Page 69 of Marrying the Nanny

I’m so sorry (underlined three times) I won’t be there when the baby is born. You were right. I should have realized things were too good to be true. You’ll see where this is coming from. I’m not in jail, but I’ll be in protective custody until everything works its way through the courts.

That’s all I can say about my situation. If there’s an emergency and you need to reach me, contact the address on this envelope, but they’re going to read this before I send it and will read any replies I get. I can’t say any more than that.

I’m super excited to come help you with the baby when this is over, though. I’m going to love him or her so much. (More underlines.) This baby is going to have it so much better than we did. I’ll be there for you as soon as I can. I promise.

Meanwhile, write down everything. (Underlined and starred.) Not just for me, but because this baby is going to have a childhood worth remembering.

I’ll email when I’m allowed. I love you.

~Cloe

Reid sat back, but before he allowed the full brunt of reaction to hit him, he slipped into damage control mode.

“That’s unexpected.” He braced himself for Emma’s hysteria.

Emma wasn’t his mother, though. She hadn’t flown in here already in a state. She nodded and licked her pale lips, eyes big enough to drown in.

“I know.”

It wasn’t like he’d never faced bad news and had it turn out fine. Corporate executives reacted anywhere between his mother’s mania or Emma’s fearful “What do we do?”

He had never sat with anyone who was as directly affected as he was, though. He had never felt his personal world being undermined at the same time it was happening to someone else in exactly the same way. The closest had been the text from Trystan about their father, but he’d read that alone in his office and had time to collect himself before he began outwardly dealing with it.

He had never looked into grave eyes and thought both I’ll fix it and I need you to help me.

He cleared his throat.

“I have to forward it to Harpreet. What if Cloe doesn’t even know that her sister is gone?”

Emma swallowed, cheekbones standing out in sharp peaks. “I know.”

He didn’t want to, though. He had written off Tiffany’s sister as some lowlife who inhabited a dark world, estranged from her sister and without interest in her niece.

Not so. In fact, it sounded as though her connection with Tiffany had been closer than any of them imagined. Closer than he had with his own brothers, maybe. More, it sounded as though she had fully expected to become a part of Storm’s life.

“Do you think being in protective custody means someone is trying to hurt her?” Emma looked to Storm. “What if…?”

He saw the reluctance to speak her fear aloud. He rose before he realized what he was doing and came around to lower into the chair beside Emma. He reached to take her cold hands.

“That’s a fair concern, and I’ll definitely put it to Harpreet. But think about what a complete pain in the ass it is to get here. We know who belongs here and who doesn’t. Storm is safer here than she would be almost anywhere else.”

Emma nodded. Tendons in her throat flexed. “She sounds like she would want her.”

“I read it that way, too.” He was conscious of tightening his grip on her hands. “But I would argue she still doesn’t sound as though she’s in a position to take her.”

“We don’t know that.”

“We don’t,” he admitted, but he would argue hard, with everything in him, that Emma deserved Storm more.

“What if she comes for Storm? What if Harpreet thinks she should have her?” Emma asked in a thin husk of a voice.

What if was a trigger for him. That particular phrase meant his mother was escalating, but Emma wasn’t becoming agitated. She was stonily terrified, clammy hands clinging to his. Worse, he didn’t have the words to calm her fear because it was a legitimate one.

“I’ll marry you,” Emma blurted. “If it means you can take permanent custody of Storm, and keep her here, I’ll do it.”

Chapter Twelve

Something flashed in Reid’s eyes before he looked to where she was gripping his hands. His mouth quirked. “Thanks,” he said ironically.

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