Recovery by Abigail Stone Page B

and handing it to Layla.
    She unfolded it.
    It was another set of results, from the same lab. Layla looked up at Emily, but she nodded for her to keep reading.
    Conclusion , it read.
    The alleged father, Stephen Bryan, cannot be excluded as the biological father of the child, Layla Carter. The probability of paternity is 99.99% as compared to an untested, unrelated man of the Caucasian population.
    Layla looked up at her mother, a soft smile spreading across her face. She felt light headed, opportunistic, and overcome by relief. Leo wasn’t her father. What they had shared together wasn’t wrong or incestuous. Layla’s feeling for Leo were suddenly valid again, resurrected by the one person she would have never expected.
    “There’s one more thing,” Layla heard Emily say.
    “The paparazzi got a picture of me…picking up a pregnancy test,” Emily began, her voice barely above a whisper. She slid her sunglasses back on her face.
    “I wanted you to hear it from me first.”
    Layla’s heart slowed to a stop. There was a long bout of silence before she finally spoke.
    “Hear what?” she asked. “Mom. Are you telling me that you are –”
    “I might be,” Emily hissed. “And for god sakes Layla, can you keep it down?”
    None of it made any sense to Layla. Her mother was in her early forties, well past her days of childbearing. She had been with dozens of men – practically every eligible bachelor in Los Angeles with at least seven figures to his name. It wasn’t that Layla was shocked that it had happened. She was simply surprised that it had never happened sooner.
    “Is it Stephens?” Layla asked, still trying to digest the fact that her mother’s longstanding ‘friend with benefits’ was also her father. Layla had met Stephen on a number of occasions, and while he certainly shared many of her features, at least physically, Layla had never put two and two together.
    “No,” Layla heard Emily reluctantly say, her voice soft and distant. There was something on her mind. Something she wasn’t telling Layla.
    “It’s not Stephen’s.”
    Emily’s voice was dull and monotone. She laughed, but it was a sad laugh.
    “You know, I’m starting to believe in karma,” Emily whispered.
    Layla wasn’t sure what that meant but a lump of dread formed in her throat. There was something unsettling about the tone of Emily’s voice. Layla braced herself, afraid of what she would say next.
    Then, she felt her phone vibrate in her purse. It was Chase. He had taken Layla’s phone and programmed his number into when she wasn’t looking. Layla didn’t know why he was calling, but it was exactly the escaped that she needed. She pressed ‘accept’ on the call, bringing her phone to her ear.
    “Hello?”
    “Layla,” Chase said, his voice frantic. “Your old ma –“
    He paused, correcting himself.
    “Leo is in some trouble.”
    Layla looked up at her mother.
    “I’m just going to freshen up,” she said to Emily, who nodded.
    Layla’s heart raced. She locked the bathroom door, too afraid to move.
    “Is it okay?” she questioned. Her voice hardly sounded like her own. She could hear Chase breathing heavily on the other end of the line.
    “He’s been arrested. The last deal we did went bad, really bad. I’m calling you because…”
    Layla felt light headed.
    “He’s being charged with murder, Layla. Bail is set at over fifty grand. I don’t know what I’m asking you. I’m not. Look, I just thought you should know…considering.”
    Right, Layla thought. He still believed Leo was her father.
    Murder?
    The word echoed in Layla’s head. She listened as Chase gave her the directions to a police station just outside of Los Angeles.
    “Leo could really use you,” she heard Chase say.
    “I could use you,” he added quietly, his voice hoarse.
    Then, the line went silent.

    Will Chase come to terms with Trisha’s pregnancy and his impending venture into fatherhood or will the pressure get the best of