His Nanny, His Unplanned Love

Chapter 6

POV: Naomi

I just stood there as I tried to comprehend the word that had just left Sophie's mouth.

Mommy.

For a second, I honestly thought I had imagined it.

I thought my mind was playing a trick on me.

But no.

She had said it clearly.

Mommy.

And I had heard it.

My heart skipped so hard it almost hurt.

Why… Did she call me that?

My mind froze, and it took me a moment to realize something else.

Everyone was looking at us.

Tristan.

Mrs. Kate.

And the three little boys standing behind the teacher.

All of them were looking at Sophie clinging to my legs like her life depended on it.

I swallowed slowly, forcing myself to move.

I crouched down in front of her.

“Hey… hey… Ginger,” I said gently, trying to calm her. “What happened?”

Instead of answering, Sophie immediately wrapped both arms tightly around my neck.

The sudden movement sent a sharp pain straight to my injured shoulder.

I flinched.

“Ah—”

The pain made my eyes squeeze shut for a second.

Right.

The wound.

I had almost forgotten about it.

I quickly adjusted my position so my injured shoulder wouldn’t carry her weight.

Then I carefully slid my good arm under her and lifted her up.

She was light.

Much lighter than I expected.

And the moment I carried her, Sophie’s crying slowly started to stop.

Her small hands grabbed the front of my shirt as she sniffed and wiped her eyes.

Her tiny body relaxed against me.

Behind us, Tristan stepped forward.

“I’ll take her,” he said.

But Sophie immediately shook her head and tightened her grip around me.

“No,” she said stubbornly. “I want to stay with Naomi.”

Tristan paused.

His eyes slowly moved to me.

I gave him a small shake of my head.

“It’s fine,” I said quietly.

Sophie was already calmer.

And honestly… something about her holding onto me like this made my chest feel strangely warm.

Mrs. Kate finally began walking toward us.

The three boys followed behind her nervously.

Tristan’s voice was calm, but there was a sharp edge to it.

“What’s going on, Mrs. Kate?” he asked. “Why does my daughter look like she’s been in a fight? Her clothes are torn, her hair is all over the place.”

Mrs. Kate looked uncomfortable.

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Cole,” she said. “But if you don’t mind… Why don’t we all go to the office so we can talk? The parents of the other children are already waiting inside.”

Tristan glanced at me.

I nodded once.

“Fine,” he said. “Let’s go.”

We all walked toward the main building.

Sophie stayed in my arms the entire time, her little fingers holding my shirt like she was afraid someone would take her away.

The school was huge.

The building looked more like a private academy than a kindergarten.

Expensive glass windows.

Perfect gardens.

Even the floors inside were polished marble.

We reached the office quickly.

Inside, three couples were already waiting.

The moment the boys walked in, they ran straight toward their parents.

One of the fathers stood up immediately.

He looked angry with his pot belly and receding hairline.

Damn he was ugly.

“Are you the father of this girl who has no respect?” he demanded.

Before Tristan could answer, one of the mothers crossed her arms.

“I’m going to sue you and you're going to pay for the emotional damage your child caused my son.”

Another father snorted.

“What do you expect from a child who doesn’t even have a mother?”

The second the words left his mouth, I saw red.

Before Tristan could even react, I moved forward untill I was dangerously close to the man.

“Repeat that statement one more time,” I said coldly.

The man blinked.

“I dare you,” I continued calmly. “And you’ll end up in a hospital with one ear missing.”

The room went completely silent.

The man swallowed.

The fear in his eyes was instantly visible.

Before he could say anything, his wife stood up angrily.

“Who the hell do you think you are to threaten my husband like that?”

I opened my mouth to respond but Sophie spoke first.

“She’s my mommy.”

Silence fell over the entire room again.

I sighed slowly.

Then I looked at the woman.

“Exactly what she said.”

I turned toward the teacher.

“Care to explain what’s going on here?”

Mrs. Kate cleared her throat nervously.

“Well… you see… the children usually joke around. And they constantly use the fact that Sophie doesn’t have a mother to tease her.”

My jaw tightened.

Mrs. Kate continued.

“But today Sophie kept arguing back. She kept saying she did have a mom. And that her name was Naomi.”

Her eyes moved to me.

“I’m guessing that’s you, ma’am?”

I scoffed softly.

Unbelievable.

These were kindergarten kids.

How could they already be this cruel?

Mrs. Kate continued explaining.

“These boys kept teasing her… and eventually Sophie hit one of them. Then the others joined in the fight. That’s why her clothes are torn.”

One of the mothers shrugged.

“Serves her right.”

Tristan suddenly spoke.

“Wait.”

His voice was calm.

It was so calm that it scared me.

“Let me get this straight,” he continued slowly. “What you're telling me right now is that my daughter has been bullied by her classmates who constantly mock her for not having a mother?”

Mrs. Kate quickly shook her head.

“I don’t think bullied and mocked are the right words to use, Mr. Cole—”

Tristan raised his hand which shut her up.

“Let me finish.” He roared, his voice filling the whole room.

The entire room fell silent instantly.

I even turned to look at him.

The tone of his voice had changed.

There was something dangerous in it. A dark edge had suddenly filled his voice.

Something that made it very clear that arguing with him was a terrible idea.

“You didn’t call me when she was being mocked or bullied,” Tristan continued quietly.

His eyes locked on the teacher.

“But the moment she fought back, you decided to call me.”

Mrs. Kate shifted uncomfortably.

“Mr. Cole, you’re getting the wrong idea—”

“Wrong idea?” Tristan repeated.

His voice was still calm.

But now it was colder.

“Did you just say I’m getting the wrong idea?”

He pointed toward the angry mother.

“This woman just threatened to sue me for emotional damages her son experienced. Meanwhile, it’s very clear my daughter is the one who has been suffering in this freaking situation—”

“Language, Tristan,” I interrupted gently. “There are kids here.”

He froze.

Then he let out a deep breath.

The anger in his expression dissolving instantly.

He looked at Sophie in my arms and smiled softly.

“Sorry, baby.”

But the mother from earlier wasn't finished.

“I don’t care who you think you are!” she shouted. “My son has a bruise on his face and I will have my lawyers strip you of every cent you have! Your brat of a daughter is a constant trouble in this school! If only she had a mother to teach her manners—”

Tristan didn’t let her finish.

He didn’t raise his voice.

He didn’t even look angry.

Instead, he calmly reached into the inner pocket of his leather jacket.

He pulled out a single black card.

It looked expensive.

Heavy.

He held it between two fingers and extended it toward her.

“Give that to your lawyers,” Tristan said softly. “Tell them to call the private line at the bottom. I’d love to see which firm is brave enough to file a suit against the man who manages their firm’s data servers and owns the ports their imported cars and goods arrive in.”

The woman grabbed the card roughly.

But the moment she looked down at it—

Her entire face changed.

The name on the card shimmered under the office lights.

TRISTAN COLE.

Below it were two logos.

Cole Global.

Cole Aegis.

The woman’s face turned pale instantly.

Her hand started shaking.

“I… I didn’t…”

One of the other parents leaned closer.

“What’s wrong?”

She turned and looked at them slowly.

“He’s… Tristan Cole.”

The father of the first boy frowned.

“As in Tristan Cole of Cole Global?”

She nodded weakly.

The other father I had threatened earlier whispered.

“The same Tristan Cole that owns Cole Aegis?”

She nodded again.

The room instantly filled with panic.

Then her husband stood up quickly.

“We are very sorry, Mr. Cole,” he said nervously. “We didn’t mean what we said earlier. Maybe we can settle this peacefully—”

“Like I said,” Tristan interrupted calmly.

“Contact my lawyers.”

Then he turned to me.

“Let’s go.”

I nodded and turned toward the door.

But before leaving, I stopped and looked at Mrs. Kate.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” I said quietly.

She blinked.

“You’re a woman,” I continued. “And yet you allowed this to happen in your class just because you thought she didn’t have a mother.”

My voice hardened slightly.

“You’ll be seeing more of me.”

Mrs. Kate lowered her head.

“I’m terribly sorry, ma’am. It won’t happen again.”

I walked out of the office without another word.

Tristan followed behind me.

The walk back to the car was quiet.

I carefully placed Sophie in the back seat.

Just as I closed the door, I heard someone running behind us.

“Excuse me!”

Mrs. Kate hurried toward us holding a small backpack.

“These are Sophie’s things.”

I took the bag from her.

“Thank you.”

Then I got into the passenger seat and leaned back with a tired sigh.

Tristan got into the driver’s seat.

He turned around to look at Sophie.

“Are you okay, Sophie?”

She nodded quietly.

Then he turned to me.

“Thank you,” he said. “For what you did back there.”

I smiled faintly.

“No problem.”

I shrugged.

“That man needed to be put in his place.”

As I moved, pain shot through my shoulder again.

I winced slightly.

Tristan noticed immediately.

“Come on,” he said. “Let me take you to the hospital.”

From the back seat Sophie’s small voice spoke.

“Is Naomi sick?”

I turned toward her and smiled gently.

“No, Ginger. I just got a small injury at work.”

Sophie’s eyes looked worried.

“Don’t get sick, Naomi,” she said softly. “I don’t want you to leave me too.”

My heart squeezed painfully.

What kind of pain has this child gone through to talk like this.

I reached back and gently touched her hand.

“I won’t, Ginger.”

I smiled softly.

“I promise.”

****

Later that morning, I found myself sitting on a bed inside a private emergency room.

The hospital room was quiet.

Sophie had fallen asleep beside me, curled up against the pillow like a tiny kitten.

Tristan stood near the window while the doctor stitched my shoulder.

The process hurt like hell.

But I stayed quiet.

When the doctor finally finished, he stepped back.

“You’ll need to come back in two weeks to remove the stitches.”

I nodded.

“I will. Thank you.”

“A nurse will bring your prescription shortly,” he continued. “You can get your medication at the pharmacy before leaving.”

Then he left the room.

I exhaled slowly.

I carefully got off the bed so I wouldn’t wake Sophie up.

Then I walked over to Tristan.

He was looking out the window.

“Are you really going to sue those parents?” I asked.

He shrugged slightly.

“They were the ones talking about lawsuits first.”

I glanced back at Sophie sleeping peacefully.

“Do what you feel is right for your daughter.”

We stood there quietly for a moment.

The silence between us wasn’t uncomfortable.

Just… quiet.

After a while, I spoke again.

“The job you mentioned earlier.”

Tristan turned slightly toward me.

“What about it?”

“What exactly was it?”

He looked at me carefully.

“I want you to be Sophie’s nanny.”

I frowned slightly.

“I’ve never seen her open up to anyone so easily before,” he continued.

His eyes shifted to Sophie.

“But with you it's different… she bonded instantly.”

I thought about it for a moment.

Then I said quietly,

“Fine.”

His head turned sharply.

“I’ll take the job.”

One corner of Tristan’s mouth lifted in a small smile.

“You will?”

“But under three conditions.”

His eyebrow lifted slightly.

“Which are?”

I looked directly at him.

“First. You stop investigating me.”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“Second. You do not interfere in my private life.”

He nodded slowly.

“And third…”

I looked toward Sophie again.

“You spend as much time with your daughter as possible.”

He studied my face for a moment.

“Is that all?”

I nodded.

“Additionally, I will only accept a market rate salary.”

Tristan nodded.

“That’s fine by me.”

We both turned back toward the window.

The city stretched out below us.

Busy.

Loud.

Full of life.

For a long moment neither of us spoke.

Each of us lost in our own thoughts.

For some reason.... I couldn't shake the feeling that accepting this job was going to change my life forever.