Her Prince's Secret Son (12 page)

He shook her off as if she were lint on his suit. “Your accusations are ridiculous.”

“What if they aren’t? What if I’m right?”

“You are accusing the one person in this world who I trust with my life. She is my mother and she is a good and beloved queen. If not for her, I would never have known my son.” He whirled away to storm across the room. Outside the rain cried against the windows.

Sara followed him, intent on making him understand. As she’d feared, her suspicions had destroyed the sweet relationship developing between them. There was no point in stopping now until Aleks agreed to investigate every potential reason for Nico’s illness.

She knew for certain that Queen Irena had developed an elaborate plot five years ago. Could she still be plotting?

“If not for the queen, I would never have been forced to give Nico up for adoption in the first place. We could have been together.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Aleks turned, eyes hard, though the emotion behind them was raging. “I was warned that bringing you here would cause trouble, but I was determined to save Nico’s life at all costs.”

“That’s what I care about, too, Aleks. Please believe me. I’m not trying to cause a problem. I just want my son to be safe.”

“From his own grandmother? Woman you are insane, a pathetic, ranting lunatic. My mother was right. You are a dangerous woman.”

“Listen to me, Aleks, please. I’m only asking you to check into everyone and everything. I’m not trying to accuse her or anyone. I’m just scared and confused and—”

“And finished.”

Sara went as still as the tomb. “What?”

He stalked to his desk and yanked open a drawer. “We have a contract. It is completed.”

Sara rocked back. “I don’t understand.”

“Your vacation in Carvainia is over. Your visa is hereby revoked. I will alert the staff to prepare for your departure.”

Sara’s hand went to her throat. “Aleks, no. Please. I can’t leave my son.”

“He is not yours.”

“I beg you not to do this. Give me a little more time. Please.”

He thrust an envelope toward her. “Here is what you came for, the one thing I know that matters to you. Take it and go.”

She drew back. “No.”

He pried her clenched fingers open and forced the envelope into her grasp. “I do not wish to see your face again. Goodbye, Sara Presley.”

And with that, he spun on the heel of his gleaming shoes and stormed out.

Sara couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. In fact, she didn’t want to. She wanted her rampaging heart to cease beating so she could die right here in Aleks’s office.

The room grew cold and her knees trembled. Outside the storm had broken upon a swirling, surging sea.

The storm had broken inside the castle, as well.

She glanced down at the envelope in her shaking hand. Slowly, she opened it to find the dreaded contract. She’d agreed to give Nico life in exchange for one million dollars.
The bank draft was like a snake in her hand. She hated it. Why had she ever agreed to such a travesty?

She tore the draft into small pieces and replaced it in the envelope. With feet of lead, she walked to the desk.

“All I ever wanted was you, Aleks. You and our son.” She opened the top drawer and slid the envelope inside.

But not before the paper was wet with tears.

“S
ADDLE
W
INDSTAR
.”

“Sir. Your Majesty, begging your pardon, but you should not go out in this storm.”

Aleks speared the groom with a look. “Saddle him.”

“As you wish.”

In moments, Aleks was astride the sleek black horse and galloping headlong across the castle grounds. The cold rain slashed against his face, but he barely felt it. He needed to ride and to think. If only his father were still alive, they would ride together and laugh at the storm. They would solve the problems of the nation and of the heart.

But his father was gone.

The curse of being a ruling prince was the terrible aloneness. Though surrounded by people much of the time, there was no one to whom he could turn, no one with whom to share his heartache, no one to offer comfort or wisdom.

Without warning, his thoughts went to these last three days and nights at Nico’s bedside. Sara had been there for him. She had felt his pain. She’d been his comfort and strength and shared his burden.

But now she accused his mother of lying and perhaps even of attempted murder?

The rage of such a ludicrous accusation had passed and he simply felt bereft. Sara had fooled him again. He’d started to believe that they could set things right somehow.

The queen had been right all along. Sara had her own agenda. She’d done nothing but stir up trouble since she’d entered the castle. Nico would be brokenhearted to know his new friend was abandoning him—again.

Aleksandre should have never allowed the contact with his son to begin with, but Sara had outmaneuvered him.

He dug his heels into Windstar and felt the spurt of power beneath him. Windstar would run until his lungs exploded, though he was not overly fond of storms. When lightning shimmered in the distance and thunder rumbled the horse reared slightly. Aleks held strong, bringing him down. The animal pranced sideways, head shaking. Aleks patted the quivering neck. “Easy, old man.”

They were a matched pair, the horse and the prince. The horse instinctively seemed to understand the prince’s need to let the wind and the rain and the ride purge his tattered mind. Both horse and man were soaked through, and yet they thundered on. Past the dozens of outbuildings, past the private cove and down to the sea. Waves crashed over the sand and sent sea spray up the beach for more than a hundred yards. Aleks pulled up, he and the horse facing the endless expanse of dark, boiling sea and sky.

He saw her there as they’d been that one morning when she came to him in white robe and bare feet. She’d brought with her something he’d never expected to experience again. She’d brought love. At least, he’d thought as much.

On that twilight morning with the moon white above and air warm and redolent of the seagull’s song, she’d broken down his rigidly erected wall. He’d built a fortress against her and she’d walked through it on bare feet.

A man’s heart was a traitorous thing.

He’d started to believe her assertions that Nico was in danger. He was not a fool. The possibility was real. But not from Nico’s own grandmother.

A vivid flash of lightning danced over the waves. He held tight to Windstar’s reins and the big gelding didn’t falter this time.

Aleks had no doubt about his mother’s negative feelings toward Sara. Sara was bright. She felt the hostility.

Perhaps Sara was trying to cause dissension between him and his mother because the queen was wise to her ways.

Yet, as hard as he tried to envision Sara as the villain, his heart bled with wanting her.

But the die was cast. She must leave before he became more of a fool than he’d already been.

He turned the big steed up the coast, letting the driving rain pound into his face, and rode them both into exhaustion.

“I’m coming home tomorrow.” Sara heard the quiver in her voice as she talked to Penny.

“What’s wrong? You sound upset.”

“Aleks asked me to leave.” She lay prostrate on the massive canopy bed, clothes strewn around her. She didn’t want to go. Not yet. Not ever.

“Prince Jerk. I don’t know what you ever saw in him.”

He wasn’t always a jerk. Sometimes he was warm and funny and loving. “He adores our son.”

“Did he agree to visitation?”

Sara rubbed a hand down her throat. Antonia had lit a scented candle but the smell set her stomach to churning. She was sick, all right. Sick with grief. “No.”

A beat of silence. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet. Right now, I’m coming home. Maybe
I can figure out something later. At least I know where my baby is now.”

“And you know he’s safe. Remember how you used to worry about that?”

Sara’s eyes fell shut. She still worried about his safety, but she didn’t say as much to Penny. “I need to hang up now, Penny. I want to spend as much time with Nico as I can before tomorrow.”

She glanced at the clock. If only she could stop time.

“Okay.” And then, “Sara, I’m sorry. I never should have made you go on that fake vacation.”

“Don’t apologize, Penny. As sad as I am tonight, it was the best thing that has happened to me in years.”

That much was true. Though she had no idea how she would get through the days ahead, this time with Nico and Aleks was worth any amount of suffering.

After they ended the call, Sara looked at her meager belongings but didn’t pack. Antonia had insisted the job be left for her. Fine. She didn’t want to pack anyway. She wanted to run and lock herself in the dungeon where no one could find her, sneaking out at night to see her son.

Shaking her head at the ludicrous fantasy, she went to the closet for a sweater to wear against the cool air brought on by the storm. The ball gown hung there, a vision of aquamarine satin. It was the most beautiful garment Sara had ever owned. She let her fingers drift over the smooth fabric before closing the closet and heading to Nico’s room.

A rumble of thunder drew her to the window. The storm had not let up for nearly an hour.

Sweater over her shoulders, she stared out at the sluicing rain. In the distance, a lone figure rode a dark horse with as much wildness as the storm.

Her heart lurched.

“Aleks.” She placed the palm of her hand against the cold windowpane as though she could touch him.

He looked as alone as she felt. No, more so. Aleks carried the weight of his family, his people, his nation on his shoulders. And he carried it well. He was an excellent leader. His people loved him.

So did she.

Fool that she was. Her heart still reached out for him.

As the thought came, he rode out of sight, as lost to her as if they’d never been.

Sara spent the late afternoon and evening playing with her son. The attendants, accustomed to her presence, went about their business and for the most part left her and Nico alone. Though she wondered if someone would come along and force her to leave at Aleks’s orders, no one did.

Regardless of her false smile, Sara’s heart was heavy and a thick knot of dread had settled in her stomach. This evening would fly by. Tomorrow she would be gone from her beloved child and his equally beloved father. Perhaps she’d never see either of them again, a painful possibility she wasn’t ready to face.

She puffed gently against the bubble wand. An iridescent soap bubble emerged and hung suspended above Nico’s enchanted face.

He clapped his hands. “I see a rainbow.”

Sara laughed, storing the memories of every moment. “Now you blow one.”

With great concentration, Nico dipped the circular wand into the bubble jar and blew. His eyes widened with amaze
ment as the bubble grew larger and larger before popping. He jerked back. “It splashed me.”

Sara laughed again and Nico joined her. She grabbed her cell phone and videotaped the sight and sound of his laughter.

“Let me see.” Nico leaned in toward the small screen. The little boy smell of playtime and Play-Doh was a scent Sara would never forget.

“You’re a handsome boy.”

“You are, too.” And then he giggled. “You’re not a boy.”

She rubbed her nose against his. “No. I’m a…silly rabbit.”

His nose wrinkled with glee. “You are not. You’re a girl. A real pretty girl. I like your hair, too.” His little hands stroked the side of her head. Sara closed her eyes from the pure joy of being caressed by her son.

Would he remember these moments? Would he ever know that the woman who sang silly songs and blew bubbles and finger-painted the sea and the sun was his mother?

Would she ever see him again?

As the evening slipped away, Sara struggled with how to break the news of her departure. She had to tell him, for her sake as well as his.

Finally, when they were in the midst of a jigsaw puzzle, she said, “I have something important to tell you, Nico.”

His intelligent face tilted upward with happy expectation. “A surprise?”

“No, not really a surprise.” Determined to keep the departure light, she smiled, though the action felt as fake as this “vacation.” “I will be going back to America tomorrow. We may not see each other again before my plane leaves. And I want you to know that meeting you has been the best thing in my whole life. You are a wonderful boy.”

His face fell. His fingers tightened on a piece of puzzle.
“But I don’t want you to go, Miss Sara. I want you to stay here and play with me.”

“My vacation time is over, Nico. I’m sorry.” So sorry that her stomach hurt and her heart was shattering in her chest. “Staying would be lovely, but I’m afraid I cannot.”

“Papa said you’re lonely for America.”

“He did, did he?” So Aleks had already been preparing the boy for her to leave. He must have intended all along to find a reason to rid the country of her, and she’d made the task so easy.

“When will you return? In one week? Papa always promises to return in one week.” His handsome face twisted. “Or sometimes two when he goes far, far away. Will you come again in two weeks?”

Sara forced her breathing to appear normal, though tears burned her throat. “No, darling boy, not in two weeks.”

“When?”

Staring down at a yellow puzzle piece to hide her tears, she said, “I don’t know, sweetheart. I just don’t know. America is very far away.”

Nico pressed a piece into place before raising puzzled eyes to hers. “But you will come back, won’t you?”

Not knowing what else to say, Sara said, “If I can, I will come again.”

The answer was enough for the four-year-old. He picked up a green-and-brown puzzle piece, examined it, and snapped it into place. A dinosaur was beginning to emerge.

“Papa says you have a bookstore in America.”

So he and Aleks had discussed her. She wondered why. “Yes, I do, with lots and lots of books exactly right for little boys.”

“Books about horses?”

“Lots of books about horses.” She thought of Aleks riding like the wind along the seashore. “Perhaps I can send you one.”

“I have a pony. When I am well Papa will allow me to ride again.”

Sara longed to see that day. She longed for the time when Nico was well enough to run and play like a normal boy. But regardless of his return to health, Nico d’Gabriel would never be a normal boy. Like his father, he was bound by the rules and conventions of his inherited place in Carvainian society. And like his father, he would someday be a fine ruler. Even though she would not be here to watch him grow, she had no doubt Aleks would raise him to become a fine man.

As long as he was kept safe.

Her gut tightened at the thought that would not go away. What if Aleks and the doctors were wrong? What if Nico remained in danger and she was the only one who suspected? How could she leave when he was still vulnerable and when the person who’d overdosed him had still not been discovered?

Aleks was certain palace security could adequately protect their son if needed, but the guards had not stopped someone from poisoning his new liver with acetaminophen. What if the old liver had been intentionally destroyed in the same way? What if Nico had not contracted a viral illness during the flood zone trip as suspected?

The notion shot a spear of terror through her soul.

With all her might, she prayed that the doctors were right and the overdose was nothing more than an unfortunate accident. Maybe she was simply too overwrought and overprotective. Perhaps the stress of these strange weeks had distorted her thinking.

She wished she could believe that.

“May I come to your bookstore sometime, Sara?”

Unwilling and unable to admit that Aleks would never allow such a thing, Sara gathered the thin body into her arms.
“I would love for you to visit my bookstore. You can choose any book you want.”

“When I am well Papa will bring me.” The phrase had become a mantra to Nico. When he was well again he wanted to do so many things.

“Don’t be sad if he doesn’t. America is a long way to travel.”

“Papa has an airplane. He likes you, too. He will come.”

The words brought a renewed ache to her heart. She’d begun to believe Aleks cared for her, as well. She’d even dreamed he could love her again, but a dream was all it was or could ever have been. She hadn’t known that in America. Now, she did.

But even though Aleks was a ruling prince destined to marry a duchess or a princess, Sara would always be the mother of this child. Not even Irena could change that.

She rested a hand atop her son’s head. “If Papa will bring you, you can come to visit me in America anytime. I will be waiting.”

For the rest of my life.

The rest of the evening passed far too quickly as they played and talked, sang songs and made up rhymes. Too soon, the nanny reappeared.

“It is time for Prince Nico’s bath.” The woman held a hand out. Nico’s little shoulders drooped in resignation.

“I could give him his bath,” Sara offered, almost too eagerly. Every moment grew more precious as the clock ticked cruelly forward.

The nanny seemed taken aback by the suggestion. “But this is my duty. You are a guest.”

“Please. I’m leaving tomorrow.” She kept the tone light, lest she break down in front of her son. “Tonight is my last
night in Carvainia. I’d like to spend as much time with Prince Nico as possible.”