Free The Wedding Dress by Lucy Kevin Page B

knew about the DNA test…and if it would restore that faith she’d once had in him.
    Was this what Brian had felt when he’d found out his girlfriend’s son was caught up with a bad group?
    Gareth had spent so long hanging on to his certainty that things were black and white, and that Brian had done the wrong thing. And yet, with Anne’s happiness on the line, he could suddenly see so clearly why someone would break the rules for someone they loved.
    Just as Brian’s fiancée had said, love changed everything.
    Absolutely everything.
    Gareth got out of his car and strode across to the law offices, making sure he looked confident as he said hello to the receptionist and kept going. No one tried to stop him. After all, he’d been there before enough times to be recognizable, and he obviously knew where he was going.
    He headed straight up to Richard Wells’s office and a young woman came over. “Can I help you?” She asked the question rather flirtatiously, while clearly admiring the way he looked in his dark suit.
    Gareth, fortunately, had always been good with names. “Nikki, it’s good to see you again. I’m here for my meeting with Richard.”
    “Oh no,” she said with a small pout, “there must have been a mix-up. Richard just left the office for a different meeting.”
    “I really don’t have much time,” he grumbled in a tone that indicated he in no way blamed her for the mix-up but that he was frustrated by the inconvenience just the same.
    “Would you like a cup of coffee while you wait?”
    She was already pouring him one, and after he thanked her for it, he said, “I suppose I could give him a few minutes.”
    Luck was on his side when the lights on her phone suddenly lit up.
    “Please let me know if you need anything else while you’re waiting,” she said before rushing back to her desk to deal with the flurry of calls.
    It was that easy to get into Richard’s office. For the next few minutes, he was all alone to look out over the city’s skyline, admire the mementoes the lawyer had picked up from around the globe, enjoy his cup of coffee…
    …and steal a look at the file relating to Anne’s case.
    Fortunately, it was at the top of the pile of files on Richard’s desk.
    Making sure he could still hear Nikki’s voice as she dealt with the callers, he slipped on gloves so he wouldn’t leave fingerprints, then reached for the security camera over the door and slipped a piece of black tape over it. If he found anything in Richard’s file, he’d photograph it on his phone. He wouldn’t be able to risk taking documents.
    Except that ten minutes later, after he pulled the tape from the security camera and then informed Nikki that he’d have to reschedule, he hadn’t taken a single picture because there wasn’t anything in the files but cold, clinical facts.
    The only new information he’d learned was that Anne had given a DNA sample and the results would be back soon.
    When had she agreed to do that?
    And, really, what had he been expecting to find in Richard’s case file? Because nothing could change the fact that Edward Farleigh was Jasmine’s father. So what was he actually trying to do? Win the case for Anne? Deal with Jasmine Turner? Beat Richard Wells?
    All he really wanted to do was make Anne happy. In fact, he’d give anything to do that.
    But how?
    Fortunately, by the time he left the building, he had an idea. A good one, he hoped.
    Realizing just how much ground he had to cover before the DNA results were laid out at the follow-up mediation, he pushed the gas pedal to the floor as he called his office on his cell.
    “Gareth?” Margaret said on the other end of the line. “Where have you been this morning? We’ve had several inquiries for new clients, and I’d like to schedule their consultation visits with you as soon as possible.”
    “That’s great,” he said, “but there’s something else I need to do first. I need the address for Jasmine Turner’s mother in