"Another family in Monaco looking for someone to manage their 'spirited' twins," I announce, clicking through job descriptions."Translation: their children are tiny sociopaths and they've driven off three nannies this summer."
"Ooh, or this one," I continue."Ultra-wealthy family seeks 'discreet' childcare professional for 'unique family dynamic.'That's definitely code for something involving either organized crime or reality television."
Julianna emerges from Bianca's wine fridge—because of course my sommelier older sister installed a proper wine fridge in our baby sister's chaotic apartment art studio.
"Stop looking at job postings and tell us about the movers," she says, settling into the only chair not covered in art supplies."Did they get everything out of Ricardo's place?"
"Most of it."I close the laptop with a thwack."Though apparently Ricardo was there to 'supervise' and kept asking questions about my new employer."
"What kind of questions?"Bianca calls from the kitchen, where something is starting to smell like burning garlic.
"The usual narcissistic ex-boyfriend stuff.Whether Roarke and I are sleeping together, how much he's paying me, if I'm going to 'upgrade' from domestic help to trophy wife."
Jules sputters on her wine."He actually said that?"
"Among other charming observations.He also mentioned that he saw the gala photos in Monaco Social and thinks I'm 'punching above my weight class.'"
"That bastard," Bianca mutters, aggressively stirring something that's definitely burning now."I hope you told the movers to accidentally drop his signed cookbook collection."
"B, focus on not burning down your apartment," I say, then turn to Jules."The point is, I have enough money now to get my own place.These two paychecks from Roarke will cover first and last month's rent somewhere decent, plus utilities."
"FIRE!THERE'S FIRE!"Bianca shrieks from the kitchen.
The two of us rush over to find her frantically waving a dish towel at a pan that's producing impressive amounts of smoke.
"Step back!"Jules commands, grabbing the pan and dumping it in the sink."Jesus, B, how do you burn olive oil?"
"It's a gift.Good thing I have backup pizza on speed dial."
Twenty minutes later, we're sharing mediocre takeout pizza while Jules interrogates me with the exacting attention she usually reserves for a rare wine vintage.
"So let me understand this correctly.”She twirls cheese around her fork."You're planning to find another nanny job instead of staying with the billionaire who's clearly crazy about you."
"He's not crazy about me.He's crazy about the sex."I take a large bite of pizza to avoid elaborating.
"Is he though?"Bianca leans forward, eyebrows quirked."Because from what you've told us, he's also learning show tunes with his niece, letting a delinquent parakeet redecorate his yacht, and attending family lunches with his grandmother.That doesn't sound like a man who's thinking with his dick."
“Way to bury the lede there, B," Jules chides automatically.
"You're both missing the point.”I exhale, pushing melting cheese back onto my slice, my heart hammering."After the gala, he made it very clear that our...time together was a mistake.He literally said it can't happen again."
"Because he thinks he's taking advantage of you," Jules points out."Not because he doesn't want you."
"Same difference."
"Is it though?"Bianca steals a piece of my pizza."When's the last time you actually told a man what you wanted instead of just accepting whatever crumbs he was willing to give you?"
“That’s not—I don’t do that."
"Really?Because with Ricardo, you accepted being treated like staff who occasionally warmed his bed.And now with Roarke, you're accepting being dismissed like a temporary employee instead of fighting for what you want."
"I am fighting!I'm looking for better opportunities?—"
"You're running away," Jules interrupts."Just like you ran away from Ricardo's humiliation instead of standing up for yourself."
"What was I supposed to do?He cheated on me with a client.A food ‘influencer’ who literally can’t tell garlic from a Gucci bag.He humiliated me."
"Yeah, and you were supposed to fight back!I mean, come on, Mia.You could have done anything—something.Sued him for harassment.Exposed his unprofessional conduct.Made him pay for treating you like garbage."Bianca's eyes flash."Instead, you just...accepted it.Packed your bags and convinced yourself you deserved it."
