Tess’ mouth is practically hanging open, but she shakes her head like she knows how crazy Justin sounds right now. Facial recognition software is a thing, sure, but I thought like, only the CIA and shit had access to anything even remotely credible or useful on such a large scale as Justin’s describing.
“Justin, you’ve officially lost your mind—” Tess starts, pausing at another knock on the door. Justin doesn’t skip a beat, just steps back and opens it.
“Sir, I’ve got the judge on the line,” a man says. He’s also dressed in a suit, much shorter than Justin, with curly hair and huge oversized glasses with a bold zebra pattern
“I’ll take care of it, thank you,” Justin says with a curt nod, and the man retreats, closing the door on his way out. Justin turns back to our gaping group and pulls his phone from his pocket. He presses a few buttons and then lifts it to his ear, affecting another gorgeous smile. “Judge Valentine,” he says with a companionable laugh. “I’m doing wonderfully. She’s …” He looks over at me, and his beaming smile manages to get even wider. “She’s everything that I hoped she would be.” A pause. “That’s wonderful, thank you. You can email it over, that’s fantastic.” Justin hangs up before turning back to a very suspicious looking Tess. “That was Judge Valentine; he’s a good friend of mine. He’s going to send over the emergency custody agreement that I filed for.”
“Excuse me?” Tess blurts out.
“The emergency order will grant me temporary full custody,” Justin explains casually, slapping his phone against the palm of his hand. “Forgive me, but as soon as I was able, I filed the motion. The hearing was held ex parte, but you can understand why. Not only did you lose our child once, you’ve just lost another one. Face it, Tess: you’re a shitty mother.”
Oh my fucking god.
Oh my god.
Did he really just say that to her?!
“I won’t allow you to speak to my wife like that—especially not inside the four walls of my own home!” Paul roars. I didn’t think he had it in him, I’ll be honest. I step even closer to Chasm, and Justin’s eyes flick our way. “If you don’t walk out that door right now, I will hit you.”
“Oh, Paulie, don’t kid yourself,” Justin says with a mirthful twist of his lips.
“Don’t,” Tess warns her husband, glancing back at him. “That’s what he wants.” She turns back to Justin, letting out a long, heavy exhale. “If you hit him, he’ll press charges. He’ll push this custody thing.” Tess points at her ex. “Forward that custody order to my lawyer now. You sure as hell aren’t taking my child without a fight. And, might I add, for you to come in here knowing that my son …” Her voice cuts off in a choking sob, and I swear, I see Justin shudder with pleasure.
He gives her a falsely sympathetic look.
“I would never think to rip a child away from her family,” he says, stepping close to Tess as Paul bristles and then turns away, putting his hands on his hips in a way that reminds me of Parrish. His face is crimson at this point. “That’s your specialty, isn’t it?” Justin leans in close to Tess, even as she seethes on the inside, her dark eyes burning. “If you’d never stolen my daughter away from me in the first place, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have lost fourteen years with my child.” Justin turns to look at me abruptly, snapping his fingers. “Go pack your bags, princess. You’re coming with me. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? To spend some time with your father.”
“I …” I start as Tess looks at me with that same pleading expression she was wearing before. I can see in her eyes that she’s scared for me, for herself, for both of us right now. I don’t know much about Justin Prior just yet, but I do know a bit about Tess at this point. She can be a prickly person at times, but she isn’t evil. If she ran from Justin, if she took me away from him on purpose, there’s probably a solid reason behind it. “I’d like to make my own opinions, Tess.” I nearly choke on the lies as they ooze out between my lips. “And maybe his software really could—”
Tess ignores me, whipping her phone out and making a quick call. Whoever’s on the other line must be paid well because they answer immediately.
“Check your email. Justin is here, and he’s supposedly gotten an emergency custody agreement from Judge Valentine.” She turns her glare on Justin, but he simply hands his phone over. Tess types something in—her lawyer’s email address, I believe—and then hits send. “Did you get it?” she asks after a few seconds. “Well?”
