“No,” Priya said.
His eyes cut to her. “And you are?”
“Priya Shah. Claire’s counsel.”
The word counsel struck him harder than the paternity test.
He looked at me.
“You hired a lawyer?”
“You requested a paternity test before asking how I was.”
“That was a mistake.”
The room waited.
Ryan swallowed.
“I should not have done that.”
It sounded almost like an apology.
Almost.
“But you have to understand what it looked like.”
There it was.
The apology folding itself into accusation before it could stand upright.
Daniel muttered, “Unbelievable.”
Ryan ignored him.
“You called another man in the middle of the night.”
“I called the man who answered.”
Ryan’s face tightened.
“I was on a plane.”
“No,” I said. “You were unreachable because you turned off your phone after I begged you not to leave.”
“I had responsibilities.”
“So did you.”
The words came from Eli.
