Nick felt his legs giving way beneath him. He would have collapsed if Cali hadn’t propped him up. His mind reeled as Calista and the doctor helped him navigate back to the waiting room which was thankfully empty. Only after he sank to a chair did the doctor apologize.

“I’m so sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. I just thought you had the right to know. I encourage you to have additional testing done to reconfirm the results.”

Nick was in shock. He wanted to scream at the doctor that he was wrong. To even contemplate he was right was unfathomable. He was Andi’s father. She looked so much like him.

The doctor was moving to leave when Nick snapped out of it enough to remember to ask, “Do you at least have O type blood for Andi’s transfusion?”

He turned back toward them. “Yes, as I said, type O is pretty common. In fact, Ms. Bennett is a type O. We saved her blood to have on reserve for your daughter.”

Nick felt a small measure of relief. He wasn’t sure how long he sat lost in a sea of memories. His mind raced to recall every detail leading up to Veronica showing up with Andrea in her arms to tell him he was a father. What a fool he’d been to believe her story, yet even now, he was thankful for her lie—he couldn’t imagine his life without Andrea in it.

A fierce urge to find the truth consumed him. Only when he found the truth would he be able to take action to ensure Andrea would remain safely at his side the rest of his life. With Roni dead, there was no way to wrestle the truth out of her. He’d have to get help.

“Nick. I’m worried about you. Please, talk to me.”

Cali’s soft pleas finally broke through his dark thoughts. He looked up to see worry etched on her face. He saw relief in her eyes when he acknowledged her. He suspected she’d been talking to him before, but he’d been too consumed with his worry to hear her.

“I have no words.” That was the most truthful reply he could come up with.

“Maybe it’s a mistake. I think you should have an actual paternity test done to be sure.”

He didn’t answer right away. His mind was reeling as a wave of hatred consumed him.

“I’m glad she’s dead. She deserved to die.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do. From the very beginning, she played me. Everything we had for the last eight years was a lie.”

“Maybe, but she also gave you Andi. I’ve seen you with her, and I don’t care what any test tells us, you’re Andrea’s father. The only one she’s going to have. If it took Veronica to lie to you to have Andi in your life, it was worth it. Right?”

He couldn’t deny her logic. The thought of losing Andi had the lump in his throat almost choking him. Cali seemed to notice and silently moved to sit in his lap. He squeezed her to him as if she were his lifeline, and when she snuggled into his neck, her tenderness broke the delicate thread he’d been holding onto his sanity with.

Nick let the sobs he’d been holding back wrack his body as he cried for his daughter’s injuries... for the loss of his marriage... the loss of his innocent trust of a woman who had built their life on lies... But mostly, he cried out of fear of losing the baby girl he would give his life for.

Nick had never allowed himself to lose control like this in his entire life. As he slowly gained command of his emotions, he became embarrassed for his show of weakness in front of Calista. She’d been through hell herself. She needed him to be strong.

As he collected himself, he apologized. “I’m so sorry I lost it.”

Calista reached up to cup his face, pulling him to face her. He saw her own tears glistening, but what surprised him the most was her love shining back at him.

“Of course you did. Your world is unraveling.”

“I love you, Cali. I’m so glad you’re here with me. I can’t even think about going through this without you here.”

“Oh, Nick, I love you too. I just wish there was more I could do.”

“You’re doing it. Just be here with me. Please.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Nick and Cali passed the time as best as they could while keeping watch over the unconscious Andi. They took turns talking to her, telling her stories of the fun things they would be doing together when she got out of the hospital.

By eleven that night, Nick forced Cali to go home and get some rest. She wouldn’t hear of leaving until he asked her to stop by his house to pick up some things for him on the way back to the hospital the next day. He knew giving her something to do, it would help her feel less guilty about taking off for a while.

Nick needed for her to leave so he could put the plan he’d been hatching into motion. As soon as she left, he pulled out his phone to look through his contact list. He was relieved to find the name he was looking for. He pushed send and waited for an answer.

“This is Blackburn.”

“Jason, this is Nicholas Mikos. I’m sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I need your help.”

“Nick, you ought to know I work crazy hours in my job. This is actually a good time. I’m just sitting parked and could use a good distraction. Your firm need some help again?”

“No. I have a personal problem I need some help with this time.”

“Shit. I’m sorry to hear that. When people call me with personal problems, that’s never a good thing.”

“You’re right. It isn’t good. It’s critical that you’re discreet. I honestly don’t know how big of a hornet’s nest I’m gonna find, but it’s crucial I’m the only one who’s aware of your findings.”

“You don’t need to lecture me, counselor. Discretion is my middle name. I wouldn’t be in business if it wasn’t.” Nick heard the defensive tone in the private detective’s voice and knew he’d insulted him with his warning.

“Understood and thanks. So how does this work?”

“Why don’t you start from the beginning? What’s the problem we’re trying to solve? Is it your wife? Stepping out on you?”

Nick’s unwanted manic laughter reminded him how close to the surface his emotions still were.

“I don’t need your help to prove that. My wife died in a car accident over three months ago. She was riding in a car after midnight with her lover and proceeded to bite his cock off during the impact of their accident. No, she did a fine job of hanging herself on that one.”

“Ouch. That’s cold. I’m sorry, man. So if not infidelity, how can I help?”

“My eight-year-old daughter was in an accident today. She’s going to be okay, but she’s in the hospital. During testing, her paternity has come into question. The hospital is claiming I couldn’t be her biological father based on blood type alone. I obviously can’t ask my dead wife who else she was sleeping with at the time Andi was conceived, but I need to know. I need to take measures to make sure no one ever shows up on my doorstep to try to take her away from me. She’s my daughter. Do you hear me? No one else is ever going to lay claim to her, and I’m not going to live in fear. I need to know the truth.”

Nick heard the low whistle at the other end of the phone. “So let me understand. You want me to find out who else your dead wife was sleeping with over eight years ago?”

“No. I want you to find out who impregnated her over eight years ago. Based on all the shit I’ve found since her death, you may find she was fucking an entire football team. I just need to know who is Andrea’s biological father, and I need you to do it without raising their suspicion. For all I know, they have no idea Andi exists, and I want to keep it that way.”

“Well, is that all? I thought you might have something hard for me.”

“Listen, can you do the job or not?” Nick wasn’t in the mood to deal with the PI’s attempt at humor.

“Sure. I’m sorry. Email me with all the details you have. Your wife’s name, DOB, social security number, and the same for your daughter. If you have a copy of the birth certificate, send it along with anything else you can think of that might help. I’ll watch for it and be back in touch.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You may not like what I dig up.”