Page 6 of A Convenient Secret (Merged #3)

“Are you fucking kidding me? You know how much it cost me to ensure stability for them.” I seriously didn’t think my day could get any worse. “So Caleb’s family takes precedence, but mine is—”

“Yours is equally important,” Corm jumps in.

“It sure feels that way,” I growl, tapping my fingers on the armrest.

“Okay, gentlemen, I don’t want to break up your bonding session, but it would be a big personal decision for any of you.” Roxy sits up straight and stacks her pen into the dreadlock bun on top of her head. “Why don’t we table this conversation for later?”

“What would be our plan B?” Corm looks at Xander, who pouts.

The fucker pouts.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t prepare a plan B?” Caleb gives him a side look.

“We bring in a managing director to oversee the office. Someone vetted, with a strong European network. But let’s be honest—no outsider is going to care about this as much as we do.”

“Okay, Roxy, put out feelers about potential candidates.” Corm stands up. “Discreetly. Let’s continue this riveting discussion in two to three days.”

As everyone files out of the office, Corm stops me. “Think about it, Declan.”

“I have nothing to think about.” I march out of his office and across the floor to mine. “No interruptions,” I bark at my assistant, and slam the door behind me .

Two hours later I’ve done nothing, because my mind is wandering in all directions, usually circling back to my new nanny with determination.

And without scruples, or consideration for the moral implications or the sanity of my actions, I log into my security system.

The living room cam streams into my work computer screen, and it’s like I’m rewarded for my creepiness, and I spot her immediately.

Lily walks alongside the windows in the living room. Back and forth. She’s on her phone. I can’t zoom in closer, but she seems to talk with urgency.

Who is she talking to? I check my watch. She will leave to pick up the kids soon. Even her nervous pacing is elegant. She runs her hand through her messy hair and leans against the window.

I push my chair forward, my heart rate spiking. I know those windows are triple-glassed, reinforced to withstand pressure, but for some reason, anyone leaning against them makes me anxious.

It’s completely irrational. Even if by some strange act the window broke, she would only fall onto the terrace. And yet I want to call to her to step away. To stay safe.

I wouldn’t call her, of course, but the outlandish thought gives me pause. I don’t have her number.

Usually, the agency copies me in on the email when they send the paperwork to my accountant for the payroll. I didn’t receive anything today. Strange.

I was so stressed about the no-show this morning, and then so shocked about Lily’s presence, I didn’t even realize the usual procedures were not followed. I left my kids with a person I have no means to contact. Fuck.

I look back at my screen. Lily shoves her phone into the back pocket of those indecently attractive shorts and covers her face in her palms. What’s wrong?

Why do I need to know?

She drops her arms and looks up. She is not looking at the camera, but her gaze isn’t that far off, angling toward me. One ankle casually crossed over the other, her slender frame calls to me seductively. I almost reach out and trace my finger on the image.

How is it I find a casually leaning woman so attractive that my cock twitches in my pants? That is a reaction I haven’t had in such a long time. I need to get laid.

Her black shirt isn’t tight, and yet it hugs her perfect tits. Fuck. I should have never noticed those, but I did. The first time I saw her.

Her eyes.

And those perfect tits.

I open the same app on my phone and screenshot the current view. I’m half-hard, and officially a stalker.

Another reason to fire her tonight.

I drop my phone as someone knocks on the door and scramble to click out of the app on my large screen.

“I said no interruptions,” I bark.

The door opens slightly regardless, and Corm pokes his head in. “Indulge me for a moment.”

Not waiting for my response, he saunters in and sits on the dark leather chair across from me.

I pull my chair close and steeple my fingers, resting my forearms on my heavy mahogany desk.

“If you think you can sweet-talk me into moving to London—”

“Have you ever heard me sweet-talking?” He arches his eyebrow.

“Touché.” I shrug.

Corm is more into manipulation with a side of blackmail. I know, I grew up with him. We couldn’t be more different, but at almost thirty-seven, I still consider him my closest friend.

“I think I’m getting Saar a dog,” Corm says.

I study him for a moment. “This really is a social visit? During work hours?”

“We own the shop.” He deadpans.

“Fair enough. Congratulations. Now you will have a cat peeing in your shoes and a dog chewing on your ties.”

“And yet she wants one, and I can’t help myself.” He groans .

“Pussy-whipped much?”

“You’ll understand once you fall.”

“I love my children, and a dog is a hard no.”

“You’ll understand one day… mark my words.”

I glare at him, painfully aware that I’m having a conversation with my brother while hiding a semi behind the desk.

If I didn’t have kids, I wouldn’t have to go home and try to avoid her today. But then if I didn’t have my kids, I wouldn’t have my temptress nanny.

He leans back in his chair. “How are things with Kendra?”

My ex-wife’s name induces instant heartburn, as usual, and with it goes my unsatisfied erection. “Her lawyer reached out again. My lawyer is reviewing options.”

“She abandoned Zach and Zoya twice already. She can’t win a custody battle.” Corm picks up a stapler from my desk and clicks it a few times.

“Her new husband has all the means to sponsor her attempt.” I watch the staples disappearing behind my desk, dropping to my office floor.

“But why now? It makes no sense. She is a heartless bitch.” Click. Click. Click. “She doesn’t want Zoya and Zach.”

I reach out and snatch the stapler from him. “Do you think she’s after money again? ”

It wouldn’t be the first time my ex-wife tried to extort money from me, but her recent nuptials removed her financial desperation. Though I guess there may be no limits to her greed and selfishness.

“I think you can find out easily.”

“Yeah, I’m meeting my lawyer on Friday to discuss our options.”

“Is that what put you in the mood today? If you need time off to sort things out—”

“I don’t need time off,” I snap.

This work is the only part of my life I’m not failing at. I failed as a husband. Or rather at choosing a partner. God knows I’m failing daily as a father, no matter how hard I try.

“So what’s up your ass?”

“Just a shitty morning. The new nanny was late, and I had to scramble to get shit done.”

Corm stands up and walks to the door. “Jesus, I hope she sticks around.”

That’s not happening. “Funny enough, the agency sent one of Saar’s friends. The short one with glasses.” As if I didn’t know her name.

He frowns. “Lily? I thought she worked at Summit Solutions.” He leaves, closing the door behind him.

Me too. Me too.

I leave my office with a sense of dread mixed with something akin to excitement. They turn into shock when I step into my home.

It’s the screams and laughter that make me pause first as I exit the elevator. My kids can be loud, but never this loud. The sounds are coming from my living room.

What the hell?

They are usually in their rooms upstairs when I arrive. But it’s the melody of laughter that isn’t familiar in my home that makes me breathe faster.

I drop my keys on the console table and step forward. What the actual fuck?

The entire four thousand square feet of my living room is littered with confetti. It’s like a rainbow died and dissolved all over my floors and furniture.

Zach and Zoya run around, spreading more little sparkly messes while Lily is chasing them.

I stay rooted to my spot, unsure how I feel. My kids are wild—it will be a nightmare to put them to sleep—and so happy that my chest squeezes, the reprimand for the mess and the raucous noise dying on my lips.

Zoya cackles like crazy, throwing around party ribbons. Zach, who is always serious, has jumped on the sofa and is now bouncing and tossing colorful shredded paper and yelling, “Let’s get in trouble! ”

Lily grabs him, tackling him to the sofa and tickling him. They both giggle like they’re possessed.

“Me too, me too.” Zoya launches at them, and they roll off the sofa in a heap of laughter.

I jerk forward. In my mind’s eye, I’m already seeing one of them hitting the corner of the coffee table. But I realized it’s just the carpet. Or rather, my rug is somewhere under the colorful mess.

“Have you moved my furniture around?” I bark. Really? That’s what I focus on?

The three of them freeze. Zach’s eyes widen, and he scrambles to his feet, wiping the confetti from his clothes.

Zoya smiles at me with that beautiful, innocent smile that has no boundaries. “Daddy!”

She sprints to me, running over the sofa and almost tripping. I squat to catch her as she wraps her little arms around my neck and gives me a kiss. “You awe home.”

The uncensored honesty of her joy is like a kick at my solar plexus. Every. Single. Time. I’m pretty sure most of the time I’m disappointing my kids, and Zoya still accepts me with such enthusiasm.

It breaks my heart and mends it without failing.

On the periphery, I more sense than see Lily standing up. When I straighten, she is beside Zach, her arm protectively around his shoulders .

“Are we in trouble?” Zach asks, leaning toward Lily. She makes him feel safe. She’s been with them for a few hours, and they’ve bonded already.

It hits me with a potent cocktail of emotions I don’t want to dissect. All of them are overwhelmingly touching. I don’t have time for touching.

“Why don’t you both go get changed so we can have dinner?” I kiss Zoya’s crown, and both kids shuffle toward the staircase while I avoid the nanny at all costs.

“I’ll go help them,” Lily says.

“We need to talk.” I glance at her, and it’s like being bathed by the first rays of sunshine after the darkest and gloomiest storm.

She looks so young and innocent in the middle of my party-littered home, I avert my eyes immediately.

I walk toward the windows. That way I can ensure my back is to her.

“What are you doing here, Lily?”