Page 23 of The Billionaire Dating Dad

“That would be bearable,” Violet said. “Dimitri Popova.” She clenched her jaw. Saying his name made her pulse quicken.

Juelle’s eyes widened before a huge grin curved her mouth. “Your Dimitri? The same dude that went MIA?”

She rolled her eyes. Since they became friends, Juelle turned every man Violet dated or showed any interest in, into ‘your man’. Arguing that Dimitri wasn’t hers would get Violet nowhere. Her friend’s girl code was admirable.

“Did he explain why ghosted you?” Juelle asked.

“No.” she shook her head, “And he has some nerve. Not only has he ghosted me but now he’s demanding I move in with him today.”

“But that’s great, right? You need that job like yesterday.”

“Yeah, well now I don’t have a choice.” she blew out a frustrated breath. “He said it’s either him or the unemployment line.”

Juelle pulled her into a hug. “There is one upside to all this. You can figure out what was behind that kiss you shared.”

Violet jerked out of Juelle’s arms. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Don’t you want to find out?”

Violet headed to her room. “No! No!”

“Liar! Besides, I, your bestie, want to know what happened.”

“If he wanted to explain himself he would have. But he ghosted me instead. Now he’s pulling the same nonsense the Townsons did. Why do people with money think they can buy or threaten what they want from someone?” She snatched her suitcase from the closet, laying it open on the bed.

“Wow.” Juelle blocked her path to the closet. “What did he say to you?”

“That Mrs. Townson might like to know I pretended to have a boyfriend to get the job.”

“Did he say all that before or after you told him to take a hike?”

“Can you not be logical right now?” Violet grabbed her bag and took a handful of clothing from her drawer, dumping them into her suitcase. “The Townsons have made finding a job impossible.” Her cosmetic bag landed at the top of the tee shirts, followed by her hair supplies and toiletries. “If he arms them with that info, I’ll be really screwed.”

“Then don’t get screwed.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“If he’s forcing you to take the job it means that when you walk away it will be on your terms. Besides,” her friend pointed toward the bag. “running away isn’t going to solve anything.”

“I’m not running.” She wished she had someplace to run to but being an orphan meant she didn’t have a family. “It’s a live-in position and he’s only given me fifteen minutes to pack before he barges into our apartment.”

“Oh! Why didn’t you say so?” Juelle hip-bumped her aside and began rearranging the clothes in the bag. “How long will you be gone?”

“Three months and not a minute longer.” Her words barely sounded convincing to her ears.

“A lot could happen in three months.”

“This is work,” she insisted, although everything about Dimitri felt personal.

CHAPTER TEN

Violet

Two weeks later

At night, after putting Maddie to bed, she would remind herself that their situation was only for three months. That men like Dimitri wanted relationships with women in their social circle, not their nannies. She repeated the words, hoping they were enough to keep her heart safe. Hoping they were enough to keep her heart from breaking when they said their goodbyes.

Tonight was different. Tonight Violet stood in Maddie’s doorway, captivated by Dimitri’s soothing voice as he read his daughter a bedtime story. She too was drawn into the tale of Nemo as the fish dodged strong currents beneath the ocean.

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