Page 2 of Shiver

“Mr. De Laurentiis?” he asks, his eyes squinting in the bright summer sun.

“Shouldn’t you know for certain who lives here before you go banging on their door like the police?” I ask, annoyed that he prevented what was going on moments ago.

“Are younotLuca De Laurentiis then?” he questions, a graying brow raised at me in annoyance.

I step out onto the porch, closing the door behind me. “I am, and who are you?” I ask, the inflection in my tone making it clear that I don’t appreciate the interruption.

“I’m Ted Murphy, a social worker for the Philadelphia County Child Protective Services.”

My head rears back, eyes wide in confusion. “What is this about?” I ask, my voice sounding shaky to my own ears.

“Your daughter.”

My what?My heart is suddenly hammering against my ribs and a lightheaded feeling threatens to drag me under.

“She’s been dropped off by the mother at a local hospital. She left her with a birth certificate that states thatyouare the father.” He tells me this with a straight face as if this isn’t news to anyone.It’s certainly news to me, fucker.

“I’m sorry. Who exactly is this mother who left a child, claiming it’s mine?” My tone is indignant.Is someone setting me up now that I’m playing for a top team in the NHL and making solid cash?

“Shewas left by a Ms. Cecily St. James.”

My eyes must be the size of saucers. Cici? We broke up ayearago.

“How old is the child?” I rush out.

“Three months.” His tone sounds bored, but I’m anything but.

Fuck.

“You have a couple of options here. You can petition for temporary custody of the child at court tomorrow morning as this specific type of court case is only held on Thursdays, and we’d really like to place her sooner rather than later, or—”

I cut him off. “How do we find out if she’s really mine?”

His brows are pinched, assessing me for a moment before he says, “You’d do a paternity test to be sure she’s yours. Once the results are confirmed, you’ll appear in court for the judge to sign off on the temporary placement after I inspect the home to ensure it’s safe and you have everything necessary to properly care for her. If you move quickly, we can have this done by Friday.”

Friday!That’s two days away.

“What happens after that? You’re saying the placement is temporary. What does that mean?” My mind is reeling as I fight to keep up with his words and their implications.

“What the mother did was drop the child off at one of our compassionate care drops. What that means is that if a parent is feeling overwhelmed and unable to care for a child under the age of six months, they can drop them off and be able to petition for their parental rights back, so long as they come forward within three months. You will need to get an attorney and take the mother to court for full parental rights, but if she really didn’t want the child, then this should hopefully only entail a lot of paperwork on your lawyer’s end.”

I nod in a daze. “I’ll do it. When can I do the paternity test?”

“As soon as possible. I’ll get you set with all the information. Mind if I come in?”

Chapter two

Luca

“Will your partner be willing to care for the child as well? We need to ensure a stable living environment for her.” The moment the words leave Ted’s mouth, Veronica comes traipsing by.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I won’t be involved.Ever.We’re officially over,” she says, her voice dripping in venom as if this is somehowmyfault. Veronica storms out of the house, her arms full of the clothing she had tossed around my room.

Well, I guess that answers that question.As they say, she wasn’t here for a long time, just agoodtime.

***

My head is pounding as I kick off my shoes at the door, pushing it closed behind me before stumbling through the house to collapse onto the couch.

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