“Yes, she’s expecting you. Down this hall, second door on your left.”

“Thank you.” Sybill closed her hand around the strap of her purse and walked briskly to Anna’s office.

Her heart plummeted to her stomach when she reached the doorway. They were all there, waiting. Anna sat behind the desk, looking professional in a navy blazer, her hair pinned up. She was scanning an open file.

Grace sat with her hand swallowed by Ethan’s. Cam stood at the narrow window, scowling, while Phillip sat, flipping through a magazine.

Seth sat between them, staring down at the floor, his eyes curtained by his lashes, his mouth set, his shoulders hunched.

She gathered her courage, started to speak. But Phillip’s eyes flicked up and found hers. The one long look warned her he hadn’t softened overnight. She ignored her trembling pulse and angled her head in acknowledgment.

“You’re prompt, Dr. Griffin,” he said, and instantly all eyes were on her.

She felt scalded and pinned all at once, but she took the last step over the threshold into what she fully understood was Quinn turf. “Thank you for seeing me.”

“Oh, we’re looking forward to it.” Cam’s voice was dangerously soft. His hand, Sybill noted, had gone to Seth’s shoulder in a gesture that was both possessive and protective.

“Ethan, would you close the door?” Anna folded her hands on the open file. “Please sit down, Dr. Griffin.”

It wouldn’t be Sybill and Anna here. All the friendly female connection that came from cozy kitchens and simmering pots was gone.

Accepting that, Sybill took the vacant seat facing Anna’s desk. She set her purse in her lap, clutched it with boneless fingers, and smoothly, casually, crossed her legs.

“Before we begin, I’d like to say something.” She took a slow breath when Anna nodded in agreement. Sybill shifted and looked directly at Seth. He kept his eyes on the floor. “I didn’t come here to hurt you, Seth, or to make you unhappy. I’m sorry that I seem to have done both. If living with the Quinns is what you want, what you need, then I want to help see that you stay with them.”

Seth lifted his head now and stared at her with eyes that were stunningly adult and harsh. “I don’t want your help.”

“But you may need it,” she murmured, then turned back to Anna. Sybill saw speculation there, and what she hoped was an open mind. “I don’t know where Gloria is. I’m sorry. I gave my word I would bring her here this morning. It’s been a very long time since I’d seen her, and I . . . I hadn’t realized how much she’d . . . how unstable she is.”

“ ‘Unstable.” ’ Cam snorted at the term. “That’s a rich one.”

“She contacted you,” Anna began, shooting her husband one warning look.

“Yes, a few weeks ago. She was very upset, claimed that Seth had been stolen from her and that she needed money for her lawyer, who was going to fight a custody case. She was crying, nearly hysterical. She begged me to help her. I got as much information as I could. Who had Seth, and where he was living. I sent her five thousand dollars.”