Page 18 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

I walked into my room and locked the door behind me to ward off the impulse to go back to him and beg him for more nights together. Then, I went to the bathroom and stood under the shower, washing away every trace of last night. The steaming hot water coursed down my body, taking with it the tears that streamed down my face. My body shook hard as I cried.

I cried for the man I could love if he gave me the chance. I cried for the fact that Leo couldn’t look past who I was, and that it would always color the way he looked at me. I cried for all that my brother had stolen from me with his bad decisions. And I cried for the fact that I would never fall in love because no other man could possibly make me feel what Leo did. I was destined to be alone and unloved.

CHAPTER 9

TIA

After I was all cried out, I emerged from the shower looking very red and pruny. I curled up under the covers for a while, hoping I could fall asleep, but sleep eluded me. I wondered if Leo was asleep. I turned around in bed and punched my pillow angrily. Why wouldn’t he be asleep? It wasn’t as if he was tormenting himself with what-ifs. He knew very well what he wanted from life, and it wasn’t me. He’d had three years in which to prove me wrong, and he hadn’t bothered. One stolen night of passion wasn’t going to change that.

I sat up and explored the room because there was no point in trying to sleep anymore.

There was a mini-fridge in my room. I decided to raid its contents because I was starving. I picked up two bags of chips, and one bag of chocolate chip cookies, and settled back in bed to watch a Scandinavian murder mystery on the TV until it was time to go down for breakfast. I refused to stay in my room like agood little hostage. Leo had introduced me to his aunt as a guest, and I was going to behave like a houseguest, no matter what.

An hour later, I was exhausted, queasy from all the snacks, and bored. It was past seven am, so I decided to explore the famous Donovan estate before I headed for breakfast. I put on my green dress from the day before and set off. The house was quiet as I snuck downstairs and let myself into the garden.

Leo lived in a huge mansion on Lenox Hill, with a beautiful garden hidden behind the house. It was rare to find such a large green space in the city. There was a covered heated pool, complete with a hot tub at one end of the backyard, and a gazebo surrounding a barbecue pit at the other, with the rose garden in the middle. The house itself had been featured in The Architectural Digest with an eight-page spread last year. I didn’t think I’d get to see much of it beyond my room, and I wasn’t brave enough to go around the house by myself because I didn’t want to be caught wandering around by Leo. He’d probably accuse me of stealing the silver, I thought sourly, stooping to pick up a dusky pink rose that had fallen from a bush.

I was walking along the back of the house when I saw a sight that turned my blood to ice. There was a huge wasp’s nest on one of the trees in front of me, and standing right under that tree was a little girl dressed in shorts and a raggedy t-shirt. This must be Leo’s daughter, Madeline.

She looked up at the wasp’s nest, and before I could react, she swung her arm back and threw a rock right at the nest. I was on her even before the first yellowjacket came flying out of the nest buzzing angrily. I grabbed the child and broke into a run just as a whole army of wasps dove after us in a fury.

“What’s happening?” cried Madeline, looking surprised to see the wasps coming after us.

“The wasps are mad at us because you threw a rock at their house. What did you do that for?” I wheezed as I ran.

“I just wanted to see what would happen. But I don’t like wasps. Make them stop chasing us,” she wailed.

“Honey, we need to get into the house. Is there a side door unlocked?”

I hoped there was because the last thing I wanted to do was to set off an alarm and have a human SWAT team descending on us on top of a bunch of angry wasps.

Madeline pointed to the right and I changed direction, but I didn’t think I could outrun the wasps for too long, especially with a child in my arms. Luckily, I spotted a side door that led into the house, and when I tried it, it was unlocked. I dove in and shut the door on the horde of angry yellowjackets. I set Madeline down and made sure all the windows were shut before I went back to check on her.

She was crying softly but looked frightened rather than hurt.

“Are you okay, honey? Did you get stung at all?” I asked, crouching next to her and pushing her golden hair off her face.

She shook her head and wiped her eyes determinedly. The child looked nothing like Leo. She must have taken after his wife, Natalie. Then, Madeline looked up at me, and I saw the resemblance to Leo in the stubborn jut of her chin.

“Are you going to tell on me?” she asked defiantly.

“Not at all,” I replied promptly, “As long as you promise never to do that again.”

“I promise,” she whispered, as she studied me from head to toe. “Are you the new nanny?”

“No, honey. I’m just visiting.”

“Are the wasps going to follow us into the house? Aunt Fee will be mad at me if they come in. She doesn’t like wasps either.”

“Let’s just stay here for a bit,” I suggested.

We were in a conservatory that looked out onto the garden. It was a warm and cozy space with a thick orange couch by the window and toys scattered all over the rug.

“Is this where you play?” I asked, and Madeline nodded.

“I woke up early and came down to play with my toys.”

“And why did you go out all by yourself?”

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