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Kane Lambert glared with derision; his voice unwieldy. “Piss off."
She grinned; her disgust covered by audacity. Before he could slam the door, she shoved a piece of paper into the room beyond him.
Poof! With the light gone from inside the house, darkness surrounded Lisa. Her knees gave out and she lowered her shaking body against the porch post crouching down rather than falling.
Waiting for what she hoped would be the inevitable rematch, she bolstered her strength. "Hmmm... that went well." Whispering low, she joked, a family trait when things became hard.
***
How the hell could something like this happen? Jesus, couldn’t he get one break? Spying the paper that whacko had shoved into his room, curiosity overwhelming, Kane lifted it to see a DNA paternity test and read at the bottom where the legal form showed he was indeed 99.98% a father.
Son of a bitch!
He staggered to the window, yanked back the broken blinds, and saw a dark shape hunkered down on the porch. Of all the days for this to happen, God had to have a macabre sense of the ridiculous for this to be the chosen night. He’d taken months to set up this meeting and now it could all be ruined by some weirdo chick claiming to be his daughter.
He lifted the paper again and spotted another name. Seeing it in print almost put him on his knees. Jennie Sarnoski. A flame exploded in his stomach, his hardened heart shattered, and his eyes teared. If one person in the world could claim he’d fathered an unknown child, it would be her.
Holy Lord Jesus. A daughter. His girl.
Rushing to the door, he opened it with care, wanting to put his fist through it first when he thought of his earlier behavior. “Look, tonight’s not a good time for me, sweetheart. Can we meet later, tomorrow, whenever you want?”
“Sure, so you can take off, and I’ll be forced to put in more months of following the ghost. No.” The girl stood with a fluid motion one might expect from a dancer. She approached, her eyes never leaving his. “Let’s discuss it now.” She pushed past the man and entered the dump.
***
From the few minutes she had to take in her surroundings, Lisa felt disgust rise up, burning her insides. The dude lived like some lazy drifter who couldn’t care less about his setting, no pictures, shit all over the place including empty beer cans and pizza leftovers. It even smelled like one would expect an unkept house to smell – part mold, part dirt, and old food odors all vying to be the strongest.
“Look, I can’t explain this now, but I need you to disappear. I have some company coming over soon, folks you won’t want or need to meet. They can’t know anything about my personal life. I mean it, kid. Leave.”
“Not gonna happen. This isn’t only about what you need. We have to talk. By the way, my name isn’t kid, it’s Lisa.”
“Chrissakes, fine. Lisa. Please… you need to go now.” His favorite word appeared again, and it still didn’t affect her decision. What he needed wasn’t as important to her as what she wanted.
Suddenly a car door slamming could be heard coming from the driveway beside the house. Male voices sounded loud.
Catching her unaware, Kane grabbed Lisa’s arm and shoved her into a back room. At the door, he barked, “Don’t come out. These men are not nice, and I don’t want them to see I have company. I mean it.” He closed the door just in time.
~*~*~*~
