“It’s your mother,” I said, showing Frankie the phone.
“Oh my god, is that Mom’s ringtone? That’s Ja Rule, right?” Frankie asked.
“Ja Rule?” Miss Lucas and I said in unison with a matching recoil.
“Forgive her, Xari. She has no idea what she’s talking about.” I laughed while Xari stared at Frankie like she had two heads.
Fuck. I called her by her first name. I’d have to deal with that later and I knew it didn’t slip past her ears.
“Alexis, hello.”
“I’m here, Van. Open the door since you had the locks changed.” I passed a hand over my face and rushed to the front door. Alexis’s sculpted features had softened a bit since I saw her at the courthouse. I guess her injections were settling.
“Good morning,” I said, letting her in.
“Where are the papers you need me to sign?”
Upstairs, Frankie squealed followed by Xari laughing uncontrollably. I looked above my head and sighed.
“Did you let her have a sleepover on a school night? And I’m the irresponsible parent. Whatever,” Alexis grumbled.
“She’s not having a sleepover. Let’s focus on why you’re here. I need you to sign the papers saying it’s okay for Frankie’s nanny to pick her up from school.”
“You’ve already hired a nanny without consulting me?” She stormed into the kitchen and started opening cabinets and checking the fridge.
“Can you stop rummaging through my kitchen, please?”
“Your kitchen? I designed this kitchen. It’s my brainchild.”
“Can you sign the papers, Alexis?”
“Where is my pizza stone, Van?” She blinked at me, wielding almost a foot of false lashes that made her look like she belonged on Sesame Street instead of in my kitchen.
“Papers, Lex. Concentrate. They got you pumped full of Xanax?”
“Fuck you, Van. I’m not signing shit until I meet this nanny. Let me guess, you rescued a little sob story from getting deported and let her watch my kid without my consent. Can she even speak English?”
“Wow. You’ve reached a new level of miserable. Tell your surgeon to pluck out a few more ribs since you don’t need them to protect a heart you don’t have.”
“Whatever, Van. No deal with the papers unless I meet this nanny and she can speak American English. Oh, and she has to have a degree.” Alexis spun in a full circle and sighed like I was ruining her life. “Where is my pizza stone? Why did you move the olive oil?”
“Fucking Christ,” I groaned into my hands.
“Ten minutes to make breakfast, Frank. You know the deal. No breakfast, no treasure hunting in my clothes after homework.” Miss Lucas’ voice cut through the toxic fog Alexis unleashed in the kitchen.
“Don’t start the timer yet. Let me get the eggs out.” Frankie’s footsteps thundered into the kitchen with Miss Lucas laughing behind her. “Oh, hey Mom!” She stopped for a quick side hug then pulled eggs and fruit out of the fridge in a mad dash.
The bright, sharp click-pop of Miss Lucas’ heels on the floor came around the corner before she did. “Timer’s on,” she said stopping at the island.
Fuck, she looked good.
She tamed her wild curls into a full, tight bun on top of her head and carefully laid the fine hairs around her hairline into faint swoops. Her wide espresso eyes were lined in black and her lips were red suede.
The urge to pin her to the wall and bite those red lips was strong as hell.
The fact that she was dressed to the nines, as usual, didn’t help. She wore a cream blouse with a deep V-cut neck that dipped to the waistband of her tailored cream pants. A slim red belt accented the otherwise monochromatic outfit with a matching pair of red shoes that made her six inches taller than she was. I couldn’t tell if Alexis’s face was stuck in a sour expression or if it was just the angle of the Botox. Either way, her reaction to Miss Lucas was what I expected.
“Hello,” Xari smiled big and bright. She even extended a hand to Alexis for a handshake. When she wasn’t met with the same polite enthusiasm, I saw a switch flip and a shield of barbed wire drop down over her usually bubbly disposition. “Okay, so clearly manners are optional today.”
“This is my house. Why do I need manners? Especially for a stranger roaming around like she owns the place.”
Xari clenched her teeth and paused to inhale slowly. “Nice to meet you. I’m Xari Lucas. I’m Frankie’s nanny.”
“The hell you are, little girl.” She turned to me and said, “She needs to leave and never return.”
“Woah. Wait a minute. I hired her based on her qualifications and how much Frankie likes her. It was a mutual decision between us.”
“Why wasn’t I involved?” Alexis asked me.
“Because Miss Lucas won’t be living with you. I have Frankie most of the time. When she’s with you, Miss Lucas won’t be anywhere near you. I planned to introduce you to her when it was your weekend to get Frankie. I make the hiring decisions in this household though, Alexis.”
“If she’s going to be around Francesca then I needed to approve her.” I looked at Frankie, scrambling eggs, and focusing on the pan with much more intent than she needed. She was withdrawing. I shut my mouth and tried not to explode the way I wanted to.
“You know what, Alexis? You’re welcome to stick around today and get to know Miss Lucas. That way you can pick Frankie up from school and bring her home since you refuse to sign the papers.”
“Okay, you’re down to three minutes, Frank. Let’s go.” Xari moved around the kitchen and put the eggs away.
“I’ll eat breakfast in the car.” Frankie grabbed a paper plate, a fork, and tossed some fruit beside the scrambled eggs. Xari glanced at me with worry on her face.
“Am I going to pick her up from school today?” She asked.
“No. You won’t. I’ll pick up my daughter from school. Go get in the truck, Francesca.” Alexis rolled her eyes and brushed past Xari who seemed to have red waves of anger rolling off her.
“Have a good day, sweetheart,” I said with a groan.
“You think you can hire an expensive piece of pussy to be Frankie’s nanny so you can have your way with her while my daughter sleeps across the hall?” She scoffed. “I’ll never allow her to pick my baby up. I’ll never allow her to be around Frankie.”
“You think I hired Miss Lucas so I could fuck her?” My voice was a growl. Xari snapped her espresso eyes to mine, bewildered. “I can fuck whoever I want to. I don’t need to hire anyone to stick my dick in.”
“I don’t put anything past you, Evander,” she fired back.
“If you keep Frankie from Miss Lucas she won’t forgive you.”
“What? Because they’re best friends or something? Give me a fucking break. She doesn’t know Frankie. You can find someone else. Not her though.”
“What the hell did I do to you?” Xari asked. Her body went stiff beneath the fluid lines of her blouse and pants.
“Evander, tell your help to keep her mouth shut.”
“Help? You must have lost what little bit of mind you had left. Just because I’m Frankie’s nanny, doesn’t mean I get to be silenced. I’m trying so fucking hard not to slice you from head to toe with my tongue because I need this job and this money but if you ever talk about me like I’m invisible again, I promise I’ll either make you cry or make you want to kill me.”