Worst Security Ever

Gabby should have learned by now that Jack Dyllan was a synonym for life ruiner.

Not only had she been instrumental in the process of his getting married, but now she had done the unthinkable and forced him into a job. Gabby had been used to the life of the unemployed millionaire bachelor. His most difficult task each day was overcoming his hangover or deciding which blonde was least likely to throw a fit when he left early in the morning. Not only had she added the stress of moving in with the most straight-laced woman he had ever met, but now he had to get up early to babysit a bunch of little furries?!

He wasn’t sure how he was going to get his revenge. But it sure as hell was not going to be pretty.

He looked like he had just rolled out of bed, and he was about that enthusiastic. He had been let into the Hayes home and was sitting on the couch, yawning widely and rubbing his eyes. The left side of his hair was practically vertical, for he wanted to express how not seriously he was taking this. It wasn’t even a real job – he was certainly not getting paid. It was all of the responsibilities without any of the perks. There wasn’t even a hot secretary he could flirt with.  Every female he came into contact with would be either young enough to be his illegitimate daughter, or just young enough to not at all be a consideration.

He was beginning to face facts. He was old.

Old did not mean maturity though. He was not going to take his job seriously. He was not going to let Jack hear the end of this. He was not even going to bother learning the names of the brats he had to deal with.

Speaking of… he had been there for a few minutes and still had not seen any of them. That might be a problem.

It was actually ridiculous how little it took to set Nessa off when it came to Dylan. She couldn’t even believe he was allowed at the Hayes’ home after what he had done – not that anyone but Baldric knew about it. But that was beside the point. He shouldn’t have had the nerve – the gall – to talk to her again, nonetheless be in the same room. So when she had gone in to talk to Baldric and instead found the pair of them fighting (again), she couldn’t even attempt to contain her anger.

Her words had come out dangerously cold, and both boys had come to learn that a quiet, bristling Nessarose was far worse than one that yelled at them. One that yelled lacked thought, lacked true aggression. But the calculated voice of her furious reprimands was enough to quiet the pair of them. It wasn’t until Adrienne came in and said that someone new was downstairs that Nessa tried to calm herself.

“You two should probably stay here…” Adrienne added warily, wrapped an arm around Nessa’s shoulders to direct her out of the room. “Or, you know, just give everyone space.”

Nessa didn’t need to think the older brunette, because she already had, countless times since coming to live in Bridget’s home. Adrienne had become something of a mother figure to a lot of them, but the Ravenclaw said that it was hardly the first time she had been seen that way. Nessa had jokingly pointed out that her husband certainly didn’t think of her the same as the others, and Adrienne had just rolled her eyes and laughed.

In truth, it was shocking how well the two were able to get along, considering their vastly different backgrounds. Nessa wasn’t sure, but she thought there was something in Adrienne that wasn’t quite showing itself yet. The girl would get lost in thought sometimes, even when Kaiden was talking to her, and Nessa couldn’t help but think that she recognized the look in Adrienne’s eyes that hit just before she blinked and turned to speak to him. How he didn’t notice was beyond Nessarose. Perhaps he did but just wasn’t obvious about it. All Nessa could really hope was that he would figure it out and help her.

It was a little too late for Nessa to be helped, she had decided, so if nothing else, at least Adrienne would have someone on her side.

Descending the stairs, Adrienne let her hand fall back to her side upon catching sight of the new part of their team. Well, Nessa mused sarcastically, at least he’s enthusiastic about it… The girls paused at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, sizing up the man before them, but it wasn’t long before Adrienne broke the silence.

“Tea?”

Bounding off the bottom step and onto the wooded floor of the Hayes’s living room, she turned towards the kitchen before Nessa could get out her reply of, “Please.” Nessa looked to the man standing there, one eyebrow raised in a silent question.