Page 11 of The Billionaire's Secret Heir

The paternity paperwork was a little more sketchy, mostly because Beckett couldn’t understand how Calista had obtained his DNA. He had heard crazy stories of women going through the trash looking for hair samples, but never thought they were real. Of course, men with money seemed to attract this kind of behavior. Beckett was so closed off that for the most part, people couldn’t access him. But several of his high-powered friends had been pestered by stalkers or had false paternity claims. When Bret, the smug lawyer, had spoken about it, Beckett had gotten a mental image of Calista collecting hair from his bathroom and keeping it in labeled envelopes, just in case. Why she had waited almost two years to come after him was the most confusing part.

“One last time, I need to advise you to verify with your own paternity test,” George said. “Just to be safe. This would have been easy to fake.”

Beckett nodded. “Of course. I’d like to go through today with the assumption that it’s correct. The reality is that even paying some kind of exorbitant child support, if that’s what they ask for, I would still have more money if I’m able to keep my current position at VDKI. No comparison.”

George gave him a tight smile. “So, you would be willing to go along with this, paying child support for a child that might not actually be yours, just to keep the company?”

“Financially, this makes the most sense. I can find out the veracity of the claims later. For now, I have six months to have an heir, which is clearly impossible otherwise.”

“And if you find out later that the child isn’t yours?” George lifted an eyebrow.

Beckett checked his watch and seated himself at the head of the conference table, George at his left. “I’ll deal with that when I get there. For now, this is my plan of action. I’m not looking for advice. You’re my lawyer, not my life coach.”

“Of course.” George busied himself with paperwork in front of him as Beckett’s administrative assistant opened the conference room door.

“Your two o’clock is here, Mr. Van de Kamp,” she said.

“Thank you,” Beckett said. He stood, placing his fingers on the conference table and leaning over it in a way that he knew would make his broad shoulders look even wider.

Bret stepped through and Beckett resisted the urge to curl his lip, keeping his face impassive. “Mr. Van de Kamp,” Bret said.

“Mr. Anders.”

Bret looked to the doorway and held out a hand, ushering in a woman who surprised Beckett. This was Calista’s sister? He had been envisioning someone like Calista, the kind of woman who turned heads even in a packed room: tall, thin, blonde, and alluring. This woman would have been lost in a crowd. In fact, with her light brown hair, unremarkable features, and nervous appearance, she almost blended in with the conference room walls.

Her glance moved to Beckett, and she stopped in place, her lips parting. He was used to this kind of attention from women, who were drawn to his light-blue eyes and muscular build. Seeing this kind of look from Madi was confirmation that this meeting would likely be easier than he thought. She looked simultaneously shocked and cowed by Beckett. Sign a few papers and it would be done. No problem.

Beckett smiled and crossed the room to shake Bret’s hand. He held out a hand to Madi, watching her gaze shift from his shoulders to his lips and then up to his eyes. “Ms. Lott? I’m Beckett Van de Kamp. Please, come in and have a seat.”

Madi shook his hand and gave him a small smile. “You can call me Madi. I’m sorry for staring. It’s just—you look so much like Becka.”

Her skin felt soft and warm against his. Beckett pulled his hand away and cleared his throat. She hadn’t been checking him out, just noticing that he looked like his daughter. His daughter. The enormity of this hit Beckett like a punch to the gut. He was a father. He was a father? While he wanted the control of the company, the idea that he actually had a child terrified him. He cleared his throat and looked to Beth, who hovered in the doorway.

“Would you mind getting everyone some water, Beth?”

“Of course, Mr. Van de Kamp,” she said.

By the time Beckett had taken his seat, he had recovered from his momentary panic and Beth had passed out bottled waters. “This is my lawyer, George Maharis.”

Beckett noticed that Madi still seemed to be studying him. Bret opened her water for her and nudged her elbow, drawing her attention back with a smile. She whispered a thanks but seemed to draw back from him. Interesting.

“Why don’t we go ahead and get started?” Beckett said. “I understand that you want to secure full custody of your niece.”

Madi nodded. “Becka. That’s right. I’ve been caring for her full-time since she was born and would like to continue. She’s comfortable with me and in many ways, I believe she thinks of me as her mother.”

Her voice choked a little on this last bit and Beckett wondered if she was thinking of her sister. From what he remembered of Calista, he couldn’t imagine any maternal instincts coming from her. Bret touched Madi’s arm. She continued, shrugging off his touch.

“My sister didn’t make any provisions, so we needed to speak with you, as her biological father. I didn’t want to have a drawn-out battle for custody or worry that you might change your mind later.”

“You don’t need to convince me, Ms. Lott,” Beckett said.

“Please, call me Madi,” she said.

Though she had an unassuming posture and fairly unnoticeable features, her strength brought a quality of life to her face that drew him. She was consumed with a drive to protect the child. His child. Becka. He swallowed. He needed to not think about her in familiar terms if he wanted to get through the meeting. His heir. That felt distant enough.

“What we’d like to suggest is to have you sign over your custody to Madi,” Bret said, pulling folders from his briefcase. “The best option for everyone, of course, would be to handle this privately. With the signed document giving over the rights, you wouldn’t need to attend a hearing or anything else. It would be simple and painless. Then we can discuss a fair compensation for child support.”

Ah, there it is. Not that he hadn’t expected it, but they were finally stripping away pretense and getting to the heart of things.

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