Craig didn't sleep that night.
Not with a stone lodged in his chest, pressing harder every time he closed his eyes. Cameron's face flashing behind his eyelids, sharp and unrelenting.
Not with Merlina's whisper, he's yours looping through his mind, quiet and unbearable.
By 2 a.m., he was still at his desk, sleeves of his grey lounge shirt rolled to his forearms, the top buttons undone.
The soft light from the study lamp met the cold blue of his laptop screen, painting him in exhaustion and quiet rage.
He researched everything: Best family law attorneys United States, paternity cases won against concealment, emergency custody orders ex parte.
He was looking for a way to get temporary custody of the child without Merlina being present or even aware of the filing until after it's already granted. An extremely aggressive and unilateral legal move.
