Chapter 4

Dane’s POV

The lady for the nanny position arrived yesterday. As usual, I inform my security team to run a background check on her like I always do with my domestic staff. I’m very cautious of who I let into my house and most especially, close to my daughter. Ever since her mum left, I've been very particular on who I let close to her. She has rejected all her nannies and we're back here again. I just hope this one doesn't end up like the rest. I know my daughter is struggling with the fact that her mum isn't around anymore. She would always ask me when her mummy is coming home.

Back then, I couldn't tell her Melissa left us. I would tell her she went on a long trip. But the questions has reduced a bit these past few months. I had to tell her her mum won’t be coming back anymore. She found a better life somewhere else. I try as much as possible to make her feel loved and accepted but she would always say her mum abandoned her. No lies detected though. She suffered and still suffers nightmares about her mum leaving her and it would break my heart everytime I have to put her back to sleep. Melissa did us dirty. It's been two years going on three but somehow it still feels like it happened yesterday. Ever since then, I haven't looked at any woman twice. Between work, looking after Averie and Grandfather, there's little to no time to engage women just to get my heart broken like the last time. Miss me with that.

I glance through the report the head of security sent to me about Genesis, my daughter’s new nanny. There's nothing spectacular here. Just a bunch of student loans and a huge gambling debt by her mum. It says here she lives with her mum in a trailer home downtown. I guess she's financially incapacitated hence her need for the job. She graduated from the University last year and I wonder why she chooses to work as a nanny instead of using her degree to source for a job in her professional line of work. I shake my head at the thought and set the papers down.

I return from a meeting at the conference room and I'm barely seated when Ethan, my lousy younger brother struts in, and plops on the sofa in the lounge area of my office with a loud thud. I squeeze my eyes shut, not having the energy to deal with him now. I sit and resume working, ignoring him completely.

“What's good, bro. How's the job going?” he says after a few minutes of doing nothing in my office. What is he even here for? He has his own office. It would have been functioning if only Ethan would dedicate time to learning the ropes. He has refused to do that, saying it's too much work for him. But he's ever ready to spend the money generated from “too much work”. I roll my eyes internally.

“Don't you have work to do?” I ask, not taking my eyes away from my computer screen.

“Arrrggghhh! You're so obsessed with work, Dane. Do you even take out time to chill?” he faces me from his seated position.

“I guess someone has to work to fund your extravagant lifestyle. Or maybe I should just block your cards instead. That should get you to work” I look at him.

“You know you can't do that, brother” he says with a sneer.

“Trust me, I can” I smirk.

His only saving grace is Grandfather. The old man still has hope that Ethan would come around and I've only let him be because of Grandfather. I do not want to offend him. He says he hates the fact that we do not have the close bond we had while growing up. He's not wrong though. Ethan and I were really close while growing up. Everything changed when he went off to college and met those crazy, entitled college kids from rich families. He became more demanding and insisted on spending money like he prints them himself. I honestly do not have a problem with him wanting the good things of life. We have everything we could ever need. But I have a problem when he refuses to work for it.

Ethan clears his throat and walks up to my desk. “You know there are more fun things you could be doing instead of this” he picks a cube box up and carelessly drops it back and I stare at him.

“Ethan, you can clearly see I'm working. I do not have the time to entertain your silliness” I state.

“You'll love this, I promise. I have a proposal for you” he says with a coy smile. I lean back on my chair and give him a deadpan look.

“Let's hear it” I say after a few seconds.

“It's been a while since your crazy wife left you for your rival” he jokes, nonetheless condescending.

“Ex-wife. What are you on about?” I ask, getting agitated at the metion of her.

“Don't you think it's time to move on? I mean, your daughter clearly needs a mother figure. And even if you do not want something too serious, I could arrange something else for you. I've got contacts of sexy women who would be at your beck and call whenever you want. I know it's been a while you had some” he says with a stupid laugh.

“My love life is totally none of your concern neither is my sex life. If you would put half the effort you put into doing meaningless things into your work, you would be more productive as an individual, Ethan. And even if I wanted a woman, I can get one myself” I say firmly.

“Sure you can. We saw how that played out” he says mockingly. I want to punch him in the face but I choose to ignore him and return back to work.

“See yourself out when you're done being a nuisance” I say, coldly.

“Whatever, man. I guess you feel all high and mighty running things around here. Just know it might not last as long as you think” he gives me a tight-lipped smile as he walks out. I let out a breath, clearly drained just by speaking to my brother.

I arrive home late after a long day. I decide to stop by Averie's room. It's a little past her bedtime and I'm not quite sure if she's still awake. I open the door gently to see her nanny, seated on a chair by her bedside, reading bedtime stories to a sleepy Averie. I watch them for a while without making my presence known. Her nanny has her back to me so I can't see her face yet. Her voice sounds lovely as she reads to my daughter, I must admit. Averie giggles sleepily at whatever her nanny says and I'm taken aback for a bit. Averie never smiles at her nannies let alone giggle. I file that thought in my mind and walk further into the room.

“Daddy” Averie says sleepily from the bed. She would be knocked out any moment from now and I give her a warm smile. Her nanny stands and turns to me and I forget how to breathe. Standing before me is a very gorgeous woman. The picture from the report did no justice to her beauty. She looks incredible in person. I quickly catch my thoughts. Why am I even thinking about my daughter’s nanny in that manner?

“Good evening, Sir. I'm Genesis Peters, the new nanny” she says in a sweet voice and I clear my throat not wanting to think about how nice her voice sounds.

“Hello. I trust you were briefed on everything you need to know about working here” I muster up a professional voice.

“Yes, Sir. Miss Ophelia did that already” she responds.

“And Averie? I hope she didn't give you too much trouble?” I ask, averting my gaze to my daughter who's already fast asleep.

“Not at all. She's a sweet little girl. Assertive, but sweet” she says with a small smile, looking back at Averie. I don't fail to catch that.

“That's good to know. I'm Dane Matthews. Her Father. You can retire for the night. I'll take it from here” I say, moving towards my daughter's bed.

“Alright. Good night, Sir” she says. I have my back turned to her and I don’t respond as she leaves the room.

I take the seat Genesis vacated earlier and stare at my daughter. I adjust the duvet to cover her up properly and sit with her for a while. From what I witnessed a few minutes ago, this nanny just might be different but I know it's still too early to tell. I just hope she is. I can't even think about having to hire another nanny. My mind goes back to Genesis. It's weird because I've never had that reaction to another woman since Melissa. I quickly blame it on stress. The last thing on my mind right now is a woman. I already have too much on my plate and I don't think I'm ready to go down that road again.