When struggling teacher **Sienna Carter** takes a last-minute nanny job for **Grayson Pierce**, a ruthless billionaire and single father, she has no idea what she's getting into. Grayson is cold, demanding, and emotionally distant, more interested in boardrooms than bedtime stories. His daughter, **Lily**, is quiet and withdrawn, having lost her mother in a tragic accident. Sienna, with her warm and compassionate nature, clashes with Grayson at every turn. He sees her as an inconvenience, while she finds him insufferable. But as Sienna slowly breaks through Lily's walls, she unexpectedly starts to unravel Grayson's, too. Hate turns to fiery tension, tension turns to stolen glances, and before they know it, the icy walls between them start to melt. But just as love begins to bloom, secrets from Grayson's past resurface, threatening to destroy everything. Will their growing love be enough to survive the storm? Or will Grayson's fear of vulnerability cost him the one thing he never knew he needed?
Chapter 1 A Job She Can't Refuse
The raindrop patter against the windowpane echoed in the gloomy apartment where Sienna Carter was seated at her small kitchen table, staring at the stack of unpaid bills. Her fingers tightened around the coffee cup, though the contents inside had long been chilled. The numbers on the page blended together, yet the reality was clear-she was running out of time and money.
Sienna had always been independent, always believed she could manage on her own. But the world had a cruel way of destroying that confidence.
Her teaching job had been a vocation, but vocation did not cover the rent. When the school board had started to economize, she and some of her fellow teachers had been let go without even a layoff package. Two months had passed, and nothing had worked out despite the ongoing job hunting. Now she had only her last hundred dollars left, and desperation was starting to creep in.
Her best friend, Ava, had been prodding her into taking a temporary job-one to hold her over until she had her ducks in a row. But this one wasn't temporary.
It was something altogether different.
A live-in nanny to a billionaire.
"You need to at least consider it," Ava had said this morning, nudging the job listing down the table at the café.
Sienna had scoffed. "Ava, I taught. I was a teacher. This is basically babysitting some spoiled kid for some man who does not even know his kid's name."
"You love children," Ava retorted, unflappable. "And it pays-she leaned in theatrically,-"ten thousand a month."
Sienna had nearly gagged on coffee.
Now, hours later, she stood reading the job posting again.
"Live-in Nanny Required Urgently. Great Salary. Discreet, professional, and able to deal with difficult situations only."
The vagueness was not to her liking. That it was posted anonymously made it even worse.
Her instinct was to decline.
Her bare fridge told her otherwise.
With a groan, she grabbed her phone and dialed the number on the bottom of the ad. A crisp, professional voice answered on the first ring.
"Mr. Dawson, personal assistant to Mr. Grayson Pierce. Who is calling, please?"
Sienna nearly dropped the phone. Grayson Pierce?She knew that name.
A billionaire. A murderer. Head of Pierce International, one of the largest conglomerates in the world. She'd read his name in business magazines-a man for his icy detachment, his ruthless business tactics, and his complete absence of emotions.
And she was about to present herself as a servant to him?
Swallowing her anxiety, she kept her voice steady. "Uh, hello. My name is Sienna Carter. I saw the ad for the nanny, and I'd like to be interviewed."
There was a pause. Then, "Be at Pierce Estate tomorrow at nine. Don't be late."
Before she could even process that, the phone call ended.
Sienna looked at her phone. No interview procedure? No screening?
What had she just enrolled herself into?
---
The Next Morning – The Pierce Estate
The house was ginormous.
Sienna had expected decadence, but this one was on a different scale. The Pierce Estate loomed in front of her, an elegant yet intimidating structure of glass, steel, and stone, rising above the morning gray sky. The long, curved driveway itself was enough to fit a whole neighborhood.
Her hands were wet with sweat as she clutched her tattered leather purse. Just calm down, Sienna. You need this job.
When she reached the front door, it opened before she could ring. A butler stood there, uniformed. "Ms. Carter?"
"Yes," she tried to sound braver than she felt.
"Right this way."
She was led down a pristine marble corridor, down a hall with windows from floor to ceiling, which displayed sweeping gardens beyond. Everything here was screaming wealth and status.
And then the butler stopped in the doorway of an office.
"Mr. Pierce will see you now."
Sienna set her shoulders, took a deep breath, and entered.
The office was as formidable as the man behind the massive oak desk.
Grayson Pierce did not even glance up or flinch when she entered.
He was exactly as the magazines had depicted him-tall, broad-shouldered, and utterly forbidding. His dark hair was perfectly styled, and he wore an expensive charcoal suit, the crisp white shirt beneath it accentuating his cold ruthlessness.
He was cold perfection personified.
"Sit," he instructed her, turning the page in the file in front of him.
Sienna bristled at the tone but sat down opposite him. "Nice to meet you too," she muttered.
He eventually looked up, hissing at her with a piercing, icy glare. "I don't do pleasantries."
Naturally he didn't.
Grayson relaxed back in his chair, steepling his fingers. "You were a teacher."
"Yes."
"You have no nanny experience."
"I've worked with kids for years," she replied.
"Not the same," he brushed his hand away. "This job requires discipline, patience, and the ability to handle tough situations."
Sienna's brow creased. "Your advertisement was very vague. What do you mean by tough, precisely?"
Grayson's jaw tightened. "My daughter has... problems with trusting others."
That brought Sienna up short. She had expected to receive a spoiled or brat-in-a-typical-rich-kid-type-of-way kid, but trust problems suggested something darker.
"She doesn't talk to strangers. She doesn't talk at all," he added after a pause, his voice short, as if the admission was difficult for him to make.
Sienna experienced a softening inside her in spite of herself. "I see."
"Your job is simple," Grayson continued. "Take care of her. Follow the rules. And get out of my way."
Get out of his way? Sienna clamped her teeth shut on an outraged reply. Arrogant jerk.
"I'll have to see her first before making a decision," she said instead.
Grayson's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Most people, most likely, would jump at his commands. She sensed he wasn't used to resistance.
He stood up quickly. "Fine."
He led her through another long corridor before stopping outside a door. When he pushed it open, Sienna's eyes landed on the small, dainty figure sitting at the window.
Lily Pierce.
She was tiny-far too small for her age-and sat huddled in a chair, staring out the gardens. Dark curls framed her pale face, and her arms wrapped around her knees as if to shrink down.
Sienna's heart constricted.
Grayson spoke to her, his voice softer than before. "Lily, this is Miss Carter. She'll be your nanny."
The child didn't react. Didn't turn. Didn't even blink.
Grayson's jaw tightened.
Sienna, however, didn't budge. She merely sat on the floor a few feet away and began to mutter softly about the butterflies she could see flying outside the window.
She had no clue why she did it-instinct, maybe, or experience-but in seconds, Lily moved her head slightly.
And for the first time, Grayson Pierce looked at her as if she might just be worth his while.
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