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When I got to my office, Reardon was waiting for me outside.
“Everything okay?”
“Not really, but it will be.”
Reardon nodded and was about to say something when I asked, “How did you remember her? Chloe? From that night at the bar? It actually didn’t click for me right away, but it did for you…”
Reardon rubbed his hand behind his neck, then looked up at me sheepishly.
“I actually saw her first, that night, but I chickened out. If you’ll remember, I didn’t have much game back then, and at those parties, the women were usually there hoping to land a football player.”
“I remember you did all right…”
He chuckled and said, “Yeah, I did, but she intimidated me. When I finally worked up the courage, I saw her making her way over, then beeline right to you. I figured, there wasn’t much point after that, so I went along with it, and never saw her again.”
I put my hand on his shoulder and said, “I wish you’d have said something. You know I never would have made a play if I’d known.”
“Water under the bridge, man,” Reardon said, his face serious as he switched from cousin mode to lawyer mode.
“All right, when you go in there, I don’t want any mention of compensation, parental rights, or anything of that nature. The first thing we’ll do is order a paternity test.”
“I think he’s mine, Rear. I mean, just look at him,” I began, but he held up his hand to cut me off.
“Thinking isn’t good enough, we need proof.” Reardon’s face softened. “Look, Chris is a good kid, he is, and if the DNA tests come back positive, we’ll welcome him into the family with open arms, but we have to be smart about this. You’re a very wealthy, high-profile person, and my job is to make sure that you’re being taken care of. Let me do my job.”
“Got it,” I replied, agreeing with everything he said.
“Let’s do this then,” he said and opened the door.
I walked around to my desk, sitting and getting comfortable, before bringing my gaze to the woman sitting before me. I could tell she’d been crying, which had my demeanor softening, then Reardon cleared his throat and gave me a sharp nod to begin.
I sat tall in the chair and tried to think rationally, but what popped out of my mouth was, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Reardon sighed, but didn’t object, his eyes looking to Chloe for her answer.
Chloe took a deep breath and brought her large dark eyes, which were so much like Zoey’s, to mine.
“I tried, at first,” she said, her voice rough from crying. “I tried to reach you through the team, your agent, even a PR firm, but they all thought I was some groupie trying to get close to you.”
“Did you say you were pregnant?”
Her face flushed and she shook her head.
“No, I didn’t want you to find out that way.”
“So you just gave up?”
“After a while … yes. I saw stuff about you in the media, and you were always going out and traveling … I didn’t think you’d have room in your life…”
“Don’t do that,” I cut her off, my anger rising. “Don’t presume you know me based off what you’ve read or seen on TV. That isn’t me, and it isn’t fair. I had a right to know, and you took that choice away from me.”
“Allegedly,” Reardon put in, causing Chloe to turn to him in confusion and ask, “What?”
“We’ll need a paternity test ran before Mr. Lewis claims any responsibility, or parental rights, for the child.”
I saw Chloe start to bluster, then think better of it, instead saying sadly, “I understand.”
Not satisfied with her answers so far, I asked, “What about later? When he started asking about his dad … Zoey said you told them that his father didn’t want anything to do with him.”
