Bad Nerd Rising (29 page)

Denial, deep and adamant,
raced through him. Aleksi’s bottom hit the chair behind him and a
heartbeat later Tia dropped onto his lap. Because he retained a
death grip on her hand. Even though his brain was unable to unravel
the details, couldn’t settle on any coherent fact, he knew enough
to wrap both arms around her and hold her close.

“Not his father’s son?”
Emerson repeated, his eyes wide, shock written on his face as his
spine stiffened. He stared at Aleksi’s mother like she’d just
crawled out of a swamp and declared she planned to take over the
world.

“Not his son?” Aleksi
repeated because he was sure he’d heard wrong. That was illogical,
and ridiculous. If he wasn’t his father’s son, then he wasn’t...
the Prince.

His mother shook her head
and raised a beseeching hand to him. “I can’t prove that you are
not,” she whispered, her voice raw with unshed tears and
regret.

“If he is not Aleksandr’s
son, then whose is he?” Emerson demanded, staring Aleksi’s mother
down. Aleksi was grateful he asked Emerson to stay. Even if Aleksi
couldn’t figure out the correct questions to ask, his best friend
was rarely at a loss for words.

“I think Aleksi might be Graham Wellington’s
son.”

Aleksi started, and his
arms tightened around Tia. She squeaked when he apparently cut off
her air. He relaxed his arms, but held her tight as he stared at
his mother. He was Graham’s son?

Without any idea what to
say, he blinked at his mother and turned his gaze to Emerson; aware
of Tia’s hand smoothing up and down his thigh in a soothing
gesture. Emerson stared back at him with an assessing look in his
eyes. “Aleksi and Maks do look amazingly alike,” he muttered as he
stroked his chin and his eyes appeared a little glazed as he stared
at Aleksi.

Tia, who hadn’t uttered a
word, but kept watch over the situation perked up. Now she leaned
forward to ask a question. “Didn’t you say Helena’s boyfriend was
all fired up about something? Could it be that he suspected Aleksi
was his father’s son?”

His mother’s spine tautened
and her hands trembled. “It’s possible,” she said, her voice low
and pained.

“You told Vladimir,
Mother?” Aleksi burst out. She’d tell the black sheep of the
Wellington family but not him, her own son?

“I didn’t tell him. But I
wondered if he suspected. You have many of Graham’s mannerisms...”
his mother’s voice trailed off.

“Did you tell Aleksandr
about this?” Emerson asked Gracia.

Aleksi’s heart dropped. His father would
have been devastated.

“No,” his mother whispered
as she wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock back and
forth.

“He didn’t even suspect?”
Tia asked in a gentle voice. She reached out and covered one of his
mother’s trembling hands. That meant she stopped soothing him, but
he approved because his mother needed all the comforting
offered.

“I don’t know,” she said and squeezed her
eyes shut, but the tears still fell onto her cheeks.

“You never told Dad?”
Aleksi finally comprehended what she said. He couldn’t believe she
wouldn’t have told him.

“I could not,” his mother
wailed and she met his disbelieving gaze head on. “I loved him so
much, and there is a possibility he could be your father, but it’s
quite possible Graham is your father instead.”

“How did that happen?” he wondered
aloud.

“Graham and I were friends,
but one night we took things a little too far. We both had a little
too much to drink and I’m not certain he even remembers that night.
I awoke in the early hours of the morning and left. I was appalled,
and swore to never speak of it.”

“And?” Emerson prompted.

“We have never spoken of
it. Like I said, I am not even certain Graham remembers that night.
He wanted Maria,” and she nearly spat Graham’s wife’s name. “And
soon after that they were married and expecting Maks.”

“When did you discover you were
pregnant?”

“I married Aleksandr
shortly after that night. I hadn’t been aware of the marriage
negotiations, but by then Graham and Maria were engaged, and I
hadn’t wanted to talk about... what we did. So I married Aleksandr,
whom I loved.”

“How much time passed
between that night and your marriage?” Tia leaned back against him
and Aleksi couldn’t be more grateful for her solid warmth or the
hand that resumed soothing him. He needed her support right now.
Heaven knew what this secret meant for Rurikstan.

“A month,
barely.”

“You never told Graham?”
Emerson couldn’t seem to let that tidbit go.

“No.” Her answer was empathic.

“Was Aleksi born
prematurely?” Tia asked. “You couldn’t tell by when he was
born?”

His mother shook her head.
“He was actually a bit big, but so was Aleksandr when he was born.
Most of the babies in his line tend to be large.”

“Whereas Graham’s children
were all small.” Emerson tapped his chin with his index
finger.

“How do you know that?”
Aleksi asked, disbelief again coloring his voice. He not only
didn’t know that information previously, he would have been happy
never learning it.

“I am a father. I overheard
Maria and Karis.” Emerson shrugged. Aleksi eyed him suspiciously.
Emerson was taking this news far better than him. Of course,
Emerson’s entire future didn’t hinge on this
information.

“I’m confused,” Tia said,
and bit her lip. She wiggled a bit on his lap, before looking at
his mother. “Why do you suspect Aleksi was Graham’s? There was a
whole month in there before you married.”

“That’s just it. I went to
bed with Graham, an event I barely remember.” His mother’s cheeks
turned a bright pink, “but I do remember clearly sleeping with my
husband-to-be just days after that.”

“You slept with Dad before you were
married?”

“Yes. Your father knew his father and mine
were talking about marriage between us, and he wanted to see if he
was even remotely attracted to me.”

“Obviously he was,” Tia said dryly.

“Oh yes, things got a
little out of hand that night.” His mother sighed and he watched as
a contented smile crossed her lips. Should he be this grossed out?
His parent’s sex life wasn’t something he wanted to hear
about.

“And?” he prompted her.
Surely the story didn’t end here. He braced himself for the rest of
the story.

“And I forgot all about
Graham. Didn’t give him another thought.”

“Until you realized you
were pregnant.” Tia’s voice held sympathy and understanding, a
desired trait in his princess-to-be.

His mother heaved a huge
sigh. “I couldn’t believe I was expecting that soon, but there was
no doubt. Our fathers agreed to the wedding contract and Aleksandr
and I were married within the month. I didn’t mention my news until
after we were married.”

“Why do you believe Aleksi
might be Graham’s? You’re not even certain about that night,”
Emerson said and shoved a hand through his light brown hair. It
stood up at odd angles around his head. Like he’d spent the last
few minutes shoving a hand through the strands.

“Aleksandr and I tried to
have more children after Aleksi, but I never conceived again,” his
mother said sadly.

The room fell to a funeral
silence and Aleksi resisted the urge to wiggle in his chair. Of
course, the fact that Tia still resided on his lap helped to quell
the urge. With her warm self on his legs like that, he was also
comforted and better able to handle this awful
situation.

“If you and your husband both showed signs
of lead poisoning, that could have prevented you from conceiving,”
Tia said.

His mother’s head shot up
from where she’d been morosely staring at the carpet.
“What?”

“Just because Graham and
Maria had four children doesn’t mean you and your husband couldn’t
have children. The lead in the pipes might have prevented
conception,” Tia further explained. He felt her stiffen on his lap,
like she feared his mother would say something hurtful.

But instead Gracia nodded.
A mere hesitant movement of her head. “I suppose that’s true. None
of the servants who also live in the same wing conceived children,”
she murmured.

“There you go,” Tia said, sounding like a
cheerleader.

“They were all past childbearing years,”
Emerson pointed out, and his mother deflated again.

He shot his friend a knock-it-off look,
which Emerson ignored.

“What about blood tests to
verify Aleksi’s father?” Emerson asked instead.

Tia shook her head.

Emerson frowned.
“What?”

“They already know Gracia
is his mother, and that would be conclusive maternally, but with
his father gone, how will you get blood? DNA testing might work but
it’s expensive and sometimes inconclusive.”

“Graham is still alive,”
Aleksi felt compelled to point out.

“Yes, but your mother’s
husband isn’t. Your genes might not be close enough to tell with
either Graham or your father.”

“I thought genes didn’t lie,” Emerson
said.

“They don’t, but Aleksi’s
genes might be closer to an ancestor’s than to his immediate
parent’s. At least with his father’s DNA we could rule one or the
other out, but with his father gone, it’s going to be harder to
tell.”

“That’s what they told me
at the hospital in London,” his mother said. She wouldn’t meet his
eyes.

“So what does this mean?”
he finally asked. If he wasn’t his father’s son, then he had no
right to the throne...

“Simple,” Emerson said. “We
don’t say a word of this to another soul.”

Aleksi stared intently at
his friend. “How likely is that to happen?”

“If we don’t say a word, then...”

But his mother rose to her
feet with a choked sob as she fled the room.

They all stared at each
other after Gracia ignominiously left the room, but Tia still felt
the tension in the air. She was worried about Aleksi. He seemed
shocked and upset and she had no idea how to comfort him. Plus she
had unwelcome news of her own.

She cleared her throat. Now
wasn’t the time to say anything. But as if he could read her mind,
Aleksi asked, “Did you have bad news for me, too?”

“I do, as a matter of
fact.” Tia bit her lip. She’d rather walk out in front of a truck
than tell him.

He sighed, like he expected
this day to only grow worse. “What is it?”

She hated to add to his
burdens.

Emerson stirred and looked
her in the eyes. “You had better tell us now, while we’re still in
shock. I don’t believe Aleksi can take much more.”

Tia swallowed. She didn’t
want to be the one to bear this news. She honestly contemplated
sending Jorge, Maria, or Helena down with their unexpected results,
but that was the coward’s way out. Especially since she headed the
project.

Taking a moment to suck in
a necessary deep breath, Tia decided to just get it over with. “Our
recent data suggests the wells still aren’t clean.”

A chicken would squeeze her
eyes shut, and Tia wasn’t about to be listed as one of those. It
took every bit of energy she possessed not to block out the world
with her eyelids.

She felt Aleksi expel a
huge rush of air. As if he had deflated significantly. He was still
as a statue under her and that’s when she realized she was still on
his lap. Probably not the best place to reveal one’s grim
news.

When she tried to stand, he
wouldn’t release her. Okay, that was a good sign, right?

Maybe not. She watched as
Emerson closed his eyes and muttered something about incompetent
scientists.

She bristled. “Excuse me,”
she started in a belligerent tone.

“If you two start
fighting...” Aleksi threatened and something in his tone made her
swing around to face him. He was pale and looked mighty unhappy.
She swung back around to Emerson.

“Get out,” she ordered.

He obeyed, fortunately, and when she turned
back to Aleksi, she hated the deadness of his eyes.

Like he’d lost and there was no rematch.

Tia did the only thing she could think
of.

She kissed him.

And her spirits sank when
she didn’t initiate so much as a pucker out of him. He didn’t
appear to realize she had just locked lips with him. Aleksi didn’t
even close his eyes. She knew this because when she unattached
their lips and leaned back, she saw his dark yummy eyes were still
open and staring uncomprehendingly at her.

Her heart fled to parts
unknown as her stomach lurched and threatened to make lunch
reappear. This wasn’t something she could handle at the moment.
Aleksi’s unresponsiveness sent icy winds howling through her. How
must he be feeling? Yet she didn’t know how to comfort
him.

But when she tried to wriggle off his lap,
his arms tightened around her again.

“Stay,” he commanded.

Tia didn’t have the heart to argue with
him.

How was he supposed to rule
a principality when he wasn’t even his father’s son? How would the
people react? What would they do when they realized he might not be
who he always thought?