The Baby Project / Second Chance Baby: The Baby Project. SUSAN MEIER

make their living arrangements with Gino, at his house in Montauk, permanent.

      When they arrived at Andreas Holdings, he directed her to follow him to his office—formerly his dad’s office. Cherrywood paneling and a wall of bookcases gave the room an old-fashioned, stuffy feel, but there was nothing he could do about that. He hadn’t yet had a chance to redecorate.

      He walked past the brown leather sofa and chair, directing her to follow him to his desk. Keeping with the all-business tone they’d established that morning, he handed her a stack of files. “These are contracts I’d like you to review and summarize for me.”

      “Okay.”

      He pressed the button on his phone and paged his assistant, who was at the door in seconds. “Minnie will show you to your office.”

      She left the room on the heels of his assistant, and Darius stared at the door that closed behind them, hoping he was doing the right thing.

      He met her at the limo for the ride home and immediately retrieved files to review, so they didn’t have to talk just because they were commuting together. He even let her go up to her apartment on her own to pack the things she would need for the upcoming weeks.

      They talked about nannies at dinner. That morning, she had called the service she’d used when she’d hired a nanny for Layla and they had emailed résumés of potential candidates. She’d narrowed them down and had scheduled interviews with all four the next day. Because Whitney would conduct the initial interviews at the headquarters for Andreas Holdings, Darius had consented to sit in on at least five minutes of each interview and, acknowledging how busy he was, she’d accepted that. Before dessert she excused herself, saying she needed to go back to the depositions from the case she was working on with her father.