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Her warm brown eyes widen. “Why are you leaving? And why, if you're his assistant, are you here? I'm glad you are, honey. I'm so glad we met.” She takes my hand and squeezes it in both of hers. “But ... whatever happened to the nanny? I'm sure there's always been a nanny who comes along with Brooke.”
“She ... ugh. She quit. Because she had a family wedding and told Jett and he hadn't really paid attention. And then a week before coming here, she reminded him that she was going to be away and couldn't accompany them for three weeks. And she'd already told him, and ... well ... she quit. There wasn't time to get a new nanny—”
“You’re talking really fast, honey. Slow down.” Celine places a calming hand over mine.
Heat floods my cheeks. Celine can tell. She knows something is going on between me and Jett, but can she tell what we've been doing in bed?
Of course, she can't, but I still fan my face with a napkin that's lying on the table. “Why are you leaving?” she asks softly, her head tilting in curiosity. “You’re so good with Brooke. And, honey, I can see it—you’re good for Jett, too.”
The words are like a knife to my chest.
If I can’t answer simple questions about me and Jett, how will I ever keep it together in front of his family? In front of his father? And then I realize I'm racing ahead. I’m trying to figure out what will happen when we get back, and I have no clue because I haven’t been thinking about it.
“Because it’s complicated.” I glance away. She doesn’t press, but her look says she knows more than I want her to.
“I've known Brooke since I started working for him, when she was two years old,” I explain.
“Ah, we've been seeing her every year, of course. After she was born, Sophia and Jett came here. Sophia rested here and then she came again, I think, just before Brooke turned one. She was due to come here the year after, but then we heard the awful news.” She looks pained just thinking about it. “It broke him. Jett couldn't work for a year. He was so broken. They were so in love.”
It feels like I'm eavesdropping on a secret, private conversation here, but that's all in the past.
“It was an aneurysm in the brain and it was sudden,” she tells me. “It was unexpected. Nobody could do anything about it.”
“That’s so sad. Beyond tragic,” I whisper, thinking about Jett and Brooke’s world crashing down around them. I feel for Jett and Brooke, but mostly for Jett, because Brooke would have been too young to understand the magnitude of her loss.
“Life has to go on,” Celine says, in that steady, determined voice as she looks out onto the ocean. “In life, these things happen. This is why we must make the most of every opportunity we get. Every day is to be savored, and every moment is to be enjoyed. And if you can't make anyone happy, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.”
“Wise words,” I agree.
“You've got a good heart, Cari. I can see how much Brooke adores you. I mean, it seems like a very close bond given that you're Jett's PA.”
She has a soft way of asking, and I can see she's curious. I'm not offended. I explain that I've had a lot of interactions with Brooke, because Jett brings her into the office every now and then, and I've seen the little toddler grow into a little girl.
“You smile when you talk of her. It's nothing like what an assistant would do, even if you've been seeing a lot of her. I've watched you with her, and there's a bond there, Cari.”
I chew my lower lip. “I adore her. I love her like ...” I shrug, and our eyes meet. I've given away too much.
“I just want you to be careful, Cari.”
The words of warning pierce through the happy bubble I've found myself in lately.
“Jett is a good man, but he's a complicated man. He's gone through a lot. He was just a teenager when his mother died. As you might know, she took her own life. It's all very messy, and it's taken a toll on those boys. As well as the other boys, the family he hid from Aurora for so long. “
“You know of them?”
Her mouth quirks into a knowing smile. “Yes.”
She leans closer, her voice dropping conspiratorially. “Their father had a secret life in Italy—three sons from another woman while raising his boys with Aurora. No one knew until the boys were older, and even then, Paul kept it quiet. They don’t come here. I imagine it’s another one of Paul’s games …”
“Games?”
“He has ways and means of controlling the boys. He plays with people, as if they’re pawns in his chess game. Maybe he doesn’t want them mixing with the Bermuda crowd, I don’t know. But it’s also probable that Aurora’s boys, Jett, Dex, and Zach, wouldn’t want them here. This is their mother’s home. It was a place Aurora loved and Paul had it built for her.”
I nod, absorbing the new information. “Jett doesn’t talk about them much.”
Celine’s smile fades. “Paul has a plan. A blueprint, if you will. He didn't become a billionaire overnight without sacrifice. He’s not a man to be underestimated. He’s cold, calculating, and every decision he makes is about legacy. Just be careful, Cari. He doesn’t take kindly to anything—or anyone—getting in the way of his plans.”
I put a hand to my neck, feeling the heat of the warning. “Of course.”