Page 47 of Stolen Fate

Evelyn

Makingthe move to New York was one of the best decisions of my life; I was sure of it after living there for three weeks.

An easy routine was built between Elliot and me that I could easily get behind, and I was falling in love with the little boy with the big blue eyes and a gentle personality.

I knew I was being stupid.

I was supposed to only be fond of Elliot, not love him, because there would come a time when I had to leave him, and I already knew that would break my heart.

But I kept telling myself that was a problem for another day—in the hopefully distant future—so I wasn’t spending too much of my time dwelling on it just yet. I was just focusing on my job, and I was flourishing in my new environment. Already my heart felt lighter than it had in six long years.

I was also reminded of how taking care of a child—especially a preschool age child—was a lot of work. And taking care of a child with Elliot’s energy was much more so.

Though he was a sweet kid, he was pretty active from the time he woke up to the time he needed to sleep. Keeping up with him got me into a new rhythm, and I loved every minute of it.

The only downside so far was that I could count on one hand the number of times that I had actually seen Jace.

I knew he was a busy man. I had already learned his family came from old money, that both of his parents were pretty successful in their own right, and that he was busy running a private equity investment empire, but the situation felt like more than just work. It felt like he was purposely avoiding me, and I didn’t know if it was because we had slept together or because he regretted hiring me.

Whatever the reason, it had my stomach twisted up in knots, and stupidly, I knew it was also because I wanted to see him.

I wanted to see the brooding, quiet, and imposing man who wasn’t Elliot’s father, but the man I had followed back to his hotel room several weeks prior.

And I didn’t know what that said about me—both the fact that I could so easily separate him from the man who was my employer and that he was still running through my mind after all this time.

I sat in the back of a town car as Simon, the driver, drove me to Elliot’s school to pick him up.

Simon was in his late thirties, handsome in a classic kind of way, reminding me much of a 1950s movie star, with his thick curly dark hair, his tall athletic frame, bright gray eyes, and charming smile.

I was getting used to having someone drive me around most of the time, even though, technically, Simon was Elliot’s driver. And if Simon couldn’t be with us, then Jerry was.

It was unnerving to think about the fact that Elliot had a net worth of half a billion dollars and was set to take on the Kinsley Reed empire when he was older. His destiny was determined the moment of his conception, and yet, to me, he was the little boy with shy blue eyes who was looking at me with more and more affection each day.

Unconsciously, I brought my fingernails up to my mouth and started biting off what little nails I had left as I looked out at the chaotic landscape.

And I had thought Boston was busy…

I always knew New York was much more overwhelming than Boston would ever be, but it was one thing to know about it—to see it in the movies—and another to witness it firsthand.

I still hadn’t gone anywhere on my days off, still too intimidated to visit the city by myself, even if I was dying to. It was one of the many reasons I didn’t like my days off so far—but I had only had one and a half days to myself so far.

Simon pulled up outside the school and came to a smooth stop. I thanked him for the ride and told him I’d be back with Elliot shortly.

Simon saluted me from the driver’s side, his eyes twinkling over the rearview mirror, shooting me a movie star smile, straight white teeth and all—he even had a small dimple. Perhaps in another lifetime, I would have been infatuated with that smile, but I still had Jace’s blue eyes and the brooding twist of his lips haunting me in my sleep.

Why couldn’t I fall for someone like Simon?

It would make my life a hell a lot less complicated, that was for sure.

I quickly climbed out the car, pulling my jacket tighter against me. I was told New York wasn’t as cold as Boston, but so far, I couldn’t tell the difference. Both places felt bone-numbingly cold to me.

I walked inside Hallstrom Preparatory, a private school for children ages four to six. It was one of the best in the state. Hell, it was probably one of the best in the country, and it looked bigger and better than even my high school. The parents of the kids here were in the nine-figure tax bracket or above, and though the kids were all still too young to realize the privilege they were born into, I knew they were aware that there was very little they couldn’t have—except for maybe their parents’ time and affection.

I knew it was true. I had yet to see one parent come around to pick their kid up from school—it was all nannies and drivers, and I was one of them.

I frowned at the thought. I didn’t want to put Jace in the same category as the other parents, because from what I gathered so far, he was a good dad. I didn’t think there was anything or anyone in the world he loved more than Elliot, even if he wasn’t able to pick Elliot up from school.

They did have breakfast together most days. And even though Jace had told me my hours were from seven to six, and there were some nights when I had to stay later because he was caught up at work, Jace seemed to make a real effort to be home by six most days so he could spend some time with Elliot before he had to go to bed at eight. And I knew Elliot thrived on the structure of his day-to-day routine, especially the parts that included his dad, so I didn’t feel comfortable putting Jace in the same category as these other people.

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