Chapter 1 The Interview

• Rainwater dripped from the ends of Mia Harper's hair and ran down the collar of the five-dollar blazer she had bought from a thrift store that morning. One sleeve was slightly too long. The lining was torn near the pocket. Her shoes squeaked embarrassingly against the polished marble floor of Black Tower.
• She looked up at the forty-story building and swallowed.
• This was where billionaires worked, where people wore watches that cost more than apartments.
• And this was where Mia Harper had come to lie her way into a one-hundred-thousand-dollar-a-month nanny job.
• Her stomach twisted.
• Her mother needed fifty thousand dollars for heart surgery.
• And the hospital had given her only thirty days.
• She had spent weeks applying for every job she could find. Waitressing. Receptionist work. Housekeeping. Childcare.
• Nothing paid enough.
• Then she had seen the advertisement for the Black family.
• Live-in nanny. Excellent salary. Immediate start.
• One hundred thousand dollars a month.
• It looked like a mistake.
• Mia had applied before she could talk herself out of it.
• The problem was the resume.
• She had lied.
• She had written that she had three years of professional childcare experience.
• She had invented references.
• She had even claimed she had completed a childcare certification course.
• She had never done any of those things.
• But desperate times had made her reckless.
• And now she was standing inside the Black Tower, trying not to look like the fraud she was.
• The receptionist glanced at her.
• “Miss Harper?”
• Mia straightened.
• “Yes.”
• “Mr. Black is expecting you on the thirty-sixth floor.”
• “Thank you.”
• The elevator doors opened.
• Mia stepped inside.
• As the doors closed, she caught her reflection in the mirrored wall. Wet hair, cheap blazer, nervous eyes, fantastic figure.
• She looked less like a professional nanny and more like someone who had accidentally wandered into the wrong building.
• The elevator climbed to the thirty-sixth floor. The doors opened to silence.
• A man in a dark suit stood waiting.
• “Miss Harper?”
• “Yes.”
• “Follow me.”
• Mia followed him through a corridor lined with glass offices until they reached a large corner office.
• The man opened the door, and there he was.
• Adrian Black. Thirty-four years old billionaire widower. The man whose name appeared in business magazines almost as often as it appeared in gossip columns.
• He sat behind a massive black desk, dressed in a charcoal suit, his expression unreadable.
• He didn't stand, he didn't smile. He barely looked at her.
• “Leave us,” he told the assistant.
• The door closed. Mia stood there.
• Adrian finally raised his eyes. His gaze moved from her wet hair to her thrift-store blazer, then to her soaked shoes.
• His expression hardened.
• “You're late.”
• “I know.”
• His eyebrow lifted. Most people probably didn't speak to him like that.
• Mia wasn't most people. She was terrified but she needed this job.
• “I apologize,” she said, forcing her voice to steady. “The subway stopped because of the rain.”
• “You were scheduled for nine.”
• “Yes.”
• “It is nine forty-three.”
• “I know.”
• “And you arrived dressed like that.”
• She looked down at herself.
• “I didn't realize the interview had a dress code.”
• His jaw tightened.
• She immediately regretted saying it.
• Adrian opened a folder.
• “Mia Harper. Twenty-six. Bachelor's degree in... ”
• “Social sciences.”
• “I can read.”
• “Right.”
• His eyes returned to the resume.
• “Three years of private nanny experience.”
• “Yes.”
• “References from the Dalton family and the Whitmore family.”
• “Yes.”
• “Childcare certification.”
• “Yes.”
• He closed the folder and Mia's heart stopped. Adrian leaned back.
• “We don't hire desperate liars.”
• The words landed harder than she expected.
• For a second, Mia couldn't breathe.
• Then anger rose through the fear.
• “I am not desperate.”
• Adrian stared at her.
• Mia realized immediately how ridiculous that sounded.
• She was soaking wet, wearing a five-dollar blazer and had lied on her resume.
• She needed fifty thousand dollars in thirty days. Of course she was desperate. But she refused to let him see her break.
• “You're right,” she said quietly. “I lied.”
• Adrian's expression didn't change.
• “But you don't know why.”
• “I don't need to.”
• “Maybe you should.”
• “I don't employ people based on their excuses.”
• “Then maybe you should stop pretending you know everything about them.”
• His eyes narrowed.
• Mia's pulse raced.
• She had just argued with a billionaire. Adrian stood.
• He was taller than she'd expected, more intimidating too.
• “You lied about your qualifications,” he said. “You arrived forty-three minutes late, and you walked into my office expecting me to believe you were capable of caring for my daughter.”
• “I never said you had to believe me.”
• “Then why are you here?”
• Mia's throat tightened.
• Because my mother is sick. Because I am terrified. Because if I don't find fifty thousand dollars, I don't know what I'll do.
• Instead, she said, “Because I thought I deserved a chance.”
• “You don't.”
• The words hurt. Mia grabbed her bag.
• “Then we're done.”
• Adrian watched her.
• “Miss Harper... ”
• “No.”
• She turned toward the door.
• “I came here because I needed a job. You made your decision. Fine.”
• She opened the door.
• “Good luck finding someone willing to tolerate you.”
• She stepped into the hallway. Her eyes burned.
• She refused to cry. Not in front of him.
• She walked quickly toward the elevators, pushing damp hair away from her face.
• Then she heard it.
• A small sound. A sob.
• Mia stopped and looked around. The hallway was empty.
• Another sob, this time, louder.
• Mia followed the sound. It seemed to be coming from a quiet lounge near the end of the corridor. She stepped inside, still there was nothing. Just a sofa, a coffee table and a few toys scattered across the carpet.
• Then she heard the crying again.
• There was a large desk pushed against the wall, and beneath it, curled into a tiny ball, was a little girl.
• Mia crouched.
• The child had dark hair tied into two messy ponytails. Her cheeks were wet with tears. She was clutching a stuffed rabbit so tightly that its ears were bent.
• “Hey.”
• The girl froze.
• Mia didn't move closer.
• “I'm Mia.”
• The little girl stared at her through tear-filled eyes.
• “You're leaving.”
• It wasn't a question.
• Mia swallowed hard.
• “I think so.”
• “Daddy fired you.”
• Mia blinked.
• “Your daddy?”
• The girl nodded.
• Mia glanced toward the hallway.
• Adrian Black's daughter; Lily.
• The little girl wiped her cheek.
• “He always fires them.”
• “Fires who?”
• “The nannies.”
• Mia sat on the floor, keeping a careful distance.
• “How many?”
• Lily thought about it.
• “Lots.”
• Mia smiled faintly.
• “That's a lot.”
• Lily's mouth trembled.
• “Are you going to leave too?”
• Mia looked at the little girl.
• She thought about her mother lying in a hospital bed.
• She thought about the thirty-day deadline.
• She thought about Adrian Black's cold eyes.
• And then she looked back at Lily.
• “I don't know.”
• Lily hugged the stuffed rabbit.
• “Please don't.”
• Something inside Mia cracked.
• She reached out her hand, palm up.
• “I can't promise anything.”
• Lily stared at her hand.
• Then, slowly, she crawled out from under the desk.
• She placed her tiny hand in Mia's.
• Mia's heart squeezed.
• From somewhere behind them came the sound of footsteps.
• Mia looked up. Adrian stood in the doorway.
• His face had changed. Not much, but enough.
• His eyes were fixed on Lily's hand in Mia's.
• Lily looked at her father, then at Mia.nd whispered the words that would change everything.
• “I want her.”
• Adrian's expression hardened.
• “Lily.”
• The little girl tightened her grip on Mia's fingers.
• “I want this nanny.”
• Mia stared at Adrian.
• Adrian stared back.
• And for the first time since she had entered Black Tower, Mia wondered if walking away had been a mistake.