The Woodsman's Nanny - A Single Daddy Romance

by Emerson Rose

  “Thanks for coming.”

  Sometimes a vacation is just what the family needs.

  23

  Sasha

  Day one of our vacation started off great. We woke up, showered and dressed, went down and had breakfast with Tito, Mark, Matt, and Zion. We were just about to leave for Disney World—Victoria was bouncing off the walls with excitement, and Xander was doing his best to contain her—when I received a text message.

  Unknown caller: Disney World is a busy place. Better hold her hand.

  Frozen in place, I stare at the tiny screen. A fine sheen of sweat breaks out on my forehead, and my heart pounds in my chest. He’s going to try to kidnap Victoria at Disney today.

  When I can move again, my fingers fly across the keyboard typing a response.

  Me: What do you want?

  “Sasha, are you coming?” Xander says from the front door.

  “I uh, I…” I don’t know what to say. Yes, I’m ready to go, but now we can’t. What do I tell Xander? More importantly, what do I tell Victoria?

  My phone chimes.

  Unknown caller: I want you back. I want you to stop playing house with that pansy-ass doctor and his little brat, and I always get what I want, Sasha. Always.

  Xander joins me and removes the phone from my hand. I let him. There’s no sense trying to hide what’s going on. We have to work together to keep Victoria safe.

  He looks at me and then reads the text. He drops his arm to his side holding the phone, and I see a muscle in his jaw twitch. He’s angry. So am I—angry and scared.

  “We can’t go to Disney today,” he says even though that’s obvious.

  “What are we going to tell her?”

  He reaches up to rub the back of his neck and groans. “I don’t know. She’s going to be devastated.”

  “Maybe we can just postpone it, make up an excuse. I could say I’m sick.”

  “I don’t know… maybe we should just tell her a watered-down version of the truth.”

  “No, Xander, she won’t handle that well. You know she won’t. She’s been through too much already.”

  “You’re right. Shit, what is this fucker’s problem?” he curses knowing what his problem is.

  “What if staying home is what he wants? Maybe he’s going to show up here today and wanted to make sure we were going to be around? I think we need to run it all by Tito before we decide anything.”

  “All right. I’ll tell him we need to talk. Do you think you can get Tori to come back inside?”

  “I’ll try.”

  “Okay, keep her inside, and if you can, let Zion in on what’s happening, will you?”

  “Yes.”

  He hands me my phone. “If he says anything else, tell me right away and don’t respond. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  I head out to the Escalade and open the back door. Victoria is already belted in her seat, and Matt is sitting next to her. “Hey, sweet girl.” Her face falls right away, I never call her anything but Victoria. She knows something’s up.

  “We need to go back inside for a little bit while daddy sorts something out.”

  “But we’re going to Disney World. I don’t wanna go inside,” she whines.

  “I know, honey, but it’s important. We have to.”

  Matt shoots me a what’s going on look, and when Victoria isn’t looking, I cock my head toward the house. “You got her?” he asks.

  “Yeah.”

  He opens his door and makes a beeline for the house. “Let’s go inside and tell Zion it’s going to be a little bit.”

  “No, we’re going to see Mickey Mouse and Belle!” she says raising her voice.

  “I know, sweetie, but this is super important, and it can’t wait.”

  She stops fussing and takes my face in her little hands to make me focus on her. “Are the bad men coming?” she asks her voice no longer angry but trembling with a sudden fear.

  “I’m not going to lie to you, okay?” She nods her head

  “Remember when I told you there was a bad man who wasn’t nice to me?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Well, we think he might be nearby, and your daddy wants to do everything possible to keep me safe before we go anywhere. Understand?”

  Her fear turns to absolute concern, her brow is furrowed, and she’s looking around out the windows for possible suspects. I didn’t want to scare her by telling her it was her that Enrique is threatening. Making me the person in danger seemed like the best way to get her to agree to more security without a meltdown.

  I unbuckle her belt and carry her inside, something else I never do. She is more than capable of walking on her own, but something fiercely protective has been ignited in me.

  I should have left before I got so involved with Xander. I should have turned around and walked out the second I got that first text when Enrique was on the beach outside Xander’s house. Now I’m in love with both of them, and that love has put a five-year-old little girl’s life in danger.

  “Tito has a panic room, too. You should go in there,” Victoria says surprising me. I had no idea he had a panic room.

  “How do you know that?”

  “I asked him before we left.”

  “That was a smart thing to ask.” Smart indeed, if she were a thirty-year-old kidnapping survivor. It’s astonishing to me how mature she is when it comes to her safety.

  Inside, I put her down, close and lock the front door, and she takes my hand and starts pulling me up the stairs. “Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”

  “Maybe we should tell your daddy and Tito where we’re going first?”

  “Okay. Daddy, me and Sasha are goin’ to the panic room!” she yells into the house. I’m sure wherever he is, he heard her. “Let’s go.”

  We start upstairs, and I hear Xander call out, “Good plan, princess!”

  She leads me to the bedroom we slept in last night and to a bookshelf. “It’s behind there,” she says pointing at it.

  “How do we get in?”

  “Push on the shelf up there. Tito told me it’s like mine.” She points to a shelf halfway up, and I do as she says. It pops back and opens like a big heavy door. On the other side is a metal door similar to the one in Victoria’s bathroom safe room.

  “Is there a code?” I ask my little accomplice.

  “Orange blossom,” Xander says from behind us.

  “That’s pretty, Daddy. I like that code.”

  “It’s Florida’s state flower. Go ahead, punch it in,” he says gesturing at the keyboard on the door. I do as he says, and the door opens. “Go on in, princess. Sasha will be right there.”

  “No, Daddy. Sasha’s in danger, so she has to go first.” She gets behind me and places her hands on my butt pushing me in the safe room. I chuckle and turn around to look at Xander who is a little confused.

  “Can we text when I’m in here?” I ask him.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, I’ll text you. Let us know when it’s safe to come out.”

  “I will.” He pushes a red button, and the door slides shut. I don’t like small spaces, and I especially don’t like being locked into small spaces, but I’ll do my best to keep my shit together for Victoria.

  When I turn around, I’m pleasantly surprised to find this safe room is much more than a room and nothing like the one in Xander’s home. It’s big, as big as the bedroom, maybe a little bigger, and it has a big screen television, a couch, a mini fridge, a small table and chair set, and a small three-quarter bathroom. It has the standard security equipment, screens that show every space inside and outside of the house, an intercom and a panel that shows all the alarms in the house and if they are set or not. All the lights are red indicating the alarms are set.

  “It’s big in here,” she says walking to the couch and plopping down. “Can we watch TV?” she asks.

  “Sure, whatever you want is fine with me.” She switches on the TV, and I send Xander a text to find out what’s goi
ng on.

  Me: She thinks that bad men are coming after me. It was the only way to avoid a meltdown in the driveway and get her to come back inside.

  Xander: Brilliant plan. Has he contacted you again?

  I look at my phone.

  Me: No, nothing.

  Xander: Does he think that telling you to quit working for me is going to work?

  Me: Yes, it has in the past.

  Xander: So he’s done this before?

  Me: Once when I tried to date a guy from work.

  Xander: How’d that go?

  Me: I went to dinner and drinks with the guy. He asked me out again. Enrique showed up at my apartment and said he would slash Will’s tires and then his throat. I never showed up for the second date.

  No response. He’s probably wondering why the hell I didn’t do the same thing for him. Truth be told, so am I.

  “Come watch with me,” Victoria calls, and I cross the room to snuggle on the couch with her. Here we are at the happiest place on earth where the sun’s always shining, and Disney World is waiting for us. But instead of enjoying our vacation, we are sitting in a panic room with no windows hiding from a fucking terrorist, and it’s all my fault.

  “I’m sorry I’m ruining your vacation,” I say stroking her hair.

  “It’s okay, we can go when Daddy and Tito find your bad man.”

  Shit, I hadn’t thought about that. What if they do find him? What will happen then? We all know Enrique won’t quit unless he’s dead. I don’t want Xander to have that blood on his hands.

  I text Xander again.

  Me: What’s your plan?

  Xander: We have to find out where he’s staying and how he knows what we are doing.

  Me: Then what?

  Xander: Then we take care of the problem.

  Me: And how do you plan on doing that?

  Xander: Any way necessary.

  Shit, shit, shit. Any way necessary? That means they’re planning on doing something stupid.

  Me: Xander, don’t. Let me go home and talk to him. I’m sure I can get him to leave you and Victoria alone. All he wants is to keep us apart. If we give him the illusion that we are, he will back off.

  That’s partially true. If I went home right now, they could finish their vacation without another threat. But the part about hiding our relationship, that’s crap. Enrique wants me for himself, and he won’t quit until he has me.

  I have to go. It’s the only solution that keeps everyone alive and Victoria safe.

  Xander: I’m not giving up. You’re mine, and I protect what’s mine.

  Me: But at what price? I can’t watch you go to prison for this. Victoria needs her daddy.

  Xander: Nobody’s going to prison. Let Tito and me handle this. Stop worrying, we got it.

  Stop worrying? Is he kidding? I won’t be able to stop worrying about Enrique until I see his cold, stiff body lowered into a grave. I have to leave, the sooner, the better. I switch from my text with Xander to the text Enrique sent to me.

  Me: Enrique?

  Enrique: Yes, my love.

  Me: Please don’t hurt the little girl. Can we meet?

  Enrique: Be at the airport at five, and the child will be fine.

  The airport? Shit, he’s going to want to take me somewhere. I can’t get on a plane with that man. I’ll never come back.

  Me: Why the airport?

  I know it’s a stupid question, but I have to ask it.

  Enrique: I need a favor from you.

  A favor? What kind of favor could he possibly need from me?

  Me: What kind of favor?

  Enrique: We can talk about it at the airport.

  Me: I’m not going anywhere with you.

  Enrique: Pity, Victoria is such a beautiful child. Her father will miss her so much, don’t you think?

  Me: Okay, I’ll meet you. Just don’t touch them.

  Enrique: Her.

  Me: What?

  Enrique: I won’t touch her. Your boyfriend, though, him I’d like to pound into the ground.

  Me: I’ll take my chances then.

  Enrique: Okay spoilsport, I’ll let him keep his pretty face. See you at 5:00 p.m. sharp.

  I close my text and delete the conversation taking a deep breath before blowing it out.

  Sometimes drug lords have mentally ill children, and they ruin nice girls’ lives.

  24

  Xander

  I have the best daughter in the world. Not many five-year-olds would accept what happened today so well. We told Tori the Disney World visit was off for the day. She took it like a trouper. She thinks it’s about keeping Sasha safe, and she loves her enough to sacrifice the happiest place on earth—for a day anyway.

  Hopefully, Tito will be able to eliminate the threat tonight and our day of fun with Mickey Mouse will be back on tomorrow.

  Sasha spent the morning in the panic room, but when Enrique stopped communicating via text, and we didn’t find any evidence that he had been close to Tito’s house, they came out.

  Tito called in two more bodyguards so we could spend the afternoon swimming in his pool. The four men stood guard outside the six-foot-high privacy fence armed and dangerous ready to take out any Mexican man named Enrique. We couldn’t see them, but we knew they were there.

  Tito’s house is beautiful, and his yard is spectacular. He has flower gardens overflowing with colorful flowers and plants and two large, old palm trees that provide the perfect amount of shade.

  “Can we swim later?” Tori asks as I usher her inside for dinner.

  “We’ll see, I think after you eat, you might be too tired.”

  “No, I’m not tired. Sasha, can we surf in the pool?”

  She chuckles. “No there aren’t any waves in the pool. You have to go to the ocean.”

  “Can we go to the ocean then?”

  “Bug, we talked about this. We have to stay at Tito’s house for a while until we are sure everything is safe for Sasha, remember?”

  “Yeah, I remember.” She’s trying to stay strong and be a good sport, but her tolerance is waning.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” Sasha announces starting upstairs.

  “I’ll get Tori in the bath,” Zion says shuffling into the kitchen. “Come on, child, time to wash off all those chemicals.”

  Tito’s house has a very open concept. The living room, dining area, kitchen, and his office are essentially in the same room. He is sitting at his desk when he glances over the top of his laptop to make sure I don’t follow Sasha upstairs for a little pre-dinner sex.

  I promised him I would stay one hundred percent focused on our plan to flush Enrique out of hiding and that means no distractions. “I know, I’m staying put,” I say, and he lowers his eyes back to the screen.

  “Have you figured out where he is yet?”

  “I’m closing in on him. He’s not far from here, but I think he’s got eyes on the house. That text was perfectly timed. She hasn’t received any more, has she?”

  “No, but they were in the pool for hours. I’ll ask her when she’s out of the shower.”

  “Do you trust her, Xander?” he asks.

  “Yes, why do you ask?”

  “Because you haven’t known her long. You’ve never gotten any weird vibes from her?”

  Now I’m starting to get pissed, what is he implying? “What are you getting at, Tito? Spit it out.”

  “I mean people have been known to run long-term scams. She and that ex-husband of hers could be setting up to kidnap Tori and hold her for ransom.”

  “Why would the son of a wealthy drug lord need to hold a kid for ransom?”

  “I don’t know? Maybe because he’s a crook, maybe she needs money, maybe his daddy feels like being evil. People like that don’t need a reason.”

  “No, no way. What we have is real, and she would never hurt Tori, ever. I’d bet my life on it.”

  “All right then, that’s good to know.”

  Half an hour later, Tori and
Zion return from her bath. Matt is grilling dinner outside. Mark is guarding the front of the house, and Tito is still doing something on the computer, but Sasha hasn’t come down yet.

  “Daddy, I’m starving,” Tori says dragging out the word starving like a drama queen.

  “Matt’s making dinner.”

  “Matt? Where’s my Sasha? She’s the bestest cook. I want her to make my dinner.” Zion rolls her eyes. She’s not very happy about being replaced in the kitchen, but she admitted on more than one occasion that Sasha is a much better cook. Sasha’s so good about it, she has asked Zion to teach her how to cook authentic African dishes several times. Every time, Sasha’s food tastes better.

  “I don’t know, bug. I was just wondering the same thing. I’ll go up and check on her.” Tito gives me a warning look, and I wave my hand at him dismissively. I climb the stairs listening for water running but hear nothing. The stillness in the air causes a mild irrational panic to rise in my chest. Maybe she just laid down before her shower and fell asleep? Yes, that has to be it.

  I push the door open while knocking softly. She’s not in the bedroom. I check the bathroom, and she’s not there either, although there are signs that she showered. She loved the balcony outside the bedroom… maybe she’s sitting out there? I open the curtains and step outside the French doors, but again, she’s nowhere to be found.

  Where in the hell has she gone? I lean grabbing hold of the wrought iron balcony to look down at the pool while I think. She was feeling guilty of that I’m positive but guilty enough to skip out on us while on vacation?

  I told Tito I knew her well, but now I’m beginning to wonder if I know her at all. The woman I thought I knew wouldn’t walk away from a love like ours. She also wouldn’t walk out on a little girl who loves her so completely. I told her we had the situation under control. I told her Enrique would be dealt with. I told her to trust me, but she didn’t.

  I push off the railing and go back inside to root around in her bags. She left her things. I check all the other rooms upstairs to be sure she isn’t resting in another bedroom, but there is nothing.

  Taking a deep breath, I make my way back downstairs to Tito’s desk. Tori’s busy in the kitchen with Zion helping her make potato salad. She doesn’t see me cross the room.