Anastasia

As I make my way back up the elevator to Kate's apartment, I cannot believe my luck. After arriving late to the job interview, I never expected to land it. Thank God for little Miss Ellie. That girl is a breath of fresh air and the way she has her Dad wrapped around her finger is adorable. I'm hoping that his brooding won't be too hard to deal with while she's around. It's obvious he has a tender heart for her.

I find Kate and Elliot sitting at the coffee table eating Ramen while I place my handbag back on the hook.

"Uh oh." Elliot cocks his eyebrow at me. "You weren't gone very long. Did my brother can you already?"

I roll my eyes. "Very funny."

"There's nothing funny about it! His interviews always last hours. You're home within the hour. This can't be good." Looking at Kate, he gives her a knowing glance.

"Oh, how little faith you have in me, Tarzan." I plop down on the oversized chair across from them. "I'll have you know I was a big hit!" When Elliot scoffs, I backtrack a little. "Er, well at least with Ellie. She's such a doll."

He grins at the mention of his niece. "She's the best."

"That she is. If he would have denied me the job, I might have shoved the little thing in my purse and smuggled her out of there!"

Elliot barks out a laugh. "Stealing my niece are you?"

"Wait!" Kate's fork drops into her bowl, making the soup splatter on the coffee table. "You said if he would have denied you... that means you got it?" The hopeful sparkle in her eye has me grinning like a Cheshire.

My reaction has Kate squealing like a piglet as she hops up quickly to hug me and we squeeze each other tight as she sways us. "I can't believe you got it!"

I pull away from her. "What? You were packing me up! What do you mean you can't believe it?" I laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

"Well, I was hoping of course. You need to get back out into the real world and find your sea legs again. I know what happened was complete and utter bullshit, but-"

"Just stop, Kate. It's something I want to put in my past and I can't if everyone keeps bringing it up." Besides my parents, Kate and Elliot are the only two that know what happened six months ago and Elliot seems to be the only one who can keep his mouth shut about it. Still, I see him look at me with sad eyes every once in awhile and can't help but wonder if he's thinking about what happened.

It's caused me to hate men in general, with the exception of my father, Elliot, and maybe the Kavanagh men. When Kate mentioned just how much of an ass Elliot's brother was it had me bristling because I swore I would never deal with a straight cis man as a boss again. Elliot assured me that even though his brother was an ass, he trusted him completely and I had nothing to worry about. Considering Elliot was my saving grace during the incident, I decided to give it a try. I have a soft spot for Tarzan and that's what caused me to cave when I agreed. It was a personal favor in honor of his niece and I buckled. Stupid behemoth that I consider a big protective brother getting all mushy on me while I was buzzed. Shame on him.

Taking in the man on the floor, I find him giving me that sad look he often does and I find myself annoyed by it this time. "I'm going to go pack."

"Need help?"

"So that you can break more of my shit? I think I'll pass."

Kate laughs. "I did not break any of your shit. Scout's honor!"

"You enjoy your evening with your boyfriend. I'm going to disappear into my room with a bottle of wine and crazy straw while I pack for the night." Heading towards the kitchen, I search in the drawer for the penis-shaped crazy straws that Kate and I were gifted at a friend's Bachelorette party.

"Don't you need dinner?" Kate sounds unsure.

"That's what the crushed and fermented grapes are for, Kavanagh." Grabbing a new bottle of white wine out of the fridge, I give them a wave with my penis-shaped-

crazy straw clutching hand and disappear down the hall to my room.

Christian

Against my better judgement I ended up agreeing to hire the blue-eyed thing that my daughter seemed to have fallen in love with. Eloise Grace feels so deeply for others and it's something I admire about her. I'm unable to feel like she does. I don't know if it's something I was born with or my fucked up childhood, but I find that it makes things easier considering people are nothing but a disappointment.

There is always an exception to the rule, though, and in this case it's my brilliant daughter. She's so full of life. So innocent and trusting. She looks up at me with eyes that look like mine and my heart crumbles. Every. Damn. Time.

This is going to be the first summer she's spent without her deadbeat mother and it's probably for the best. Her mother and I got pregnant pretty young, right when my business started to really pick up. She thought that Eloise would seal her fate with me, but I have never had any urge to get married. Ever. We did move in together to raise our girl and the longer we went without a ring, the angrier and more distant she got. She wanted to share bank accounts, but I noticed her blowing through the weekly allowance I gave her on top of the credit card debt she was wracking up and knew the type of damage she could do, so I refused. I ended up coming home after a long day at work only to find our sweet six year old sitting with some teenager I never met.

That was the day I found out that this teenager spent more time with my daughter than her own mother did. I changed the locks, took her to court and got primary custody of my child. She got to see her every other weekend throughout the school year and got to spend half the week with her in the summer.

This past October she took me to court for child support but it was denied since I had primary custody and paid for everything for our Eloise. It was then she told the judge that she wanted to sign away her rights. My heart shattered for our daughter. Sure, her mother wasn't the greatest, but Eloise loved her. It was the hardest day of my life. Having to come home and tell my bright eyed, sweet smiled girl that her mother would no longer be around was absolutely devastating for both of us. Since then, it's been the two of us.

Thankfully, my family loves her to pieces and helps whenever they can because Lord knows I can't do this shit on my own. I have a company to run, thousands of employees who depend on me for their income, and a future to seal for my daughter. Why the fuck can't I find a nanny that understands that?

They're either bitching about the hours, crying because they can't take a strong personality, or screaming about the rules. Too fucking bad. My house, my child, my rules.

The bell dings in the house, signaling the security gate has opened and I hear my lovebug's shoed footsteps come barreling down the hall to my home office.

"She's here, Daddy! Ana's here!" She's bouncing on her toes and it makes me chuckle as I stand so we can greet our guest at the door.

Eloise yanks me down the hall by my hand and towards the front door of our large home that sits by the Puget Sound.

"We're going to have so much fun, Daddy! We can play beauty shop and paint our nails and do our hair and we can paint pictures and color and play games and have dance contests-"

"Ellie!" I laugh, cutting my long-winded girl off. She pants as she catches her breath. "Let the girl move in first. I'm sure she'll love playing with you, but give her a few minutes, okay?"

She smiles up at me, her adorable grin with missing teeth, her cheeks pink from her excitement. "I will, Daddy. I promise."

I open the door as an older 2000's Mitsubishi Montero comes rolling down the long driveway. My lips curl in disgust. There is no way in hell my daughter is stepping foot in that death trap. Those things are known to roll just turning a corner. I know I'll have to buy a new vehicle for Ms. Steele to drive my daughter around in or have Taylor play chauffer for the girls. It's not really feasible for him to drop everything every time the girls are due somewhere, so I know I'll be car shopping later today.

"Ana!" Ellie lets go of my hand as the nanny cuts the ignition and pushes her door open.

"Hey, Ellie!" The nanny gives her a large smile, her blue eyes lighting up at my daughter as she bends to hug her tight. My chest constricts watching it. Leila never looked at our daughter like that. Not once. This woman has met my daughter for twenty minutes and is completely smitten. It shows just how wonderful my girl truly is... and shows me just how much better off we are without her gold-digging narcissistic mother.

"Come see my big house, Ana!" Ellie reaches for her hand and the nanny looks up at the house for the first time.

"I think big is an understatement, Ellie girl." As my daughter giggles at her joke, her crystal blue eyes find me standing at the doorway. "Good morning, Mr. Grey." She gives me a teasing smile. "You ready for your new roommate?"

I cock an eyebrow at her. She's not staying under my roof. "You're early."

Her grin widens. "Yea, I figured I'd try to make up for being late last time." She shrugs lightly as Ellie begins to pull her closer to bring her inside.

Ellie takes her through the house, talking animatedly as she shows Anastasia where we live. I follow them, entertained by my little girl and the fact that she's so in love with the house.

"...And this is Daddy's bedroom." She opens the door to show the nanny and pull her in, but the nanny digs her heels in.

"Ellie, I don't think your daddy would like random people traipsing through his bedroom."

"But Nanny Ana, you're not random! You're my new best friend." Nanny Ana? I snort. "You don't mind, do you, Daddy?" The girls look over their shoulders at me and I give a noncommittal shrug.

"It's fine."

Ellie gives me a grin and pulls the nanny into my room. It feels a little personal, but my daughter is obsessed with my jetted tub so I know she'll end up in my space on more than a few occasions.

Leaning against the door jam, I cross my arms and watch them.

"He likes blue." Eloise states the obvious.

"I can see that." Ms. Steele's eyes take in my room, her eyes landing on my floor to ceiling built in bookshelves that flank my king sized bed. She looks mesmerized.

"You read, Mr. Grey?" Turning, her eyes find me at the doorway and I notice her giving my body a once over. I roll my eyes.

"Obviously."

"The library not big enough?" There's a twinkle in her eye.

That sass in not appreciated, Ms. Steele. I have a library full of books that she's already seen, but there are certain ones I prefer to keep safe.

"My personal collection." My eyes scan the shelves where many first editions of my favorite books sit.

"Ah, I see." Her eyes wander back towards the shelves. "Well, it's beautiful."

I shrug. Everything I have is beautiful.

"Come see the tub, Nanny Ana! It's so big and has lights and makes bubbles!"

A half an hour later, we're finally emerging from my bathroom where my child made us wait for the tub to fill up so Ana could see the jets and LED lights in action. My patience is waning but the nanny looks as patient as ever, her facial expressions reacting appropriately to everything my daughter says. Patronizing.

"So what guest room will I be staying in?"

I stop in my tracks as we make our way back down the long hallway. "Guest room? You're not staying here."

"But... I... what?" She looks half-panicked and it confuses me.

"Didn't Elliot tell you?"

Her tongue runs over her bottom lip and I'm surprised by the stirring in my groin. I force my eyes away from her mouth. "No? Tell me what?" She's gone pale.

"I have a guest house out back. You'll stay there."

A rush of air blows out of her mouth and she looks relieved. "Oh."

"Why are you acting like this?" My question comes out harsher than I mean it and the girl actually winces.

"Kate had me pack all of my stuff up and I don't really have a home right now. I thought I might have to live out of my car for a minute."

I'm angry. "You think I would let you live in that death trap? I don't even want it on my grounds!"

"Excuse me?" She pins me with an offended scowl. "That car-"

"Could catch fire at any minute. That thing is not staying."

Her porcelain cheeks are flushed now. I've really pissed her off. She looks adorable.

"You can't possibly be that shallow! Just because I don't have the funds to buy a new-"

"Enough!" I bark, silencing her quite effectively. "It is not the fact that it isn't new. It's the fact that those SUVs are incredibly unsafe. They should have never made it to an assembly line!"

She huffs, a piece of hair blowing outward at my words. "It's the only thing I have. I'm not going to shove it off a cliff just because it's not good enough for you!"

"Please don't fight. I hate it." Looking down at Eloise, I see her in tears.

"Oh, lovebug..." Before I can kneel to give her a hug, the nanny has already scooped her up and is holding her off the floor as she hugs her tightly.

"Ellie, you are right about hating it. Fighting is the absolute worst."

"Mommy and Daddy always yelled and now she's gone. I don't want you to leave, too."

Anastasia looks at me, her eyes full of unshed tears and I find myself swallowing back my own. Her admission is heartbreaking. I step closer to the two and brush Ellie's hair off her face before pressing a kiss to her temple. Her head is resting on the nanny's shoulder and her body is shuddering from her cries. Fuck. I hate this for her. I should have known better than to get into an argument in front of my own daughter.

"I'm not going anywhere, Ellie. I promise your daddy and I won't fight anymore. We didn't mean to upset you. Please don't cry. I don't own a boat and if you cry it'll get me crying and then we'll flood the house!"

Her comment makes my girl giggle and it turns into a laughing fit that has Ms. Steele and I both laughing with her. She sets my girl back to her feet and she immediately turns and snuggles into my abdomen as she tries to settle her laughing. Holding her close, my eyes meet the nanny's again and I can't help the small smile that's still on my lips.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of the Americans! Teaser? Just ask!

Up Next: The Rules.