22
Moreno
It’s not bad enough that Paige dares to steal from me and then wear Serene’s ring on her finger like she’s my bride, but then to go and say she’s a better parent to my daughter than I am?
The nerve of her!
Well, technically, she didn’t use the word parent, but it’s the same difference.
I can’t let it go.
I should walk out. Leave her alone and bury myself in work.
Even sleep would be a welcoming distraction.
But my feet lead me back around. Maybe it’s my heart interfering. My head is certainly in the right place, screaming for me to get out before I do something I will regret.
“Excuse me?” I take two strides. My footsteps aren’t soft and quiet.
I hope I don’t wake Nova from slumber, but I can’t be any quieter than I already am. This is me keeping it down.
My voice booms as I snarl at Paige.
Her eyes widen, and she snaps her lips shut.
Yeah, she didn’t think I heard her. Well, I did. “Care to say that again to my face?”
It’s a challenge.
She presses her lips together, rolling them between her teeth.
My gaze lingers longer than it should on her lips, but she doesn’t say anything if she notices.
“I will be taking tomorrow off,” Paige says.
Goodness, does the girl have no understanding of not leaving the compound? “You’re not leaving until I allow it.”
“Excuse me?” she huffs and sits up in bed, pushing her legs over the edge. “I’m not some girl you can haul up and keep captive.”
Does she realize I’m keeping her here to protect her?
Vance will come after her. And when he finds her, he’ll torture her, rape her, and kill her. It’s a game to see what he can do to destroy my family and how long we survive.
She doesn’t get it.
How could she? I haven’t exactly been open and honest with her about Serene’s death or Laura, our last nanny.
“Do you honestly believe that I’m keeping you here for my pleasure?” I laugh at the absurdity of her suggestion. “You’re Nova’s nanny, and I have somewhere to be tomorrow. Which means you will be here, watching my daughter.”
Her brow furrows.
The cogs must be going in her head.
“Then you won’t have a problem if I take her with me for the day out?”
I toss my hands into the air. “You seriously can’t listen? You are not leaving. Nova is not leaving. If you so much as step foot outside, I’ll have the guards detain you and sequester you to your room for the next month,” I seethe.
She is trying my patience.