Page 45 of Nanny for My Billionaire

ChristmasEve,weallgather together at the mansion. Every year, my parents put up a huge tree in the main sitting room, and both Megan and I had agreed that we should continue that tradition, so all the presents have been placed under this year’s tree throughout the season, and now it is time to open them.

Megan is a little sad that we haven’t heard anything back from Vitto since he arrested Mario. We don’t even know for sure if we will ever hear from him again now that he’s made his collar, and that pisses me off.

How dare that guy treat my sister that way? I know Meg likes her men a little rough and tumble, but she also likes them to be present. Especially on family holidays. She even had to discreetly remove the gift she put under the tree for him so that the boys won’t start asking for him as well as Kevin.

Because Kevin can’t be here either.

Still, Sara and Elliot seem to be happy. Each had already liked the other based on the conversations they’ve had over the phone, and now they finally get to see each other in person. There’s an obvious attraction going on there that warms my heart. It’s about time Sara gets to have a little romance, even if it won’t be likely to last long. Well, not unless Elliot up and moves his company to Boston, or Sara chooses to go clean teeth in Colorado.

I can’t help realizing just how much my life has changed over the past few months. I’ve gone from a nanny pretending to be someone else, a fake fiancée to a real one, to being a business owner and a mother in the blink of an eye. Heck, my belly even has a baby bump poking through, and Adam and I have chosen to buy a wedding gown for me that will leave plenty of room for us to decide on whether to marry soon or even wait until I’ve already given birth.

We have, however, both voiced the opinion that we’d rather be married on Valentine’s Day, so I’m hoping it’ll be a thing. I’ll be showing for sure by then, but I won’t be so huge that standing up to repeat my vows will be uncomfortable. Plus, we have a perfectly good mansion on hand so we won’t have to rent a reception hall. That’s always a plus.

“You look very lost in thought, Miss,” says Elliot with a teasing tone.

I smile. “Wedding plans. I seem to have them on the brain. If you intend to be the best man, I should warn you that I’m hoping to do the deed on Valentine’s Day.”

“An excellent choice,” he says, nodding. “It should give Kevin some time to get back on his feet. I’m wondering if he’s going to want to stay here or come back to Colorado with me.”

I nod. “I’ll support whatever decision he decides to make. Obviously, we don’t need a bodyguard any longer, but I wouldn’t mind keeping him around to help with childcare and tutoring, at least until he’s ready to take the bull by the horns again.”

“Kevin’s always been pretty tough,” says Elliot. “I don’t see him settling down long before he’s right back out where the action is.”

“Yes, I agree. Which means I’ll probably have to hire a nurse to help me once I’m ready to have the baby. I don’t think the businesses I’ve just contracted with would appreciate it if I took much of a maternity leave.”

Elliot smiles. “You’re a real planner, I see. A whole lot like me. How are you coming along with the account I handed you? Not that I expect anything to be ready since it’s a holiday.”

I giggle. “I’ve already created its database and I keep going into my office and typing in a few records whenever I find a moment. I guess I’m a bit of a workaholic.”

“Excellent,” he says, grinning. “Just the perfect extension for my company. Be careful, though, I don’t want to give you too big of a workload.”

“Oh no, I’m good,” I say. “Once I set up an account and input its data, it’s mostly able to take care of itself. I just have to put in new entries here and there, and then I’m pretty much ready to move on to the next one.”

“You know, some of what you do and I do is so similar,” he points out. “We both like to crunch numbers and make them work for us.”

I scoff. “I’m no game programmer.”

“I don’t need a game programmer, I need a database engineer,” he says. “Do you think you’d be up for helping me decide on how to create my back end? Most of the work we could collaborate over online, same as the accounts, but if we run into trouble, I could always come back to Boston to hammer out the details.”

I catch his eyes drifting over to Sara and cast him a smug smile. “If you want an excuse to come back to Boston you don’t need to use me for it. If you like the girl, you should just tell her.”

Elliot laughs. “Oh, yeah, I probably will. But no, I really mean it. If you want to give it a try, I think it might be fun. One thing Adam has never been good at is numbers. He’s more of a creative genius.”

I giggle. “Yeah, that’s true. I mean, look where he is right now, off in the kitchen whipping up the meal. It’s what he lives for.”

“Not the only thing he lives for,” says Elliot. “He seems to live for you and the kids, too. Do you think it’s a good idea to take them to the hospital tomorrow? We ought to wait until Kevin is awake first or they might freak out.”

“They’ve been so worried about him,” I say. “If we don’t bring them by to see him, they might freak out even more. But anyway, we should probably let Adam have the final vote. And it sounds like dinner is ready,” I add, indicating the message that has just come through on my phone. “We’re all meant to congregate at the table.”

I make a mental note to order a dinner bell.

*****

We all agree to wait until Kevin is fully awake before we bring the boys to see him. By early afternoon the day after Christmas, it is official, and Adam and I can hardly get the boys dressed, they’re so eager to go make sure Kevin is okay. He’s not supposed to move around a lot, and the kids aren’t allowed to do anything overly physical while the surgical scar is so fresh, but at least the three of them can talk, which is much better than nothing at all.

“Are you okay, Kevin?” Ethan asks softly as he comes to stand near the head of the bed. Kevin is trying to be a trooper and keep his eyes open for the little guy when he’d clearly rather get more sleep.

“Yeah, buddy, you don’t need to worry about me,” he says. “I’m tough as nails, right? One little bullet can’t put an ex-military man like me out of commission. I’m gonna be standing at the back of Mario’s trial making catcalls.”

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