The Billionaire's Nanny

Chapter Two: The Offer -Freya's POV

Chapter Two - The Offer - Freya's POV

Mr Stone looked down at me, his eyes softening slightly. He didn’t give the ultrasound back. Instead, he smoothed the torn edges with a thumb that looked capable of crushing stones or cradling a child. His eyes weren't just dark; they were a storm of calculation.

He looked at the bin bag, the soaked photo album, and the torn evidence of my pregnancy. Seeing my unease he handed the ultrasound back to me.

He helped shovel my few belongings back into my bag, then offered me a hand to help me up.

“Freya, don’t worry about the coffee. It looks like you’ve had a bit of an evening... Why don’t you let me buy you a drink?”

I stood there, stunned for a moment. Jacob’s boss was offering to buy me a drink after I’d just painted the streets of London with his?

I looked down at the ultrasound and tears immediately began to stream from my eyes.

“I...I wouldn’t want to trouble you...” I forced out between sobs.

“Don’t be silly, it’s not a problem. Besides, you look like you could use someone to talk to"

I blinked furiously, the shock clearly showing on my face as a small smile appeared on Mr Stone’s face. Why on Earth would he waste his time with me?

“I...I don’t....” I spluttered.

“Please, just come in and sit down. Have a drink with me. Tell me everything.”

A small, insistent tug pulled at Mr Stone’s coat. I looked down to see a pair of wide, curious eyes - a girl around four years old, her hair a bird's nest of tangles and her red coat wrongly buttoned. Behind her, two older girls stood like miniature sentinels.

“Daddy why is that lady leaking from her eyes?” She asked him.

Trevor’s expression softened for a fraction of a second.

I instinctively reached out to rebutton her coat. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be ok” I told her.

“I’m Mia!” She beamed at me and offered me a hand. I shook it.

“Mia this is Freya.” Mr Stone began. “She’s an acquaintance of mine.”

“Freya, these are my daughters - Mia, Beatrix and Sophie.” The older two girls offered a weak smile and a slight wave.

“Girls, go get yourselves some hot chocolate and cake. Freya and I have an important matter to discuss,” he told them.

“Ok Daddy,” Mia grinned, grabbing her sisters’ hands and pulling them over to the counter. I watched with a smile as Mia’s eyes widened, her mouth salivating at the colourful selection of sweet treats behind the glass.

“Come, sit,” Mr Stone gestured towards a table. I followed him and sat down. He held up his hand and gestured to a waitress. “Americano, please. And the biggest slice of chocolate cake you have,” he looked at me and smiled softly. “You look like you could use it. Drink?”

“Just a herbal tea please. Chamomile.”

I sat still in shock, taking in the haze of roasted coffee beans and damp coats. What could this billionaire possibly be talking to me for?

“So.. Um... Mr Stone?” I stuttered.

“Trevor, please” he said softly. “I’m guessing by the bin bag things didn’t end well with Jacob?”

“How did... how did you know?” Tears began to fall freely once again as I flashed back to the cruel look in Jacob’s eyes and the smirk on Betsy’s face as he slammed closed the door on our life.

“I’ve been meaning to get in touch with you. I’m sure you are most likely aware, my wife left me about three years ago, packed her bags and abandoned all four of us.” His gaze hardened, and his eyes went dark as the memory took him over.

“A few weeks ago I was sent this video.” He opened his briefcase to retrieve a laptop, opened it up, loaded the video and turned the screen to face me,

The scene was a beautiful villa in what looked like the south of France. A woman sat on a sun lounger in a bikini so skimpy she may as well have been naked. Suddenly, a man climbed out of the pool and sat with her, leaning over to give her a lingering kiss, dripping pool water all over her body. She pulled him in closer as her hands slid into his swimming shorts. I shifted uncomfortably as I realised why he was showing me this. The man was Jacob.

But that wasn’t what made my jaw drop - another person entered the scene. A woman, slender and fully nude walked over and sandwiched herself between them. I looked away as the screen developed into a full-blown three-way, tongues and hands exploring each other. Trevor’s wife, my husband and Betsy...

I snapped the laptop shut, the metallic click echoing like a guillotine. The image of Jacob’s hands on Trevor’s wife - and Betsy’s intertwined limbs - was seared into my retinas.

"I think I’m going to be sick," I whispered, pushing the untasted chocolate cake away.

Trevor didn't look away. His gaze was steady, a predatory stillness that made the air around us feel heavy. "That villa in Provence? It was bought with the money Jacob embezzled from my firm, funnelled through my ex-wife’s 'charity' accounts. They weren't just betraying us, Freya. They were stealing the future of my daughters to fund their depravity."

He leaned forward, his sensational, strong scent enveloping me. "Jacob thinks he’s won. He thinks he’s traded a 'placeholder' for a queen. He has no idea that he’s actually just walked into a trap I’ve been baiting for twelve months."

He reached across the table, his large hand hovering near mine. "Help me ruin them, Freya Miller. Help me take back everything they stole, and I promise you, by the time the twins are born, you’ll be the one holding the keys to Jacob’s world."

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."