answering, I sit in stunned silence. I tell my body to nod my head, but it doesn’t comply. A dozen responses jam in my throat as my brain tries to decide which one to send to my lips. I can’t even think, so I watch Ellie sleep and hope this mess will untangle itself.
“I bought the flat,” he continues, “as per our agreement. You are staying here?”
That was laid out in the document I’d signed. They didn’t trust me to sign the adoption paperwork after the baby was born. So a contract was drafted, promising that I would allow Malcolm and Ginny to adopt the baby. They insisted I sign it. In exchange, all medical bills would be paid for both of us. I’d keep the flat in London. And Ellie would be a MacLaine. We all agreed to anonymity. Only a few people know about it. My family. Judd Harding, my father’s lawyer. Felix. It’s their insurance policy, and the plan I agreed to, knowing it’s best for both of us.
I am staying in London. I just have to say it, accept it, and move on. But then, tiny fingers close around mine, Ellie smiles at me in her sleep, and the whole world shifts on its axis.
“No.” For a moment, I think my brain got the signals crossed and jolted the wrong answer out of me. I can’t believe I said it.
“You’re not staying in London?” His brow furrows, confused. It’s not a predicament he’s accustomed to so he paces across the room towards us.
There’s nowhere for me to go, but I don’t shrink as he approaches. I puff up, arms locking around my daughter. Something wild takes a hold of me. Something I don’t know if I should trust, but which leaves me no choice not to. “Don’t come any closer.”
He stops in his tracks, and I think it might be the first time he’s ever followed a woman’s direction. It’s certainly the first time, he’s ever done anything I asked of him.
“Adair.” His tone is rich with warning. “Everything is arranged. You agreed to it. It’s for the best.”
“No,” I repeat.
There is no other answer crowding my thoughts now. I know exactly what my choice is: I will not give up my daughter.
“You are not in a position to say no to me,” he roars. Instantly, Ellie’s eyes snap open and her startled cry shatters the air. The pure panic in it shocks him enough to shut him up.
“You can’t force me to give her up.” I shift her onto my shoulder, shushing her gently as I try to soothe her. “Don’t worry. I’m here.”
“You’ll ruin her life,” he murmurs.
I look up sharply, expecting to find the malevolent snake poking its clever head out of the grass. Instead, there’s just a man. There’s nothing powerful or intimidating or impressive about him. He’s stopped, propping himself with his cane, and I don’t know if he’s tired physically or mentally, but he looks wrung out, sapped of whatever vital force usually propels him.
“Like her father’s parents ruined his,” he says.
I’ve told the lie so many times it’s become automatic. Soon, I’ll believe it, too. “I don’t know—”
“We’re MacLaines,” he stops me. “We always know a lie when we hear it.”
Do we? I’ve always thought I could see through people, but I hadn’t been able to see through Sterling. I’d glimpsed him. It wasn’t until he opened up, peeled off his armor piece by piece that I finally saw who he really was. And then, I’d turned out to be completely wrong.
My father seems to be thinking the same thing. “He was poor. He grew up with nothing. No money. No security. No family. A mother who couldn’t protect him, and look what he became. A liar. A con man. He used you without a second thought. What happens if he comes looking for you? What if he tries to shake you down again?”
“He won’t,” I say. Somehow I know this is true. He got what he wanted. My father sent the check. He left town. Except he didn’t just leave town. Francie told me he’d joined the Marines. She told me he lost his scholarship. She blamed me.
And I’d been so blinded by my broken heart, I didn’t see what was right in front of me. A MacLaine always knows a lie when we hear it.
“I told him I knew what he had done in the past, that he was unsuitable for you, and that he would never