Page 47 of The Bratva's Nanny

Miss Sunshine, who turned out to be Mrs. Jane Sebastian, an actual rising Texas Housewife star, laughed, beat her hand across the air elegantly, and said, “It must have been a mistake.”

The book exhibition, which was scheduled for two and a half months, hadn’t changed.

Gone was my admiration of the Southern belle and relaxation in the car.

Polina was in danger.

Vasili pulled up on the curb, and I hopped onto the steps. With trembling fingers, I sent Roman an SOS, tucked my phone into my pocket, and started toward the children’s waiting area.

I found her seated alone in the indoor-outdoor playground, on the Acacia wooden-iron carved bench she talked about sometimes. Her hands were clasped between her thighs, and her legs were swinging underneath the bench. She always said she liked sitting there, enjoying the quiet.

Relief instantly flooded through me, and I placed a hand on my chest to calm my beating heart. She was safe, and that was all that mattered.

I moved toward her, ready to scoop her in my arms and pepper senseless kisses on her cheeks for all the scare I’d been put through. But someone moved faster.

Someone taller, skinny, and brisk.

A man.

A bearded man with dark, soulless eyes.

As quickly as the relief came, it turned to smoke. A mixture of confusion and angst wracked me to the core, and I suddenly felt dizzy, like the ground had given way as I hurried my steps to her.

Dressed in an all-black suit, he resembled the Grim Reaper, and I’d recognize that stupid puff adder tattoo anywhere, at any time.

Finn Jameson.

“Get the fuck away from her!” I shoved him as hard as I could, with all the strength I could muster, when I got to her.

He staggered to the side, visibly pissed that I’d thwarted his efforts.

Scared, Polly jumped to her feet and was behind me in seconds. She clenched her bag to her chest, peeking to watch what was going on.

I pointed at him, seething with rage. “If you bloody think that I’m going to stand by and watch you take her, you’ve got another thing coming, you bastard.”

If I hadn’t trained hard to not give a shit in times like these, I might have melted from the intensity of his radiating anger. He swept his gaze from my face to Polly’s and back to mine. The confusion I felt sifted through his eyes, and his mouth formed an ugly snarl.

“What the fuck? Why the fuck are you here? What’s your relationship with the girl?”

I should have asked him that, as well. What was he doing there? How did he know Polina? Did I have anything to do with his mysterious appearance?

That was the conundrum. But I needed to get Polina to safety. The questions and answers could come later.

I yelled, “Stay the fuck away,” and picked a slim stick lying helplessly beside the bench.

He laughed, and it was deep and scornful, reechoing like the bellow of a lunatic. We both knew that the stick would be as harmless as the whack of a feather, but it didn’t deter me. I would put up a good fight if it meant shielding Polly from him.

I scanned the area. No people were in sight: no security, children, teachers, or parents. Of all days, why did Polly have to be the last student to leave school today?

Finn jeered. He wiped his finger across his nose with a long sniff, like a bloodthirsty Viking ready to draw blood. “Don’t tell me you’re scared now, hot stuff. You’ve always been bolder than I could give other women credit for. There’s no security, sweetheart. No one’s going to come save you or the little one. I have my men surrounding this building, and you know what that means. Today, you’re all mine.”

The air between us was electric with tension as we circled each other, one hand holding Polly steady to keep her from falling and the other gripping the stick.

He wore a fierce stare and a menacing grin. The type that promised the end of the battle in his favor.

I ignored my pounding heart and focused instead on marking his weak points for when the time to strike arrived.

He paused. Then, with a sudden burst of speed, he charged at me with folded fists.