Page 39 of The Billionaire and the Nanny: Part 2

Zayden

“It can’t be.”Bailey’s eyes fill with tears, even as she bites themback.

“It is. I’m sorry.” I give the chunky monkey a mournful look. I admit I’ve grown fond of the kid. She releases her tiny hands from the cabinet and walks toward Bailey in five quick steps before collapsing in herarms.

Bailey is strong enough to force a smile for Olivia, clap and act happy, as the baby toddles toward her, but I can see she’s falling apart at the seams. “There you go…there’s my big girl.” She fights the choking tears in her throat when Olivia walks into her arms, and I have to turn away before I lose it, too.

“Zayden,” her voice breaks. “I know you said not to bring it up again, but this is your last chance…”

“Don’t say it, Bailey.” I shake my head. “You know I can’t.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going tosay.”

“I do.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You want me to fight for custody of Olivia but I can’t. I told you this already. It’s not the life I plannedfor.”

“Forget the life you planned for, Zayden. Life’s unplanned!” she says, desperation in her voice. I understand what she’s saying, but there’s just no way. I decided long ago that I would never be a father. I’d never bring children into this world then abandon them, leave them to their own devices when things got tough.

“Bailey, we need to dial back and remember the original plan,” I say as calmly as I can. “Olivia needs her mom. Her mom is coming. I warned you not to get attached. Maybe I should’ve hired a more experienced nanny.”

Her eyebrows lower and her lips pinch together. “Are you serious rightnow?”

“I’m serious,” I say quietly. “I don’t mean that as an insult, but someone with more experience would understand that you give kids back at the end of the day. They know that being a nanny always has an ending.”

In retrospect, Bailey’s first nanny job should’ve been with a family who needed extra help, not with a single dad who’d temporarily host a baby who needed a mother. But this was a special case from the beginning, and I needed apro.

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” She gazes at me, biting her bottom lip. “After everything we’ve been through these last four months, you can still say you’re not fit to be her dad.” Her fists are balled against the floor, as Olivia goes for another walk, giggling so hard, oblivious to the argument.

“I said it from the beginning,” I tell her again. “I wouldn’t be taking custody of Olivia.”

“That was before!” she yells. “That was before you started spending time with her, before she started looking up to you, hugging you because she loved you, and you started getting to know her. It was all before, Zayden!”

My voice rises as well. “I never wanted those things. I always wanted to keep my distance, and you knowit.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Her voice is sharp and accusing. “Why didn’t you keep your distance? Why have you spent the better part of the last couple weeks bonding withher?”

“Because you insisted,” I say, and immediately regretit.

Her palm presses against her chest. “Because of me? How can saythat?”

“Because it’strue.”

I sound like a dick right now, but that’s what happens when you speak the truth. Truth hurts. And I always knew that getting involved with my nanny and this baby was going to end in pain and suffering.

I tried to avoid all of this, yet here weare…

“You accuse me of making you love your daughter? Of making you accept her hugs and kisses? Seriously?” Bailey’s agitation grows. “You did that because you wanted to, Zayden. Not because I madeyou.”

Fuck that. I know that deep down, I have no one to blame but myself. Still, I can’t help but blame Bailey for at least part of it, for insisting that I hold the baby, get to know her, give her her bottle, go shopping for her, all things I knew I wouldn’t be able to follow through with. “We both knew this day wouldcome.”

“You said it would take six months ormore…”

“It was an estimate. And besides, what difference would it have made had it been four months, six months, or a year? The fact is, she has a mother, and that mother was always coming for her. Theend.”

“No, not the end. Her mother is a criminal, and if she cared at all about her baby, she wouldn’t be getting in trouble. You have a clean record and the means to take care of her financially. You could easily win a custody battle. With or without me, Zayden.”

She has no idea if I have a clean record or not. I do, but she doesn’t know. That statement just goes to show me how naïve and willing to give the benefit of the doubt Bailey is, and I love her for it. Still, it changes nothing. “I can’t keep her, Bailey. This isn’t a dog we’re talking about.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Bailey’s tear-filled eyes begin to spill. It’s probably best that Olivia’s busy walking for the first time, because she’s too oblivious to understand that her nanny, her caretaker, is crying. Fuck, it even feels wrong to call Bailey that. For all intents and purposes, she’s Olivia’s mother, or stepmother, at least. She’s raised her for the past four months, and look at her now, she’s got her walking before the year isup.

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