Paternity Test

TYLER

She accused me of rejecting my own flesh and blood, I remembered, replaying her words in my mind. Her words had initially left me baffled, as I couldn’t understand her line of reasoning.

She elaborated on her accusation, confronting me with words I never thought I’d hear from her. Not in a million years.

“You lavish her child with affection, yet you’ve neglected your own. You weren’t there for her pregnancy, her birth, and you didn’t even acknowledge her when you saw her in person for the first time.”

Zach fell quiet behind me, and I struggled to make sense of her allegations.

Could she really be insinuating…accusing? The last time we were intimate was nearly three years ago, when Zach caught us at the Spectre Club.

“What are you talking about, Sophie?”

“Tilly is your child,” she announced, her gaze locked on Zach, whose hands were balled into fists at my sides. His grip was scorching my skin, the pain anchoring me amidst the absurdity pouring from Sophie’s mouth.

That child can’t be mine. “That’s impossible…you need to have sex to have a child,” I stuttered. She recoiled as if I’d hit her, then reached out to touch my cheek.

Before her fingers could make contact, I was pulled back against Zach’s sturdy chest. His arm encircled my waist in a protective, possessive move.

“Don’t you remember? Maybe you were too drunk…darling. We were together every night you were here…last spring. You should quit drinking. Get a DNA test, then you’ll remember,” she suggested casually, as if her words had no impact on my future. I watched in shock as she gestured dismissively, as if to say, ~You knew this would come out eventually~.

“No, we didn’t,” I asserted, making sure everyone could hear. I hadn’t been drunk then, I hadn’t touched alcohol in years. If we still had them, the CCTV footage would show how much time I spent in the club back then.

But there were those few unaccounted hours when I was either here or at the hotel sleeping. Those could be seen as a window for what she was accusing me of.

“You said you didn’t see her.” Zach turned me to face him, and I was taken aback by his expression.

My heart pounded in my chest, the thought of losing him again was unbearable. “I didn’t, Zach. I only saw her once last year, when Violet was in the hospital. That was it until she came after me.” I pleaded with him. I thought we had moved past this, that he trusted me.

Clearly, he didn’t. And I couldn’t fight them both. I needed him to stand with me, to be my rock while I navigated through her lies.

“She was here the entire week you were here in March,” Kelsie chimed in from behind me. I wanted to turn and slap her for adding fuel to the fire. For pouring salt on a wound that Sophie had just ripped open.

A wound that I had created in the first place.

“That may be, but I never saw her,” I retorted, my words laced with venom.

Sophie began to sob loudly, gasping for air until she collapsed onto the sofa. My sister rushed over to comfort her.

“Why do…you, you…hate Tilly…so much?” she sobbed dramatically.

“I don’t hate your child. I don’t know her.”

“Our child,” she corrected, and I shook my head.

“You’re delusional. That baby has nothing to do with me. My own child looks just like me…how could I have a child that bears no resemblance to me?” She tried to suppress a smile, as if I had confirmed something she needed. But what could it be?

“That’s it, isn’t it? You value that whore’s child more than your own.”

“Don’t you dare bring Violet into this,” Zach warned her, and it was my turn to hold him back. He was teetering on the edge of losing control. His body was shaking with anger, jealousy, and sadness.

Maybe all of the above. Who knows?

“Think about it, Zach. He was drinking while he was here. He was with me every night, and I messaged you to let you know. Then he rushed home to deny everything. He must have been more intoxicated than I thought,” she spat. Zach froze.

How did she know I went home that night? I glanced at her, racking my brain. Was she at the opening? Were any of her friends there? I couldn’t remember. I saw too many people that night.

My gaze snapped back to Zach, and he stiffened. As if my glance at him was an admission of guilt. He stormed out of the living room and out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

“How low can you stoop, Sophie? That child isn’t mine, and you know it,” I declared before chasing after Zach. I passed Violet, who was standing in the kitchen doorway with the child in question, but I didn’t have time to stop and look at her. To see if there were any similarities.

At first glance, she looked nothing like me, nothing like Ella. She’s not yours.

“Zach,” I called out. He was pacing the driveway angrily when I stepped outside. He held up his hands, signaling me to stay back, and I stopped in my tracks.

“Please tell me she’s lying. Tell me that child isn’t yours.”

“She isn’t, I promise. I never slept with her, Zach.”

“You better be telling the truth,” he warned, pulling me to him. His grip was harsh against my skin, and for a moment, I was reminded of that night in the barn, and the night in Zach’s bedroom with the whip. The scar on my ass and thigh throbbed at the memory of Zach losing control when he was as angry as he is now. The fear that coursed through me when I said ~red~ for the first time in over a decade.

The regret in his eyes as he helped me clean up before leaving me alone for days. For a moment, I was afraid of his ability to control himself.

“I never found her attractive, Zach. Only two women have ever caught my interest. I need you on my side, Zach. I can’t fight her and you at the same time. Or Callum and Violet, for that matter. I don’t know what she’s planning, but it feels like something bad.”

“She’s dared you to get a DNA test, Tyler. Why would she do that if she wasn’t telling the truth?” I shrugged, exasperated. I had no idea.

“I’ll take the DNA test. Then we can get the lawyers to issue a restraining order?” He studied me for a moment. I felt a desperate heat surge through my body, needing him to believe me.

“I’m going to trust the person I fell in love with, Tyler. You better not be lying to me. I don’t think we’d have a future if you were.”

“I’m not,” I assured him desperately.

Just the thought of losing him was wreaking havoc on my anxiety. My mind wanted to shut down, to take him and drive. Drive until we were somewhere we could reconnect physically to reassure ourselves that we were okay.

He pulled me to him, our faces pressed together as he held my head to his. I was pushed over the hood of a car, a car that wasn’t mine, not ours.

I was pretty sure it was her car. A small black convertible.

“You’re mine, not hers. Never hers,” he declared, pushing me back before reaching for my pants. With one hand, he unbuttoned and unzipped them. The car was so low that he had to kneel. He took out my cock and took it in his mouth.

It seemed he needed the same thing. He didn’t waste time, sucking me hard, fast, and deep. He toyed with my balls as I groaned.

“Make it quick, Ty, then I’m going to my mother’s,” he said, his teeth scraping down my shaft as my balls tightened. He was sucking so deeply and quickly that his saliva dribbled down his chin onto my balls.

The cool evening air hit me in a strange, yet pleasurable way. So I leaned back, trying to prolong the moment…but his mouth was too skilled, too good. Before long, I was emptying myself into the back of his throat, and he swallowed everything. The thrill of doing this on my mother’s property brought me back to reality. I looked around to make sure no one had come out, but the coast was clear.

“Zach,” I utter his name as he pulls away, rising to his feet. He moistens his lips before drawing me into another kiss. It’s an intoxicating kiss, tasting myself on his lips while an electric tension crackles between us.

“I’m putting my faith in you, Ty. But I can’t go back in there with her. I’ll walk to my mom’s,” he says, his voice heavy with sorrow.

“I can give you a ride,” I offer, but he shakes his head, making his way toward the driveway.

“Handle this situation, make sure Violet’s alright?”

“Zach?” I reach out, trying to grasp his arm to keep him here, but he shrugs me off and continues walking.

“I don’t want to lose control again. I’ll see you at home…” And with that, he’s gone.

He disappears from view as he turns left out of the driveway, just as the front door swings open and Sophie emerges, a car seat in one hand and a handbag and baby bag in the other.

“Did you just have sex on my car?”

I glance down at my now flaccid member, barely contained by my open slacks. I shrug, tucking it back into my trousers and zipping up.

“Need a hand?” I offer, watching her struggle with the weight of the car seat and the baby inside. Tilly, inside it.

She grins, a triumphant ~I won~ smile, as I take the car seat from her. I study the baby closely, searching for any resemblance between us. She looks nothing like me. In fact, she hardly looks like Sophie.

Tilly…can’t be mine. I know she’s not mine. There’s just no way on earth that she could be. I haven’t slept with Sophie in years, nearly three to be exact. This child is definitely not mine.

“Her straps are loose, and the chest clip is too low,” I comment, placing the car seat in the front passenger seat. I adjust the clip and tighten the straps as she rolls her eyes.

“I hadn’t finished yet,” she retorts, but I raise my eyebrows, letting her know I’m not buying it.

“You wouldn’t want her to get hurt, would you?”

“I would have tightened it before we left. I was in a hurry to get away from your spiteful fiancé,” she mutters, leaning over me to fasten the seat belt around the car seat, making sure to pull it tight— to show me it’s secure.

I’m tempted to ask if the passenger airbags are off, but I hold back. It’s not my business because she’s not my child.

“What did you do to Violet?”

“She just started screaming at me out of nowhere. I apologize if Tilly’s presence is inconvenient for everyone, but she has a right to know her dad. Plus, I could really use the financial assistance and the emotional support when I go back to work next month.”

“You’re returning to work next month?”

“With only three months of paid leave, I don’t have a choice.” I try to muster up some sympathy for her, but it’s just not there.

Tilly isn’t my responsibility, and neither is Sophie. So I say my goodbyes and wish her the best.

“If you don’t step up within the next week, my lawyer will be contacting you for a DNA test,” she hollers over the sound of her car engine as I retreat back into the house.

“Go for it. There’s no way that kid is mine,” are my parting words to her.