Max was a good kid, smart and inquisitive and fun—and I had really enjoyed spending time with him. Regardless of the paternity issue, I cared about him. And I hadn’t minded the idea of being his father. I’d even started embracing the concept. Looking forward to what lay ahead.
At least the disappointment was mine and Anja’s alone. It had been smart not to introduce me to Max right away as his father. For all he knew, I was just a friend of his mom’s. And now, a friend of his as well.
I couldn’t help thinking that for all of my brother’s flaws, all of his drinking and immature behavior, Luka had done me a favor by expressing doubt about my paternity. Because if I hadn’t asked for a DNA test, I never would have known the truth. None of us would have.
But now, after all this hardship and strife, my relationship with Tori had been given the gift of a clean slate. As saddened as I was to lose my biological connection to Max, I took comfort in knowing that Tori and I wouldn’t have to navigate that complication any more. Now we could focus on our marriage—on our family. Maybe start thinking about a baby of our own.
Glancing at Tori, who was still comforting Anja, it was easy to imagine her as a mother. To picture her glowing and pregnant with my child. It was something I wanted, I realized.
Maybe that could be the next step in our lives. Once my father had been brought to justice and his illegal business dealings dismantled, Tori and I could focus on having a family.
Anja was still crying, with Tori crouched on the ground beside her chair, holding Anja’s hand.
“I’m so sorry,” Anja said when she realized I was watching them.
“Don’t be,” I said. I reached over and pulled some tissues from the box on the doctor’s desk. She was well-stocked; no doubt used to getting strong emotional reactions from clients.
“I hoped so much that it was you,” Anja went on tearfully, dabbing at her eyes. “All these years, I never even allowed myself to consider that it wouldn’t be.”
Tori and I exchanged a look. I could see the relief in her eyes, but I could also tell that she felt bad for Anja, who she had grown close to.
“You didn’t know,” I reassured her. “It’s not your fault.”
I didn’t blame her anymore for the part she had played in my father’s endless game of chess. We were all just pawns to him, a means to an end. Anja had gotten swept up in it just like the rest of us, only my father had managed to maintain near complete control over her life.
“Maybe that’s why I stayed away so long, honestly,” Anja said. “Because I didn’t want to confront the possibility that you weren’t Max’s father. I wanted it to be true so badly, because it would mean he was a product of love, but I guess…I guess I was just fooling myself.”
Her tears were welling up again, and Tori pulled her into a hug. I didn’t want to push Anja when she was already so upset, but I knew that we couldn’t have any more secrets.
“Anja,” I said softly. “Do you have…any idea who Max’s real father could be?”
Tori shot me a look, but I had to ignore it. I knew she was thinking of Anja’s feelings, but it was important to try to figure this out. Not just for me or for Anja, but for Max.
“I think so,” she said, lifting her head to look at me. “I only had one client back then who refused to use protection sometimes.” She let out a breath. “He always gave me a fake name, but I recognized him once from the news on TV.”
“From the news?” Tori repeated, frowning.
“So you know his real name?” I asked.
Anja nodded slowly. “Yes,” she said. “He was a politician. From here. Senator Mitch Lindsey.”
Tori
Chapter 20
“Psst…Tori.”
A little origami crane made out of notebook paper landed on my desk and I glanced over at Diane, snapping out of my daze.
“You okay?” my hippie friend whispered.
Faking a smile, I nodded. But I wasn’t okay, and I knew Diane would see right through me. Luckily, we were sitting in our Psycholinguistics class, and there was no way for her to grill me when Professor Dhawan was deep in the middle of a review for our upcoming final exams.
“Let’s grab a tea after this,” she suggested. “You seem—”
“Ms. Vergara,” Professor Dhawan called out, one hand on her hip, “I can only assume you’re talking during my class because you’re just as excited as I am about the written portion of your final regarding the applications of language acquisition within the field of artificial intelligence.”
Giggles echoed around the room, and Diane immediately blushed. “I’m super excited, actually,” she said. “Really looking forward to it.”
