Page 42 of Taking The Virgin

Why are they doingthis?

I want to ask them, but then the judge comes in, and my throat seizes up. Panic shakes me. All I have to do is calm down and wait for my lawyer to gethere.

“Are we ready to begin?” the judgeasks.

I clear my throat. “Your honor, my attorney isn’t here yet. May I callhim?”

The judge is a man with a ruddy face, reminding me of an apple that’s been baked too long. He glances at his watch. “Miss Hope, I’ve got a fullday.”

“If I could just call him, see where heis…”

The judge is staring at me, and just as I think he’s going to ask how I can handle four younger siblings if I can’t even choose the right lawyer, the door to the room opens.

I cross my fingers that it’s my attorney, but it isn’t.

It’s the last person I expected to see here, much less the last one I thought gave a crap about my personal issues.

Owen fixes his gaze on me as he heads toward the seats in back of my table. I gape at him and the team of lawyers flankinghim.

My lawyer rushes in just behind and leans down to speak to me. “This is crazy, but apparently someone is willing to throw a lot of money behind your case now. Do you want me to step aside as counsel and let this team take over yourcase?”

Whatthe…?

“I don’t know,” I reply.

My lawyer sighs. “Look, normally I wouldn’t suggest it. But he’s brought the best attorneys in the goddamn country here with him. I’d be negligent if I told you to keep me on in this situation.”

“Okay,” I say, my heart racing now for a million different reasons. “Okay, let’s doit.”

As Owen’s lead attorney and my old attorney approach the judge to explain the change in counsel, Owen stops by me to whisper in myear.

“You’ve now got the best representation in the country—maybe even the world.”

I look into his gaze, and what I see there moves me. It’s as if he’s here because he wouldn’t be anywhere else, because he’d rather be protectingme.

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