Page 4 of The Billionaire and His Forever

“Are you Mr. Ratliff’s attorney?” a bored-sounding detective asks in a Bronx accent.

“No, I’m his…employee,” I finish lamely. “I need to know when he’llbe home to take care of his daughter.”

“Is this a CPS situation?” the detective asks, suddenly brusque and demanding.

“Wait, what? No!” I stutter, suddenly terrified for Jude. “She’s got someone to care for her. Many people, in fact. We don’t need Child Protective Services.”

“If you aren’t his attorney, ma’am, we can’t talk to you.”

“You can’t even tell me when he’ll post bail?” I’m proud of myself for remembering the verbiage. “So we can come down there to pick him up?”

The response is a dry, “No attorney, no information. We all done here? We’re very busy, ma’am.”

“I’m sure you are. Thanks for your time,” I say coldly, and then hang up.

My first dead end. I don’t know what I expected, but if anything, I feel worse. Still, I’m not giving up so easily. Maybe I can do some investigating here on my own.

I go back downstairs and sneak a peek at Jude and her tutor, who are studiously covering verb conjugation. Then I slip further down the hall to Graham’s office. I have no idea what I’m looking for, but maybe I can find some kind of proof that he would never raise a hand against Natasha. Or proof that she was the one trying to hurt him.

I comb through his desk and filing cabinet and find absolutely nothing but piles of legal documents and the kind of paperwork that shows just how much money a banking empire makes. It’s staggering to think about. The business has client accounts and huge investments all over the globe, each raking in more zeroes than I thought possible.

As I pick up another bank statement, something else occurs to me. If something happened to Graham, wouldn’t Natasha get all his money? Is he already paying her alimony now? Or did they sign a prenup? And what about Jude? If Graham was in jail or otherwise out of the picture, Natasha would get full custody by default, wouldn’t she?

I have more questions than answers, and it’s only making me more anxious. I rake through every file in his office, hoping to see Natasha’s name pop up somewhere. Nothing. His laptop is password protected, of course, so after attempting to log in with a few variations on Jude’s name and birthday, I give up. After almost an hour of searching, I’ve gotten nowhere.

I straighten everything up and make my way back to the library to collect Jude. It’s time for her tennis lesson.

“Did my dad call?” Jude asks as we walk out to the tennis courts. “When’s he coming home?”

“I’m not sure, sweetie. I haven’t heard anything yet,” I say, giving her hand a squeeze. “I know he’ll call as soon as he’s able to, okay?”

“Okay.” Jude looks glum but bounces onto the court anyway, racket swinging.

I wish, for just a moment, that we could trade places. That I could be blissfully unaware of the utter shitstorm going on with Graham and let someone else handle it.But there is no one else. Just me, the nineteen-year-old nanny, desperately trying to save the man I love.At least the rest of the staff believe he’s innocent. That has to mean something, right?

Now that I think about it…maybe they can help. After all, they’ve witnessed Graham and Natasha’s relationship up close and personal over the years. They know way more than I do. I should interview them. There has to be useful intel to be had. Natasha Ratliff wasn’t exactly an angel, so I doubt anyone would lie to protect her. Surely she’s left a trail somewhere.

At lunch time, I set Jude up in the living room so she can watch cartoons while she eats—a special treat—and then ask Mary and Esmeralda to meet me in the kitchen.

“How’s Jude holding up?” Mary asks, making a few more sandwiches for us.

I sigh. “She wants answers. I hate lying to her, but I’m going to have to come up with a cover story. It seems unlikely Graham will be back tonight. He could be gone for days.”

“We’ll tell her he’s on a business trip,” Esmeralda says. When Mary and I stare at her, she gets defensive. “Do you have a better idea? We can’t very well say her dad’s inprison. I hope to God she doesn’t see anything on the news.”

“You’re right. Business trip it is. She’s not going to be a happy camper when she hears it, though.” I shake my head. Then I switch tactics, lowering my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I know neither of you believe Graham is guilty, but…do you remember anything he might have said or done to Natasha in the past that might have hinted that he’s capable? That he had a plan?”

I try to make myself sound uncertain, like I’m on the fence about Graham’s innocence, but the truth is, I’m playing devil’s advocate here—in the hopes that they’ll load me up with evidence to the contrary.

“What? Mr. Ratliff hurther?” Mary clucks her tongue. “Never. He’s all bark and no bite. I’m not saying they didn’t fight, or that he hasn’t smashed up his office in a fit of rage. But when it comes down to it, that man wouldn’t lay a hand on that woman. Oranywoman, for that matter. Mrs. Ratliff, on the other hand…well. I’ve seen her get violent. I was standing right there the time she poured a cup of hot coffee in his lap. What’d he do? He got up and walked out.”

“Mmm. She thrives on discord.” Esmeralda nods. “Always loved to stir the pot when she lived here. She’d have temper tantrums, throw her fists at Mr. Ratliff, rip priceless art off the walls just to destroy it. She crashed one of his cars once, and I know it wasn’t an accident.”

“She crashed a car on purpose?” I gape. “Just because she was mad?”

“She’s got some serious mental health issues. I remember how she’d leave all her medications laying around the house. I was always picking them up, deathly afraid Jude would get ahold of them and think they were candy,” Esmeralda says quietly.

“My God.” I knew Natasha wasn’t liked by the staff, and that she seemed to get off on treating her “inferiors” like dirt, but I didn’t realize how truly awful she’d been when she lived here. She was a liability. Dangerous. Poor Jude. I can’t quite wrap my mind around it.

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