Her Prince's Secret Son Read Online Free PDF Page A

choice.”
    She didn’t need to know about the stir her presence had caused, both among the staff and within the royal family. As it was, the queen had taken to her bed with a migraine the moment Sara Presley entered the castle. He regretted that deeply.
    Without his mother’s help and guidance during that terrible time five years ago, he wasn’t sure he could have survived. First, he’d lost his father. Then an old enemy, the greedy kingof Perseidia had perceived a weakness in the new Carvainian government and had invaded their northern borders. Like the warriors of old and as he’d been trained, he’d led his men into battle and had come out the victor. But at what price? Wounded, and heartsick at the loss of fine young men, he’d been further shattered by the news that his former love had given birth to his son and was offering the baby to the highest bidder.
    Though the queen had expressed serious doubt, Aleks was convinced the child was his. Sara had been an innocent when they’d first come together, so shy and eager and loving. He could not imagine her with another man.
    She’d likely had several men by now, but he refused to care.
    “How did you learn about the baby?” she asked. “How did he get here?”
    “Money and power have their advantages.”
    “Why didn’t you contact me? Where were you?”
    “At war, fighting for my country’s independence where I belonged.” He chopped the air in impatience. “None of this matters anymore, Sara.”
    “It matters to me! I’ve missed four years of my baby’s life, four years of wondering if the wealthy family that adopted him loves him, wondering if he’s all right. Then suddenly I’m whisked away from America without explanation to discover he’s been here with you all along. Why have you contacted me now when you didn’t then?”
    Aleks grabbed her arm and stared down into her face with all the will he had inside him.
    “Let me explain as clearly as I know how.” He swallowed, hating the words to come. “Nico…is dying.”
    “No!” Sara shrank away from him, a hand to her throat. “Please no.”
    The stark despair in her expression would have shakenhim had he not been braced for it. She had ignored her child since birth. A pained cry and a few tears would not convince him that she cared.
    “His only hope is a liver transplant.”
    Sara slid onto a chair and buried her face in her hands. Once again, Aleks battled back an urge to go to her. He stood with rigid military discipline, reminding himself that this woman was the enemy. This woman had no scruples. This woman had tossed his child away like a stray dog.
    When she lifted her tearstained face, his gut spasmed. She’d looked this way on the day he’d gotten news that his father was dying. She’d cried for him.
    He’d been a fool then. He wouldn’t be again.
    “Is he on a transplant list?” she asked. “I don’t know how things like that work here in your country. What can be done?”
    “The best hope for Nico is a living donor. His body would then regenerate the donated segment into a full-sized body part while the donor’s body would also fully recover. But Carvainia is a country of genetically similar people. No one we can find shares his blood type.”
    “AB negative,” she murmured.
    “Yours, I assume.”
    She nodded. “Yes.”
    “Nor does anyone, including myself, my mother, nor any of the royal family share the specific blood markers that he requires.” Impatient, he chopped the air again. “I don’t pretend to understand the medical details. I only know that Nico is dying and his only hope is a living donor who matches him as exactly as possible.”
    Perched on the edge of the chair, she bent forward, forearms against her thighs, hair falling over her shoulders as she looked up. “And that’s why I’m here, isn’t it? To be his donor.”
    Aleks tensed. His heart galloped in his chest like one of his racehorses. If he was to gain Sara’s cooperation, he must