Нина Сингх – Reunited With Her Italian Billionaire (страница 7)
“What a paragon. Did it ever occur to you that you might be being manipulated?”
She glared at him. “You would think that.”
He held up the phone. “Just give me his number.”
“He truly needs the money, Marco. I told him he had a full-time job.”
This was getting quite tiring. “Brianna, I’m not leaving. My son needs me.” And so did she.
Brianna nodded and looked down. “This isn’t about that.”
Oh, hell. “Fine.” He slammed the phone down. “Call him later and tell him the job description has changed.”
She looked up, searching his face. “What do you mean?”
“Essentially, he’s to be on call. I’ll ask him to come over if I need to be at the office or if there’s a business matter I’m attending to. We’ll pay him the same amount because we’re asking him to be available at all times during the week. He can either take it or leave it. It’s my final offer.”
Her shoulders dropped with clear relief and she smiled. “I’m sure he’ll take it. He told me he was really desperate for money.”
“I’m sure he is.”
“I would have felt awful, Marco. I just couldn’t tell him he was out of luck again. He said my call was like an answer to a prayer.”
A disquieting feeling settled in Marco’s chest. Somehow, he’d just agreed to help Brianna’s male nanny. This woman made him do the most foolish things. First, making him decide he’d stay, now this. “Yes, well. As long as you understand that I’ll be here for a while.”
“I understand.”
“Good. I’ll go see what Enzo’s up to.”
She stepped in front of him. “Um, I just wanted to—” She halted, looked away again.
“Yes?”
“I mean, it’s really hard to not know where your next dollar is coming from. What you did, it was—” She hesitated and returned her gaze to his face. He pondered what she’d just said about not knowing where your next dollar was coming from. Brianna had spent her childhood moving from foster home to foster home after being abandoned by her parents. That much he knew. Though not much more. She didn’t particularly like to talk about her past. He could hardly blame her. Sometimes the past was better left behind where it belonged. In that, at least he and Brianna had something in common.
No wonder the marriage had fallen apart.
“What is it, Brianna?”
“I just want to say thanks.”
She smiled and he could have sworn he felt warmth in every cell of his body. How childish of him. And he’d accused her of being easy to manipulate.
He mumbled a brief response. Then he had to make himself turn away. Before he did something really stupid.
“Really, Marco,” she said behind him.
“It’s not a big deal, Brianna.”
“Curtis would disagree.”
“I couldn’t care less what your Curtis thinks.”
“I’m just trying to say that he’d appreciate it, that’s all. And I appreciate it too.”
He turned to tell her the truth, to just admit it. He’d relented because of her.
But something else entirely came out of his mouth. “You know exactly how to get your way, don’t you?”
“What?” Brianna looked at him in bafflement. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“A flick of the lashes. A flirtatious look here and there. And I did exactly what you wanted. Your precious Curtis still has a job. And you’ve still got your feminine wiles. Let’s just move on now, shall we?”
She slammed her hands on her hips. “Why? Why did I think you were capable of any decency? You’re still exactly the same, aren’t you? Nothing’s changed.”
“Apparently not.”
“For the briefest moment back then I thought perhaps you might have grown a little. What a fool I can be.”
“Then we have something in common, after all.”
“Hah,” she barked. “We don’t have a thing in common.”
“Are you finished? I believe Enzo may be ready for bed.”
Brianna threw her hands up. “Yes. I believe we’re done.”
She stomped toward Enzo and picked him up. “I’ll be upstairs giving Enzo his bath,” she said. “After that, I’m going to bed.”
“I’ll help you.”
She whirled around.
Marco rolled his eyes. “With Enzo’s bath, I meant.”
She glared at him. “You’ll find the spare room upstairs. I don’t even want to know you’re here for the next week. Do you understand?”
Now that, Marco thought, watching her go up the stairs, would be easier said than done.
COFFEE. SOMEONE HAD definitely brewed coffee. There was a ray of light streaming through the small crack of the blind on her bedroom window. The bright sun outside told her it was later than her usual wake-up time. Much later. And there was something else. It was quiet. Way too quiet. She fumbled around for the digital clock. It was almost eight.
Brianna jolted upright and climbed out of bed. Something wasn’t right. Enzo never slept this late.
Panic clenched at her chest as she hastened her way to his nursery. Gripping the door handle, she braced herself for all the possible horrors that might explain why Enzo hadn’t woken yet. Was he ill? Had he hurt himself somehow?
Could Marco have taken—
No. He wouldn’t.
When she finally found herself next to the little crib, the rush of relief brought tears to her eyes. Enzo was sleeping soundly, his chubby fingers closed around the silk trimming of his favorite blankie. She watched as his eyelids fluttered, then sealed closed again. Brianna couldn’t help reaching for him. At the risk of waking him, she touched his cheek, stroked her fingers through the fine baby curls on his head. He looked so peaceful.
So vulnerable.
“He just fell asleep again.”
She jumped at the quiet voice behind her. It was Marco, on the rocking chair in the corner of the room. He stood and motioned for her to follow him out into the hallway.
“He woke up at six,” Marco said when they were outside. “I read to him for a while then rocked him back to sleep.”
“I didn’t hear him,” Brianna said.
“I’m a lighter sleeper. Always have been. Besides, I know you were pretty tired.”
“Well, thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me for putting my own son back to sleep.”
Brianna had to refrain from grunting. How many nights had Marco tucked Enzo in when he was an infant? “I just meant it allowed me to sleep in, that’s all. Have you always been this hard to thank?”
He gave her that insolent stare again. The look that made Brianna feel as if he were actually touching her. “Too bad we’re splitting up. I could come up with all sorts of ways you could thank me.”
His words sent heat shooting through her core. At least she was better prepared this time. Unlike yesterday’s thin T-shirt, last night she’d worn bulky flannel pajamas to bed. But somehow, she still felt naked to his gaze.
Marco was already dressed in casual khaki pants and a black silk shirt that brought out the hue of his eyes. He honestly had to be the most handsome man she’d ever met. All the more reason she wasn’t about to touch his last comment with a ten-foot pole.
“Are you going somewhere?” she asked, changing the subject.