“He doesn’t have an appointment…” she rambles on, but I don’t hear it. Theron is here? I guess he got tired of waiting for me to come to him.

“Send him in.”

“Right away, sir.”

I collect the sonogram images just as the door opens, and I look up at Theron for the first time in the months since I found him in that hotel room with a needle in his arm. He looks good. Better than he did when he first returned to the house. He looks healthy.

He whistles as he takes in the space, and I see it through his eyes. It is spectacular with the deep chestnut leather furnishings, the tall windows, two on either side, draped with heavy, ornate curtains. A bookshelf at my back contains leather-bound volumes of law books, and my massive antique desk is set at the center of the room.

I tuck the images into their envelope and slide them into a desk drawer as I stand.

“Impressive,” Theron says, entering and approaching my desk.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Meredith out there… it’s Meredith, right? She didn’t even know you had a brother. Am I your dark secret too, Judge?”

“This isn’t a good time. You shouldn’t be here. I’ll let you know when you can return.”

“Yeah, well, I think I’ll be waiting until hell freezes over for you to put the welcome mat out.”

“Can you not be a selfish prick for once in your life? You think you have any right to be here after what you did?”

He steps closer, his eyes searching my face. The bruises have mostly faded, but when you look close, you can see the lingering evidence of them. Not to mention I haven’t slept much and probably look like shit.

“What the hell happened to you?” he asks seriously.

I study him, waiting for some taunt, some mockery, but it doesn’t come.

“Judge?”

I exhale. “Nothing I didn’t deserve.” He’s wearing dark jeans and a charcoal V-neck sweater. He pushes his hair back, but it flops forward again. It has recently been cut. And the five o’clock shadow along his jaw gives him a devious look. He looks good, though. Healthy.

And I’m fucking tired. I brush my hair back, gesture to a chair, and take a seat too. I lean an elbow on the desk and rest my chin in my hand. “Didn’t I have to sign some release papers?”

He grins wide, and there’s my cocky brother. He is charming. I will give him that. It’s when that charm turns malicious that he’s dangerous. “I worked it out. But I did wait for you. And wait. And wait. But I guess life is busy when you’re Lawson Montgomery.”