The Nanny Read online

  She kicks me in the shins. Her screams turn to incoherent shrieks. I stare down at her contorted face. Tears stand out on her eyelashes, and my heart sinks. Why does it have to be like this for her? Why does her childhood have to turn into a war zone when it should be the happiest time of her life?

  I let her punch me for a while. That’s the least I can do for her. Then I sink onto my knees in front of her and fold her in my arms. She struggles harder and punches out at my face, but I only hold her tighter until she collapses sobbing against my chest.

  I press her against my heart and bury my face in her neck. “It’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I was worried about you. That’s all. I worried something terrible would happen and I would never see you again. I could never live with myself if that happened.”

  Whether she hears me or not, I can’t tell. It doesn’t matter. She’s here. We’re together. Jade didn’t do anything. I’m so relieved I don’t know what to do with myself.

  The rest of the world disappears, and it’s just the two of us, alone together. She cries on my neck. She fights my arms a little while longer, but after a few minutes, she falls limp in my embrace. She’s so tiny, and I’m big enough to protect her. She’s all I’ve got in the world, and I’m all she’s got.

  I cast one ferocious look over her shoulder around the room. Kira stares at us like she’s never seen a father and daughter together before. Connor gazes back at me with that casual smile of his. He’s seen it all before.

  I’ve got better things to do than put on a show. I get to my feet and pick up Ivy in my arms. I face the two of them and walk out of the room with my little girl.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Kira

  I stand in shock at the sight of Isaac the Terrible, completely transformed by his daughter. I never would have pegged him for a big softy, but here he is, comforting her and caressing her and whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

  He’s such a terror to everyone else. She must be the one person in the world he really cares about. I steal a peek at Connor. A faint smile touches his lips. He’s not surprised by any of this. What does he know about Isaac that I don’t?

  Isaac cranes back his head, and my blood runs cold at the look on his face. He glares at the whole world with eyes lusting for blood. If I could get Ivy away from him, I would, but to my amazement, he picks her up in his arms and cradles her like a baby. She is his baby. He sweeps us both with his burning eyes and carries her out of the room.

  The instant he’s gone, my shoulders slump in relief. I was never so glad to see the back of someone, and this is my boss I’m supposed to be working for for the foreseeable future. What am I gonna do?

  Connor’s voice breaks in on my thoughts. “Don’t pay any attention to what he said.”

  I look up at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so hateful and brutal.”

  He cocks his head. “Him? Naw, he’s all right.”

  “How can you say that? He’s a fiend. He’s a much bigger danger to Ivy than her mother.”

  Connor stiffens. The supercilious smirk vaporizes off his face, and his eyes harden. “Don’t ever tell yourself that. You’ve got it all backwards.”

  I study him. “Are you sure? He’s violent. Did you see what he did with that poker?”

  Connor bursts out laughing. “That! That’s nothing. Just forget it.”

  “How can I forget it? What if he did something like that to me, or to Ivy? How can you brush it off like it doesn’t mean anything? If he hit what he was aiming at, he could kill someone.”

  “He would never do anything like that to you, and certainly not to Ivy. That kid was never so safe as she is with him. He would never harm a hair on her head.”

  “Maybe not, but what about Jade?”

  He grits his teeth. “Jade? He’d be doing the world a favor if he got rid of her.”

  I gasp out loud. “How can you say that? She’s Ivy’s mother.”

  “Isaac is right,” Connor fires back. “She’s no mother. She never was. She’s a snake in the grass.”

  I can’t even blink, I’m so surprised. “Now you sound just like him.”

  He recovers his old easy-going air. He shoots me a grin. “You’re new around here. You can’t know what Jade is really like. I’ve known Isaac a long time. I’ve seen it all.”

  I stare up him with wide eyes. “Tell me. Tell me what you know that makes you say that.”

  “Jade got addicted to painkillers. She put Isaac through three years of hell. She lied, she manipulated, she stole, she interfered with his business, and when he finally had enough and decided to end it, she got pregnant. He stayed for the kid, and when Ivy was born, he fell in love with her. He did everything for her, especially since her mother was off her face on drugs the whole time. Isaac became Ivy’s mother while Jade went off the deep end.”

  I listen with my mouth open. I can’t believe I’m hearing this, but all of a sudden, the whole scene makes sense. Isaac’s wild rages, Ivy’s distance from her mother, Jade’s silky-smooth demeanor—everything fits.

  “Six years ago, when Ivy was four,” Connor tells me, “Jade tried one more time to pull a fast one. She concocted this elaborate fraud to steal money from Isaac’s company. He let everything go before for Ivy’s sake. He even tolerated Jade stealing money from his personal bank account, but he wouldn’t let her touch his business. He worked twenty hours a day for fifteen years to build that business, and he wouldn’t let her destroy it.”

  I can barely breathe. “What did he do?”

  “He took her to court. He dragged all her dirty laundry and everything she’d ever done to him out into the open, and he got full custody. It cost him blood, but he did it in the end. He got a court order that Jade’s isn’t supposed to see Ivy without supervision.”

  I breathe a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”

  “That’s not the end of the story,” he goes on. “Not by a long way. After he won his victory, she got even nastier than she was before. She pulled out the big guns, and she came up with every evil scheme in the book to get back at him. More than once, she showed up at his house when he was at work the way she did today. Jade made nice with Ivy and got her to trust her mother again. She filled Ivy’s head full of all kinds of lies about Isaac.”

  I shake my head. “After the way she acted today, I can believe it.”

  “Oh, that’s nothing,” Connor exclaims. “When she won Ivy’s trust, she told her she wanted to take her out for an ice cream. She told Ivy she had Isaac’s permission to take her out—just for the afternoon, you understand. She got Ivy in her car and drove to JFK airport.”

  My breath sticks in my throat. “She didn’t!”

  Connor nods. “She got on a plane with Ivy heading to London. They were taxiing down the runway when the police stopped the plane. Isaac just got to them in time. They found tickets in Jade’s suitcase for more flights from London to Istanbul, Istanbul to Singapore, Singapore to Sydney, and Sydney to Fiji. She planned to steal Ivy and disappear. If Isaac hadn’t caught them in time, he never would have seen his little girl again. I hate to think what kind of life Ivy would have had with Jade taking care of her.”

  I can’t stop staring at him. This whole sordid tale blows my mind apart. How could I be so blind? Jade pulled the wool over my eyes, too. That fancy outfit, her jewelry, her wide open smile—she created this whole façade to trick me into letting her near Ivy. No wonder she got so annoyed when Connor showed up and stuck around to stop her stealing Ivy right out from under my nose.

  If Connor hadn’t shown up, Jade would have come up with some other story about taking Ivy out for an ice cream, and I would have let her go. I would have let her walk right out the front door, even after Isaac warned me to keep her away from his daughter.

  How could I have been so stupid? Why didn’t I listen when he told me Jade was dangerous? Granted, he didn’t tell me the way Connor did. He didn’t tell me in a way I could understand. Maybe if
he had, I would have listened.

  Would I have listened? He’s my boss. I’m supposed to do what he tells me, and I didn’t. If he had told me the same story Connor just told me, I probably wouldn’t have listened to him then, either. I would have believed what I wanted to believe about Jade. I would have gone on believing no one could be as bad as all that. It took a stranger to tell me and convince me and make me see my mistake.

  I replay the whole day in my mind, from the very first time I heard Isaac bellowing into his phone. He must have been talking to Jade then, too. I remember his words. Forget it! You’re not pulling this again. I said no! Over my dead body, so don’t even think about it. How many times do I have to tell you? Just drop it. I could talk till the cows come home and never penetrate your idiot brain.

  Six years this had been going on. Jade must have called him practically every day during that time, nagging and cajoling and threatening and berating him. Anybody would say the same thing to her. In spite of the judgment against her, she never got it into her head she couldn’t have Ivy. She blew it, and she couldn’t get her daughter back. From the way she behaved, she didn’t deserve her daughter back.

  I let out a shaky breath. “Thank you, Connor. Thank you for telling me. It really helps a lot. I understand now. I didn’t before, but I do now.”

  “Forget it,” he tells me. “Isaac, he’s a brick. He doesn’t know how to deal with people, but after what he’s been through, maybe you can understand why. He’s sworn off women. Heck, he’s sworn off people in general, but women especially. I don’t blame him, really. He’s bitter, you know? He’s not really dangerous, and he’s certainly not dangerous to Ivy. He would give his right arm for that kid. In a way, he already has.”

  I nod. “I see that now. I didn’t before. I don’t know why.”

  Connor laughs out loud. “Well, heck, no one could expect you to see it. He didn’t exactly explain it to you, did he?”

  I start to turn away. “I better go talk to him. I better make sure Ivy’s alright. I wouldn’t be surprised if he fired me after today, and it’s my first day of work.”

  “He won’t fire you. He needs you. He’s desperate. He’s been through a string of nannies, and he’s chased ‘em all away.”

  “That’s what Ivy said.”

  He draws near me. Moisture glistens in his dark eyes. “Give him a chance. Don’t walk out on him over what happened today.”

  “It’s him who won’t give me a chance,” I reply, “and after what I did today, I don’t deserve a chance. He warned me. He gave me a direct order, and I ignored it. I almost let Jade get to Ivy again. I deserve to be fired.”

  He lowers his voice to a confidential murmur. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You made a mistake. Anybody could make a mistake like that. Give yourself a break. You did good today.”

  I shake my head. “You saved Ivy. You saved Ivy from my stupidity. If you hadn’t shown up, Jade would have gotten away with it.”

  “Cut it out,” he breathes. “You’re a good nanny, and you’re enough to make any man’s mouth water. I only wish….”

  “Connor!” I exclaim.

  He doesn’t move. He hovers there in front of my eyes. I have to crane my head back to look into his burning eyes. His nostrils flare, and his lips part to show his tongue moving behind his teeth. “I’ve never met anybody like you before. I never expected to meet anybody as beautiful and smart and switched up as you are—especially not working as Isaac’s nanny.”

  My mind spins. He’s really saying this to me, right here in Ivy’s room. I have to get this situation under control fast. I have to break this off before it turns into something I can’t handle.

  I try again. “Connor, you’re a really nice guy and I’m very grateful for what you did today. I’m sure Isaac is really grateful, too. He’s lucky to have a friend like you, but I…”

  He lays a finger across my lips. “It’s all right. You don’t have to say it.”

  “I do have to say it,” I tell him. “I’m Isaac’s employee. It wouldn’t be right, and anyways….”

  He turns his head away. “Well, anyway, now you know all about Isaac and Ivy. I’ll see you later, honeybunch.”

  He turns on his heel and walks out of the room. I stare at the door swinging shut behind him. What a mash-up I made of my first day of work! I made up my mind ten times to walk away from Isaac and Ivy when it was me they should have walked away from.

  Isaac should send me back to the service, but according to Connor, he won’t. He needs a nanny, and Ivy needs one even more. If he doesn’t can me tonight, I should stick it out. Now that I know what’s under his skin, it will be easier to deal with his temper.

  I’ll have to watch out for Jade, too. I never wanted to believe anybody could do so much to deliberately harm their own child, but I guess it takes all kinds to make a world. I’ve really led a sheltered life. I’ve worked for loving families and caring parents. I never encountered anybody so ruthless and calculating as Jade before.

  I only hope I can live up to this challenge. I hope I can be the kind of nanny Ivy needs.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Isaac

  I stand at the door of Ivy’s bedroom and gaze in on the sleeping form. The gauzy canopy around her bed casts a misty halo around her. She always looks like an angel when she sleeps. No one would ever recognize her from the screaming fury that just beat me with her fists and said she hated me.

  Those words cut deep, but I can forgive her anything. I know the pain behind those words. I might be the only person in the world who knows what she really means. I can take a few punches for her sake. Heaven knows I’ve taken enough of them these past several years.

  I pull the door closed and ease the handle back so it doesn’t click. She passed out once she stopped crying, poor thing. She’s exhausted. Every confrontation with Jade traumatizes her again.

  I would give anything to stop it happening, but I can’t get rid of Jade. How did my life turn into this nightmare? How did I become this walking zombie on a hair trigger?

  I tiptoe down the hall to the stairs and back to my own room on the other end of the house. This house used to be my pride and joy. I worked hard to earn the money to buy it. Now it’s a graveyard full of bad memories. I don’t think I can ever enjoy it again.

  I go into my room and shut the door. I don’t want to see or hear or talk to anybody right now. I want to erase myself from the world, but that won’t happen. Ivy needs me. I can live the rest of my life in misery, if only I give her what she needs.

  She needs me. That’s what she needs most in the world, and I’ll be jiggered if I take that away from her, as much as I’d like to.

  My room smells stale after standing closed up all day. I go over to the big windows and throw open the French doors leading to the balcony. Ah, this is just what I need, a breath of fresh evening air coming off the lawn. The sprinklers cool it and soothe my tortured soul.

  I push back the curtains, but my shoulders stiffen when I see a spotless cream Jaguar rumble up the driveway. Now who in the world could presume to come onto my property at this time of night?

  I can see the driver’s a man, but I don’t know anybody who drives a Jag like that. I would definitely remember that car if I’d ever seen it before. It pulls up the drive and swings around right in front of my front door, as bold as brass. It would take someone ballsy enough to drive a car like that to drive into someone’s yard and park right in front of the door.

  I get more intrigued with every passing second. I withdraw behind the curtain to see what the guy will do. He throws his door open, and a tall man gets out. He’s almost as tall as Connor, with sandy red hair. He wears a nice dark suit to match that Jag, and he throws his bright green eyes around the estate like he owns the place. I would definitely remember a guy like that.

  I’m just about to go out on my balcony to ask him what he wants when the front door flings open, and what do you know, Kira rushes out of the house, straight into the guy�
��s arms. She throws her arms around the guy’s neck and kisses him like she means it.

  I can’t stop staring at the scene. He laughs out loud and lifts her off her feet to spin her around. Then he sets her down and gets to work kissing her back. He bends over her and presses his hands into her back. She leans back to meet his kiss and moans under her breath. She combs her fingers through his hair.

  A shot of fire shoots to my crotch watching this. These two are definitely into each other. She rubs her body all over him, and he responds with little growling noises into her mouth. They act like they haven’t seen each other in ten years.

  I never realized until that moment how much I missed a woman’s body against me. I could do with a kiss like that right now. I’m getting hard just watching them together, feeding off each other and responding to each other’s energy.

  I shove that thought out of my head. I don’t need a woman, not even for that. All that rubbing and touching and kissing is nothing but bad news, especially for a guy like me. Women won’t come anywhere near me, and I don’t want to have anything to do with them.

  The guy spins her around and slams her against the Jag. He pushes her down on the hood and works his hips between her legs. First she laughs. Then she sighs and lets him do it. Her eyes drift closed, and she arches her chest up to meet his big frame.

  He nuzzles down her neck and nibbles behind her ear. Her cheeks flush. She’s even more beautiful when she gets worked up like that. Man, what would it be like to have a woman blush like that for me?

  He whispers into her ear. “I missed you today. How was the first day of work?”

  Those words throw a bucket of cold water over her. She stiffens in his arms and casts a nervous glance toward the house. She doesn’t know I’m watching her, but that icy shiver runs through my insides. She’s looking at me like that.

  The guy picks up her signal in an instant. He pulls back to study her. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  She pulls out of his arms. She won’t look at him. “Nothing happened. It’s fine. The first day of work was great.”