Reunited With Her Italian Billionaire. Nina Singh
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scowled back and opened the door. “Mrs. Schelling. You’re here.”
Her nanny trotted inside and let out a loud “humph” before turning to her. “I only came for one thing, and then I’ll be going.” The grim set of the woman’s lips sent alarms ringing in Brianna’s head.
Not now, not today. She forced a smile, almost certain she knew what was about to happen. “Oh. All right. Why don’t we go talk in the kitchen?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’ve come to quit.”
Brianna’s heart dived. Somehow she kept her smile in place. Putting her arm around the other woman’s plump shoulders, she tried to move her toward the kitchen. Away from Marco.
“Don’t even joke like that, Mrs. Schelling.”
Mrs. Schelling didn’t move. “This is no joke, Miss Brianna. I refuse to tolerate any more from that young man.” Squinting, she pointed to Enzo. Enzo in turn stopped sucking on his cup long enough to give Mrs. Schelling a wide grin.
“I don’t understand.” Brianna dropped her arm.
Mrs. Schelling held out her palm. “I quit and I’d like my remaining payment.”
“But why?”
“I can no longer take care of your son. Life is too short. And I’m afraid I’ve already lived the bulk of mine at my age.”
Brianna didn’t dare look at Marco. She had no doubt what he had to be thinking. In his eyes, she had failed him as his wife and now she was clearly failing as a single mother.
This was the last impression she would have hoped to give upon seeing him again. Rather than proving her independence and abilities, she was instead coming off as flighty and in disarray, unable to get her act straight.
All she’d ever wanted was a stable home, some roots. With the arrival of her son, that had seemed like a real possibility. But now it was all going to rot somehow. She may have ended up with a family but it had come about in a random and haphazard manner. Now even that was falling apart.
“I’ve been thinking about this all night. Agonizing over the decision,” Mrs. Schelling was saying. Listening to her was like trying to focus as the walls crumbled around her. Brianna had tried so hard to lay the groundwork perfectly for her return to the United States. All to watch it implode now. And just her luck, Marco was here to witness the latest catastrophe.
The older woman paused to take a deep breath. “Your son is simply too much for me to handle. I dare say he’s too much for anyone to handle.”
Now that was a bit much. Brianna looked directly into the older woman’s eyes. “He’s barely two. He just doesn’t know any better.”
Mrs. Schelling took a tiny step back. Maybe it was the edge that had crept into her voice. It was a small source of satisfaction.
“Nevertheless, I don’t have to put up with his behavior. Not for any amount of money.”
Brianna tried to steady herself and her emotions. It didn’t help that Enzo was running in circles and shaking his spill-proof cup so furiously that he was managing to spill it anyway.
“Tell you what,” Brianna began in a much softer tone. “Why don’t you let me get dressed and we can discuss all this over a cup of coffee.” She indicated Marco with a nod of her head. “He was just leaving.”
Mrs. Schelling turned to look at him. Acknowledging Marco for the first time since she’d arrived, she studied him thoroughly. Apparently, she didn’t like what she saw. Then she turned her eyes to Brianna’s short T-shirt.
“I didn’t realize you were entertaining a gentleman,” she said with disdain.
Brianna’s breath caught. That was probably the worst thing to say in front of her husband. She didn’t have a chance to reply. Enzo, who must have sensed the tension between his mama and the nanny, whom he never really took a liking to, walked over and threw his relatively full cup straight at Mrs. Schelling’s shin.
“Ow! Do you see?” she cried. “There are plenty of nice, manageable children out there who need looking after. I don’t have to put up with—” She gave Enzo a look that could only be described as disgusted. “With this—”
“I am sorry for any trouble my son may have caused,” Marco interrupted. His words were cordial enough, but they held a distinct undertone.
“Your son?”
Marco gave her a stiff nod. “Correct. And it just so happens, we no longer need your services. I am here to make alternate arrangements for Enzo.”
Marco reached into his back pocket and pulled out a leather wallet. Removing several crisp bills, he extended them to the older woman. Brianna simply stood and stared. She would be hard pressed to match it.
Mrs. Schelling let out another “humph” as her pudgy hand closed around the bills. “I dare say I deserve it for all I’ve had to put up with.” She gave Enzo a withering look.
Brianna sighed at the other woman’s sourness. “I’m sorry our arrangement didn’t work out, Mrs. Schelling. I know Enzo can be a handful, but he’s just so young. There’s a lot he needs to learn.”
Mrs. Schelling pulled her coat tighter as she mumbled something incoherent under her breath. Then she stalked out.
Brianna shut the door and stared at it. What now? Behind her, Marco’s sigh was clearly audible.
Brianna turned to him. “Don’t you dare say a word. I don’t want to hear anything from you right now.”
He gave her a look a teacher might give a child who was having a tantrum.
“Listen,” she continued. “I have made no secret of the fact that Enzo has been having some behavior problems since we moved.”
“And what of the gentlemen you entertain?”
True to form, Brianna thought. “I do not entertain anyone. Mrs. Schelling just jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
Marco’s stony glare didn’t change.
“In any case, I need to start getting dressed.”
“Am I to presume that I will be given the privilege of sitting for my own son?”
“Only if I’m to presume that you’d still like to.”
“Of course I do. But I have one question for you first.”
She somehow knew that he would. “By all means,” she said, not sure how much more conflict she could take in one morning.
“What exactly would you have done if I hadn’t shown up?”
There was that hint of accusation in his voice again. “I would have figured something out.”
“I’m afraid to guess what that would have been. Were you going to perhaps dump Enzo off on an unprepared neighbor? Or maybe you would have brought him to the restaurant with you where he would have been practically unsupervised.”
Oh, he was just too much. “All the neighbors love Enzo, first of all. Secondly, I have a backup sitter.”
“And how long would that have taken?”
He had a point. It would probably have taken long enough to make her late again. Enzo’s antics had made her late so often in the past, Chef Ansigne had just about lost all patience with her.
“Are you going to sit with him or not?”
“Of course. Don’t even pretend you have another option.”
Brianna refused to take the bait. “Fine, I’m going to run upstairs and take a shower.” She reached down to tussle Enzo’s hair. He’d come over to hug her leg, seeking comfort, no doubt.
She leaned over to his eye level.