Auctioned By The Ceo

“I must say the change in Rhia since she has been placed with you has been remarkable. She really is a delightful little girl. I was very impressed with how much more confident she was when I visited her at her nursery. So, you see, I’m not here to find fault with your parenting. It’s clear to me that you love your niece and your wife.” Hannah tensed in his arms, and he scowled at the woman making these ridiculous assumptions. Not that she took any notice, just prattled on. “So that’s a very good start, but I need to cross all the T’s and dot the I’s, especially as this has now turned into an adoption case.”

Still reeling from the woman’s assumption that he was in love with Hannah, he almost missed that last part of her statement.

“Excuse me, what?” He grimaced at the hoarse quality of his voice, and Hannah struggled upright. Clearly this was news to her, too.

“Yes, as of yesterday, your brother renounced all of his parental rights.” Hannah gasped and slid off his lap as Logan shot to his feet.

“The fuck he did? I’m gonna kill him for sure, this time.” Hands fisted by his side, he paced to and fro in his living room, as the red mist descended. Too late he noticed the deathly quiet which had descended upon the room.

Hannah didn’t look at him, and the social worker… fuck, fuck, fuck. He was ruining this.

“Daddy Logan?” Rhia’s sleepy, hesitant voice pulled him back from the brink, and he forced a smile on his face for her benefit. With her dark curls all tousled from sleep, her trusty stuffed rabbit under one arm she stood in the doorway, thumb in mouth looking at him.

“Hey, munchkin, you awake?”

She nodded, popped her thumb out, and looked at Mrs. Offrey.

“Mummy Hannah sick, so Daddy Logan and I gonna look after her.”

“I’m glad to hear that, little one.” Mrs. Offrey smiled at Rhia and patted the seat next to her. “Why don’t you sit down with us? We were just talking about you.”

Rhia screwed up her little nose and made her way across the room. She didn’t sit next to the social worker though, but threw her little arms around Hannah instead, and hugged her close. Something inside Logan’s chest cracked open seeing those two heads together. He tried to rub the ache away, but it wasn’t working.

whispered something to Hannah that he couldn’t catch. Whatever it was had to do with him because both of his girls looked his way. Hannah shook her

“Of course not, Rhia.”

but his voice came out cracked, and

would like to hear that,

when the other woman sent that query into the room and

“It’s nothing, really.”

to project his voice with all the authority he was going for. Probably far too much of his remaining anger showed, because that damn social worker started scribbling in

sighed, and

if you were angry because

back and shook his

ruffled Rhia’s curls, before he held his arms out. After a momentary hesitation Rhia all but jumped at him. Hannah collapsed back against the settee, and his chest started to ache

pesky germs. Besides, you do a fantastic job helping me look after Hannah, and you know what? We really ought to tuck her back up in bed. Gonna help

to be put down, and pulled at Hannah’s hands to get her off the settee the minute her little feet hit

“Come on, Mummy.”

gasped, Hannah’s

to burst out his chest bone. The only one who didn’t seem at all perturbed by

“Daddy, help me.”

punch to the gut, right

discussing before…” She paused and pulled a leaflet out of her thick file. “This will explain what will happen next. Also, the person in question has stressed that the child

shut his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, it was