Page 28 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

“Don’t let Monani see you with her, Marcus. Otherwise, he might suspect we’re the ones who helped his sister escape,” I warned.

“I have a plan that might keep him away from Celine, Leo, but it will require me to show up at her place of work.”

“Do whatever you need to do, as long as you don’t lead him straight to us. Aunt Fee, do you think we can pull off having Tia ferry Maddie around the city without being spotted by her brother?” I asked, reaching for the plate of spaghetti and meatballs that Ramsay had just set before me.

“I think so, Leo,” replied Aunt Fee. “She won’t be going into the same circles as her brother because Maddie’s schedule only involves her school, extracurriculars, and play dates, and they will travel in tinted vehicles all the time.”

“Tia wants to wear a uniform because she thinks that will make her invisible to her class-conscious brother,” she added drily.

“Over my dead body,” I muttered.

“Why? The rest of the staff wear uniforms, and you’ve never had a problem with that,” pointed out Luke.

Did the boy have a death wish?

“It’s like you don’t believe I can knock you out,” I said mildly.

“Leo! I will not have you fighting your brothers over a woman,” said Aunt Fee sharply.

“I’m not fighting them over a woman. I’m fighting them because they are idiots,” I argued.

“They aren’t the idiots in this scenario.Youare! If you like her so much, just date her like a normal person. If you keep this up, you’re going to turn into a grouchy, snarling bear. And I swear, if that happens, I’m going to sell you to a traveling zoo headed for Siberia,” she warned.

“Are you out of your mind, Aunt Fee? I can’t date Tia! Not that I want to, but even if I did, how can I forget who she is?”

My aunt’s gaze softened and she sighed.

“Haven’t you suffered enough over Natalie, honey? It’s time to let the past remain in the past, and move on.”

“Ihavemoved on, but I can’t betray Maddie, Aunt Fee. I cannot date a woman whose brother was responsible for her mother’s death.”

“So, let me get this straight. You’ve forgiven Natalie her betrayal, but Tia has to pay for your dead wife’s crimes,” she said skeptically.

When she put it like that, it didn’t sound very logical. But I stood my ground.

“In a nutshell, yes,” I replied sullenly.

“Oh, honey. You really are an idiot,” she said, with a deep sigh.

Before I could refute that, Ramsay appeared at Aunt Fee’s elbow.

“Madam, I have instructed the gardener to get rid of the wasp’s nest in the garden as soon as possible, to prevent a repeat of yesterday’s events.”

“What events?” asked Aunt Fee.

“The incident with the wasps,” he said, clearing his throat uncomfortably. “One of the guards told me that Miss Maddie and Miss Tia were attacked by wasps yesterday morning after someone threw a rock at their nest.”

My blood turned to ice. My precious baby was attacked by wasps, and Tia didn’t think to tell me about it? How dare she hide something so important from me?

My feet carried me to the door before I even knew what I was doing. In the background, I heard Aunt Fee telling me to calm down, but I was enveloped by a haze of fury. Maddie was the only good thing in my life, and her life had been in danger. If the wasps had stung her, I could have lost my baby because those yellowjackets were dangerous. I raced up the stairs, aware of Aunt Fee following at my heels, and banged on Tia’s door.

CHAPTER 13

TIA

Iwas a coward, and I wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

Leo Donovan was a beast in bed, and while that was very sexy, the side he showed to his family was even better because it was heartwarming. He could growl at his brothers all he liked, but he loved them to bits, and it showed. As for the tender Leo who kissed his aunt and his daughter like they were the most precious things in his life, that Leo had the power to break my heart. Because no one had ever loved me so much, and I knew no one ever would. You had to be really lucky to deserve that kind of adoration, and I seemed to be luck’s red-headed stepchild. You know, the one that always got left behind in the forest or thrown to the wolves.

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