“Why you not look at my crotch area?” Sacha says. “Notice Caulder hard at door but not tattoo on my hip! Russian dick area not as interesting?”
“Do you really?” Creed asks. “And before you get offended, I only look at my husbands’ dicks. No offense.”
“You have pass,” Sacha dismisses Creed as he gets to his feet and shoves his pants down enough to show us his star.
“That’s awesome, man,” Asael says.
“I thought about getting on ass cheek but this how I can be confused for Benny Bop,” he explains, laughing as he takes his seat again.
Lo looks at me, amused. I wonder if this is how his team is.
Before I’m halfway through my plate, my phone rings. Since it’s Rigo, I decide to answer. Lo takes my plate while I stand with my phone in hand and take a few steps away as I answer.
“Caulder,” Rigo greets.
“Hi,” I say. “Please tell me there isn’t something new I need to worry about now.”
He chuckles. “Not at all. I just forwarded you an email. Take a look.”
My stomach flutters with nerves and I’m immediately regretting eating something as I pull my phone down and start clicking around on my screen. His email is the most recent one received and I click on it. There’s an attachment and I open it.
It’s a whole lot of official boxes with letters and values my gaze just scans over since I don’t understand them. My eyes snag on ‘Combined Paternity Index: 0 to 1’ and then ‘Probability of Paternity: 0.0000%.’
It takes longer to comprehend the paragraph in plain English following that I have to read at least half a dozen times before the meaning registers.
The alleged father is excluded from paternity in the following systems: FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, CSF1PO, Penta D, F13B, Penta E, Penta C. These results indicate that CAULDER HAINES is not the biological father of the unborn fetus within the womb of FELICIA BENEDICT.
Chills run along my body. I feel them all the way down to my toes and along my scalp, making my head tingle. I bring the phone back to my ear. “It’s…”
“Negative. There isn’t even a blip of possibility. Whoever the lookalike was, they weren’t related to you at all.”
My eyes close as relief washes through me. “What now?”
“I’m sure Alexandra already has this information as well, so she’ll be in touch with how we’ll proceed. I understand that you just want her to go away, Caulder, but have you thought about a defamation lawsuit?”
I sigh. “What do I have to do? What’s my part?”
“Nothing right now. Alexandra has already been gathering everything she needs as this woman digs herself a very deep hole with evidence all over the internet. I’m curious to know if she really plans to open this document on a live feed. We have someone monitoring her account already, so we’ll know if and when she does.”
“But what do we do with this—the test? Are we going to make a statement or something?” I ask.
“Nope. Unnecessary. As you’ve been saying all along—it’s no one’s business. Besides, she’s going to be making the world aware all on her own.”
I take a deep breath. “Okay. Uh… Before we file that thing, can I see it? Before I make a decision?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Fine, okay. Thank you for calling me. I feel like you were just holding my hand as I read those words, Rigo.”
“Hand holding athletesismy official job title,” Rigo deadpans.
I grin. “Yeah, well. Thanks. Really.”
“You’re welcome. Really.”
I hang up and just stand there. Staring at nothing. It’s over. The proof that I didn’t fucking touch her is now tangible. It’s over!
It’s not over, of course. I have no doubt that she’s not going to let it be over. But for me, the world will know the truth. It’s real and I hold it electronically in my hand.
