As he pulled into the car park of his birth father’s office building his hands felt cold and slippery and his heart raced, making him breathless.
Stupid to be so nervous. What could this matter? He was happy, he had a great life—great family, great job, great sex-life if and when he wanted it.
‘I shouldn’t be long,’ he said vaguely. ‘I don’t think…’
He didn’t know how long he was going to be. He didn’t even know how he was going to bring the subject up, and he’d had all his life to imagine the meeting. What was he going to do? Walk up and say, Hi, Dad?
For the first time in his life he felt afraid even to move.
Harden up.
The reality couldn’t be worse than anything he’d imagined in all these years. But he still couldn’t move.
‘Jack?’ She’d unclipped her seatbelt and leaned across the passenger seat. Now she turned his face towards her with her gentle hand. She smiled a half-smile at him. ‘It’ll be okay.’
She didn’t know that. Nor did he. But looking into her eyes made him feel better anyway.
‘Who knows?’ she added softly. ‘You guys might become great friends and you’ll find yourself coming back to Melbourne all the time. Then you’ll find my lists super-useful.’ She winked—total Steffi Leigh.
He smiled. Come back to Melbourne all the time?
He’d get to see her.
He drew in a deep breath and energy flooded into his heart. She moved to sit back but he stopped her—cupping the back of her head and drawing her close again. He looked into her blue-green guileless eyes and kissed her.
Her soft lips parted… her tongue met his. Her whole body responded and the tension in his own body eased.
That was what he’d needed. Her touch. Her.
He got out of the car without another word and walked towards the squat building that was the headquarters for the construction company Darren Thompson owned, smiling to himself.
Yeah, he could cope with seeing more of Stephanie Johnson.
As the automatic doors slid shut behind him he looked back at the car. He could see her sitting in the passenger seat, her head bent as she looked at her phone. Frantically tapping out messages again.
He laughed to himself, then turned, choosing to take the stairs rather than the elevator because he had adrenalin to burn.
On the third floor the receptionist smiled and welcomed him.
He was used to people waiting for him—welcoming him. So far, so normal. Maybe it was going to be okay.
He didn’t have to wait long to find out. After only a moment the receptionist escorted him to an office at the end of the corridor.
Darren Thompson had risen to stand behind his somewhat messy desk. He was only an inch or so shorter than Jack. He had dark hair, streaked with grey. His eyes were a different colour, though.
Jack knew he had his mother’s eyes.
‘Jack Wolfe—CEO of Wolfe Enterprises. What brings you to my little empire?’ Darren gestured towards an empty chair on the other side of his desk before sitting again. ‘You want to start putting up buildings?’
So he’d done a little research on him? Jack would have too. But Darren couldn’t know the real reason for his visit—Jack’s adoption had been kept very private.
‘I’ve not come here about a business matter.’ Jack couldn’t sit. He paced, walking over to the window. He could see the pale yellow car in the car park. He almost smiled. Instead he took a breath and turned back to face his father. ‘I was adopted by the Wolfe family. My birth mother was Lisa Kelly. I was born on July nineteenth, twenty-eight years ago.’
Darren didn’t move. ‘Why is this of any relevance to me?’
‘Because in the year prior to my birth you were my mother’s boyfriend.’
The man looked up at him for a long time. Saying nothing.
‘I believe you’re my birth father,’ Jack finally added when the silence had become too pointed.
He didn’t want to believe it. His investigator’s report hadn’t made for pleasant reading. Darren Thompson was known for poor business practices, shocking employee relations and a suspicious private life. He’d been picked up by the police for ‘male assaults female’ but the woman—his fiancée at the time—had refused to press charges.
Jack had wanted to meet Darren and make his own assessment, and he was reading the man’s body language now…
‘No blood test is one hundred per cent accurate.’ Darren’s mouth barely moved as he spoke. ‘I’ll never accept you as my son.’
Wow. Just like that. Jack’s blood ran so cold it almost congealed.
‘You want money?’ Darren asked. ‘Is that why you’ve made this up?’