The Billionaire's Nanny

Chapter Five: The Stone Contract

I looked at Trevor, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. "Why me? Why tell me this now?"

"I have a proposition for you," he said, leaning back, his presence suddenly filling the small café. "I’m assuming you need a job and a place to stay? You have no family in the city and, from what my security tells me, very few friends Jacob hasn't already alienated."

I flinched. How did he know so much? It was as if he’d been reading the blueprint of my miserable life while I was still living it.

"Since my wife left, the girls have been struggling," Trevor continued, his gaze flickering toward the corner table where the three sisters were currently dismantling a chocolate gateau. "I’ve been through ten nannies this year alone. They don’t trust easily since she abandoned them. They’ve made it their mission to scare off anyone I hire."

My heart wrenched. I looked at Mia, whose face was smeared with chocolate, and felt a pang of kinship. We were all survivors of people who should have loved us. I wasn't in a position to say no; I was a woman with a bin bag and a broken heart.

"I need a nanny, and you need a life," Trevor stated firmly. "I have a manor with more rooms than I can count. There is plenty of space for you and the twins - room and board included. And the salary... let’s start at six thousand pounds a month."

My jaw nearly hit the floor. " Six thousand? Trevor, that’s double what you pay Jacob as a senior analyst."

"Yes, it is," he said, a dark, satisfied glint appearing in his eyes. "And unlike Jacob, you’ll actually be earning it. I’m going to destroy them, Freya. Move into the manor. I’ll provide the best prenatal care in the country, a salary that would make Jacob choke, and a front-row seat to his destruction."

It was more than tempting; it was a lifeline. I glanced at the girls. They were laughing now, scoffing their treats like hungry little wild animals. They needed someone. And I needed to be needed.

"I can do the job," I whispered, my voice gaining a fraction of strength. "I really appreciate the offer. But I’m still not sure how a nanny helps you with a revenge plot."

"Because you are the only reason Jacob has the Miller fortune - including the social standing. Your testimony alone could bring him down.”

"I’ve signed the divorce papers, Trevor. He has them."

"That’s quite alright. You are still the woman who married him so he could claim his inheritance. That’s just one of the ways we will bring him down - by proving his marriage was a fraudulent grab for cash. But I do have one stipulation..."

His expression shifted into an uneasy smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. It was the look of a man making a move on a chessboard.

"As well as being a Nanny I will require you to provide executive support - help with filing and the like. Also, as you may not understand, the bachelor life is tiresome. I need someone to act as my partner to stop the vultures from circling."

I gasped. "But why me? You could have anyone?"

"Maybe," Trevor murmured, his fingers tapping the table. "But imagine the look on Jacob and Betsy’s faces when I turn up with you on my arm. Now, let’s go home. Girls?"

He called over to the table in the corner. The three girls stood up instantly, their bickering ceasing at the sound of his voice.

"Is she coming with us?" Mia asked, her eyes wide as she clutched a half-eaten biscuit.

"Yes," Trevor said, his hand resting briefly on the small of my back to lead me toward the door. "Girls, meet your new nanny."