Stepbrother Bad Boy's Baby Boxed Set(65)

She pulled a small box about four inches long from her bag, wrapped up like a birthday gift or something. Since my birthday wasn't for a couple of months, I'm a classic Leo supposedly, I wondered what it was. "Go ahead, open it," she said, grinning. "I promise, it's nothing bad."

I took the gift from her dubiously, shaking it from side to side. Whatever it was, it rattled inside the package, which was about the size of a watch, or maybe a pen or something. Finally shrugging, I tore off the wrapper to find a small wooden box on the inside. "I put it in there because if I hadn't, you'd have guessed it way too quickly," Krystal giggled as I searched for the latch. The brass latch was tiny, and I could barely work a fingernail underneath to pop it open, but when I did, the lid sprung up a fraction of an inch, and I lifted the cover to see what was inside. "Congratulations."

It took me a moment to piece together what Krystal said with the small, white object inside, capped with a piece of blue plastic. It looked like a white board marker to me, until I saw the small window on the side with two clear, dark red lines on it. It was then that I saw the brand name on the cap, and I realized what I was holding. "You mean?" I said, flabbergasted. "How long have you known?"

"I took the test for the second time yesterday," Krystal replied. "I wanted to make sure. But yes, I'm pregnant. I'm going to the doctor on Monday to find out how far along and all that other stuff, but I can't be too far along I think. I started getting sick soon after we flew to Miami to sign the papers with Dwayne Forrester. Remember that weekend?"

"Uh, yeah," I said sarcastically. "We didn't sleep at all, and let's be honest, we barely used the bed."

"Just twice. And then the shower, the floor, the balcony of the hotel....." Krystal continued, grinning. "Babe, I don't know which time it was, but I'd like to think it was about then. The math of my cycles lines up right about then."

I sat there, joyously stunned, grinning as I held the test in my hand. "Wow. I'm going to be a father," I said, then it hit me. I already was going to be a father, now twice over. "Whoa. What about Gina's baby?"

"I wanted to talk with you about that too," Krystal said. "I think the baby isn't yours."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. Krystal related the conversation she and Kimberly had back in Chicago, and I shook my head as I realized how stupid I'd been. "So has our favorite little hacker been running checks on who it might be? Knowing her, I bet she has been."

"Of course," Krystal replied. "Nothing that could hold up in court, but lots of conflicting evidence. Julian, Gina has always been the Bohemian of the Aksoy family. Growing up, Daddy always told me to love my Aunt Gina, but not copy her in a lot of ways. I didn't understand at the time, but after I became a teenager and I saw how Gina is, I understood. There are a lot of nice words to try and buffer what Gina is, but basically Gina's a slut. I think that was part of what made me so angry at first when I found out. It's not the first time Gina's slept with someone I've been involved with."

"What?" I said, shame digging a knife into my stomach so hard I wanted to puke.

"High school summer boyfriend. I'd decided to spend the summer with Gina in Detroit, there were some places I wanted to check out, I met him, we hit it off, and right before I left, I walked in on the two of them right in her living room. Him and I hadn't slept together, but still, it took me a year to talk to her after that. At least with you, it wasn't like you were cheating on me, we weren't even together at the time. But still, it made the hurt more intense than it should have been."

I was going to reply, but my phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. It was Dad. "Hey Dad. Okay, great. We're at a cafe on Ocean Drive, called Frank's. I know, but it's good food. Yeah, we'll see you soon. Bye."

"How long until they get here?" Krystal asked. "I want to finish what we were talking about prior to them arriving."

"Five minutes, maybe. So, Gina's a slut, and her math skills are off."

"Yeah," Krystal said. "Normally, I wouldn't care, but this is our life now, Julian. She's going to want her baby to have access to the Castelbon fortune. As your firstborn child, they'd be in for a major slice of the estate right now."

"You want me to get a paternity test," I said. I thought about it. The money wasn't all that important to me, honestly. "Why? Not that I'm doubting Kimberly's word, but the money isn't important to either of us."

"No, but keeping Gina out of the Castelbon business is," Krystal replied. "She's gone through a lot of the money Daddy made for the Aksoys, and had blown most of her share of the company. I don't want her wrecking the Castelbon future as well. But regardless of the money for us, our child should have the choice. I want them to have the option to live at the Manor, and not just watch it get sold off because Gina pulled a fast one on us."

I nodded in agreement. "Okay. Let me get in touch with my lawyers, or at least the ones I last used in California. They may not have a license to practice in Maine, or Chicago, or wherever, but I'm sure they can put us in touch with someone who is. By the way, does Kim have any ideas on who the father is?"

"Well, based off of surveillance video and gossip blogs, Kim thinks it could be one of the starting linebackers for the Lions, a male exotic dancer who was at a bachelorette party Gina went to, or a plumber she hired. Kim's hacking skills are pretty good. Problem is, two of those men are already married, and two of them are pretty much broke."