Page 40 of Stolen Fate

And she wouldn’t leave Elliot.

“Okay. Thank you, Jace.”

I nodded in acknowledgement but didn’t say anything. What could I say to her that wouldn’t make me sound like the obsessive asshole I had become since meeting her?

I shook away the useless thought just as there was a knock on the door, and Belinda came in carrying a bag with three large boxes of food, some paper plates, and plastic cutlery.

“Thank you,” I said. Belinda had been my assistant since I took over the role of CEO at Kinsley Reed Capital almost nine years ago. She usually didn’t travel with me, but this was a big project and I had brought Elliot along. I needed all the help I could get.

She was in her late thirties, only a couple of years older than me, and was one of the most efficient and professional assistants I’d ever had.

With straight black hair pulled back into a tight bun, and square glasses that framed her large gray eyes, she was beautiful in a classic kind of way.

And there had been nothing but professionalism between us since day one. Something I planned on keeping true, no matter what.

She offered me a small smile before ruffling Elliot’s hair on her way out and giving Evelyn a small nod.

We settled in around the coffee table, and I didn’t mind when Elliot insisted that he wanted to sit next to Evelyn. I could see she already got him on her side, which was good, because Elliot didn’t usually bond with strangers so quickly.

“She might get lonely sitting there,” Elliot explained. “But don’t worry, Daddy. I’ll sit next to you at dinner.”

Evelyn covered her laugh up with a cough and I shot her a mock glare, making her brown eyes glimmer with amusement. My breath caught.

I never realized how big her eyes were until this moment, not even during the night we spent together, while she was coming into her peak of ecstasy.

It was quite… unnerving to know how much they affected me.

To know how badly I wanted to touch her again.

I shifted around in my seat, thankful that Evelyn didn’t have a direct line to my hard-on from where she sat. It wouldn’t do me good to start lusting for my son’s nanny, for more than just a professional reason.

There was a purpose for me bringing Elliot with me to Boston, and I couldn’t fuck that up so quickly, so spectacularly.

I just had to be focused.

Evelyn put some food onto a plate and placed it in front of Elliot, her hands moving over the strands of hair that had fallen over his face, as her expression took on one of affection. The small pinch that had been taking place in my heart since the moment I hired her grew, and I didn’t know what to do about it.

So I focused on my food.

We didn’t talk much, except for Elliot, who seemed to always have endless things he wanted to say, despite the fact that he had been practically glued to my side since the moment we got off the plane.

“And, Daddy, guess what?”

“What?” I asked patiently. I never really did spend a lot of my time with children of any age until my sons were born. I hadn’t realized they could talk so much until Elliot turned two and could form simple sentences.

Elijah had been different. He was taken away from me before his first birthday. At that time, he hadn’t been vocal, just simple utterances of sounds that had no meaning.

I often wondered if Elijah would have been as talkative, had fate not been so cruel.

I nodded along to Elliot’s story before Evelyn grabbed his attention. “Okay, Elliot, but I think you should focus on eating your food before it gets cold.”

“Okay, Evelyn.” And he grabbed a chicken nugget with his tiny hand and stuffed it into his mouth.

Evelyn smiled and looked up at me.

“You’re good with him,” I noted.

“He’s such a good kid,” she said, a small smile touching her lips. I didn’t think I had ever seen her genuinely smile before. She lit up the room when she did.

“Good. So there are no regrets about uprooting your entire life to move back to New York with us?”

“You’re coming to New York with me?” Elliot interrupted.

Before I could chastise him for interrupting, Evelyn turned to him, looked back at me and said, “Yes, I am coming to New York with you.”

“Perfect,” I said, my voice soft.

Yes, it was perfect.

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