Page 81 of Bad Nanny

“I’ve got it.” She bent over to pick up half of Sarah’s glasses that were gnawed on, and one of the arms fell from her arms. When she picked it up, the head fell, an eyeball popping off. “Damn it!” She dropped to her knees, letting the other pieces she held fall.

“Hey.” I knelt beside her, placing my hand on her back and rubbing in small circles. “It’s going to be okay. We can getyou another puppet. I’m sure there are shops online that sell them. Probably even some here in L.A.”

She pulled away from me, standing up. “I made Sarah. I’d have to order all the materials and parts online to recreate her.”

“Okay, whatever it costs. We’ll overnight everything, and I’ll pay for it. Don’t worry.” I wanted to fix this, to take away the pain I had caused by my careless actions last night. Because really, it was my fault since I’d accidently left Sarah on the floor.

Josie’s tear-filled eyes finally met mine. “Isn’t this what you wanted? For me to stop performing with Sarah Swoon?”

Her words were like a punch to the gut. I took a shaky breath, ashamed of the way I’d handled the whole situation. “No. I watched your content last night. It’s good, Josie, really good. Even the OnlyFans stuff...”

“You gave me an ultimatum, Gabriel. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?” She shook her head. “You know what? I don’t have the emotional capacity for this right now. I need to get Laney her breakfast and fix her hair.”

“I overreacted, and I’m sorry. None of this should have happened. All I want is for you to be happy and to be able to do what you love.” I cupped her cheek, and she shut her eyes, letting more tears fall. “Please, let me make this right.”

“There’s nothing you can do.” She stepped away again and looked over at Honeybun, who had crawled out from under the table but looked like she knew she’d majorly messed up. “I should have put Sarah back in her box. I didn’t even think the dog would touch her.”

I cringed. “She came out here last night with Sarah in her mouth. I took her away, but...”

Josie placed Sarah’s head on the island, the one eye that was left staring me down. “But what?”

If I was going to fix this, I couldn’t lie and let her think it was her fault that her puppet was destroyed. “I...had some fun with Sarah.”

Josie’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “Fun? What do you mean...oh my God. Did you violate my puppet?”

I wanted to laugh at how scandalized she sounded. “No, but now that you mention it, let’s not get rid of?—”

She threw the severed puppet an arm at me, a smile fighting its way out for a brief moment. “Don’t even go there.”

I chuckled before turning serious again. “Delaney woke up, and I didn’t want her to see the puppet, so I threw it, and it fell on the floor. I didn’t even think... Honeybun was already going back to your studio. I completely forgot she can open doors.”

Josie sighed. “At least she didn’t go for Penny. I don’t think Laney would buy that there is a triplet.”

This was exactly why I needed Josie in my life. Given the choice, she’d rather have her very important puppet destroyed, if it spared my daughter pain.

“I’m going to work from home this morning, so you can take care of what you need to.” It was the least I could do, and I usually kept my Fridays light, anyway, since I only worked half-days.

“Because you don’t trust me.” Her voice sounded so unsure and sad that it made bile rise in my throat.

I ran my fingers through my hair. Man, I’d reallylost my absolute fucking mind the night before. “I didn’t mean that. Honestly? It’s because I drank too much last night, and my head is killing me.”

“You might not mean it now, but in the moment, you did.” She went to the trash and dropped the pieces of Sarah inside. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you.”

She was right—she shouldn’t have—but I shouldn’t have exploded on her. I didn’t know what it was going to take for me to fix what I’d broken, but I wouldn’t stop until I did.

Chapter 26

It Gave Me You

Josie

It had beena long time since I’d felt so absolutely lost. My puppet could be replaced, but seeing it destroyed was a punch to the gut. It was like the universe was trying to show me what Gabriel thought of the career path I’d chosen.

He’d apologized, but the damage was done.

Maybe things would have gone differently if I’d been honest since the beginning—or from the moment Sarah Swoon was brought up in conversation. But wouldn’t things have been worse? He would have immediately sent me packing.

Now that the puppet was out of the bag, so to speak, I didn’t need to hide it from those close to me anymore. Which also meant that I didn’t need to be a nanny or live in Gabriel’s house.

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