Page 4 of Bad Nanny

Noah: The sweats with the hockey stick and two pucks right over the crotch?

Lex: Instant bestseller, for sure. I personally like the puck nipple pasties with the team’s logo. Nothing screams puck bunny like team-branded tits.

Me: *middle finger emoji* I’m on my way. Nanny is late again. You can start without me.

Lex: Is? Meaning she isn’t there? Are you still at home?

Me: Getting coffee and breakfast. I waited as long as I could. Delaney is with me.

Noah: Now we can’t bring up the nipple pasties. It’s a sad day.

Me: It’s too early for this shit.

Lex: Is today take your daughter to work day or something?

Me: What? I told you why she’s with me.

Lex: Seems everyone is bringing their daughters to work.

“Gabriel,” the barista called out.

I slid my phone into my pocket and gave Delaney’s hand a squeeze. She had the dog puppet on her other hand and had been playing with it since the woman had given it to her. The same woman who had no regard for her surroundings and had been glued to her phone as she cussed in front of my five-year-old.

She might have been attractive, but who the hell carries a sock puppet around in their purse? I didn’t even want to think about where that sock might have been, but I didn’t have the heart to take it away.

Letting go of Delaney’s hand, I grabbed our drinks and the bag with her breakfast—sugary treats and all. “Sweetie, stay right next to me, okay?”

I didn’t have to tell her twice; she’d already grabbed onto the bottom edge of my jacket. My heart squeezed painfully in my chest, knowing how scared she was that I would leave her like her mother had.

It had been six months since Delaney came to live with me permanently. Six months of watching my little girlstruggle with her mother’s decision that parenthood wasn’t for her.

The walk to Badden Apparel was short, and once we were in the elevator, she finally let go of my jacket. There wasn’t much risk of me abandoning her while we were locked inside a metal box.

When the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, she went right back to holding onto my suit. The hum of voices dropped to near silence as we walked through the bright, open space toward the back wall of closed-in executive offices.

While my employees knew I had a daughter, they had never actually seen her. Besides a select few, none of them knew our situation, and I wanted to keep it that way. It was hard to run a billion-dollar business when people were aware your homelife was a shitshow.

“Good morning, Mr. Badden.” My executive assistant, Ava, stood and smiled wide at my daughter as we approached. “Laney! What a surprise!” I’d texted her before leaving the house that she would be supervising Delaney while I was in my meeting.

Eventually, the nanny would show up, but I wasn’t holding my breath that it would be anytime soon. Then there was the issue of whether I could get Delaney to leave with her to go back to the house.

We walked into my office, and Delaney went right to the window, looking out at downtown.

“There’s a breakfast sandwich for her. She needs to eat that first before the treats.” I set her food and drink on the small table in the corner. “The scone and cake pop can be forlater. The hot chocolate should be cool enough now. We had a rough morning, so you’ll probably need to sit in here with her.”

“Got it.” Ava opened the bag I’d set on the table and pulled out the sandwich, unwrapping it. “Is that a...dog on her hand?”

“Some woman gave it to her at the coffee shop.” I went over to Delaney and crouched down. “Sweetheart, Daddy has to go into a meeting, but Ms. Ava is going to stay with you, all right?”

Even though she’d met Ava before, her blue eyes still widened in panic. She threw her arms around me, nearly knocking me back on my ass. “Don’t go, Daddy.” Her small voice was barely a whisper, but it cut through me like a knife. The sound of her fear and anxiety was all too familiar.

“I’ll be back soon, Laney. I promise.” I hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head. “I’ll be right down the hall, okay? You can eat your breakfast and play with the stuff in your backpack or watch something on your tablet.”

She buried her head in my neck, sniffling. I rubbed her back and was tempted to sayfuck itand let my younger brothers run the meeting with the Pacific Storm.

Lex and Noah had really stepped up to the plate since my life had been turned upside down. Going from two weekends a month to full-time parenting was an adjustment I hadn’t been prepared for. Add in the trauma component, and I often felt like I was drowning in a sea of emotions and new responsibilities.

I gently pried Delaney off me and stood, taking her hand. “Ms. Ava will take good care ofyou.”

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