I lean against the door, totally lost, but decide to push the fantasies out of my head before I end up completely disappointed.
I’ll go out with Melissa’s friend.
I’ll have some fun and try to forget about the Spanish god who is light years beyond my reach. I have to keep my feet on the ground instead of creating illusions in my mind.
Chapter 17
Three days later
“What do you mean you can’t come? And you’re just telling me now?”
I take a few breaths to calm myself, but the irritation is getting the best of me.
I have an important meeting, and besides not having enough time to take Nina to my mother’s house anymore, my father’s health has been worrying us for the past few days. It wouldn’t be fair to her.
“I won’t discuss this with you. It’s not my concern if you stayed up late because you spent the night at a nightclub, miss. Work is work.”
As the woman starts to argue with every excuse from A to Z in the English vocabulary, my patience runs out.
I’m a man who has taken on more responsibilities than I was ready for from a young age, and if there’s one thing that doesn’t earn my sympathy, it’s someone who fails in their duties and then tries to justify their mistakes.
Excuses annoy me because in the end, it all comes down to a matter of priorities—and apparently, punctuality isn’t one for Nina’s day shift nanny.
“Your services will no longer be required. You will be contacted later today to terminate your employment contract. Have a good day.”
Sometimes I feel like there’s a conspiracy in the world, constantly testing me to see how much I can take.
I’m damn irritated, and it’s only seven-thirty in the morning, which means I should have been at the office ten minutes ago.
I walk over to the crib not knowing what to do, but then I see Valentina leisurely grabbing both feet in yet another one of her contortionist performances, smiling and talking to herself; my heart warms instantly.
“Are you having fun there, sweetheart? Daddy has plans for today. What do you think about spending the day at the office? The people there aren’t much fun, I must warn you, but at least you can start preparing to take over the business in the future. What do you say?”
She claps her hands, and as if by magic, my irritation disappears.
“Let’s go then, Princess Nina. Today we’ll have to be quick in choosing your outfit. No makeup or elaborate hairstyles. It’ll have to be a more casual style, okay?”
She smiles, seeming to agree, as I lift her out of the crib.
There’s no way to keep Nina in a meeting where tempers can flare up at times. She doesn’t like raised voices.
Suddenly, I have an idea.
I’ll do a test.
“Olívia, can you come to my office?”
When I made the call about ten minutes ago, I quickly said goodbye, not leaving much room for her to ask questions.
Since the day I had dinner in her room, she seems to be avoiding me whenever possible. I should be relieved by this, but instead, I feel an increasing need to get closer.
I haven’t stopped thinking about what she said about missing going out.
Should I ask her out to dinner? Maybe I should. After all, we both agreed to be friends.
I’m damn confused.
I know that the right thing would be to keep a certain distance and address the situation regarding her relationship to Layla, as I had planned from the beginning, since sooner or later she will need to know the truth. But at the same time, my heart constricts at the thought of revealing to the girl as sweet as a honey pot the disloyalty to which she’s been subjected.
