Page 96 of Wicked Proposal

Why the hell didn’t Yulian wake me up?!Anger.

Maybe Kallie’s still there. Maybe she’s called Reese to take over. Maybe she brought Eli with her to the hospital. Maybe she didn’t have a shift at all and they’re both still asleep. Maybe they’re making pancakes.Bargaining.

I’m such a horrible mom. How could I fall asleep like that? How could I let last night happen at all?Depression.

And, finally?—

No fucking way.

“Ms. Winters.” Howard Lee greets me from my own door in his perfectly pressed suit. “We were starting to wonder if we shouldn’t send out a search party.”

“Mr. Lee, I—” I fade off, not knowing how to end my sentence. My heart is sinking with every thought.

CPS is here.

They beat me to it.

They’re going to take Eli.

I’m never going to see my son again.

All for stupid Yulian Lozhkin.

At his side, Mrs. Deloera gives me a sad, pitying look. Somehow, I feel like I’ve disappointed my favorite teacher. Like she’s telling me,I really wanted to save your ass, but you just couldn’t keep it in your pants.

Worse—I’ve disappointed my son.

“Now,” Mr. Lee urges, “are you going to let us in?”

My shoulders droop. Dejected, I put my key in the door.

I turn it.

I push.

And then I blink.

Because this can’t be my apartment, can it?

Clean floors. Like,superclean floors. Tidy surfaces, every single one of them. Toys neatly tucked away in colorful boxes, organized by type.

And fresh,unburntpancakes on the counter.

“Hello, Ms. Winters!” a jovial, unknown female voice greets me.

Mr. Lee’s eyes are practically bulging out of their sockets. I can only imagine what mine must be doing.

“Hi,” I breathe, not knowing what else to say.

“I took the liberty of tidying up a little.” The unknown woman smiles. She looks about my age, only with a way better skincare routine.

“Hello,” she says to the CPS caseworkers. “I’m Tamara, Eli’s new babysitter. Nice to meet you. Mia here has said so many good things about you.”

Mr. Lee’s eyes immediately narrow with suspicion. “She did?”

I did?

“Of course.” She welcomes them in, even going so far as to help Mrs. Deloera with her cane. “Eli’s still asleep. I’m afraid I couldn’t quite make him stick to his bedtime.” She gives a little apologetic shrug that probably endeared every single red-blooded man in the span of ten miles, even though they didn’t see her. “I made breakfast, though. You want some?”