Chapter 9
Xavier
A damn annoying, nosy woman with her constant prodding and poking. Who did she think she was to keep pressuring me to do things I didn't want to do? Furthermore, what damn business was it of hers if I opened the damn envelope or not?
None, that's what. It was none of her damn business, and I'd just have to remind her whenever she forgot and stepped over the line.
It was my choice if or when to look inside, and I wouldn't be pressured to do it before I was ready.
I'd left the corporate world for that very reason, and I wouldn't let some nanny force my hand in my own damn home.
She'd already driven me out of the cabin to chop more wood because I would need more now that the other two rooms were occupied.
The cabin was on the grid with running electricity, but nothing beat the fireplace on a cold mountain evening.
Chopping wood calmed me. The constant overhead swing was relaxing and helped clear my mind.
And the sound of my phone ringing in my pocket shattered that calm. "What do you want?" I growled into the phone.
"Wow, your mood has gotten significantly worse since we last spoke. Does that mean you spoke to Mom?"
"No," I bit out. "She hasn't called. Thankfully."
"Then what's got your panties in a bunch?" Count on Nate to get straight to the point.
"I don't know since I don't wear panties. Something you need to confess?" I tapped the speaker button and went back to chopping wood. "Did you call for a reason other than to piss me off?"
"Yeah, how's the little bundle of poop and slobber?"
The swing missed the block of wood, and I dropped the axe before I ended up losing a toe, or a whole damn foot. "She's fine. Still pooping and slobbering. Crying a lot less, though."
"Have you figured out who the baby mama is yet?"
I groaned. "I really wish you wouldn't say it like that."
"One-night lover?"
"No," I grunted. "I don't know who the hell J is, and no matter how much I try to jog my memory, nothing is coming to me." I could've opened the envelope, which probably contained answers, but I wasn't ready yet.
"Dinner!" Rosalee's voice rang out through the kitchen window, punctuated by a distinct slam, which meant I probably needed to apologize for my bad behavior.
"And just who is that?" Nate asked with far too much amusement. "Are you holding out on me, baby brother?"
Without chopping wood to distract me, I dropped down on the chair where I usually sat to enjoy the sunrise with my morning coffee or the sunset with a cold beer and sighed. "Nothing to tell. It's the nanny." I gave him a quick rundown of Rosalee's dramatic entrance into my life and my cabin.
"Oh, the nanny, huh? She sounds sexy. Is she hot?"
I said nothing at first and pinched the bridge of my nose as I searched for restraint. "None of your damn business," was what I'd finally come up with.
"Wow," he guffawed loudly. "She's that hot, huh? Interesting. Did you order her from some type of sexy nanny catalog?"
"I called the number you gave me, Serenity Woods. Now, drop it." Why his teasing was pissing me off more than usual, I couldn't say. Then again, I was a grumpy asshole most of the time, so Nate wasn't bothered.
"Well, now you've piqued my curiosity even more, and I can't wait to meet her."
"Dammit, Nate." My hands shook with anger. "This isn't a joke. It's my life."
Nate sighed heavily. "You think I don't know that? I told you Triple Horn would eventually lead to trouble. You'd have been better off just hiring a pro. Or having a one-night stand like normal people do."
"Yeah," I growled at the point he'd made regularly since I told him about my monthly trips to the sex club. "Well, most one-night stands just want a quick missionary or doggy style." And unfortunately, I needed more than that to get off.
"If you want it rough and kinky, then maybe consider, I don't know, a committed relationship where you can get that whenever you want it. With strangers, there's always this risk. Besides, I thought only the people who ran the club knew your private information."
I sat up taller at Nate's words. "I hadn't thought about that." I hadn't been with the owner, Samantha, or any of the girls who worked at the club, so how did this person find me?
"You ever considered that someone knows who you are and this is a money grab?"
"Not until just now." Until that moment, I'd been confident that my identity, and therefore my wealth, was a secret. "Shit. Rosalee found an envelope underneath the baby's carrier."
"Rosalee is the nanny?" I appreciated that he was no longer laughing.
"Yeah. She's been damn insistent that there had to be some kind of details provided to me, and she found them." I should be grateful, and maybe later, I would be. Right now, I was still just angry and frustrated. And attracted.
"Why in the hell haven't you cracked open that envelope yet, Xavier? I know you've shrugged off your corporate persona and attire, but that killer instinct? That cynicism that made this place a success? Come on, brother."
"I don't have an answer." The truth was, if I opened it, I would find out the truth, and maybe I wasn't ready for it yet. "What do I do, Nate?"
"First, you open up the damn envelope and read every word on every single sheet of paper in there."
"Yeah," I sighed.
"Then, no matter what the paper says, you take that little girl, get a paternity test, and do it quickly.
If you are her father, use the power of your wealth and your name to expedite custody, just in case the mother comes back looking for some kind of payday.
" He scoffed. "If she found you, she knows who you are.
She probably thinks she'll let you get attached and then show up to get you to pay her to stay away. "
"Damn, that's cynical even for me." It was unheard of for my brother. He was all bright sides and optimism.
"Well, trust me, I have a bit more sympathy for your cynicism these days."
"That sounds like a story."
"One I'll tell you when I come up to meet my niece, once you have confirmation she is my niece. And a name."
I laughed, feeling lighter after my brother's counsel. "Thank you, Nate. This was just the kick in the ass I needed."
"It's what I'm here for. And do me a favor."
I held my breath because Nate's favors could be something simple, like a charity donation, or something more complicated, like our mother's dinner party. "What is it?"
"Tell Rosalee that your more handsome older brother says hello." His laughter rang out as I ended the call, putting a smile on my face as I stood and tucked my phone back into my pocket.
If I thought the smells outside the cabin were amazing, it was nothing compared to the garlicky, meaty smells wafting around inside. I made my way to the kitchen, feeling better than when I'd left, to find Rosalee was nearly finished with her meal. "Hey."
Her eyes drifted up to my face and she silently arched an eyebrow as if to say, "That's what you're going with?" before she returned to her food. If I wasn't mistaken, she ate a little faster, as if she couldn't wait to get away from me.
I deserved it, I knew. But it still stung. No, it didn't, I reminded myself. I cherished my peace and the quiet of living on the mountain, and I refused to let her change that. "Thanks for dinner," I murmured and headed to the sink to wash my hands.
"No problem," she replied, barely above a whisper. Rosalee finished her food just as I took my seat, and rather than sitting with me, she scooped up the baby and rushed off like her ass was on fire.
It was just as well anyway since I had more pressing matters to deal with, namely that damn, mocking envelope. I ate quickly, savoring the juicy, well-seasoned steak and the creamy mashed potatoes.
And dessert was answers.
There weren't many answers contained within the envelope, but a birth certificate meant a name. One for the baby and one for the mother. Judy Haskell. The name still didn't ring a bell, but she'd listed me as the father when she gave birth, nearly a year ago. I had some answers, but not enough.
I clutched the papers in my hand as if that act alone would give me more information on baby Violet and on Judy. I read and reread everything as Nate had advised, and all I had were more questions to go with a few scant answers. I had a starting point, which meant I could get more answers.
Tomorrow. I took the papers and carried myself upstairs, stopping at Violet's room to check on her as I'd been doing since she arrived on my doorstep.
She was asleep on her back, a pink blanket draped over her little body, both hands balled into tiny fists.
She made such a sweet picture that before I knew what I was doing, I pulled out my phone and snapped an actual photo.
"Good night, Violet," I whispered and pulled the door half-closed.
I wasn't sure if she had the personality of a Violet yet, but at least she now had a name.
It was progress, at least that's what I told myself as I fell into a deep sleep, filled with dreams of a mouthy nanny.