He intended to do no such thing.
He had no intention of uprooting Matthew from his familiar surroundings and friends. He had no intention of hiring a stranger to look after the child. And he had no intention of selling the house. But her outraged response to his announcement had been exactly what he’d counted on.
By fair means or foul, by emotional blackmail if necessary, he’d persuade her to agree to shared custody. She didn’t trust him, and he had no way of forcing her to. But if his manipulations worked, she’d agree to his plan in the end, because she wanted what was best for Matthew.
As he himself did.
Janine’s baby was his nephew and his responsibility, and he was not a man who shirked responsibility. But Mallory was not only willing but desperate to take on that responsibility too.
The baby was her Achilles’ heel. And he felt no compunction about taking advantage of that vulnerability, because the end would justify the means. He needed someone reliable to look after Matthew while he was working abroad.
And Mallory Madison would make the perfect nanny.
After Mallory had fed Matthew, Elsa said,
“Why don’t I take him with me for a while? It’ll give you a chance to unpack without him getting into everything. All those boxes out in the front hall…”
“Thanks, Elsa,” Mallory said tautly. “But I won’t be unpacking. I discovered this morning that Number Five belongs to Jordan, and he has put it up for sale.”
Elsa turned an astonished face to Jordan. “This is your house?”
He nodded.
“Did Janine and Tom know?”
“No,” Mallory said. “He didn’t want them to.”
Elsa’s eyes were thoughtful as she looked again at Jordan. “In my humble opinion, that was a very generous thing to do. Such good deeds are few and far between today. And the secret acts of kindness are the most worthy of all.”
Mallory felt as if her staunchest ally had taken a step into the enemy’s camp. But then Elsa went on, “Why are you selling now, though? What’s Mallory going to do?”
“I appreciate your concern, Elsa,” Jordan said casually. “But we’ll work something out. Something that’s in Matthew’s best interests. In the meantime, I appreciate your offer to baby-sit. We need to clear the front hall before Burton Barton comes along at two with his client.”
“Someone’s coming already?” Elsa scooped the baby from the high chair. “Well, in that case, I’ll be pleased to take this little precious with me!” She said her goodbyes to Jordan, and then walked with Mallory to the front hall.
As Mallory hauled Matthew’s stroller from the closet, Elsa whispered, “What on earth are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know.” Mallory strapped the baby into the stroller. “He says he’s going to fight me for custody…and win. And then he’s going to buy a condo in downtown Seattle and hire a nanny to look after Matthew!”
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