“But the chain of custody hasn’t been broached.”
“I don’t know that. I didn’t supervise the collection of David Caldwell’s DNA.”
“It was properly done, Mr. Wilde. Ace Laboratory is—”
“Here’s the bottom line, my client will not pay for the test.”
“I’ll pay for it,” Sage said quickly. “How much does it cost?”
Caleb looked at her. “Four thousand dollars,” he said. “Have you got that kind of money?”
She stared at him. He could see a dozen different emotions warring in her eyes, everything from disbelief to anger to despair.
“I hope you can live with yourself,” she said in a broken whisper, “because you are the most despicable human being I’ve ever known.”
Caleb didn’t answer. He thanked the doctor for her time, told her to bill him for whatever costs had been incurred.
Then he took Sage’s arm, but she wrenched free of his hand. He reached for her again, clamped his fingers around her elbow and marched her out of the consultation room, out of the office, through the front door and to the sidewalk.
She dug her heels in and whirled toward him.
“Why?”
“I told you. The risks are too great.”
“What do you give a damn about the risks?” Her hair was coming free of the band that held it; she tore the band away and tossed the hair back from her face. “I don’t understand you. I don’t understand anything about you!”
He gave a rough laugh.
“Hell,” he said, “welcome to the club.”
“You don’t get to make decisions for me,” she said. Tears still shone in her eyes but now, so did defiance. “I am responsible for myself.”
“I know.”
“I always have been!”
“Yeah. I figured that, too.”
“Then, what do you think you’re doing, interfering in my life?”
A warm gust of wind tossed a strand of her golden hair over her eyes. Without thinking, Caleb reached out, drew it back.
“Let me help you,” he said softly.
“This is insane. You work for—”
“Caldwell is my client. He pays me for legal advice, and I’m going to advise him that it’s preferable to have testing done after the baby’s born, when all a lab will need is a simple, non-invasive DNA sample.”
“He won’t accept that.”
“Yes,” Caleb said with grim assurance. “He will. I’ll see to it.”
“He won’t. And I can’t get on with my life until—until this is behind me. I have to find a place to live. Get a job. Make plans for my baby. And how can I do any of that if I wake up every morning, knowing Caldwell is going to phone me, check on me, that he’s going to be there like a shadow, all the time?”
“I’ll take care of that.”
Sage shook her head. The tears in her eyes dampened her lashes, then began to trail like tiny diamonds down her cheeks.