Page 11 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

I was still trying to get over the fact that Tia hadn’t taken her chance to escape. All she had to do was tell my aunt what I had done, and my aunt would force me to set her free. So why didn’t she take the chance? Instead, she had meekly agreed to sleep in the room next to mine.

Really, I had done nothing to deserve this torture. And now, my aunt was talking about taking Tia shopping as if she was a girlfriend that I’d brought home to meet my family.

“No! Tia will not set foot off the estate. Besides, she isn’t allowed to use her credit cards,” I declared.

“Why not?” demanded my aunt.

“Because she is in hiding! She’s hiding from her brother, Aunt Fee. And we’re not going to do anything to make it easy for him to find her. And now, if you’ll excuse us, I have an early meeting tomorrow. I need to get Tia settled into her room before I go to bed.”

I made my escape before my aunt asked for more details. And before she sent me shopping for Tia. I wouldn’t put it past her to send me out to buy out Victoria’s Secret’s full catalog for the first woman I had brought home in ages. Tomorrow, I was going to make it clear to my aunt that Tia was here on sufferance. I wanted nothing to do with her, and as soon as I could, I was going to set her up in a safe house.

I led Tia to the room next to mine.

“You can stay here for tonight. We’ll move you to a safe house tomorrow,” I said curtly.

She nodded in reply and went into her room. Then, she looked up at me for a second.

“Leo, I know you’re doing this to settle scores with my brother, but… thank you,” she said softly before she shut the door in my face.

CHAPTER 6

TIA

Ihadn’t planned to thank him or express any gratitude because hehadkidnapped me. Not having to sleep with Jeff was just a pleasant side effect of Leo’s plan. Nevertheless, he did deserve my thanks.

Not that he’d want it. He wanted nothing from me. Not my gratitude, nor anything stronger.

I pushed away the old memories and decided to explore my room. It was a decidedly feminine room, all dusty pink and French vanilla with gold accents. I wondered who had decorated it. Probably Fee. This was definitely not Leo’s taste in decor.

Which led to another line of thought. This was a room meant for a woman. Probably for Leo’s woman. Was he dating anyone currently? I ignored the pang of jealousy that reared its ugly head at the thought of Leo sleeping with another woman. Sleeping with, dating seriously, falling in love with, and eventually marrying. It was all going to happen someday, andthere was nothing I could do about it. Besides, he deserved to be happy. His daughter deserved a family.

I wondered what I deserved.

All I wanted was to live my life in peace. Maybe I’d find another man who made my heart pound at the slightest touch, or maybe I wouldn’t. There was more to life than sex. I wanted friendship and laughter, for sure. But I’d settle for a future without my brother’s actions and choices tainting my life. One where I wouldn’t be pimped out to his shady business associates.

I wondered what Arjun was doing. He must be furious at my disappearance. I shivered at the thought of how he’d react. He would blame me, of course, because he didn’t know Leo had kidnapped me. Shit! Would he go after my friends? Of course, he would! This was Arjun. The man who had made me miserable all my life, bullying me every chance he got, and now treating me as an expendable pawn in the grand plan of his life. He enjoyed hurting people, and I was worried he’d go after Celine first.

I paced around the room restlessly. I needed to check on my best friend, but Leo had thrown my phone away! How on earth was I going to reach her? Maybe Fee would lend me a phone. But that would mean I’d have to tell her that Leo had kidnapped me. I didn’t know why I hadn’t done that the minute I saw her. Fee would have helped me get away.

I guess I didn’t want to reveal the full extent of my shame to her. It was bad enough that Leo knew what my brother had planned for me. The moment I agreed to go through with it, even under duress, I had become a whore. And I didn’t want Fee to know that because it was humiliating. So far, she hadn’t asked for any details about why I had to flee from my brother and was treating me like a guest, and I was fine with that.

There was a knock on the door and the butler handed me a pair of pajamas on a hanger. I thanked him and changed into them after I washed my face in the luxurious en-suite bathroom.The silk PJs were virginal white and skimpy. And contrary to Fee Donovan’s claim, they didn’t hang loose at all. The strappy top could barely contain my full breasts and the sleep shorts clung to my curvy ass far more lovingly than I liked. Maybe they were loose for the kind of women Leo usually dated, I thought with a scowl.

I hung my green dress in the wardrobe carefully hoping it hadn’t creased too much, because that’s all I had to wear. I couldn’t expect Fee to buy me clothes on top of housing me. I put on the short silk robe that came with the PJs and wondered if I’d have to come clean with Fee, after all. I saw no other way of getting in touch with my friend.

I was halfway to the door when I noticed the big, shiny iMac on the mahogany writing table in the corner of the room. I approached it hesitantly, wondering if it would turn on without a password. As it turned out, the Donovan brand of hospitality included a mini business center in the corner of your bedroom, complete with high-speed internet. I sighed in relief as I threw myself down on the small cushioned chair and brought up the internet browser. It took me a few seconds to remember my Facebook password, but I managed to log into my account.

I went into Messenger and video-called Celine.

She picked up on the first ring, and I was shocked to see that she was in tears.

“Celine! What’s wrong?”

“Are you okay, Tia?” she asked.

“I’m fine. I just wanted to warn you that my brother might come to your house to look for me.”

“He already did,” she broke in, with a sob.

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