“Wait, son…”
Griffin didn’t stick around to hear what his father had to say.
Corbin looked at Julian.“Go see what’s wrong, will you?”
“I’ll try.”
Julian gathered his stuff, left the conference room and went to Griffin’s office.
Mei nodded to acknowledge him as he approached Griffin’s closed door and knocked.
Julian didn’t wait for his brother to reply before he entered the office.“What’s up?”
The stricken look on Griffin’s face was so out of character as to be concerning.“Remember McKenna, who I dated last year for a couple of months?”
“Vaguely.”
“She was the extra in that Marvel movie.”
“Oh right.What about her?”
Griffin had a wild look in his eyes as he held up the piece of paper that’d been delivered during the meeting.“She’s claiming I’m the father of her daughter, which is impossible.There’s no way that kid is mine.”
“So you never slept with her?”
“I did, but I never take any chances in that regard, as you well know.She’s not my kid.”
None of them took chances in that regard.“Take a paternity test and shut it down.”
“Yeah, I will, but fuck, man.”Griffin ran a trembling hand through his hair.“I haven’t heard from her in more than a year, and then she drops this bomb on me?”
“Did you know she was pregnant?”
He shook his head.“She never said a word about it to me.”
“Damn.You want me to handle it for you?”
Griffin’s entire demeanor brightened.“Would you?”
“Of course.”Julian took the notification from him, noting the name of the attorney as he scanned the letter.He thought it was interesting that the issue of support wasn’t mentioned, which was usually the first thing requested in situations like this.
“The last thing in the world I want is a kid,” Griffin said.“You know that, Jules.Get me out of this, will you?”
“I’m on it.I’ll let you know when and where for the paternity test.In the meantime, try not to panic.You were careful.”
“I’m always careful, for the same reason you are.”
“Is she the type to try to trick someone into paying for her kid?”
“Not at all, which is the terrifying part.She was really cool.I liked her.”
“So what happened?”
Griffin shrugged.“The usual.She wanted more than I had to give, and eventually she moved on.It was nothing dramatic.More like a fizzle than an eruption.”
“Consider yourself lucky,” Julian said.
“I take it you ended things with Stacey earlier.”
