Page 71 of Nanny for the Don

Everything’s a blur as I slowly come to.My head is pounding like someone’s banging a drum inside my skull. Then, the memories hit me all at once—Jack, the gun, the kidnapping.

Panic flares in my chest, but when I open my eyes, I don’t see that grimy, shitty office. Instead, I’m in a calm, well-lit hospital room.

“Thank God—you’re up,” a familiar voice cuts through the haze.

I blink, my vision slowly clearing, and there he is. Nico. Relief washes over me as I see him approach, his expression a mix of worry and relief.

"Is this a dream?"

He gives me a soft smile, reaching out to brush a strand of hair off my forehead. “No, Willow. It’s real. You’re safe.”

I stare at him, trying to process everything. Nico saved me. I’m alive. It feels too good to be true.

I try to piece together what happened, but it’s all fuzzy. My thoughts feel jumbled, and I instinctively glance down at my body, checking for any signs of gunshot wounds or injuries.

Nothing. No blood, no bandages.

But then, it hits me.

“Oh my God… the baby,” I mutter aloud, my hand flying to cover my mouth as the realization spills out. I just dropped the bomb on Nico. I glance at him, expecting shock, maybe even anger.

But he doesn’t look surprised. In fact, he just smiles, his eyes softening. “The baby’s fine,” he says calmly.

Before I can even process how he knows, a couple of nurses rush in to check me over, asking the usual questions.Are you in pain? How’s your head?

I answer them, but my mind’s somewhere else. All I want is to talk to Nico, to find out how he knew about the baby and what really went down with Jack. Despite the chaos around me, the look on his face—so calm and warm—makes me feel like everything’s going to be okay.

And for the first time in what feels like forever, I believe it.

One of the nurses smiles at me. “You’ve got a minor concussion from the fall, but nothing serious.”

Before I can respond, Nico jumps in with, “Yeah, you need to be more careful when hanging pictures.”

I blink, confused as hell for a second before I realize what he’s doing.“Yeah, definitely should’ve used a step ladder instead of balancing on the end table. Stupid me, huh?”

“We’ll hire a decorator for the nursery, no need to do everything yourself,” Nice says, stunning me into silence.

The nurse smiles at us and tells me to press my call button if I need anything before leaving us alone.

“What happened?” I ask, cutting straight to it. “To Jack? His guys?”

Nico glances away for a second, like he’s debating how much to unload on me. Typical. “Jack’s been taken care of,” he finally says, voice calm but loaded with layers. “There’s not gonna be a war. Everything’s good.”

Nico’s eyes meet mine again, searching for some kind of reaction. But I don’t flinch. Instead, I give a small nod, letting him know I’m cool with whatever went down. I trust him.

And right now, that’s all I need.

I can feel the worry bubbling up, even though everything seems calm now. Nico notices immediately, because of course he does.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his brows pulling together.

“How did you find out about the baby?”

He chuckles. “I had one of my guys hack into the records system to get a peek at your test results. I saw the blood work that confirmed you were pregnant. I’m sorry for violating your privacy, but I was so damn scared.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wanted to; I swear. But then everything got insane, and I was trying to find the right time, and—”

Before I can ramble myself into a full-blown apology spiral, Nico leans in andbam—his lips crash against mine. Mid-sentence,no warning, just pure, earth-shattering kiss. It’s like my brain short-circuits; I practically melt into the bed, my body forgetting how to do anything butfeelhim.

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