Page 46 of Nanny for My Billionaire

I giggle at the image. “They got you on heavy enough meds, my friend, but are you sure you’ll be ready for all that? It looks like they’ve got a really tight case against him, even without actually bringing Vitto in as a witness. Well, if they are bringing him in, he certainly hasn’t told any of us about it. He’d have to actuallybe hereto do that, right?”

“Hey, now, don’t be too hard on the guy,” Kevin scolds. “If he’s working for the government, they’ve probably got him on a really tight leash. As in, since he made that collar, they’ve probably already put him onto another assignment. Who’s to know if he’ll ever be sent back to Boston at all? The heart may want what it wants, but that doesn’t mean his boss will listen to him at all.”

I understand that men, especially men of action, might like to stick together, but I can’t fully appreciate his sentiment. Not when Megan looked so miserable as we were opening presents yesterday. Not when her heart was hurting that way.

“I get what you’re saying, Kevin, I do,” I say. “But it’s hard to see things that way when my sister started Christmas Day so hopeful, but then the light dimmed right along with the sunset. Even if Vitto does come back, I’m not going to cut him any slack about missing the holiday.”

“Hey now, come on,” says Elliot in a lighter tone. “Let’s not raise the poor guy’s blood pressure, Miss, all right?”

I smile. “Sorry. But I love my sisters and want to see them happy. I can’t help that. I’ll get out of the way and let you have some time with the boys and your brother. Feel better, Kevin, all right?”

He smiles. “I’m working on it.”

As I stand back and watch, it warms my heart to see how much the boys love Kevin. I don’t know if he’ll take the job offer to tutor them and be part of their care team, but I have no doubt in my mind that the bond they forged during this little episode of espionage—or whatever—is one that they will all cherish for a very long time. And who knows? If Sara did get with Elliot, that would make Kevin their uncle. That way they could be a part of each other’s lives forever.

I know I’m being a bit of a den mother, which is really crazy since I’m the youngest adult in the whole group, but as Adam’s wife, I’d also be taking on that role since he’s the oldest member. It’s a job I’m more than ready to shoulder.

“Adam? I really do want to have our wedding on Valentine’s Day,” I tell him as we stand together watching. “Kevin seems like he should be ready enough to attend by that time.”

“Yeah, babe, I think we can make that happen,” Adam agrees, then winks at me. “Nobody could ever accuse you of not being romantic.”

I giggle and bump him with my elbow.

Chapter twenty-nine

Melissa

“Ican’tbelievehowmuch crazier the last couple of months got after the crazy we already endured in the months leading there,” Megan comments dryly as we stand in the main living room of the mansion trying to decide where to hang the garland of red and pink hearts that she’s bought for the wedding reception.

“We’re bringing in the four long tables, which are getting set up in the dining room,” I point out. “We should arrange that one so it marks the entrance people are going to want to step through once we’re done speaking our vows.”

“No way,” Megan says. “We should totally hang it right above the arch.”

My feet are aching just a bit, and I pause to rub my eight-months-plus belly as we turn to look at the little stage with the archway on top, done all in white and wrapped in pink and red roses. I shake my head at her.

“There’s enough of that color there already,” I point out. “The doorway is looking a little naked compared to the rest of the room. It’s the perfect place.”

“Fine, but we’re getting the men to hang it up there,” she tells me. I’m not inclined to argue, and neither is the baby girl inside me. My family and I have been battling over what we should name her ever since we found out. I have insisted her name should be Anna, but none of them seem to get the joke.

Adam just tells me I’m weird.

I realize I’m not the only one lost in thought. Megan has paused; she’s staring off into space again. Beyond the living room stands a door which is usually locked now. It leads into the east wing of the mansion, which is no longer closed up, but is now a suite of offices which are being rented.

The whole thing was Elliot’s idea. He had first claimed a small portion of the space for himself to use as a Boston office, but then he suggested that we ought to transform a few of the other rooms too. He pointed out that we would be able to let the mansion make some money instead of just sitting there, and the idea made a lot of sense.

I even have a small amount of the office space set aside for myself. Someday I hope it will be filled with a few employees and the equipment they’ll need within the next year, though my main place of work will still be my office at home.

Elliot and Kevin are both living in the family wing now. Elliot claimed my old suite since I wasn’t using it anymore. He has already informed his Colorado staff that, at least for now, he will remain in the Boston area, and he’ll be speaking with them online.

Megan and Sara both insisted on Kevin moving into a ground floor set of rooms while he was healing and trying to decide what he wanted to do next. He does come by and tutor the boys now and then. They’ve become good readers, but they still want me to read to them before bed.

They’re doing so well at school. Ethan seems to have an aptitude for drawing, but Evan seems more interested in music.

“Meg, I know you miss him, but he didn’t even say good-bye,” I tell her. “There has to be a time when you let it go.”

She scoffs. “Like the way you let go of Adam?”

“You’re right, I guess, but we know for sure Adam’s a chef. We still aren’t even sure if Vitto’s a good guy or a criminal.”

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