“A gift?” I look at Bric and put all the pieces together. “You wanted me back in your game, didn’t you? That’s why you wanted Rochelle here. To lure me back.”
“I really don’t see the problem,” Bric says. “I love her, Quin. And the baby. I really don’t understand why you’re so pissed off. We’re all getting what we want.”
I’m seeing red right now. “You selfish motherfucker,” I say. I hate swearing in front of Adley. I hate the fact that all of this is taking place in front of my daughter, but I need to make things very clear. Right here. Right now. “He doesn’t love you, Rochelle. You know that, right? He’s not capable of love. The only thing Elias Bricman is capable of is playing games.”
“Fuck you,” Bric says.
“Language, Bric. Oh, let me fill in the blanks about the swearing thing too, while I’m at it. You’d already spent the night with Rochelle and Adley before they came back to Denver. So you knew the rule that first day. That’s why you were all over people and their swearing, right?”
“You’re making a big deal out of nothing, Quin,” Bric says.
“You’re the one who couldn’t commit,” Rochelle says. “Bric had no problem committing to this second chance.”
“Really?” I laugh. Adley laughs with me. “He doesn’t love you, Rochelle. He doesn’t love anyone but himself. Elias Bricman is the most self-centered, selfish person I’ve ever met. He’s a master of manipulation. Do you even know why he’s not a doctor? After all that school? After all that work? It’s because he was playing a fucking game with three medical students during his psychiatry residency.” Bric looks like he wants to kill me right now. But I don’t care.
“At least I don’t walk away,” Bric says.
“You’re saying that about me?” I ask. “After Rochelle left Chella in her bed that night? Walked out on all of us?”
“I felt like I had no choice,” Rochelle says, her voice cracking with emotion.
“Why? Because you didn’t know who Adley’s father was?”
“Because you were never going to end the game, Quin.” She spits my name out with venom. “So I figured it was up to me to do it for you.”
“Right. We’re back to blame Quin time. I didn’t do any of this, you guys. You two did. You two lied to me. You manipulated me. You plotted in secret. God, it’s so disgusting, I just don’t know where to start. And I don’t even have the capacity to think about who Adley belongs to right now. I’m still so stuck on the lies.”
“She belongs to me,” Rochelle says. “She’s mine.”
“You mean she did belong to you.” I say it even and cold. No emotion at all.
“What’s that mean?” Rochelle says, her eyes wide with fear.
“It means,” I say, standing up, “I want a DNA test. Both of you need to drop by Lucinda’s office any time on Monday. We’ll have the results by the end of the week.”
And then it’s my turn to walk the fuck out.
Chapter Thirty-One - Rochelle
“They’re not coming,” I say.
“Just relax, Rochelle,” Lucinda says. “It’s only five after three. They’re only a few minutes behind. Let’s talk about something else while we wait. Did you ever explain the reason why you came to Denver in the first place?”
“Jesus,” I say, shuffling a squirming Adley in my arms. “I didn’t even have a chance, Lucinda. It’s not a great time for that, OK? I can’t think about anything else but what’s happening right now.”
We did all come by Lucinda’s office last Monday. Separately, of course. She took a cheek swab from Adley, who thought it was great fun. I want to roll my eyes right now, but Lucinda is watching me closely and she’d just ask me why I felt the need to roll my eyes. I’ve been her patient for years. Ever since I came to Denver. She is the only one—aside from Smith, apparently—who knows how that all came about.
Lucinda has a large envelope on her desk and it’s taking every ounce of willpower I have not to lunge across her desk, snatch it up, and rip it open.
But no, she says we have to do it all together.
And they agreed. Which surprised me.
I haven’t seen either of them since last Saturday after the tea party. Quin walked out and never came back. Bric stayed the night, but I moved out in the morning. I’m back at the Four Seasons. I might be on my way to Jackson Hole tonight if things go badly.
“Are you nervous?” Lucinda asks.
“I’m so annoyed with everyone right now.”
“Why?” Lucinda asks.
“Because this wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“So why agree to it? You were under no legal obligation. I don’t think either of them would’ve forced you.”
“Because it’s better to know,” I say. She smiles at me, so I know she agrees and I just said something that makes her proud. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, the way she taught me years ago. “I need them to know, I guess.”
She nods her head at me and opens her mouth to speak, but a buzzer on her desk interrupts. “There they are. One second while I go let them in.”
Lucinda has a private office. You can’t come in the waiting room unless you have an appointment. She gets up and lets herself out of the inner office. But a few seconds later Bric walks in.
He looks… very nervous.
“Where’s Quin?” he says.
“I thought he’d come with you,” I say.
“He’s not talking to me. But he’s gonna show up, right? He’s the one who wanted this.”
I look at the clock. It’s now quarter after three. He’s a full fifteen minutes late. “He’s not coming,” I say. “He wouldn’t be late if he was coming.”
Bric takes the seat on my right, running both hands through his hair, like the stress is about to kill him. I can’t help but feel the emptiness of the chair on my left.
“Well,” Lucinda says. “What should we do?”
“Just open it,” I say. “I can’t take it anymore. I’m gonna rip it open myself if you don’t do it right now.”
“Yeah,” Bric agrees. He frowns at me, then takes my hand and squeezes. “Just do it.”
“OK,” Lucinda says, picking the envelope up off her desk. I watch her fingers as they unseal the flap, and then she pulls out a thin stack of papers and shuffles through each one.
She looks at me and pauses. I want to reach out and choke her right now. Tell me, tell me, tell me! “I’m sorry,” she says. Then she looks at Bric. “You’re not the father, Elias. Quin is.”
Quin is.
I say it over and over in my head. I squeeze Adley so hard, she starts to fuss loudly. Tears are spilling down my cheeks. “I don’t know why I’m crying,” I say. “I’m sorry.” I wipe at my cheeks, doing my best to calm down.
But when I look over at Bric, his long frown and glassy eyes are enough to make me start all over again.
Chapter Thirty-Two - Bric
“Would you two like a minute alone?” Lucinda asks.
I nod, unable to speak. There’s a hard rock in my throat. So hard, when I try to swallow, I can’t. I’m not even sure what that means, but inside I feel like… dying.