Page 19 of Spoil
I let myself in through the back door, and shuffle numbly to the bar before pulling out the expensive whiskey and pouring myself four fingers.
“Woah, man. It’s only two o’clock. What’s going on?” Declan asks, an uncharacteristic note of concern in his voice.
I flop onto a chair next to the group and take a swig.
“I found her.”
“Who?” someone asks.
“Nell.”
“Nell?” Cassidy exclaims. “Your girl? The one that got away?”
I nod, not really feeling connected to my body or this moment. My head is back at that house, with Nell and our daughter.
Our daughter.
“Apparently, she’s a cleaner here.”
“For how long??” She leans forward, totally invested.
“Wait, your girl from the ski lesson?” Serenity asks. They all know the story and why I haven’t slept with anyone since her. Ironic for someone who owns a sex club.
“Yes. And I have no idea. How long has she been under my roof and I had no idea?” I murmur to myself. Holy shit. We could have been passing each other for months. I usually leave before the cleaners come.
I take another swig, digging my phone from my pocket and setting it face up in front of me, just in case.
She said she’d call, but never when. Today? Tomorrow? A month from now? Christ.
I swipe my hand down my face.
“It gets better. I have a daughter. We... have a daughter.”
Gasps from the girls. Silence from the guys.
“Are you sure it’s yours?” From Harrison.
Fucking blunt and brutal Harrison.
“Yes, it’s fucking mine. She’s got my hair and my smile. She’s even got my chin dimple. She’s like if you took the very best parts of both of us and combined them.”
Another swig of the whiskey.
“We were all thinkin’ it,” he grumbles, as he focuses his attention back at Cammy.
Declan rests a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you have your PI look into her? Just do a DNA test. Just to be sure. You’re worth a lot now, and I hear stories all the time like this.”
I nod. Whatever. Having Greg look into her wouldn’t be a bad thing, though. I’d like a better picture of what their lives have been like over the past five years. Nothing too invasive, just something to ease the knot in my stomach. Something to give me a bigger picture. Nell’s the type of person to put her own needs last, and not even realize she’s doing it. Danny being plump and healthy while Nell’s collarbones are sharp enough to cut glassproves it. She’ll brush over anything she thinks is too demanding or emotional. She’s been trained from an early age not to be a burden. I love her, but I can’t trust her to paint me an unbiased picture of their lives.
As for the DNA test? I’m not sure my name is on the birth certificate. Will I need a DNA test to add it? Or to add them to my will? I’ll do one, eventually. But then the thought registers. Women find rich men, tell them the baby’s theirs and then demand child support. I haven’t been paying her child support all these years. Or alimony.
“I need a minute,” I say, standing and swiping my phone from the table.
I fire up my laptop and find a child support calculator for Virginia, since that’s where she lives. Then, an alimony calculator. If I’d been able to find her, she would have lived with me. I would have spoiled her with more money and things than she could ever ask for.
Once I have the number, I double it, and write her a check, assuming her last name hasn’t changed. I didn’t see a ring, but that doesn’t mean she’s unattached. Fuck, I hope she’s unattached.
I fold the check and put it in my pocket. Just in case.
