Page 47 of The Billionaire's Temporary Governess (French Conquests 2)

Naisha spotted Willa standing at the main balcony, watching the convoy of cars that proceeded up the main drive, after having been questioned and vetted by the security at the gate, which was now locked throughout the day. The additional manpower on the estate somehow made Naisha more uncomfortable rather than less. She knew William meant well in stepping up his security, but all it did to see these men—both uniformed and plainclothes—wander around with jutting jaws and shrewd squints, was remind her that somewhere out there, Abe was waiting for her.

Waiting on a chance to mess with her, the moment she made a mistake. No matter how careful she was, there was always a chance.

Willa watched as Hassan guided the arriving cars to the main steps. Naisha could see her little jaw tautening. She asked gently, “Do you want to go down and welcome them?”

Willa lifted her golden-brown eyes to hers, eyes that were so disturbingly like Williams, and asked in a meek voice, “Do you think they will like me?”

“I know they will,” she reassured her.

“Will they have fun? Will they like the activities we planned?”

Naisha took her hand and began leading her down the stairs to where girls were stepping out of their cars, along with their mothers, who were looking around in awed admiration. “Sweetheart, if I was your age, I would have pulled the hair of the girl in front of me to be first in line at a party like this. Trust me, they’ll talk about it for months to come.”

Willa gave a small, slightly more confident smile. Naisha added, “And if they even show a hint of being bored, I will personally bully your father into getting that K-Pop band of yours to live stream a concert just for you.”

Willa laughed outright. “That’s ridiculous. Nobody can arrange something like that that fast.”

“Your father is a worker of miracles,” she reminded her.

Willa nodded and stepped forward to greet her guests.

Naisha pulled back, allowing Willa the space to play hostess. She was joined by Madeline, who welcomed all the mothers with open arms, kissing them warmly on their cheeks and inviting them to her quarters for tea before they left.

The girls ran into the château giggling, excited, and immediately, Willa seemed to relax. It made Naisha’s heart fill up to see the little girl so happy. Turning twelve without a mom was hard.

And then she paused. There was something there, in that thought. Something niggling, worrying.

Her blood turned to ice in her veins.

Madeline directed Hassan to escort the ladies to the tea tables she had prepared on her balcony, and as the moms followed him, chattering like small birds, she stopped at Naisha’s side, her face a picture of concern. “Are you okay,cher?You look pale.”

Naisha struggled to answer, embarrassed by the thought itself, or the mere idea of voicing the thought. Finally, she managed to ask, “I was just thinking how much smaller Willa is than the other girls her age. Was she a preemie, by any chance?”

Madeline looked at her as if she found the question very odd, and then answered thoughtfully, “Between me and you,” she said as she looked around.

Naisha nodded in response and stood closer to Madeline.

“Sofia claimed Willa was born prematurely, but the doctor who delivered my granddaughter told me that our Willa was a full-term babe. I think Sofia was trying to protect herself and William by not letting it out that she and William were sleeping together while she dated Alex. At the time of Willa’s birth, there were already conversations about inducing labor. But our Willa decided on her own to make an appearance.”

The knife that had already gone in under Naisha’s ribs twisted painfully, but she was able to play it cool. “Ah. I see. Thank you. I suppose she takes after her mother in stature.”

Madeline patted her cheek affectionately and said, “Oui, evidement.Sofia was a tiny thing.” Then she added, as she made to follow Hassan and the women to her suite, “Enjoy your festivities. I am ever so grateful that you have been kind enough to manage the party for Willa’s sake.”

“Anything for Willa,” she answered with a small smile. But she needed to sit for a while to steady her dizzy head.

William had joined the party around dinnertime, when the girls were diligently turning Yvette’s kitchen into an OSH-disapproved disaster area. There’d been a loud argument over toppings until eventually Yvette had settled things by announcing that each girl would have her own personal pizza with her own toppings.

During the cupcake segment of the evening’s festivities, one girl had opened the oven to “see how they were getting along”, and the red velvet cupcakes had immediately deflated, winding up looking like more like puddings than anything else. Another kid had made the mistake of lifting the blades of the mixer while they were beating the cream cheese frosting, resulting in a blizzard of frosting that splattered the walls like a Jackson Pollock painting.

He’d half expected Yvette to burst a blood vessel, given that she was the kind of woman who demanded you provide her with name, rank and serial number before crossing the threshold of her domain. But to his surprise she’d began to laugh, her cheeks turning pink as she wiped frosting off her face with her apron. That was the effect Willa had on everyone around her. You just wanted to do things to make her happy.

William made a mental note to double Yvette’s Christmas bonus.

He couldn’t help noticing, however, that despite the atmosphere of fun and laughter, Naisha had been relatively quiet—at least where he was concerned. Although she indulgently answered the girls’ questions about her modeling career and helped them decorate the cupcakes, she studiously avoided his gaze.

He was both puzzled and hurt. After all that had taken place between them, their shared tenderness the last time they’d been together, it didn’t make any sense.

When the girls retired to Willa’s bedroom to begin the makeover portion of the evening, William went to his room, showered, got into bed with a copy of the financial papers, and waited.

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