Man of the House(70)

I’d slept with him because I couldn’t stop myself. He was handsome, tall, strong, confident, and cocky. He was a piece-of-shit mobster, good for a single night of fun.

“Come on,” he said to me.

“Where are we going?”

“Seeing some doctors. We’re going to get that test started.”

I nodded. “Fine. Good.”

I stood up and followed Vince out of the room. Alex wriggled in my arms, clearly tired, and I wished I could put him down for a nap.

“I know,” I said to him. “I know. It’s an exciting day.”

Vince frowned at me but didn’t say anything.

We walked through the halls, and I couldn’t help but marvel at everything around me. The place was enormous and covered in wealth. Expensive paintings, gold gilding, statues and plants and chandeliers. There were even stained glass windows in beautiful mosaics. The whole place looked like what you imagined an incredibly rich person’s house would look like, but even more so.

Vince didn’t say a word as we moved through the halls. Eventually he stopped outside a door and looked at me.

His eyes were intense, piercing, and I took a step back from him.

“Tell me now,” he said, his voice a slow growl. “Tell me the truth right now and we can just let you go. No harm done.”

“He’s your son,” I said quietly.

He stared at me for a second and then nodded once. “We’ll see.”

He pushed open the door and we went into what looked exactly like a doctor’s office.

“Mister Mori, Miss Kozlov,” the pretty young girl sitting behind the receptionist window said. “Head right back.”

Vince nodded to her and I smiled. We went through another door and a nurse met us there, smiling. “Right this way.” We followed her down a short hallway and she put us into a small exam room. “Sit,” she said. “This will only take a second.”

I glanced at Vince. If he was nervous, he wasn’t showing it. I watched as the nurse opened up some sort of package, taking out a few different things. There were cups and a few sticks with cotton at the end.

She turned to Vince. “You first,” she said. “Open up.”

He opened his mouth. The nurse stuck the swab in and rubbed it against his cheek. When she was done, she placed it inside a plastic envelope, grabbed another swab, and looked at me.

“Now the little one.”

I nodded. The nurse came close. “Oh so cute,” she said. “Don’t worry, little guy, this won’t hurt a bit. Just a little swab in your mouth. That’s all.”

The nurse very gently pressed the swab into Alex’s mouth. He clearly didn’t enjoy it, but fortunately he didn’t start crying yet. Alex was a really good baby, surprisingly not fussy at all. The nurse moved the swab around very gently and then pulled it out, bagged it, and smiled at us.

“That’s it,” she said.

“Seriously?” I asked. “That’s all?

“When will we get the results back?” Vince asked.

“Three days,” the nurse said.

Vince nodded and stood. “Thanks.”

I stood and followed him out. We went into the hallway and he headed back toward his office.

“Hold on,” I said.

He looked at me. “Got something to say?”

I clenched my jaw. “I need to use the bathroom.”

He sighed. “Fine.” I followed him a bit farther and he stopped outside two doors, each marked as restrooms. “Go ahead.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Can you hold Alex for a second?”

He stared at me and then nodded slowly. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Here.” I helped him take Alex and showed him how to hold him. “There. Easy, right?”

He frowned down at Alex. “Sure.”

I smiled and went into the bathroom.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I didn’t really need to use the bathroom, but I’d needed to get away from Vince for a second. I felt dizzy around him, both terrified and drawn toward him.

It felt weird knowing that Alexei’s father was holding him, but I was also glad. Alex needed a father, even if that father was a violent thug like Vince.

A cocky, asshole thug.

But first in my mind was the thought that I’d never see my family again. Rafa had terrified me, reminded me that my father was a vengeful and spiteful man.

Maybe I’d made a mistake. Maybe I shouldn’t have come here, should have done something else.

I looked at myself in the mirror and shook my head. No. It wasn’t worth thinking that way. I had to prove to Vince that Alex was his child, and hopefully he would protect us. Hopefully he wouldn’t let his only son get taken away by my family.

Or maybe he would. There was no way he wanted to be a father or was even close to being ready.