Captivated by the Millionaire

Jordan didn’t respond. Just continued to stare ahead at the scenery. “I mean, you’ve given her a stable home, genuine affection and you’re making sure she knows she’s wanted. I know she must appreciate that.”

She felt Jordan’s whole body suddenly go rigid. When he did finally turn to her, the pain in his eyes nearly took her breath away.

* * *

If he were at all a decent man, Jordan would stop Jess right now in the process of praising him and correct all her false assumptions. How could she even think such things after what he’d revealed to her in New York?

Jess continued, “Really, Jordan. Sonya’s very fortunate not to be strapped to a parent or relative who doesn’t want her.”

Like she had been.

“She has you to thank for that,” Jess added.

“She’s my only sibling. My only family,” he answered simply.

“And you’re doing right by her. Despite all that you yourself had to go through.”

“Is that how you see things?”

“I see the reality. You had so much to deal with after losing your mother. Then your father more recently.”

“He became a different man after she died. It was like losing him, too.” Jordan released a deep sigh. He remembered how frightened he’d been as a young teenager suddenly without the mom who’d cared for and cherished him. And how distant his father became as a result of her being gone.

Jess leaned ever so slightly into him. He wanted to pull her onto his lap to seek comfort in her warm embrace. Perhaps they’d be comforting each other, in fact.

“I would dare to say that you never got a chance to grieve your father,” Jess seemed to say out of the blue.

He quirked an eyebrow in her direction. “I guess I never really gave it much thought. There were too many arrangements to be made.”

“And a little girl to be taken care of.” She inhaled. “Think about it, Jordan. Your father was gone and all of a sudden you were sole guardian to his other child. Did you ever get a chance to actually mourn his loss?”

“I guess not. Especially after...” His unspoken words hung in the air between them.

“Sonya’s accident, you mean,” Jess supplied.

He didn’t really want to get into this again. A part of him wished he’d never told Jess about the accident in the first place. She clearly wanted to rehash it some more. And he absolutely didn’t. “I’d rather not get into this again, Jess. There’s no useful purpose in discussing it over and over.”

She shaded her eyes, remained silent for a moment. But not for long. “I can respect that. But I need to say one more thing—you can’t blame yourself, Jordan. It isn’t healthy for either of you. Not for the accident. And certainly not for Sonya’s developing disability.”

Of course she wasn’t going to let the subject drop. Not easily anyway. Jordan simply sighed, waited for her to continue. He regretted that decision as soon as she did.

“You have to realize that the accident wasn’t your fault. You had a lot on your mind. Any new parent can easily become distracted. And someone in your position has even more of an excuse—”

A sudden, unexpected fission of annoyance had him stiffening, and he cut her off midsentence. “If I wanted to be analyzed, I would have sought the services of a professional.” There was no use in rehashing all this, any of it. It was all past history, which made no difference in his reality today.

Jordan bit out a curse at her responding gasp. Like he thought earlier, if he could only be a more decent man.

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. It’s just... I’m not really used to talking about all this.”

“I kind of got that impression our last morning in Manhattan.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized once more, not sure what else to do.

She sucked in her bottom lip. “Just so you know, believe it or not, I’ve never shared that Malaysia experience with anyone. Not even Kelly. And especially not my mother.”

That revelation had him torn between being flattered and feeling unworthy. “I’m glad you did tell me.”

They sat in silence for several minutes. Jordan wanted to brush off all the things she’d just said and the points she’d made about his father. The loss of his mother. It could be argued that he’d never actually gotten a chance to grieve for her, either. His father had just been so broken that Jordan felt the need to be the strong one, the stoic one.