Chapter 6 - THE PATERNITY TEST
At twelve weeks, the noninvasive prenatal paternity test confirmed what I already believed.
Probability of Alessandro Vitali’s paternity:
Greater than 99.9%.
I stared at the report.
Then sent it to my attorney.
She sent it to his.
No dramatic reveal.
No billionaire collapsing in a hallway.
Paperwork.
Two hours later, Alessandro called.
“May I come over?”
That wording mattered.
“Yes.”
He arrived with no flowers.
Good.
No jewelry.
Better.
Just coffee for Liam and ginger tea for me.
Liam opened the door.
“You’re taller on television.”
Alessandro stared.
“Thank you?”
“I haven’t decided.”
I wanted to die.
We sat in the living room.
Liam disappeared into the kitchen but definitely listened.
Alessandro looked at the report.
Then at me.
“How do you feel?”
“Terrified.”
“Me too.”
I blinked.
Not the answer I expected.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“You own half of Chicago.”
“I do not own half of Chicago.”
“Enough.”
He almost smiled.
Then:
“I know how to manage businesses.”
“I know how to manage danger.”
“I have no idea how to do this without becoming like my father.”
I had never heard him mention his father that way.
“What was he like?”
“Control was his language for love.”
That explained too much.
“He protected everyone by making their choices impossible.”
I looked at him.
“And you?”
“I’m trying not to.”
“Trying?”
“Accurate answer.”
Good.
Then Alessandro slid a folder across the table.
A proposed co-parenting framework.
Before birth.
Independent counsel required.
Medical decisions shared.
Financial support outlined.
No relocation restrictions beyond ordinary legal standards unless later agreed.
No automatic expectation I move into a Vitali property.
No surname requirement.
I stared.
“You had lawyers do this?”
“Yes.”
“You really know how to romance someone.”
His mouth lifted.
“This isn’t romance.”
“No.”
“It’s responsibility.”
Exactly.
I cried.
Hormones, probably.
Liam loudly closed a kitchen cabinet to pretend he had heard nothing.
Then I asked:
“What if we don’t become anything?”
Alessandro held my gaze.
“We become parents.”
May you like
That answer made me trust him more than if he had proposed.
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