Page 4 of To Keep

“Actually, Princess, I was sent to kill you and was just about to take the shot when your fucking boss decided to stiff me out of my money. I don’t like that, so you’ve just become one of the luckiest women in the world. You’re now worth more to me alive than dead.”

Fear raced down her spine and she felt a sickness twisting her gut. As far as speeches went, it was one of the worst she’d ever heard. She was hoping he’d say he was there to save her but that would be too lucky.

“You’re going to kill me?”

“Not anymore. Don’t you listen?”

“I don’t have to listen to you.” She clenched her hands into fists, wanting to hurt him, to attack him, do anything but allow herself to succumb to her situation. She wasn’t a coward.

“If you want to live, you’ll have to listen. Do you think those men will be the last that come for you?” he asked. “Trust me. Your boss is sloppy but he wants you dead, which tells me you’ve got a whole lot of important information in that pretty little head of yours.”

“I don’t know anything.”

“You know something, or you saw something.”

“Please, let me go.” She hated the fact she was starting to cry. Whenever her emotions went haywire, the tears came, and she hated looking so weak.

Right now, she didn’t feel weak. She felt angry. No, she was pissed off. That’s what she was. She was just a nanny, trying to make the lives of children easier, helping parents. The last thing she ever wanted to see was someone being murdered, or hearing their screams. She’d have to relive that night for the rest of her life.

That evil bastard was alone with his son and daughter. She had wanted to go and get them, to run, but she knew she’d been seen, and now there was no way out for her.

“I never should have taken that job.” She slammed her hand against the front dash.

“The car is not at fault.”

“It was too good to be true but I took it anyway. Earning six figures a year to take care of two of the nicest kids. Now I know exactly what their father is capable of.”

“Hold on. Kids?”

“Yes, kids.”

“What are you? A mistress?” Galen asked.

Skye snorted. That would have been hilarious. Her employer, or ex-employer now, had been good-looking, but she didn’t like him that way. There was something in his eyes that had repulsed her and now she knew what.

“Hell, no, I never had sex with him.” She was a virgin and twenty-five years old, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. He wouldn’t believe her.

Dating men, talking with them, didn’t come naturally to her. They were like an alien species, and she didn’t go out of her way to get attached to them.

“Then what the hell are you?”

“Besides being a woman who very much wants to live, I’m a nanny.”

Silence filled the car. She loved being a nanny and those kids, whenever their father wasn’t around, were the sweetest pair she’d ever gotten the privilege of knowing.

“You’re a fucking nanny? You don’t smuggle drugs? Guns?”

“I don’t cheat. I don’t steal. I’m honest about everything. I love kids.” She growled. “Now my life is a complete mess.”

Chapter Two

Galen drove her to Viko’s oceanfront office. He had half a dozen meeting places around the city, but this was his boss’s favorite. Come to think of it, he’d never seen Viko’s home. They always met off-site at different locations.

“What is this place?” Skye asked.

He turned off the car then shifted in his seat to focus on her. Damn, she looked too young and innocent to be next to a man like him. If anything, she’d fit in walking the halls of a college campus. Anything but here.

“My boss was hired to kill you and I was tasked to fulfill that contract. He doesn’t ask many questions of the people paying him and doesn’t care who’s right or wrong. So, now that the cards have changed in your favor, I suggest you keep your mouth shut in there. Resist the temptation to argue because he’s not a very patient man.”

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