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“Leave.”
Achille stepped out and slipped into the night.
I shut the door, my back pressing against it as I tried to steady my breathing. What would happen when the results came in? I rubbed my forehead, already dreading his return. The paternity test was poised above my neck like a guillotine.
TEN
ACHILLE
This was it.
The answer to the million-dollar question haunting me since I laid eyes on that boy. I’d taken the plastic tube to a lab. Then I bribed the tech, who ran the test right there. He’d handed me a closed envelope. I took it straight to my sister’s house, where I’d called an emergency family meeting with my siblings. Their faces blurred around me, anticipation hanging thick.
“You going to open it or what?” Santino barked.
I shrugged.
Romeo’s smirk flashed as he poured himself more wine. He was at ease, unlike our other brother. Santino hadn’t touched his glass. He perched on the edge of his seat, his attention riveted on the letter.
“I hauled ass across the city in rush hour for this. Open it, for fuck’s sake.”
I tossed it at him. “I already know what it says.”
It was the last piece of a puzzle I didn’t want to complete. Scowling, Santino tore open the envelope. He pulled the letter out and unfolded it. His ruthless gaze scanned the text.
“What’s it say?” Elena, my youngest sister, piped up. “Is he a daddy?”
Santino frowned.
Romeo glanced at it over his shoulder. “He is, in fact, a daddy.”
Elena and Julia squealed. Romeo raised his glass, toasting the air, as Santino held the page to his nose. “Well, that’s the final nail in your coffin,” he said.
I ripped it out of his hands.
PROBABILITY OF PARENT: 99.99%.
I have a son.
It was like a bullet ricocheting in my skull. Part of me that remembered cold nights and empty stomachs recoiled, but another felt a fierce need to claim him.
Someone nudged a glass in my hand. My fingers curled around the stem as I brought the drink to my lips. I chugged the wine. Heat webbed across my chest.
Elena shook my arm. “I can’t wait to meet him, Killie!”
I looked at her. “How did this happen?”
Romeo smirked. “Just a wild guess here, but I’m guessing you forgot to wrap it up.”
That didn’t sound like me at all. Why would I take that risk? The condom must’ve broke.
My siblings clinked their glasses together and drank. Julia smiled ear to ear, her long ponytail swishing as she walked down the table with a bottle, refilling Santino’s glass and mine. “Do you have a picture of your baby?”
I pulled up one I’d stolen from social media. “He’s three years old. His name is Jack.”
“Oh my gosh. He looks just like you.”
My siblings passed the phone around. While the girls cooed over Jack, Sabrina hung back, her silence heavy with unspoken envy. “Must be nice to find out you’re a dad without the hassle of pregnancy.” Santino grinned like a fool and said he couldn’t wait to meet him. Romeo smacked my back and congratulated me. For what? What was my grand achievement? Knocking up a woman who hadn’t trusted me with my son? They expected me to feel something, but the kid was a stranger with my eyes.
