“I want to get close to him,” Gianna said, “assess him myself.”
Everly stood and crossed her arms. “I get it now. The assessment you can make in ten minutes beats the assessment I’ve made after living night and day with both of them for a week and a half? If you thought you could do this with a casual meeting, why the hell did I come at all?”
“Everly—” Roman started with a warning.
“Everly.” Gianna spoke over Roman, but her voice was soft, and she reached out and touched her forearm. She held Everly’s gaze directly, openly, sincerely. “I’m not going to make any decision based on one source, and any tactical decision will ultimately be made by Roman. I’m only here because of my relationship with the Seavers and the promise I made to them that I’d look into it. I’m aware of your skills, and I don’t doubt anything you’ve learned about the man. All I want to do is offer him some new bait to see how he reacts. It’s a side of him you aren’t able to assess. And it could give us access to information we haven’t been able to find yet.”
Everly’s anger drained. The woman was everything all in one package—gorgeous, intelligent, ruthless, and skilled. She was also warm, sincere, generous, and loyal, all traits that made it impossible to hate her.
“Everly.” Hix’s call signaled another introduction. She knew her place, knew what was expected of her, but this damn nanny role was wearing on her.
“Let’s get to it, then,” she told Gianna, then crouched in front of Bella. “Who’s ready for sour gummies?”
She popped to her feet and grinned at Everly. “Me!”
Everly took her hand and reminded her, “One for every introduction. I’ll keep count.”
“Okay.”
She ran ahead, straight to Austin, her shoes clip-clip-clipping on the stone and glimmering in the low light.
“You’re good with her,” Gianna said as they followed Everly.
“She’s a great kid. And that has everything to do with Hix.” She just prayed he lived up to her assessment. In that moment, Everly realized that if he did anything to prove her wrong, her professional reputation and the trust her team laid at her feet would be compromised.
Alarm burned through her belly. This mission had become a tightrope walk over crocodile-infested waters.
She second-guessed herself right up to the point when Bella ran straight into Austin, bumping his legs before wrapping her arms around him until he almost fell over. His conversation was interrupted, and he flailed a little before he caught his balance. Everly cringed internally.
But Austin looked down at his daughter, chuckling. He put a hand on her head. “You almost knocked me down.”
“Sorry,” she said, the words muffled against his pant leg.
He bent, picked her up, and settled her on one forearm. He was still smiling when he scanned Roman and Gianna, then moved his gaze to Everly. And there was a little “who’s this” question in his gaze.
“Sorry about that,” Everly said.
He shook his head and gave her a smile. “Not a problem.”
She gestured toward Roman and Gianna with a smile. “I couldn’t make any intelligent conversation with this lovely couple about your company, so I knew I had to bring them to the source.”
Roman offered his hand on cue, so Everly wasn’t stuck improvising her way through an introduction. “Steve Coleman,” he said, smiling as he shook Austin’s hand.
“Good to meet you. I’m Austin.”
“I’m Bella.” Bella put her hand out, surprising Roman.
Austin looked down at his daughter with fucking stars in his eyes. “What beautiful manners, baby.” Then he looked at Everly. “Miss Everly must have gummies hiding somewhere.”
Everly smirked and opened her hand, exposing five gummies. “A good nanny always has a trick or two up her sleeve.” She stepped closer and stretched out her arms. “I can take Bella while you talk.”
But Bella had her head on Austin’s shoulder. “That’s okay. I’ve got her. Take a break. Get some food. A glass of wine.”
She lifted her brows. “You sure? I don’t mind—”
“I’m sure. Thank you.”
“Okay, then.” She offered the gummies to Bella. “You earned these, sweetie.”