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Nina

PROLOGUE

HE’D ALWAYS PRIDED hi prepared Overly prepared, in fact But da

Jordan Paydan stood in front of the glass wall of his Upper East Side Manhattan penthouse and stared at the paperwork that had just been delivered to hier No detail had been left up to chance Every “i” had been dotted; every “t” had been crossed A slew of family practice attorneys had made sure to look over each piece of paper

And now Jordan’s life would never be the same

His stepht; she’d simply waited for the funds to be transferred into her account He grunted a laugh at the term Stepmother The woman was barely older than his own thirty-one years She certainly didn’t appear to want to act like a responsible adult He didn’t know her well at all, but that ht New York afternoon Considering the events of the past few months and based on the paperwork he currently held in his hands, his step on after his father’s death

Jordan uttered a sany desk behind him next to the couch

Nothing to do now but to try and plan for the colossal changes that were about to overtake his very existence None of which were his own doing in any way He just had to figure out where exactly to start

CHAPTER ONE

Six months later

JESSALYN RAFFI WAS co on the wall It was good Really good, if she did say so herself She’d spenta detailed irand mountain Fat, fluffy clouds floated above its towers She’d even thrown in a few knights on steeds along its base

Jess had no doubt the child about to occupy this roo to love it What child wouldn’t? To be able to walk into your bedrooh tiical to any youngster She was certain of it