Nanny Needed

Chapter One

The children are chattering. Some sing softly to themselves while others look around the room, lollipops in hand, occasionally glancing at their mothers, who are moving beyond the double French doors.

The doors click shut.

For a moment, the children look worried: mouths downturned, lollipop licking paused. They re young, ages three and four, and their bodies stiffen with unease at watching their mothers go. But another woman enters the room smiling, and the children s faces brighten at the sight of her. She s beautiful, with diamonds the size of gumballs around her neck, a trail of heavenly perfume about her too.

The children look at her, awestruck, then confused. They ve never seen her before. Until today, they ve never had a reason to visit her Upper West Side apartment.

But I know Collette. I work for her, and not for much longer. After today, I won t be her nanny anymore.

Collette hands them more candy and the children s smiles widen, cherry-­red flavoring sticking to the corners of their mouths. She points to a display of balloons and they giggle. She tells them about a birthday cake that is soon to come: four layers of vanilla sponge separated by strawberry icing, and the children settle into their seats, their mothers forgotten. For a short time, Collette seems happy too.

But then I see the way she looks at me and it feels as if ice has been dropped down my neck.

Collette wants to keep me.

The children face one another at a table, four girls and two boys plucked from a playground I stumbled upon several days ago. It was one of only a few parks I could find where the mothers would accept an invitation to a birthday party for a child they did not know.

They d looked at me incredulously at first, asking, Why? Doesn t the girl have her own friends from school? They wanted to know if I was crazy. They thought it was a joke. But after turning over the invitation cards in their hands, they saw the address and promised

Georgina Cross

This creepy and suspenseful tale takes hold of you from the first page and doesn t let go. When innocent Sarah is hired by the wealthy Bird family, she imagines the nanny position will be a piece of cake, a pastel pink one at that. The reality of the job is much more sinister. I loved every twisty, haunting moment. This is a fast, fun read. Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of The Next Wife

Nanny Needed has everything I look for in psychological suspense: unforgettable characters, palpable tension, and pages filled with mind-bending secrets. Clever and cunning, Georgina Cross has created a dark, twisty world that I stepped from shaken and out of breath. It grabbed me by the throat and still hasn t let go. Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of This Is How I Lied

Deliciously creepy and absolutely riveting, Nanny Needed is a gripping thriller about what happens when one woman s dream job turns into her waking nightmare. Full of dark secrets and surprising twists, nothing is as it seems amid these pages. Watch out . . . this one will take you for a massively entertaining ride! Christina McDonald, USA Today bestselling author of The Night Olivia Fell

Nanny Needed is the gothic version of Nanny Diaries you never knew you needed. Devil Wears Prada via Hell. Fun, fast, and totally outrageous. Eliza Jane Brazier, author of If I Disappear

Nanny Needed is one of those stories that slowly slithers up your spine, wraps itself around your neck, and squeezes. Oh, it s quite gentle at first, but it suddenly gets tighter and tighter until you re left gasping for air. Twisty, eerie, and completely bingeworthy, this book makes you feel claustrophobic and tense, yet you re unable to stop reading. Things escalate. Bad stuff is coming. But you can t look away until you reach the truly