The Baby Battle Read Online Free Page B

oil, it was in his blood. Parenthood took him into uncharted territory. Olivia Marshall currently had the upper hand. But just as soon as Alice tracked down Tag’s attorney, that was going to change.
     
    “T HANKS , D ANE ,” Olivia said to Gabby’s husband Monday morning in the Georgette County Courthouselobby. He’d helped her expedite a court hearing concerning Flynn’s custody. Although, since she’d also scheduled a fast-tracked DNA test for Tuesday, the court date might not even be necessary.
    “No problem,” he said. “You were lucky Judge Marsbury was able to squeeze you in.”
    “I know, but I don’t think he’d have been quite so accommodating without a nudge from you.”
    “I was glad to help. And hopefully, this will turn out to be a mistake.” Dane’s assurance, along with the massive, churchlike space of the courthouse, put her at ease.
    She found the law soothing. It was reliable. A lot of times criminal attorneys got a bad rap, but she chose her clients carefully. Justice meant a lot to her. Her father had been wrongly imprisoned for a white-collar crime it had later been proven his partner had committed. Yes, she’d been assigned clients who were guilty, but in the end, the truth had been unavoidable and justice was still served.
    Forcing a laugh, she said, “From your lips to God’s ears.”
    “At the very least, an angel or two.” Ushering her to one of the wooden pewlike benches lining the white marble floor, he said, “Gabrielle told me you were pretty shaken.”
    “She would be right.” An image of Tag popped into her mind. The man was an egotistical brute. Olivia understood that he was excited about possibly being afather, but he needed to lay off until his paternity was disproven.
    And if it wasn’t?
    The idea was too horrible to consider.

Chapter Three
    “What are you doing here?” In the hushed waiting area of Accurate Biosystem’s DNA testing facility, Olivia hadn’t meant to sound so curt. Or maybe she had. Either way, though she knew her personal attorney had notified Tag O’Malley regarding the time and place of Flynn’s half of the paternity testing, she hadn’t expected the enemy to be present.
    He snapped, “Not only is it my legal right to ensure all testing is on the up-and-up, but in case you’ve forgotten, Flynn’s sample only makes part of the puzzle.” He sat in the armchair alongside hers, putting him not only uncomfortably close, but within perfect viewing range of her son, who was at her feet, sleeping soundly in his carrier. Olivia would’ve expected the harsh lines etched into Tag’s forehead and around his mouth to soften when he stared at her baby. To the contrary, he only scowled harder.
    What was he thinking—how badly he wanted Flynn to be his?
    Stomach tensed, Olivia fought to steady the NationalGeographic she’d been reading before Tag’s arrival. She told herself the article on Bali’s lost tribes was scintillating, but truthfully, her eyes weren’t even focused on the page.
    Fury didn’t begin to cover how upset this whole issue had made her. One day her life with Flynn had been idyllic. The next, a nightmare from which there might be no escape. Over and over she’d played out the odds in her head. Worst case, if Tag did turn out to be Flynn’s sperm donor, they’d be looking at a partial custody arrangement, the very notion of which was unacceptable. She wasn’t going to share her baby.
    Breaking the silence, a door at the far end of the pale blue waiting room opened. A woman wearing green scrubs consulted a chart before calling, “Olivia and Flynn Marshall.”
    Gripping her son’s carrier, she rose, as did Tag.
    “I prefer to be alone,” she said.
    “Tough. According to my attorney, I have every right to witness the test being performed.”
    On that fact he was correct, which was why she hadn’t already shoved him out of her way. From the day he’d set foot on her property, he’d declared war. Meaning she wasn’t