Emil I open the front door expecting to hear my kids talking or laughing or screaming. I’m greeted with absolute silence. Heart kicking against my ribs, I st ep into the main living space. “Hello?” My silk tie scrapes along the collar of my shirt as I loosen it, the sound loud in the heavy stillness. The plush carpet sinks under the weight of my st eps and still, I hear no hint of my children. My staff. There’s no one here. Every Friday, I come home for lunch with my kids. They should be expecting me. Why the hell aren’t they here? Where’s Dani? Wiping sweating palms on my suit pants, I hurry to Talia’s room. The explosion of pink and purple frills stares back at me, empty. Francis’s room is just as quiet. The playroom might as well be laughing at me for all its color and toys and lack of life. All the other doors are locked. Rushing, I head to the staff wing. No one. “Kathryn?” A tremor makes its way into my voice before I can stop it. “Dani?” A clock ticks, second by second by second. It sounds like a death knell, echoing into the darkest parts of my psyche. Returning to the kitchen, I hurry to the front door. A bitter taste spreads over my tongue when I see the car keys gone, the bowl where they should be empty. She took the car. She took my children. Anger swe eps through me like a wildfire ripping through dry underbrush, razing all my budding tenderness for the nanny. I had one rule. A single, unbreakable rule. She was not to get in a car with my kids. Was that so hard to understand? Did I not make myself clear? And where the hell is Kathryn? Hands trembling, I rush back out the door and into the waiting elevator. My heart stutters as I wait in the reflective box, staring at my own tense reflection for a minute, two. When the doors slide open, I exhale and eat the distance to the front door with long, angry st eps. “Yaurel.” I stride to the security desk. “Have you seen my children?” “Sir.” He gives me a nod. “Miss Danika took them out about an hour ago,” he says, standing. He adjusts his belt over his paunch, then scratches the side of his head. “Same as usual. They should be back soon.” “Same... as usual?” Anger is a steel blade inside me. I can hardly think from the sharpness of it. It’s happening again. My children are being taken from me. Stolen. A woman weaseled her way into my life and took advantage of me. Betrayed me. I haven’t told anyone what happened the day Callie died. I haven’t told anyone about the state of my marriage, because how could I? In everyone else’s eyes, Callie was Mother Theresa. She volunteered, gave her time and money, was a pillar in the society. She was adored. Only I saw the truth beneath her shiny exterior, the rot eating away at her soul.
But Callie passed away in a tragic, sudden accident, and she was mourned. Telling anyone about the truth of our marriage was impossible when they cried on my shoulder, when they told me how lucky I’d been to have such an angel in my life. What kind of coward would it make me to turn around and say anything against my dead wife? More important than my own bitterness were the kids. How could I tarnish the memory of their mother? She died when a drunk driver hit her car, her life ended in an instant. What could I possibly gain from adding to my kids’ pain by telling them their mother wasn’t a good person? So I pretended. For two years, I’ve been the mourning husband, devoted to his kids. I’ve k ept the truth of that day buried de ep in my heart, hidden the horror of it under brick and steel and concrete, behind the tangle of barbed wire that ke eps my heart safe. Callie tried to take my kids—and now it’s happening all over again. Yaurel gulps. He gestures to the door. “They go to the park every morning.” Distantly, under the deafening pulse of my rage, I realize I might be wrong. But my hands shake as I rush to the exit, the door swinging open as the doorman gives me a shallow bow. I grunt in response, my eyes scanning the street, the cars, the crosswalk. My phone is at my ear, ringing and ringing and ringing. No answer from Dani or from Kathryn. There’s too much traffic for me to cross. I mash the button, looking for an opening in the stream of cars, needing to check the park, to see if Yaurel was right. She took my kids. She took my kids. She took my kids. Fear leaves an acerbic coating on my tongue, burning all the way down to my stomach. Finally, the light changes. I brush past the mass of people trying to cross the street and jog down the half block to the park. An angry shout chases me when I bump into a man walking the opposite way, but it doesn’t stop me. My heart is in my throat, the memories of that day fresh in my mind. The park opens up in front of me, squealing laughter reaching my ears. I scan the benches for Dani, and see only Leif’s Mrs. Doubtfire nanny and a blond woman I don’t recognize. They’re laughing at something. Children play on the playground, the happy sound of it a dead ringing in my ears. Three more st eps, and I stop in my tracks. Talia is laughing harder than I’ve ever seen her, running across the small field behind the playground. Francis is beside her, trying his best to ke ep up, along with two other kids flanking them. The joy on my son’s face splits my heart in a million pieces, and I realize he hasn’t smiled like that since he was an infant. Then my eyes shift to the woman they’re chasing. Dani is doing her best to outrun the horde of children, her cheeks pink with the effort, laughter written in every line of her face. Talia leaps, tackling Dani to the ground, and within moments the children have covered her completely. They tickle Dani mercilessly as she laughs and laughs and laughs. Frozen in place, I stare. I’ve never seen her laugh before. Smile, yes. She gave me shy smiles and even a few real ones at the Summer Ball and the days she’s spent in my penthouse. But no laughter, not like this. Dani Jenckell is without a doubt the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. With her mouth dropped open in a screaming laugh and her hair splayed all over the grass, small hands attacking every ticklish spot on her body, she looks wild and free and perfect.
Before I realize what I’m doing, my st eps carry me to the mass of joyful laughter. Talia is the first to notice me. “Daddy!” She jumps up and wraps her arms around my waist. I smooth my hand over her curls, leaning down to lay a kiss on her head. My heart is still thundering in my chest, so I barely catch a word coming from Talia’s mouth. “... and then Isla said she wanted to come over to make cookies, too. Can she come over, Daddy? Mrs. Harriet said maybe next week.” My daughter gives me those big, pleading eyes that I never seem to be able to resist. “Sure,” I hear myself saying. “Yay!” Talia runs away from me to go find the little golden-haired girl jumping up and down near the playground. I watch them, shaking my head. Dani sits up and straightens Francis’s shirt, smoothing his hair down in gentle movements. Francis gives her big moon-eyes, and I know my son is completely in love with her. I don’t blame him. Dani looks up at me, the sun highlighting every perfect plane of her face. “I think your daughter just played you. Swindled you with a hug and a few bats of her eyelashes.” She stands, my eyes snagging on every feminine curve. “She seems to have that ability.” My voice feels distant, as if my mind hasn’t quite caught up to the situation. My kids are safe. Dani didn’t take them. They didn’t get in the car. Didn’t get in an accident. “Are you okay?” Dani tilts her head, then follows my gaze to where Francis, as usual, trails behind Talia like a shadow. I start, then clear my throat. “I’m fine. Came home for lunch but no one was home. Yaurel told me you were here.” That’s the truth. Sort of. “Oh!” She glances at her watch. “We’ve been here two hours already. How did that go so quickly?” “Looked like you were enjoying yourself.” My hand rises before I can stop it, plucking a piece of grass from Dani’s hair. Sunlight glints off her locks, illuminating a thousand hidden shades. The brown looks golden in this light, with auburn and red and pure white revealed with every movement. As my fingers touch the piece of grass, then twirl around a strand of Dani’s hair, she stands perfectly, utterly still. The fear and anger in my gut morphs to something else. Need screams through me as Dani’s tongue swipes over her bottom lip, her eyes flicking up to meet mine. The fire that blazed red-hot inside me de epens, moving from my chest to my stomach, making certain parts of me swell under the zipper of my pants. It’s that flush in Dani’s cheeks that does me in. The pink swe eping across her face as she ducks her head, then flicks her gaze back up to meet mine. It kicks me in the chest, nearly knocks me back. No matter how much I try to ke ep my distance, I can’t stop thinking about the Summer Ball and how good Dani’s body felt in my hands. I can’t stop my dreams from torturing me with images of her splayed on my sheets, her body offered up to me like a buffet. I can’t help wanting to taste every damn inch of her.
With a hitched breath, Dani looks to the children. “We should get back. Kathryn said she was taking the car to get a screechy noise checked out by the mechanic, but she should be done soon. I told her I’d have lunch ready for her when she got home.” Of course. The car’s at the mechanic—Kathryn told me that this morning, or maybe it was yesterday. How could I forget? Swallowing back the desire to lean down and bite Dani’s irresistible bottom lip, I nod. When Dani calls the kids, they come without protest, without question. Francis stands in front of Dani and lifts his arms, a silent demand to be carried. Dani doesn’t protest, picking him up and swinging him onto her hip. Talia comes to stand beside me, slipping her palm against mine. We walk back while Talia skips and talks nonstop. It’s not until we’re back home and sitting at the table eating lunch that I feel nearly normal again. As Dani cuts Francis’s food for him and makes sure the kids have everything they need, my heart fists in my chest. This feels... It feels like something I’ve never had, not even with Callie. She relied on Kathryn and other staff to take care of the kids. She was never hands-on, never willing to roll around in the grass with Talia and Francis then come home and feed them. And Talia never listened to Callie like she listens to Dani. Never respected her enough to obey her. I wonder if de ep down, she saw the rottenness of Callie’s heart. Francis was too young to remember any of it, of course, but Talia... I wonder if she could sense the truth of it like only a child can. If she knew even before I did that Callie would try to stab me in the back. I’m a piece of shit for comparing Dani to my wife—to the kids’ mother. I know that. I’ve tried my best not to turn the kids against their mother, to ke ep her memory pure. I know I’m a terrible person for even thinking these things about Dani, for wanting her. But I do. Desperately. As if she can sense my thoughts, Dani’s de ep brown eyes flick up to mine, that ring of gold bright in her irises. She tilts her head, a soft smile tugging at her lips. Her knee nudges mine, an innocent touch that’s probably meant to be comforting but ends up having a direct line to my cock. I ke ep my eyes on my plate for the rest of the meal.