Page 15 of Arranged Wolf's Nanny
He knew the wording of the contract almost inside out. He had, after all, drafted most of it himself. But still, it soothed him somewhat to see the familiar words written out in front of him.
The undersigned agrees to unconditionally and irrevocably relinquish any and all current or future claims to guardianship, parenthood, custodial rights, or equivalent status with respect to the minor child, irrespective of any past, present, or future marriage to, biological or legal relation with, or domestic partnership involving the client, in accordance with Shifter By-Law 14.6.2.
The sonorous echo of the cast-iron doorbell echoed through the hall, and he glanced up, jaw clenched.
They were here.
Molly smoothed her cardigan. “Right, let’s get to it, shall we?”
***
He had to hand it to her; Rosalia had accepted the contract gracefully, barely even blinking as Molly explained her position to her.
As his wife, Rosalia would be able to claim guardianship over Evangeline, in line with shifter law. And, by extension, John would have an open door to sink his claws into Rick’s daughter through the law of kinship. If anything happened to Rick, Felix would be powerless to stop John from taking Eva.
He’d sooner die than see his daughter in the clutches of a man like John Heath.
Luckily for him, he’d found a rather neat workaround. No employee of a shifter male, past or present, could automatically claim guardianship of the male’s children without his explicit consent in the event of marriage, or even relations, between them.
He had a disgraced shifter politician with a chip on his shoulder from the seventies to thank for this particular loophole. It was a rather graceful solution, all things considered. Rosalia would lose no rights beyond her inability to claim guardianship, and Felix and Nicolas would remain Eva’s legal guardians should something happen to him.
Well. And her harpy of a mother. But Rick had her legally bound so tightly he was amazed she hadn’t choked on all the clauses. In the event of his incapacitation, Zara wouldneverbe the sole guardian.
John, predictably, had been spitting fire at the idea of the contract. Apparently, it showedbad faithandmistrust.
Rick hadn’t said a word to him. His obligation was to marry Rosalia.
Nothing more.
Molly, for all her worrying and sputtering, had shown remarkable and surprising competency when explaining the various clauses of the contract to Rosalia. She had patted the younger woman’s back and made a few flippant jokes about all theexcellentnannies in her employ in Silvermist. Felix and Nicolas exchanged a wry glance.
Said nannies, now their mates, were through in the formal drawing room with Eva waiting for them to conclude their business. Thankfully, they had left their…rambunctiousoffspring at Felix’s house under Dane’s protection and Lola’s no-nonsense care. A lot of the pack was apparently gathering there as the Pine Shadow Club was still undergoing construction, ready to travel as one to the Pine Shadow Grove for the…
The ceremony.
He refused to think of it as a wedding.
Rosalia nodded seriously as Molly talked, occasionally interjecting with a surprisingly insightful question. Nothing combative, though. She was merely clarifying her position, as any sensible female would.
A slight eyebrow raise was the only acknowledgement she gave of the section to do with her salary. It was a sufficiently generous amount as befitted an employee of the Reinhardts, and he had made it explicit that her money would remain hers in its entirety.
He preferred such things to be clear from the start. And even he was not callous enough to ignore the insult that was the contract in the first place. Hopefully, such…generosityon his part would help ease the sting. It was, after all, not her he held any contempt for.
Just her sorry excuse of a father.
Well, that was, of course, unless she turned out to be his agent, playing some game that Rick was unaware of. He had considered the possibility, but decided ultimately to give her the benefit of the doubt. He would never allow her close enough to harm him, anyway, and if that was indeed her intent, it would become apparent eventually.
When it came time to sign, she didn’t flinch. Not visibly. But something in her gaze cooled, just for a moment, like a frost spreading across still water. But still, she signed the document with a gentle flourish, folding her hands neatly in front of her after giving the pen back to Molly.
“Righty then, it’s all official! Welcome to the family, my dear. I’m sure you’ll make a splendid nanny!”
Rosalia inclined her head. “Thank you so much for all your kind help, Molly.”
The woman flushed, flapping her hands, “Oh, there’s no need for any of that! I’ll be in touch later with a couple more documents to look through, employee handbooks, that sort of thing. But in the meantime, I’ll be on my way.”
She shook hands smartly with the males before bustling out. Rick didn’t miss the slightly wistful look Rosalia sent after her.
Now it was just her in a room full of alpha males.
