AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, I will be.” Clinging to my hand, she started listing all the ways she was going to be kind around the house.
I watched the sidewalk ahead and mentally calculated where I’d parked. I gasped as someone stepped in front of me and I crashed into them. I would’ve gone down hard if two familiar arms hadn’t grabbed me and held me steady.
Monroe Blake looked down at me with a shocked expression on his face, his hands still holding my arms. He looked from me to Gracie and then back at me. “Agatha?”
My stomach sank and every part of my being cringed away from the jerk in front of me. “Excuse us.”
He scoffed and held me tighter. “No, sorry, you can’t just excuse yourself from this. What the hell is this?”
I glared at him and pulled Gracie closer. “Please let me go. I have nothing to say to you and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t block our way.”
“Aggie? What’s wrong?” Gracie stared up at me with her eyes as wide as saucers. “I want to go home.”
“Who’s the kid? Why are you with a kid at all? What is going on here?” Monroe glared down at Gracie when she pushed at his hand to try and make him let go of me. “Beat it, kid.”
“No,youbeat it. Get out of my way, Monroe.” I bent down and scooped Gracie into my arms. “Excuse us.”
He stepped into my path again and scowled. “I deserve to know why the hell you have a kid. You threw away five years of our life because you didn’t want a kid and now you have a fucking kid?”
“Watch your mouth!” I shoved past him and tried to remember where the car was. It was nearly impossible with my mind racing and my stomach turning. “It’s okay, Gracie. No need to worry about him.”
“You’d better start explaining, Agatha!” Monroe wasn’t giving up and I knew him. He was like a dog with a bone when he set his mind to something. “Now!”
I stopped moving and held Gracie closer. “I’m her nanny. Okay? Now, leave us alone.”
He let out a loud laugh. “You’re kidding, right?”
When I tried to say something back, he just laughed louder. My heart raced. I felt like I was going to throw up.
“Wow! Just wow. You broke up our relationship and ruined your life because you were too hung up on not having kids right now and now you’re a nanny! You can’t make this shit up. Oh, my god. This is amazing. Wait until I tell Mom. She’ll love this.”
“Aggie, I want to go home!” Gracie buried her face in my neck and started to cry.
“Ilove this. I’m so glad I ran into you, Agatha. Getting to see you at this pathetic low really makes me glad that I made the choices I did. You’re a fucking loser and I’m only sorry I didn’t see it sooner.” Monroe laughed again. “Good luck with the brat. You’re both going to need it.”
I stood there after he left and took deep breaths. I counted to fifty before I was able to move again. The moment I spotted the car, I had to fight back my own tears. I wanted to run home to my dad and cry on his shoulder for a few hours. Instead, I put Gracie in her seat and buckled her in before getting behind the wheel and driving us back to the Graves’ mansion.
If I thought I would get a break when we got back to the home, I was wrong. Zander was standing in the driveway, waiting on us with murder written all over his face. Before I could even get my door open, he was there, reaching in to unbuckle me and pull me out.
I was sick of men pushing me around that day and I yanked free of him to stand in front of the car. I wrapped my arms around myself and glared at him with every ounce of my self-control focused on not crying. “What’s your problem?”
“My problem is that you had no right to take Gracie into the city!” He slammed the car door shut and approached me. “Who the fuck do you think you are, taking that kind of risk with our niece?”
I stumbled back a step and shook my head. “The notes said-”
“The notes are for arealnanny! Not some ex-girlfriend of a business enemy!Youdon’t get to take her out. We can’t trust you to keep her safe! You took her out and anything could’ve happened! What would you have done if someone tried to grab her? She’s the only heir to a billion-dollar fortune, dammit!”
I was done being yelled at. “You’re an asshole. You don’t get to scream at me because you didn’t take the time to explain your version of the rules to me. I went through that book of rules and demands back and forth, at least five times. I could recite it to you right now. How was I supposed to know that I’m not trusted enough to put her in a car and drive her to town?”
“The only asshole here is you for putting our niece at risk. I’m done with you. You didn’t stop to think for one second that you could’ve gotten her killed!” He spun away from me and shoved his hands into his hair. “You’re fired. You don’t deserve to be anywhere near her.”
“No! I want Aggie!” Gracie had gotten out of the car silently and she ran around Zander to throw herself at me. “Don’t leave, Aggie! Don’t go! Please!”
I closed my eyes and sucked in what I hoped was a stabilizing breath before kneeling in front of Gracie and grasping her little shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay. Look at me. Breathe, Gracie. Just breathe.”
She scream-cried and locked her arms around my neck, clinging to me. I stood up and held her in my arms, staring over her head at Zander. I didn’t know what the hell to do. I was lost and when I saw his face, for a second I felt like maybe he was, too.
Any human emotion I saw on his face vanished, though, and a mask of anger replaced it. “I won’t take chances with her. You’re out.”
