Page 13 of Winning Brynn

“I’m just saying that, unless you feel like calling up that woman you traumatized, Brynn is the best option you’ve got right now.”

“Fuck my life.” Leo drags his hand down his face as the guys beside him pat his back in a bro-like gesture of love. Cracking one eye open at me, he asks, “Are you good with this?”

My mouth falls open in shock.

I’m no stranger to my brother’s schemes, but I didn’t think Leo would actually fall for it.

“What?”

"Watching Say for me," he grinds out, like it's physically paining him. "Just until I find someone more suitable."

His tone irks me. That smug twitch of his lips as he speaks. The cock of his brow as if he's daring me to challenge him. It's almost like he's counting on me to put an end to all this before he's forced to admit defeat.

It's killing him that he needs me.

And I'm loving every second of it.

The man has had it out for me since the day we first met, when I blocked his car in the parking lot for, like, 2.5 seconds to grab a coffee. He doesn't take me seriously, and he thinks my profession is a joke. He doesn't even need to say it. I see it in his eyes every time someone mentions it around him—on the rare occasions when we've been around one another for longer than two minutes.

And I've always handled it with grace and dignity.

But if he wants to sit here with his condescension and "someone more suitable," I'll become the most suitable, trustworthy, and reliable nanny the world has ever known just to spite him.

Plastering a saccharine smile on my face, I give him my full attention. "Say please."

His jaw drops, his entire body stiffening. "Excuse me?"

Around us, the room inhales a collective intake of breath as everyone watches on like they want to grab a bowl of popcorn.

"Manners are free." I inspect my manicure for a second before flicking my eyes back to him. "And I think I’d like to hear you beg for it."

Maybe I'm imagining it, but I'm sure I see a brief flash of heat in his eyes before he masks it with indignance. "Not in this lifetime, princess."

Shrugging, I turn my attention back to the little girl in my lap. She's grown bored of the conversation, it seems, because her eyelids blink slowly, her body sagging against mine with sleepiness. "Isn't that a shame, ladybug? You have no hope of having pizza for the first time without me."

Scooping her into my arms, I carefully get to my feet and walk over to Leo. "I don't know what your undoubtedly militant protocol is for sleep time, but I guess I don't need to know now, huh?" With a wink, I deposit Salem back into his arms.

His mouth opens as if he wants to say something but apparently thinks better of it, which can only be a good thing. I'm reaching my tolerance threshold for Leo Sullivan's piss-poor attitude, and I don't want Salem to witness her father's murder tonight.

"Think I'm gonna hang out in my room for a while," I tell my brother. "Holler when the pizza is here."

"You're a hellhound." Alex smirks. "You'll smell it before the delivery guy has even knocked."

"True." I grin. "Don't forget the extra pineapple."

But even as I'm strutting my ass out of the room with my head held high, there's a tiny, inexplicable tug of something in my gut that feels a lot like disappointment.

"Daddy Sully and the bros" group chat

Roman:Fucking idiot.

Alex:Real men ain't afraid to beg.

Chapter Five

Leo

The boys are quietas Brynn's footsteps disappear down the hall, but their eyes tell me everything they're not saying in words.

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