A Family Affair - Next of Kin by Marilyn McPherson Read Free Book Online Page B

named her kid - Angus. Despite the fact that Alice is a girl and Angus is a boy, they are almost identical.”
    Nikki may have been mistaken, but she couldn’t help but notice Kane gritting his teeth, as he turned away.
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    Nikki’s words rang loud and clear in Kane’s mind - the two babies were strikingly similar. Fury raged through his body as he stormed out of the hospital, leaving Nikki wondering at his hasty departure.
    Her words meant one thing to him - Ellen’s baby was his, just as he’d sensed it was when she first announced the pregnancy to him. Kane remembered that time fondly. Ellen had come to him in confidence - not even Tom had known that she was pregnant. It had been their little secret. The situation had been promising until that damn doctor said the baby wasn’t his.
    The doctor had screwed everything up. If Ellen’s baby had been correctly tested, her marriage to Tom wouldn’t have happened. Kane could have cared for Ellen until she recovered from the breakup. They would have been together all that time, and eventually Ellen would have turned to him for comfort. Nikki would never have gotten pregnant either.
    Kane felt like a fool for being tricked by Ellen and her doctor. In any case, he reasoned, today was not the day to fume about such matters. It would be easier to contest the paternity of Angus once he had received his rightful share of Jack Bradley’s estate. He could hire a fancy lawyer who would demand a second test.
    Kane caught a taxi from the hospital to the courthouse. It would have taken him less than ten minutes to run from one location to the other on a normal day, but he didn’t want to sweat in his new suit. It had been bought especially for the occasion to show his family and the judge he was serious about claiming what was rightfully his.
    Seeing Nikki Lucas again had been odd, but not unpleasant. He was disgusted by the fact they had made love that one time. The way she looked at him suggested she wanted to do it again; a desire he did not understand. She seemed convinced that the DNA test would show they weren’t related, but where did her confidence come from? It was ludicrous. Their birth certificates both showed that Sarah Rush was their mother, and these things couldn’t be wrong.
    She had seemed different somehow, but he didn’t want to think about her until the results of the DNA test were known. If Alice was his, then he supposed Nikki would be in his life for a while. There were no two ways about it. A child of his was not going to grow up without knowing its father, the way Kane himself had. He didn’t know how it could be possible, but for Alice’s sake, he suddenly hoped Nikki was right about their not being related. In any case, if he ever came across that doctor who had pronounced him infertile, he would punch his lights out.
    It was an unusual sort of day. He had started off as a single man without any dependents, and it now seemed likely he would finish the day a father of two. He would have to find a way to see Ellen again.
    Kane had waited almost a year for his day in court, given the Bradleys’ refusal to negotiate a settlement. With all their money and privileges, they had refused to offer even a cent. This whole production could have been avoided with a measly sum of one million - that would have been the minimum amount he would have accepted. Instead, they wanted a fight, so a fight they would get. Instead of one million, he was going for ten. Given the hundreds of millions tied up in the estate, ten million was still a drop in the ocean for these people.
    Kane had hired the best lawyer he could find for the job. Roger Smith was waiting outside the courthouse dressed in a grey suit with matching tie. The man carried his briefcase with an air of confidence about him. He smiled approvingly when he saw how Kane was dressed. “You look fine, Kane - just as I’d instructed you. You look the part - like a man who deserves every cent