“Sure, Max,” Luka repeated, before glancing up at me and tilting his head as if he was studying me. “The thing is…he doesn’t really look like you, does he?”
I didn’t like where this conversation was going.
“You’re drunk,” I told him.
“Are you sure he’s even yours?” Luka said. An uncomfortable chill went up my spine. “You might have loved that bitch, but let’s not forget she was a hooker for a living.”
Without realizing I’d made the choice to do so, I had Luka shoved up against the wall, my hand around his neck. Fear flashed in his eyes, but he still had the nerve to smirk at me as I stood there breathing hard and trying to calm down.
“Shut the fuck up,” I seethed.
“The truth hurts, brother,” he said, his voice rasping from the pressure on his neck.
Suddenly, Tori appeared in my periphery, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. I wondered how much of the conversation she had heard.
She cleared her throat and I released my brother, stepping back. I regretted my outburst.
“Here’s some coffee for you, Luka,” she said, in a much kinder tone than he deserved. “Why don’t you go sit with Emzee for a bit?”
I half expected Luka to argue with Tori, to start cursing or trying to pour another drink for himself, but he took the coffee without comment, his head lowered like a chastened dog.
“Sure,” he said quietly and shuffled back to the dining room, where my sister was waiting—hopefully to pour a carafe of coffee into him before sending him home.
I leaned back against the bar, feeling suddenly weary. Tori squeezed my shoulder.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I glanced in the direction my brother had gone in. “I don’t know,” I said honestly.
“I heard him,” Tori admitted. Her voice was low; perhaps she didn’t want Emzee to hear. “He’s…very drunk.”
“Yeah,” I responded. “Anyway. Let’s go sit.”
As I sipped coffee back at the table, I couldn’t help brooding. I knew Luka was drunk and spouting off, but I couldn’t deny that he’d succeeded in planting the seeds of doubt in my mind. And he had a point about Anja. A solid one. She’d slept with other men—that was a fact. I didn’t judge her for it, but it certainly called the issue of paternity into question.
And then that first day at the zoo with Max, I remembered thinking that although he had seemed familiar, especially his expressions and quirks, he hadn’t really reminded me of myself. And he didn’t look anything like the younger versions of me that I’d seen in my childhood photos. Maybe the familiarity was just seeing Anja in the kid, but I wasn’t sure. I’d believed her when she’d said Max was mine, but Luka’s words had thrown everything into question.
I continued mulling it over as I helped Emzee escort Luka to the foyer.
“Can you make sure he gets home safe?” I asked her as he struggled with his coat.
“I’m fine,” Luka mumbled, misaligning the buttons.
Emzee nodded. “Sure. In fact, I won’t leave his side until he sobers up. My boyfriend’s at home with Munchkin anyway, so I don’t need to rush back to my apartment any time soon.”
“Life saver,” I told her. At least there was one person in my family I could always depend on. Then I gave Luka a hug, even though he tried to pull away. “Take care of yourself,” I said.
Once Tori and I had ushered them out the door, we sank onto the living room sofa with the last of the coffee. The staff was already in the process of dismantling the décor and candles in the dining room and cleaning up the remaining dishes on the table.
As the comforting, familiar sound of Gretna’s humming issued from the kitchen, I leaned my head against Tori’s and went silent for a long time, lost in thought.
Finally, I turned to look at my wife.
“I’m going to ask Anja for a DNA test,” I told her. “What do you think?”
She nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. You need to know the truth.”
Stefan
