DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(78)

I was crying again and I hated myself for being so weak.

It took some digging, but I finally found the original adoption paperwork. And, there, on the back page, was his signature. Harrison James Philips. My eyes were drawn to the other signature, Julia Marie Castiano.

I remembered her. I remembered meeting her just a few weeks before my parents brought JT home from the hospital. I was only ten, but I remember her long blond hair, her flawless skin, and the swelling that was my future sibling. I remember I was fascinated with her, with her New York accent and her experience in the world. I remember wondering about the man who fathered her child, imagining some tragic romance. There had been a look in her eye when my dad asked her about him that had sparked a tragic sense in me, even then.

I was beginning to understand that look.

What was their story? What had their relationship been? What was it now?

My cellphone rang.

“Penelope? Can you be in the city in forty-five minutes? I managed to get us an emergency hearing in front of Judge Connors.”





Chapter 10


Harrison

“Do you want me to fly down?”

I leaned back against the wall and turned from the frenzy of activity in the courthouse hallway as I considered Libby’s offer. To be honest, I would have loved to have my sister at my side as I committed myself to this custody fight, but I also knew she was needed in Oregon by her children and husband – if not by our billion dollar company.

“Let’s see how this hearing goes first.”

“You know I’m on your side no matter what happens, right?”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. Libby had been the one who suggested I get a job down here, that I ease my way into JT’s life before I started any sort of legal action. I’d wanted to come in, guns blazing, and take my son home. But I listened to her. I should have kept listening to her.

It meant a lot to know she was still supportive despite the disaster I was making of the whole situation.

“I’ll call you when the hearing’s done. Let you know how it went.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

I disconnected the call and turned just in time to watch Penelope come down the hall. I couldn’t deny that there was something about her that reached over and grabbed my balls. She was beautiful, but it was more than that. She walked with confidence, steel in her spine, despite the evidence on her face that suggested a long, difficult morning. Her eyes were a little puffy, her cheeks sporting more color than they usually had. She’d applied a minimal amount of makeup, but it didn’t cover the fact that she’d been crying. And the knowledge that I was the cause of that pain made my chest ache.

How long had it been since I cared about anyone other than my sister? When was the last time a woman’s tears had the power to make me sick to my stomach? When was the last time I tried to take another person’s feelings into consideration before I did…anything?

I wanted to go to her. I wanted to find a way to work this mess out without involving the court. But when she saw me, her confidence sagged for an instant, her eyes widened with horror, and a tension that built walls formed in her shoulders.

If I ever got close to her again, it would be the day hell froze over.

“They’re going to call our case in a few minutes.”

I didn’t even acknowledge the young attorney my lawyer had arranged to handle the hearing in his place. My lawyer, Finn Watson, was back home in Oregon. He couldn’t stand up for me in Texas, but he assured me that after this hearing reaffirmed my status as JT’s temporary guardian, we could move the whole thing back to Oregon since that, technically, is where the fraud was perpetrated.

None of this would have happened if my father hadn’t lied to the adoption lawyer and convinced him that I’d signed away my rights. Leave it to my father to think that not telling me I had a son was in my best interest. And then to die and leave the secret untold for fifteen years.

If I didn’t have enough reasons to hate my father before, I surely had them now.

We walked into the courtroom a few minutes later. There were a few loiterers from the last case, but no reporters—thank goodness. I was afraid word would get out. And I knew it would sooner or later. But later was preferable.

I wondered if Penelope told JT what was happening yet.

The judge walked into the room and took a seat behind his desk. It was an informal courtroom, not even remotely like the throne-like rooms they showed on television. It was more like the conference rooms that sat on one end of each floor of Ashland-Philips’ corporate offices. The judge sat at a normal desk, I sat at a table with my attorney and Penelope did the same across from us, the whole thing set up in a square so that each party could see the others. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her even as she actively tried to keep her eyes on her hands in her lap.

The judge seemed bored as the clerk read out the basics of the case. However, I knew he recognized my name the moment he heard it. So far, I hadn’t run into too many people who knew who I was here in Texas. It helped that I was using my middle name rather than my surname. But I couldn’t get away with that here and the judge was suddenly interested.

“You’re Harrison Philips?” he asked the moment the clerk had finished his part of this little play.

“I am, Your Honor.”

He studied me for a long moment. “As in CEO of Ashland-Philips?”