Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
It was reasonable. Annoyingly so. “Yeah,” I said. “That works.”
We exchanged phone numbers with all the formality of two business acquaintances. He completed the forms and stacked them in a neat pile inside the folder before sliding them across the desk. Enzo hesitated as if he wanted to say more, but he didn’t, and I refused to push. Instead, he nodded once and stood, leaving my office with the same intensity he’d entered more than an hour ago.
I collapsed in relief the moment the door shut behind him. My hand flew to my sternum, pressing it down to slow my heart. What the hell was I doing, I mean, seriously?
Nannying for Enzo DeRossi wouldn’t end well. It couldn’t.
Right?
I knew that, yet here I was, willingly walking back into the orbit of the only man I’d been foolish enough to give my heart to, choosing danger and a little boy I didn’t know over the things I’d worked a lifetime to achieve: safety and distance.
I’d already given my word, and I never went back on it. Not even if it meant living in a house with Enzo.
Unlike some people.
I tipped my head back and stared at the ceiling, breathing in through my nose, out through my mouth, reaching for a calm that felt completely out of reach.
“Forty-eight hours,” I whispered into the empty office. “God help me.”
Chapter 6
Enzo
Two days later, I pulled into the parking lot of Elite Nanny Service with my pulse pounding in my throat. Ren had refused to let me pick her up at home. She said she was so busy at the office and it was the simplest option, but what she meant was that she wanted distance, a clear boundary between her professional and personal life.
I’d give her that. For now.
Matteo bounced in the backseat, legs kicking the air excitedly. “Papa, will she like me?”
“Yes,” I answered without hesitation. “She will.” Ren had always loved kids, and we’d planned to have at least three and adopt a few more. I had no doubt she’d love Matteo.
We saw Ren through the glass doors before she spotted us, talking to Toni as they walked toward the door. She looked stunning in a royal blue dress that fell just below the knee, hugging her curves so beautifully my body heated up just remembering how they’d felt beneath my hands and lips. My body.
Her dark hair was pulled into a loose bun with tendrils flying freely, and her red-painted lips tugged into a grin at something the woman said to her. Like this, unguarded and open, she was the same girl I remembered. The girl I’d always loved.
“There she is, Papa. Let’s go get her!”
“Not yet,” I laughed at his excitement before pulling out my phone to let her know we were waiting. “She has to finish up her work, and then she’ll come out.”
Twenty minutes later, Ren appeared, this time in jeans and a t-shirt that made her look like the grad student I’d fallen for twenty years ago. She stopped at a sleek black SUV, pulling out two large suitcases.
I jumped out of the car and rushed to help her, feeling satisfied when she didn’t argue. Maybe it was progress. Maybe it was exhaustion. “Anything else?”
“I’ll get it,” she said, an amused smirk curling her red lips.
The suitcases took up most of the trunk of the large sedan Luca had bought in cash. I turned and found Ren coming my way with a box and another, smaller suitcase. “Is that all?”
She nodded. “I might need more things later, but this is a good start.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” I shoved them in the back beside Matteo and turned to her. “Ready to meet my son?”
Something flickered in her eyes, but it was gone quickly and she nodded. “Absolutely.”
My smile came a little easier as I rounded the car and pulled open the door. “Come on, buddy. Let me introduce you to Ren.”
Matteo jumped out of the car with a wide smile. He loved meeting new people, and when he spotted her, he gasped. “I know you!”
One dark brow arched. “Do you?”
He nodded. “You showed me how to get to the snacks.”
She laughed. “Did you find them?”
“Yep, but Toni only gave me one tiny fruit candy snack.”
Ren laughed, and the sound was beautiful and melodic. “You’ll appreciate that on your next trip to the dentist.”
His face twisted up in distaste.
“Ren, this is Matteo. He’s seven. Matteo, this is my old friend, Ren.”
He stuck his hand out. “Nice to meet you, Ren.”
“You too, but you can call me Serenity.” She kept her smile in place but she shot me a glare.
He frowned. “But Papa called you Ren.”
She nodded. “Your papa is the only person in the world who calls me that.”
I wished I could decipher that tone, but I didn’t have the right to know her like that anymore.