Carson sighed deeply and then pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. He handed it over to me, and I unfolded it. Sascha looked over my shoulder as I read and my mind shattered. It was a confirmation of Carson’s paternity. They did a non-invasive paternity test to determine that Carson was the father. I looked up at him, my heart breaking at how trapped he looked.
“I don’t believe this,” I murmured.
“Can I see that?” Sascha asked.
I handed it over to her and she started to read it over. I was upset, so I couldn’t even imagine what she must have been thinking.
Alia started to breathe really hard. “I just can’t take all of this stress, it’s not good for the baby.”
Carson turned and started rubbing her back; I hated seeing him show her affection. “Just relax,” Carson said.
I heard a small click to my left where Sascha was standing, but when I looked back over, she was already refolding the paper. She gave me a mysterious glance and put her finger to her lips to keep me quiet.
Carson finished soothing Alia and then turned back to face us. “Sorry. I think it’s best if you leave.” He looked back at Alia. “I’m just going to walk them out. You go and get some rest and I’ll bring you something to drink.”
Before Alia could walk too far away, Sascha reached up, grabbed Carson’s face, and dragged him down to her. They kissed and I reveled in the look of shock on Alia’s face. “Ian and I will be in town for a few days, okay? So if you need anything, just call us.”
Power play; I liked it.
Alia stormed off and Sascha handed the paternity test results back to Carson. “Really. Anything,” she reiterated.
“Thanks,” he said, his voice dull and lifeless. “Where’s Ryland?”
“Back at the firm,” I said. “We didn’t want things to run amuck.”
Carson nodded. “That was smart. I’ll have to figure out how this is all going to work, I just can’t think about this right now. Please explain everything to him and I’ll talk to you guys later.”
Sascha and I both lingered. It was clear we wanted to be able to stay and help him more, but there wasn’t much else we could offer. We gave him warm smiles, and then decided it was best that we leave.
We called another Uber, and were picked up a few minutes later. As soon as we were far enough from the house, Sascha whipped out her phone. I watched over her shoulder as she navigated to her pictures where she pulled up a picture of the paternity test results. She zoomed in and started looking at the information closely.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I think this is fake,” she replied.
“What?” I said. “We need to go back and tell Carson.”
“We need proof first. You saw how deep her claws were in him. If we don’t have something to back it up, it means nothing,” she explained.
“What are you going to do?”
She attached the picture to an email. “I’m going to send it to Noah and see if he can have his fiance determine the validity. He’s a doctor.”
I watched Sascha work with adoration washing over me. She was so intuitive and knew how to use all the resources at her fingertips. I couldn’t count on two hands all the times I’d wished I knew a doctor, and it turned out one of the editors under my employ was engaged to one. I barely knew Noah, let alone that he was engaged to a doctor. I really needed to get to know my employees better, and made a silent vow to do so once all this mess with Carson and Alia was behind us.
The remainder of the car ride passed by quietly. Neither myself nor Sascha had much to say, and it was clear our thoughts were still mostly with Carson. I did spend a few minutes updating Ryland, but even that conversation was short as Ryland became incredibly irritated and short when I explained the situation to him. We all cared about Carson and none of us wanted to see him treated the way Alia treated him. We checked into a hotel and did our best to relax, including trying to have a little bit of sexy time, but neither of us were into it. After a little bit of foreplay, Sascha laid her head on my chest. I rubbed her back gently and she responded by placing sweet, simple kisses on my chest and stomach and with our concerns on Carson, we held each other until we drifted off to sleep.
Sascha
I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I peeled myself away from Ian and grabbed my phone, bringing it up to my ear in a dazed, not-fully-awake, stupor.