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He gives a short laugh. “I’m saying it wouldn’t be difficult to convince the judge that you don’t have trouble securing female attention. I have to add that usually sole male applicants cannot adopt female children unless there are ‘special circumstances.’”
Cold filters through me. “I didn’t know that.”
“But I would argue that these are special circumstances,” he continues. “You’re Leia’s uncle and her guardian. You’re well respected in the business community.”
“Despite being a manwhore,” I say sarcastically.
His lips twitch.
I blow out a breath. Compared to many guys I know who use Tinder on a weekly basis, I don’t actually sleep around that much. “I went out with my last girlfriend for nearly nine months,” I protest.
“And before that?”
I glare at him and don’t reply. I might not sleep with a different girl every week, but it’s true that I haven’t had many relationships that have lasted longer than a few months.
“Look, the courts will always put the child first,” he says. “Obviously, Maddie’s wishes would be taken into account, which means her naming you Leia’s guardian is a huge benefit for us. But I have to make it clear that a clever lawyer could make a good case on Mr. Clarke’s behalf.”
I lean forward, elbows on my knees, hands linked. “Are there any ways I could stop him getting her?”
“You want my honest opinion?”
“Always.”
“The best way to ensure you get Leia would be to get married.”
I stare at him. “Married?”
He shrugs. “It would make you look respectable and trustworthy. Then we’d apply to the Family Court for a Parenting Order. I’m relatively confident the court would grant it, and you would take over day-to-day care. Parenting orders specify the care arrangements for a child, but they don’t change parenthood. To do that, you would then apply to adopt her. Adoption is where a child legally becomes the child of someone other than a birth parent. The child’s birth certificate would be altered to reflect this. That would be the surest way of keeping her.”
“Marriage and adoption… Jesus, that’s pretty drastic. I’m not even seeing anyone at the moment.”
He clears his throat. “Could you rekindle the romance with the girl you were dating?”
“Cassie? Christ, no. She’d take me for every last cent.”
He chuckles. “We’d get her to sign a pre-nup. Give her enough to make it worth her while.”
I stare at him. His gaze is even. He can’t say in so many words, but I think he’s implying that I don’t need a soulmate—I need a wife. A girl to marry me, in order to get Leia.
I feel queasy. I don’t want to marry Cassie, even in name only. And I don’t know anyone else who could fulfil the role…
And then it comes to me.
Slowly, I sit up. I rest my lips on my knuckles, meeting Ethan’s gaze.
“What?” he asks, amused.
“I’ve got an idea.”
I know the perfect person to help me out.
The only question is… will she?
*
Aroha
James is gone for several hours.
