Page 114 of All the Forbidden Things

“I’m Dawn Mcgowan. I work for Westminster City Council’s Children’s Services Team, my colleague, Ben Sutton, is a medical nurse practitioner who works with us. Mr Young has given permission for Ben to examine Layla in the presence of her mother.”

I shoot Max a look, why the fuck would he let Whitney witness the examination and not be there himself?

“What? Why? Why does she need to be examined?”

He gives me a look and a slight shake of his head, leaving me totally confused.

“Can you confirm for me you werenotcarrying out your role as a nanny on Saturday night?”

I’m about to tell her that it’s my weekend off when I realise it’s only Sunday morning. How do I explain Layla being over at my place so early, nearly naked, when it’s my day off?

“Why is Layla being examined? What is it exactly you’re looking for?”

“We’re following a safeguarding report after concerns were raised to both our department and to the police regarding the welfare of Layla Young. Mr Young has assured us you are more than competent and capable of taking care of his daughter and that he has no concerns. Mrs Young, however—”

“Federov,” Max interrupts. “She never changed her name after our marriage. It’s still Federov, it was never Young.”

Dawn nods. “I’m sorry,” she continues in her broad Scottish accent. “Miss Federov, on the other hand, said that she did, in fact, have some concerns and informed us that you do not have a current DBS.”

“It’s being processed. I’ve been working as a nanny overseas and only started this job a week ago, but I’ve already applied for the check, just in case I decided to go back to nannying in this country.”

She nods again, her eyes darting all over the room, taking it all in.

Max remains silent.

“So, you weren’t working yesterday, went out last night, had a few drinks, came home, and that was it?”

“That was it. Is having a drink on your night off a crime?” I snap.

She raises her brows at me, so I childishly roll my eyes in return.

“I’ve done nothing wrong. This is ridiculous. All because of some photos on social media?”

“We’re not here because of the photos Ms Wild, we’re here because a safeguarding report was made by two different sources—”

“Yeah, and I bet both those sources share the same surname.”

She twists her lips to the side, again raises her brows, and gives a slight nod.

“I’m just following up a report. I’m sure you can appreciate that.”

I let out a huff. I get that she’s only doing her job, but I’m so fucking angry.

“I’ve done nothing wrong. I didn’t even drive myself. You can check with Micky, Max’s driver, he dropped me off. I spent the day shopping with a friend—”

“It’s fine Ms Wild, we don’t need to know—”

“No, you’ve come in here accusing me of something I’d never in a million years do, now you bloody well listen to what I have to say.”

I follow Dawn’s eyes as they dart to Max, who still isn’t looking at me, but is now wearing a small smile.

“I shopped with a friend,” I continue. “After, we went to the pub and had a few drinks during happy hour, just before we left, some random bloke stopped in front of our table, and took a photo on his phone. We left. In a taxi. The video, I’ve no idea who took that.” I pause and look in Max’s direction, but he’s still not looking at me. “Max being who he is means that the press and photographers are often hanging about out the front, this week especially with Whitney coming out of the hospital.” I’m unsure as to whether I should mention the media’s interest in me, even without Max’s involvement, and decide to go for it. Hopefully, she’ll realise that this is just part of life for people like us, something we have to deal with. “There’s been a bit of press attention directed at me since I got back from the States too. My former employ—”

Dawn puts her hands up to stop me, again nodding. “I read about what happened. I know who you are, Billie, and I’m sorry. After everything else you’ve been through, that was a terrible thing to have happened.”

The policewoman who’d dealt with me earlier steps back into the kitchen. “All good. If you don’t need us for anything else, we’ll be off?”

“No, that’s fine, Michelle. Thanks for your assistance.”