Page 103 of Wilde In His Arms

Karl’s tearstained face rose.“What if she thinks I abandoned her again?”

“You’ve already done that.You’re going to be in prison.Who will take care of her?Strangers?Or me, the guy who saved her.The man she trusts, despite what all those other monstrous men did to her.She’ll have Aria, the sweetest, kindest woman you willneversee again.She loves that little girl.She will be the one to show Stacy how to be a strong woman.She will bake her cookies, hug her when she’s happy and sad, she’ll cheer for her at every school event, sport, and dance recital.Whatever Stacy decides to do, we’ll be there.”

Aria hooked her arm through his and hugged him tight.

Karl looked straight ahead, his gaze desolate, and bobbed his head.

Nick’s frustration grew.“Is that a yes?You’ll sign the paperwork?You’ll let her go, so she gets what she needs and deserves?”

Karl raised his bloodshot eyes to Nick.“I knew the second I gave her up, I’d never get her back, even if I found her again.I knew what I’d done would make her hate me and never want to be with me again.”

Nick seethed.“But you did it anyway.”

Anguish drew lines across his forehead.“I didn’t want to.But I couldn’t see another way out.”

Nick barely refrained from shaking the guy.“Give her this way out of the mess you made of her life.She needs it.She deserves it.I promise you, Aria and I will give her a good life.One where she feels safe and loved.One where she can forget the past and truly start over.”

Karl gathered himself and leveled a steadier gaze on Nick.“Does she know her mother passed away while she was gone?”

“No.I don’t think now is the time to tell her.”Nick hated the idea of giving Stacy more bad news.

Karl nodded.“We hadn’t seen her in years.She didn’t reach out when she got sick.Maybe she felt like I do, that she didn’t deserve Stacy after she’d left her.”Karl let out a heavy sigh.“So much loss.So many mistakes.”Tears dripped down his ruddy face.“Okay.I’ll sign the papers.”

Nick let out a huge sigh of relief.“Thank you for making this easy.I don’t want her in foster care longer than she needs to be.”

“Me either.”Karl took the pen his lawyer offered.

The lawyer held up the papers.“Do you understand that by signing these, you relinquish your parental rights?That you will no longer legally be responsible for Stacy, or have any rights to make decisions about her life, that you in fact want Aria Wilde and Nick Gunn to be her legal guardians, until they marry and legally adopt Stacy and assume all the rights of parents?”

Nick raised a brow at the stipulation the lawyer had added.It didn’t matter.They were weeks away from their wedding.

“I understand.Yes.I want him and Aria to adopt Stacy.”Karl looked up at them.“It’s what my little girl wants, right?”

Nick nodded.“We spoke to her yesterday.She was very sure, otherwise we would have given her more time to decide.”

The lawyer set the papers down in front of Karl.“I also spoke to her by telephone before I arrived.She confirmed, she would like to live with Aria and Nick.Forever, she said.”

Nick’s heart beat faster and melted all at once.She’d be theirs.Forever.

Karl glanced at Aria’s engagement ring.“Are you getting married soon?”

“A few weeks from now,” Aria confirmed.

The lawyer put his hand on Karl’s shoulder.“Agent Gunn is fast-tracking this process.I just thought you’d want some assurance that what he says he and Aria will be to Stacy actually comes to fruition.”

Nick relaxed, letting Karl and the lawyer see that he didn’t have any reservations about meeting the terms.“I love Aria.I know my life is with her.That’s why I moved to Wyoming to be with her.We want Stacy home with us as soon as possible.After everything she’s been through, we want her to have a place she knows she’s safe and that’s hers.”

Karl took the pen and signed the documents.“Thank you, Agent Gunn.I know you’ll do right by my Stacy.But maybe you or your girl could do something for me.”

Nick tensed.“What?”

“Send me a picture of her once in a while.Tell me how she is.So I know she’s doing okay.That she’s happy.”

Nick relaxed.“We will.If you agree to letherdecide if and when she sees you again.”

Karl nodded and signed the papers.“Thank you.You didn’t have to do this.”He pushed the papers to Nick.

He took them in hand, feeling like he won the lottery.“I want to do this for her.Thank you for making me a dad.I don’t take that lightly.I mean to be the best one I can be.”

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