she wants to be as a leader, and I intend to make sure it’s a fucking good first year. So, to do that, we need your help. Which means we need all of you at work, not half of you while the other half is wondering what Hallie is doing. Is she eating something she shouldn't? Has she crawled off somewhere she shouldn’t? Is she licking one of your computer wires again?”

“Hey! That was like one time, and I’ve made sure all the wires are out of the way and that she stays out of my work room from now on,” I jump in, defending myself, holding a shit-covered baby wipe out to stop him from talking. Well…it was supposed to be just a hand, the universal sign for someone to stop talking, but I didn’t have a free hand. I don’t ever have one. I should have known that wouldn’t be enough to stop Liam.

He edges closer to where I’m sitting on the floor with Hallie, and he takes one of her little hands in his. Of course she starts giggling and fluttering her eyelashes like the lovesick baby she is, and that arrogant prick just sits and smiles. “That’s exactly my point, Kel. You need to work, and you can’t worry about her while you do. And quite frankly, we cannot interview another fucking nanny.” His deep groan fills my bedroom, and I know exactly what he means. I’ve lost track of the amount of nannies we’ve interviewed. I’ve met young ones, old ones, male ones, even one who looked exactly like Mary freakin’ Poppins, but none of them were right.

Releasing the breath I didn’t know I was holding, I pull up Hallie’s leggings, before pulling the bright pink jumper dress down over her incredibly padded ass. She clutches onto my hair for dear life as she wobbles around, not quite steady on her feet yet. My hiss doesn’t bother her, and I gently try to remove her hands from my hair, without it resulting in me having bald spots. As soon as she’s free, she falls down onto her padded ass, rolls like she’s on a military exercise, before starting to crawl across the room. Thankfully, Liam had the good sense to close the door before he sat down because if not, she would be gone. For a chunky little baby, she moves surprisingly quickly. “None of them have been right. You know it’s not as easy as hiring someone who is good with her. We need someone trustworthy. They are going to be around us all the time, and we need to make sure we can trust them not to betray us.”

“Okay, so I can’t work out if this particular lack of trust issue is because of Her Who Shall Not Be Named, or your mother and the nanny she hired to spy on you,” Liam muses, lowering his voice, as though he said something forbidden at the start.

I can’t help but chuckle as I reply. “Okay, first of all, she isn’t Voldemort, you can say her name. But, if we’re using a code name for her, I can think of a few, they just can’t be used in front of my daughter. As for the other witch, Marianna, this is exactly what I’m talking about. Trusting anyone is difficult when I know there are people out there like my mum, who, thanks to her ridiculous excuse of a husband, has an unlimited supply of cash, and her only job is to find dirt to ruin me.”

We both groan, I don’t know which of us hates talking about my mother more. I think it’s Liam. If I’d given him permission, he’d have assassinated her years ago. I’m starting to wish I’d let him. “Don’t you see why this makes Mia the perfect candidate? She already knows about us and the work we do. Hell, she spent a lot of time here when Bree was taken, and she looked after Hallie so well. They seem to really like each other, Kel. I’m not asking for you to give her blind trust, but some wouldn’t hurt,” he asks, pleading with me, using those piercing green eyes women seem to love so much.

“Guys, have you lost a baby by any chance?” Bree shouts from somewhere outside the room. We both look over to the door, and as soon as we see it’s open, we are up on our feet running towards it at full speed.

“Hallie! Hallie, baby, where are you?” I shout as I begin to panic. I only took my eyes off her for a few seconds, and I thought the door was closed. I didn’t think she could get out. I should have been watching her more closely. Anything could happen.

As Liam pulls me towards Bree’s voice, at the other end of the corridor where their bedroom is, my heart starts to race. What if she isn’t okay?

I know, logically, Bree would’ve told us if there was something wrong with Hallie, but all I can think of is the dangers she just narrowly avoided. Like the staircases, she missed two of those entrances, and if she opened the gates we have covering them, she could have toppled down the stairs.

I must have been mumbling all of this information to myself as Liam snaps a reply, “Kellan, for fuck’s sake. It’s a bit different opening a door to opening a child safety gate. I mean, I’ve seen you climbing over it when you can’t get the damn thing open. So if adults can’t open the damn thing, then an almost seven-month-old who can’t stand up for any longer than a few seconds stands no chance.”

I sigh, but not in relief. “All I heard from that sentence is that she could climb over the gate. I’m going to be grey before I turn twenty-five,” I moan, rubbing my hands over my tired eyes.

Liam pulls open the door to his bedroom, only to find Bree laying on the bed with her arms above her head, holding my squealing little girl. She loves when people hold her above their heads. I’m sure it’s a power thing. Even at just under seven months old, she knows the importance of having power over people. It’s something she doesn’t even need to try at, she succeeds instantly.

“Hey, you are supposed to be resting, doctor’s orders. Holding a baby above your head does not count as resting, Bree,” Liam scolds as he makes a move to catch Hallie. But Bree is too quick, and instead she brings Hallie onto her chest for a cuddle, which my baby is only too happy to provide, but only for a second. Then she rolls with expert precision and crawls until she’s sitting in Liam’s arms.

Bree lets out an exaggerated huff. “What happened to girl loyalty and solidarity?” Of course, Hallie just giggles as she wraps Liam’s hair around her finger.

“You will always side with your uncle Liam, won’t you, beautiful bear?” Liam whispers affectionately, as he showers Hallie’s face with kisses and her loud giggles fill the room.

“Traitor.” Bree huffs, and I can’t help but laugh.

“How are you feeling, Bree? You’re looking better.” She really does. I hated seeing how battered and bruised she was when we first rescued her. Even when we visited her in the hospital, I’ve never seen her looking so small. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Bree’s not a tall girl, but it’s the way she holds herself, and addresses you. Within seconds of meeting her, you can tell she is a leader, and the more I’ve gotten to know her, the more I know she’s a fucking great one. I hate the fact that she is underestimated just because she has a vagina.

She always appears infallible, yet seeing her battered and bruised made her look so fragile. She’s been quick to reassert her dominance, and has held many meetings with her associates, reiterating that she’s still very much in charge, and that it will take a lot more than a pathetic attempt on her life to force her out.

That doesn’t stop Liam from fussing and worrying. He hates thinking of what she went through, and although he saved her, he will always believe he didn’t save her in time. If he had, she wouldn’t have suffered and they wouldn’t have lost their baby.

I still remember how I felt when I learnt about Hallie, and how big a fucking life event it was. I hate they had that moment stolen from them. Having watched them dote on my daughter these last few months, I have no doubt when the time comes, they will be brilliant parents.

These last few months have been tough for us all, specifically the people trying to kill us, my mother plotting to take my baby from me, as well as actually trying to raise said baby. I’ve barely had a moment to breathe, let alone get any more than three hours of sleep in one go. So, I get why Liam wants me to get help, I just don’t know if I can trust letting someone else into our world.

“Kel, I’m assuming Liam told you about Mia?” she asks, her voice never wavering the way Liam’s did. This is why she’s a leader. She never questions her decisions, she just rolls with it.

I groan. “Yes, but I already interviewed Mia and she isn’t suitable. She has too many secrets, and she’s caught up in some criminal enterprise we know nothing about. The last thing I want is to introduce Hallie to people who could be bad influences. So, no. I don’t approve of her moving in!” I try to sit up straight at the end of the bed, letting her see I’m sticking to my guns.

Bree just laughs. “Okay, first of all, it’s my house, so if I say she’s moving in, then she moves in. End of discussion on that one. As for introducing Hallie to bad influences, she already knows and loves Mia, so that’s a whole heap of bullshit. As for Mia having secrets, there’s no denying she does. But, we talked after that ridiculous excuse of an interview. She’s not linked to Kyle Fratacello. Yes, there is a story there, but it’s one she isn’t ready to share yet. She has been my best friend for years, and she asked me to give her a little trust. It’s the least I can do. I’m not asking you to give her all your trust, she is prepared to earn it. But, right now, she needs a helping hand and you need a nanny. Why not give her a trial period?”

This right here is why Bree is in charge, she’s an excellent fucking negotiator. But, I’ve been burned by beautiful women before. There’s no denying I grew closer to Mia over the last couple of weeks when Bree was taken. We supported each other, but there were extenuating factors at play. Besides, I’m not going to deny I’m attracted to Mia. I’m also not going to lie and say I don’t have an overwhelming urge to fuck her every time she talks back or stands up to me. Nor am I going to hide that seeing her look after my little girl is like the perfect kind of porn. So, yes, I’m desperate for this woman, which is exactly why I need to keep away from her. She is forbidden, and I need to remember that. I’m barely managing to keep him in my pants as it is.

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