THE NANNY'S PROMISE

The cage

Naomi POV

The word hangs in the air like a blade.

Mine.

I stare at Kaelen. His gray eyes are hard. Cold. There is no warmth in them. No softness. Just ownership.

"You cannot be serious," I whisper.

"I am always serious."

I step back. My legs hit the chair behind me. I grab the back to keep from falling.

"The baby is yours. That does not mean I belong to you."

Kaelen moves closer. He towers over me. Six feet two inches of stone and fury. His voice is low. Quiet. That is when he is most dangerous.

"You carry my child. My blood. My heir. That makes you mine, Naomi. Like it or not."

My hands shake. My heart pounds so hard I feel it in my throat.

"What are you going to do? Lock me in the basement?"

A muscle in his jaw twitches. "I am going to marry you."

The room spins.

Marry him.

The cold, cruel man who told me I was nothing. Who brings other women to the mansion. Who looks at me like I am dirt on his shoe.

"No," I say.

"It is not a question."

"You cannot force me to marry you."

He pulls out his phone. He types something. Then he turns the screen toward me.

A photo. My apartment. The water stain on the ceiling. The leaky toilet. The pile of eviction notices on the table.

"I can take that away," he says. "I can give you a room here. Food. Safety. Your child will never want for anything."

"And in exchange?"

"You marry me. You live here. You raise my son and our child together."

I swallow hard. "And what about love?"

His face does not change. "Love is a lie. I am offering protection. That is more than most people get."

Tears burn my eyes. I blink them back. I will not cry in front of him.

"What if I say no?"

"Then you leave. Today. You go back to your apartment with nothing. You raise my child in poverty. And I will watch. From a distance. Always."

He means it. I see it in his eyes.

I have nowhere to go. Forty-seven dollars. A leaky ceiling. A baby coming. No family to call. No friend with a spare room. Just Mia, who lives in a studio smaller than mine. Just Tanya, who has three kids and no space.

He is not giving me a choice.

I think about the baby. About Alex. About the cold nights in my apartment, shivering under thin blankets, wondering if I would eat the next day.

Here, the baby would be warm. Fed. Safe.

I would be a prisoner. But my child would be free.

"Fine," I whisper. The word tastes like poison.

Kaelen nods. "The wedding is tomorrow. A judge will come to the house. No guests. No flowers. Just us and the witnesses."

I look down at my hands. They are shaking.

"One more thing," he says. "You will share my room. My bed."

My head snaps up. "What?"

"You are my wife. You will act like my wife. In public and in private."

I want to scream. I want to run. But there is nowhere to run to.

"Does Alex know?" I ask.

"Not yet. You will tell him. Together."

Together. The word feels wrong on his tongue.

---

I find Alex in the garden. He is drawing with chalk on the stone path. A wolf. A moon. A boy holding a balloon.

I kneel beside him. My knees press into the cold ground.

"Alex, can I talk to you?"

He looks up. His gray eyes are so like his father's. But softer. Kinder.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, sweet boy. You did nothing wrong." I take his small hand. "Your papa and I are going to get married."

His eyes go wide. "Like a prince and princess?"

I smile. It hurts. "Something like that."

"Will you stay forever?"

My throat tightens. "Yes. I will stay forever."

He throws his arms around my neck. He hugs me so tight I can barely breathe.

"I am so happy," he whispers.

I hold him and close my eyes.

One promise kept. Another cage locked.

---

That night, I stand in Kaelen's bedroom.

It is huge. A king bed. Dark furniture. A window that looks out at the city lights. His smell is everywhere. Wood and smoke.

He sits on the edge of the bed, loosening his tie.

"You look like you are going to your execution," he says.

"I feel like I am."

He looks at me for a long moment. Then he stands. He walks to the closet and pulls out a pillow and a blanket.

"I will sleep on the floor," he says.

I blink. "What?"

"You heard me. I am not a monster, Naomi. I will not force you to share my bed. Not until you want to."

"And if I never want to?"

He lays the blanket on the floor. He fluffs the pillow.

"Then I will sleep on the floor forever."

I do not know what to say. So I say nothing.

I crawl into the bed. The sheets are soft. The pillows smell like him.

He lies on the floor. His back is to me.

I stare at the ceiling and listen to him breathe.

Tomorrow, I become his wife.

Tonight, I wonder if he is as cruel as he pretends to be.

Or if somewhere, deep down, there is a heart beneath the stone.

I turn on my side and look at him. His eyes are closed. His face is relaxed. In sleep, he looks younger. Less like a monster. More like a man carrying too much weight.

My hand drifts to my stomach. The baby is safe. For now.

I do not know what tomorrow will bring. But tonight, in this strange bed, in this strange room, I feel something I have not felt in a long time.

Not hope. Not yet.

But maybe the absence of fear.

I close my eyes and let sleep take me.

Tomorrow, I marry a stranger.

But tonight, I rest.