Page 20 of The Nanny and the Don
“We’re having pancakes. Do you guys like pancakes?”
“Yes!” King answered along this time.
As much as I hated being in this big, beautiful prison, I figured the least I could do was bide my time by getting to know these innocent little babies. They didn’t have anything to do with the money their uncle kept hollering about. Neither did I actually but here I was.
Seven
Steel
For two whole hours, I sat in front of my computer like a fucking psychopath watching Devlan interact with the kids. It warmed my heart that she was naturally good with King and Evie. They could be a handful when they wanted to. I had pulled most of my hair out over the few weeks of them being here, and I still hadn’t gotten the least bit in order. I had no idea where to even start with children that small. What little I did know came from Sicily.
The kids seemed to really like Devlan which was a plus. Devlan didn’t have kids of her own, but I could tell she would be a great mother. Part of me started to imagine how she would look raising our children, but I quickly shook it off. It didn’t matter how much I thought I wanted her. What did I fucking know?
Obviously, my judgment had been off lately. Like a fool, I ignored countless red flags and allowed Brendan to funnel money out of my accounts for longer than I care to admit. I was notorious about not keeping a close eye on my money. That’swhat I was paying his ass to do. Now I regretted not keeping him on a tighter leash. The seven figures he’d relieved me of reminded me of just how big of a mistake I had made in trusting him.
It was after seven and I had been stowed away in my office all day like I was afraid to come out. I wasn’t scared to face Devlan or the kids. It was just something about her eyes and the way she wasn’t afraid to stand up to me even in the face of imminent danger that made me want to get inside her head.
I wanted to know more about her. I needed to know what led her to the gentleman’s club. I needed to know how to put the smile she wore the nights I visited the club back on her face. I mean, aside from leaving my house because she wasn’t going anywhere until Brendan materialized.
I spent the entire day in my office, and I hadn’t done a damn thing aside from watch Devlan and order shit for her and the kids. I needed them to be as comfortable as possible at my house because there was no telling how long any of them would be here. I hadn’t heard anything from the social worker and honestly, I felt like King and Evie were better off with me than even with Angela since her arrest is what threw them into this situation in the first place.
I needed Devlan to like it here too. It didn’t matter that she was here against her will. Devlan was my baby. I wasn’t about to let her be completely miserable here. I wanted her to be comfortable. If it were up to me, she would even want to be here. I didn’t have that privilege right now though and that was cool.
I needed to know for sure that she had no idea her boyfriend was stealing from me. I wanted to trust her, but I couldn’t let myself be blinded to reality. No one in the world could have convinced me that Monique would have turned her back on me at my weakest point, but she did. Waking up in the hospital tomy sister shaking her head and explaining that my fiancée was gone for good gave me a rude awakening.
If the very woman I built my empire for could shit on me the way Monique did, what should I expect from a woman who hated the ground I walked on in the first place? I gave Monique everything she could ever want or ask for, and as soon as it was her turn to repay my dedication, she decided that it was too hard.
When I was lying in a hospital bed waiting to have my leg amputated after barely surviving the wreck that crushed it, she left. When I couldn’t walk, she walked out on me. There was no reason for me to believe that the tall, ebony beauty in the next room wasn’t as vile as the last woman I was stupid enough to fall for.
I poured myself a double shot of bourbon and took it to the head before finally standing from my desk and leaving my cave for the day. The living room was eerily quiet. For the past few weeks, Sicily had been staying late every day to try to get the kids to bed. No matter what we did or how many glasses of milk and water we gave them, they weren’t sleeping. Evie cried until the late hours of the night and what little sleep King got was interrupted by nightmares. I was a natural problem solver, so it crushed me that I couldn’t figure out how to help them.
I crept through the living room at a snail’s pace because it was so quiet that I wasn’t sure where the children were. Miguel had left hours ago, and Sicily had the day off. I had to give her a break after all the late shifts she pulled. I eased over to the room where the kids were sleeping. I’d gotten separate rooms set up for them, but they quickly shut that down, letting me know that they shared a room.
I also had to get night lights since neither of them let me turn the light off in the room for fear that something would creep in and get them when they weren’t looking. They slept with thelights on for the first two nights that they were here before Sicily suggested I get a night light. I couldn’t even remember the last time I saw a night light before one came in the mail for me to install.
Before I could make it to the bedroom door, I could hear Devlan’s buttery voice floating through the air as she told the kids a bedtime story. It must have been made up, because it didn’t sound familiar. Then again, when was the last time I had heard a bedtime story?
All I could say for sure was that the kids were quiet. In fact, they had been relatively quiet all day. If I were actually paying her, I would have given her a bonus just for bringing the volume around here down a few octaves. My head had been pounding for a whole damn month. I pushed off of the door and walked back over into the living room to wait for Devlan to come out of their room. I didn’t have to wait long before she came wandering out looking around anxiously.
“You’re good with them,” I stated as soon as her eyes landed on me.
“They’re sweet kids,” she said with a soft smile.
“Let me take you upstairs. I’m sure you’ve had a long day,” I said, standing from my position on the arm of the couch.
“Why do I have to go up there? Let me go home. I swear I’ll come back every day and help you with them if that’s what you want.”
“What I want is for you to get your ass upstairs. You think because you had a good day with my niece and nephew, I forgot why I brought you here in the first place?” I quizzed.
“This is crazy. You know that right?”
“Let’s go, princess,” I said, taking her by her bicep and ushering her to the stairs.
Without another word of protest, she trudged ahead of me up the stairs. We didn’t speak again until we made it to the top.
“This is so evil, and you know it. You know I had nothing to do with Brendan taking your money.” She rationalized.
“I don’t know shit. All I know is he’s missing, and you were in his house. Apparently, he was coming back for you. When he does, we can settle this whole thing.”
