“I’ve never seen this woman before,” he said, darting his gaze at her. “You’re mistaken.”
It was a terrible lie.
“You can drop the games,” I deadpanned. “We all know what Konstantin’s business is all about, and we also know why you have a vested interest in the…not-so-legal endeavors.”
“If you think you’re going to blackmail me, you can all get the fuck out right now,” my dad said, starting to turn red. “My lawyer will ensure this slander never sees the light of day—”
“Just stop!” I interrupted. “This isn’t even about that. It’ll be easier for everyone if you just admit you know her, so we can move on to the real reason we’re here. Now please, sit.”
He did. Noticing a half-finished drink on the table beside the sofa, I handed it to him. He downed the rest of the alcohol in a single gulp. Finally his shoulders slumped and he looked up at me, seeming older and smaller than I’d ever seen him before.
“I’m not corroborating anything you just said,” he stated. “But yes, I do know her.”
“Anja,” I prodded.
“I knowAnja,” he repeated, annoyed. I could see the woman’s posture relax a little at hearing my father finally say her name out loud.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
In my opinion, she had nothing to thank him for. Acknowledging her shouldn’t have required this much pulling of teeth. My father really was a bastard.
“Now just get on with it and tell me why this woman is standing in my living room.” He glared at Stefan and I before directing his full attention on Anja. “If you’re looking for some sort of pay-off, like I said, you can leave right now. I’m not paying you a cent.
“In fact, go ahead and tell the media I was with you, for all I care. Who do you think the public will believe? A longtime, respected senator with a great track record, or some foreign hooker that just popped out of the woodwork?”
Stefan’s fists clenched, and I could feel the outrage radiating off of him, but I pulled my husband back as Anja stepped toward my dad, her head still held high.
“It won’t just be my word against yours, Senator,” she said. “I have proof. Our seven-year-old son.”
My father went completely stiff.
“You’re a liar and a whore,” he rasped, newly invigorated. “There have to be dozens of men out there who could have fathered your child! You’re trying to pin it on me so you can get notoriety and child support, but it won’t work. You think I haven’t dealt with your type before?”
“Maybe I am wrong,” she said calmly.
“You see?” my dad shouted triumphantly, gesturing in frustration to me and Stefan.
Anja went on, “And that’s why we need you to agree to a paternity test.”
My father scoffed. “There’s no way in hell I’d agree to something like that.”
I stepped forward. “You don’t have to,” I said. “If you don’t give them a sample of your DNA, I’ll give them mine. It might not be as significant a lab result, but it will prove that I’m related to Anja’s son. And it will be enough to take to the press.”
My father scowled at me in disgust.
“I can’t believe you’re buying into this woman’s lies—and over the word of your own father,” he raged.
I didn’t say anything, just looped my arm through Anja’s in a show of support. My father’s gaze shifted accusingly to Stefan.
“And you. You’re supposed to be keeping her in line! What kind of husband can’t keep his wife from running around and colluding in these kinds of bullshit conspiracy theories?”
“The kind of husband who trusts his wife’s rationale,” Stefan answered drily.
“It’s not bullshit,” I insisted. I’d had enough.
Pulling out my phone, I scrolled back to a picture I’d taken of Max the other day. The one where he looked almost exactly like a dark haired, more boyish version of me at that age. Same upturned nose with its spray of freckles, same exact brows and eye shape. There was no denying he also looked a hell of a lot like my dad’s old elementary school photos.
“Look at him,” I said, thrusting my phone in his face. “Look! His eyes are blue-green like Anja’s, but they’re shapedjust likeyours and mine. And that chin? That’s definitely yours. His hair even curls up like yours when it starts to grow out. How can you pretend he’s not yours?”
