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Chapter Fifteen

Maggie

" O h my God, where the hell are the towels in this place?" A curvy blonde in a skimpy bikini and her wet-haired friend slide past when I enter the West Wing through the coat room at nine-thirty after my twenty-four hours off. One of them almost slips in the kitchen when she turns to glance back at me. Her friend steadies her, and they disappear down another hallway.

I so do not have the energy for this tonight. It's Sunday bloody night, for God's sake. I toss my coat on one of the hooks. This is getting to be beyond ridiculous. And I feel so powerless to do anything to change it. I mean, I heard Denise chastising Xavier a couple of times, and then Candice on Wednesday morning—and if their words have no pull, then mine certainly won't.

I text Rita to let her know I'm here to relieve her, and she meets me a few minutes later in the kitchen looking frazzled. And pissed.

"I give up!" She throws her hands up, heading for the coat room. "The little devil is in the Solarium with Xavier's friends and refuses to go to bed. I've been trying for the past hour."

Pretty sure Rita is going to be the next nanny to quit. And yeah, after just a couple of weeks, I get it. Especially this last week from hell. But as tempting as it is, I refuse. I've become way too attached to Finn, despite everything. And I refuse to be one more person who suddenly abandons him. Even when they do find a more permanent nanny, I've vowed I'll make sure to stay part of Finn's life. He needs to know that not everyone will abandon him. That he's more than someone's job.

But man, the Rockwell boys sure don't make it easy.

I find Finn in the Solarium off the indoor pool, hanging out with Scarlett—a girl I've hung out with a few times before, who seems pretty cool. And responsible and sober, thank God. Not that things are too out of hand tonight. It's more a bunch of people hanging out than a raging party—so that's an improvement, I guess. Still, the craziest I've ever seen anyone's home life on a Sunday night.

Moonlight streams through the Solarium's towering glass panels, casting long shadows across the heated pool below. The space feels like a greenhouse crossed with a luxury resort, all tropical plants and gleaming marble.

"Maggie!" Finn barrels into me, his hair damp and curling at the ends. "Scarlett's been reading comics to me. And she does voices way better than Rita."

"Hey, you." I ruffle his hair. "You must be tired. It's late."

"Nope. Not at all."

Scarlett lounges on one of the ornate chaises, comic book open on her lap. Steam rises from the pool behind her, fogging up the glass walls. "Hey Maggie." She gives me a little wave. "Xavier asked me to hang with this guy for a bit."

"Thanks for watching him."

Scarlett shrugs, her auburn hair catching the moonlight. "No worries. I love me some quality Rockwell brother time." She squeezes Finn around his bony shoulders.

"Depends which Rockwell brother," I mutter under my breath. Not softly enough, because Scarlett laughs.

"Xavier's been that bad, huh?"

"He's fine," I say. I really need to learn to keep my trap shut when I'm on the job.

Scarlett leans in to me, lowering her voice as she glances at Finn, who's now absorbed in another comic. "Look, I get why you think he’s a dick… Xave's got mile-high walls. But you need to believe me that when you're in with Xave—you're in, " she says. "He's the kind of guy who will show up at two a.m. if you need him. No questions, no judgment. When I got dumped in the Fall, he showed up at my house with a mint-chocolate shake from Hooks and made me a playlist he called 'For Dramatic Crying or Keying a Car.' He stayed for three hours, let me rant, never once told me to get over it." She looks over at Finn, still absorbed in his comic, then back at me. "I know he makes your job a nightmare, but just—trust me. He's not all bad.

I swallow a lump in my throat. "Yeah, I'm kind of starting to get that about him," I tell her. And I know she's trying to make me feel better, but it does the opposite. Because it's just more infuriating knowing he can be like that but then insists on being a total jerk to me. It's not just more infuriating, but more hurtful, too.

Scarlett watches me for a moment. "Xave's got… a lot of baggage."

"Yeah. I got that too."

"Don't take any of his bullshit personally," Scarlett says. "Seriously. He's always been a total ass to Finn's nannies. Always. "

"Yeah, only I think in my case it's particularly elevated." I trace a pattern on the chair's arm.

Scarlett studies me. "He'll come around."

"Or… kill me in my sleep."

She nods, smiling. "Or that. In a chill, pacifist kind of way."

"Totally." I laugh.

Finn climbs next to me, preparing to open another comic.

"Finn. Dude," I say, gently prying the comic from his hands. "It's way past your bedtime. You've got kindergarten tomorrow. You want to be super awake and ready to learn, right?"

Finn yanks the comic book back, holding it over his face. "Nope. Xavier says I don't have to go to bed until he does. Those are the rules."

Scarlett shoots me an apologetic look. "Rita and I tried getting him to bed earlier. No dice."

"It's fine." I sigh. "Getting him to bed is like scaling Mount Everest unless Xavier's on board."

Finn peeks around the comic. "But I'm not tired ."

"Your eyes are all red and puffy."

"That's just… anergies."

"Allergies? In January?"

"YES." His voice rises. "And I want to stay up with Xavier! "

"Xavier will be going to bed soon, too. He just—"

"NO!" The comic book flies across the tiles. "You can't make me! You're not the boss!"

And we're off. Finn's face crumples as he launches into full meltdown mode—screaming, crying, the works. I watch him flailing on the ginormous sleek tiles, my tolerance for Xavier hitting rock bottom. Every single night this week, it's been the same thing. Xavier completely undermining any attempt I make at establishing healthy routines for Finn. Confusing indulgence with love—which, okay, I totally get now—why Xavier doesn't know the difference. But he needs a crash course. Fast. Because Finn's the one who is suffering as a result of Xavier's issues. And it's going to mess him up worse and worse, the older he gets, if it doesn't stop soon.

"Finn. It's time for bed. Let's go." I reach my hand out and he just bats it away. Then levels up the howling.

I am exhausted. Done. Scarlett's words a few moments ago, although they were well intended, put me over the edge. Hearing what a great guy Xavier can be while being forced to endure his constant antagonizing is really, really hard. And I feel like a sucker, bending over backwards trying to placate him, while he does everything he can to make my job hell. Spoils his brother in a way that is only doing him a huge disservice, and cancelling out all my efforts.

I've. Had. Enough.

Once Finn's tantrum subsides to sniffles, I turn to Scarlett. "Would you be cool watching him for a few more minutes?"

"For sure. We still have two issues of Zita The Spacegirl to get through."

Wow. This girl takes her comics seriously.

"Awesome, thanks." I stand. "Next question: any idea where Xavier is?"

She scrunches one side of her face. "Not sure… sorry. He does this sometimes at his own parties. Just takes off." She glances around, as if he might be hiding somewhere in plain sight. Her eyes return to mine. "Could be hooking up with someone, but honestly, half the time he just takes off alone somewhere."

Huh. Weird .

"Okay. Thanks." I brush my palms along my thighs, determination settling in my bones. Time to find Xavier and deal with this bedtime situation once and for all.

"Give him hell." Scarlett grins, surprising me that she appears to be on my side after she just admitted how close she is with Xavier.

I flash a conspiratorial smile in return. "Oh, I plan on it."