AllFreeNovel
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If escaping the nanny was an Olympic event, our daughter would be the frontrunner for a gold medal.
Drake grins as he bounces her onto his hip. “That poor sleep-deprived woman.”
“Mama offered to sit.”
He bumps Olivia in the air like she’s riding a horse, while she screams in delight. “Not a chance.”
His mother has offered to babysit on more than one occasion, but Drake refuses to let her. At least for as long as Olivia is still at an age to be hell-on-wheels. He wants the time they spend together to only be about fun and bonding. According to him, his mother spent her entire life working too hard, and he refuses to let her keep doing it now, even for her own grandchildren.
Mama is welcome to come and go as she pleases and spend as much time with her granddaughter as she likes, but he wants a nanny to always be available to take over if needed. According to him, anyone aside from us that has to chase after Livi for more than an hour should be getting paid.
“Then she’s all yours, daddy.” My back is a constant ache and I feel about a thousand pounds too heavy. Chasing after a toddler fully in the throes of her terrible twos is just not an option right now if either of us wants to survive it. “Guess you’re cancelling that afternoon board meeting.”
“I was going to video in, anyway.” He sets Livi down, watching as she streaks back and forth across the room. “And this one loves being on camera.”
“I’m sure your board members will also love it.”
“They’ll deal with her or deal with me.”
Drake’s takeover of his father’s company has gone as smoothly as something like that can go. Any partners who didn’t want to do business were quickly reminded of what they had to lose by not playing ball.
The collateral sitting in a safe deposit box at a Swiss bank ensures that we have what we need when we need it, without offering up much in return. Drake showed significantly more restraint than I would have in his position, but he is much more interested in being left alone than getting revenge.
But he made sure no one put up a fight when he moved the company’s headquarters to Johannesburg.
Though he hasn’t gone into the office for over a week. He refuses to let a traffic jam keep him from the birth of his child, even if the close proximity to a hormonal wife puts him at risk of being strangled at any point.
We don’t talk about my sister anymore. The back-and-forth always goes the same way, so arguing about is a waste of time. I’m as convinced as I’ve always been that she is still alive and must have a damn good reason for not contacting me. No one else would have sent us that flash drive. She could have only gotten her hands on those files during the fire, meaning she must have survived to send it to me.
Drake disagrees, insisting that I only believe that because I desperately want to believe it. The package might have been sent well before the night of the Bacchanal. Neither of us thought to check the postmark date before throwing the box away. Not to mention, Vaughn and Olivia conspired together for months without us having any idea. Someone else might be involved and we would never know.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if Olivia is gone by choice or by circumstance. I have to accept her absence, no matter the reason.
But that doesn’t mean I believe she’s dead.
I know we’ve never been psychic or anything, but more than once I’ve been convinced that I can feel her in the room with me or watching me from afar. I would feel it if she died, I just know it.
Drake sets Livi down on the bed and she immediately starts bouncing. “Daddy, I want cake.”
He kneels down until their faces are even. His voice is a low and patient murmur that I would have never thought him capable of if I didn’t see it for myself. “You can’t have cake until after dinner.”
“I want cake now!”
He tickles her as a distraction, which might buy a few minutes.
“How many of these did you say you wanted again?” I ask drolly.
His smile is easy. “You said zero, and I said five, so we’re compromising at two-and-a-half.”
“You can’t have half of a child.”
“I know,” he replies with infinite patience. “That’s why we’re rounding up to three.”
“There is no way I’m doing this again, Van Koch.”
Heat fills his gaze as he surveys me over Olivia’s head. “You say that now, but I bet I can think of something to convince you.”
“For your sake, I hope scientific advancements in male pregnancy are further along than…” A gush of fluid between my legs interrupts my sarcastic remark. “Jesus, finally.”
