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“Take a breath.”
“You take a breath!” she snaps. “We just watched a mandie!”
“Look at me.” I hold her gaze, taking exaggerated, steady breaths. “I need to make sure that we are on the same page.”
She takes off her sunglasses, her eyes pinning me in place. “What do you mean?”
“When anybody asks… and I do meananybody. We will say that we both happened to be finishing up your second interview for the au pair position. It went well. We were just leaving the building when we saw that black SUV strike an unknown passerby.” I cock a brow. “Do you understand?”
She looks bewildered. Her nervous glances toward the driver lets me know to raise the partition. As soon as it’s up, she whispers harshly.
“Do you mean that I should lie?”
I forget how young and naive I was at twenty years old. Cocking my head at her, I ask her a question.
“Would you rather admit that you knew the guy? That he was blackmailing you? Would you rather tell people that you fucked me and I was about to pay for it all?”
She shakes her head, three quick movements.
“So stick to the story I gave you.”
Ella reels back, looking extremely stressed out.
“I’m hoping that once I get home, no one comes knocking, asking questions about that guy.”
I laugh humorlessly. “Oh, sweetheart.”
Her eyes snap to my face. Her expression tightens.
I grip the satchel with one hand and her upper arm with the other. “You think I’m going to let you go right now? No. I’m going to hold onto you until I figure out what the fuck is going on.”
She hesitates. “You’re staying in New York?”
“No, sweetheart. You’re coming home with me. Until this mess gets sorted, I’m going to keep you close. To anyone who asks, you are my new au pair.”
“But I’m not! Just because the word nanny was thrown around—”
“Relax. I may need a nanny, but you’ll just be pretending to fill that role. And when I figure out why the fuck that journalist was just run over, you can come back here.”
Her look of shock couldn’t be more complete. “What? I can’t just leave for London now.”
“You’re coming with me whether you like it or not. Get comfortable, because there is a long ride ahead of us.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Do I look like I’m joking? I’m busy trying to figure out how we are going to keep the journalist’s dead man’s trigger from blowing up my entire life. You are way down on my list of priorities.”
Her mouth opens and closes as she struggles to find a way to push against my will.
I forestall her arguments by putting my hand up.
“Stop trying. There is no other way out. There is onlymyway.”
“You’re a fucking prick.”
My mouth curls up at the corners. “That’s not a no.”
Sitting back in my plush leather seat, I look out my window, smirking as we are driven toward the airport.
