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

Nico?
    Whatever the reason, Sara was worse than he’d dreamed.
    “Close the door.”
    He had no wish for this conversation to be carried by the servants to his mother’s ears. She was upset enough. She would be livid to learn of the bargain he was about to strike.
    The door snapped shut. Sara stood with one hand on the pull, facing him as calmly as if they were trading automobiles. Only the quiver of pulse above her collarbone indicated distress. “Do we have a deal?”
    What choice did he have? He wanted Nico alive and well, and Sara was his only chance.
    “You may visit his rooms, but either I or the queen must be present at all times.”
    She cocked her head. A silver earring glinted against the pale skin of her neck. “You don’t trust me.”
    About as much as he trusted the king of Perseidia. “Not in the least.”
    A small skirmish went on behind sea-blue eyes but finally she said, “Okay, agreed, as long as I can see him as often as I like.”
    “Done.” He reached for the door handle and paused. “One thing, though, Sara, is not negotiable.”
    She regarded him warily. “And that is?”
    Calling upon four years of festered anger and bitterness, he said, “Nico is never to know you are the bitch that whelped him.”
    The color, which had drained from her face, now surged forth, setting her delicate skin aflame. She raised a hand as if to strike him. He caught her wrist. “I think not.”
     
    Long after Aleks left her alone, Sara sat at the window staring out at the magical country of Carvainia. Aleks’s country. Her baby’s country.
    Emotional exhaustion made her limbs heavy so she could hardly lift her hands to swipe at the tears flowing down her cheeks.
    Her baby was here. After the years of guilt and regret, she’d found him. All this time of worry and he’d been right here with his natural father. She was glad for that, though still astonished by the turn of events. Nothing Aleks said in explanation had made any sense. He claimed to have contacted her but she knew he hadn’t. And yet, how could he have known about the pregnancy? How could he have gotten custody of Nico?
    Joy at finding her son intermingled with the loss of years and the fear that he was deathly ill. Now that she’d found him again, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.
    She longed to go to his rooms and stay with him every minute of every day. But she knew without a doubt that if she tried to see him now, without Aleks’s permission, a host of staff would block her way.
    And so she waited for him to return with the contract heinsisted she sign. A contract. Dear heaven. What had happened to the man who’d claimed to love her?
    She reached for a tissue and rubbed at eyes gone raw and hot. A sob slipped from her lips. Aleks had offered her money to help her own child. How low she had fallen in his eyes that he would believe such an offer was necessary. She would do anything to see Nico well. Her demands to see him were nothing more than a bluff though she’d been praying the entire time that Aleks would fall for it. Even if he’d refused, she would never have left this castle without doing all in her power to save her child’s life.
    Part of her didn’t blame Aleks for despising her. Didn’t she despise herself for letting go when she might have found a way to keep their child? Wasn’t she haunted by a host of what-might-have-beens?
    The door opened and Antonia entered carrying a tray. “You must eat something, Miss Sara. Lunch is long past.”
    The young woman set the tray on the small round table at Sara’s elbow. Sara took one glance at the array of beautifully prepared finger foods and shook her head. “Thank you, Antonia. I’m not hungry.”
    Antonia studied her with compassion. “You are upset, miss. Let me get some cucumber slices for the swelling in your eyes. And perhaps I could arrange a soothing massage and a spa treatment?”
    Sara shook her head. No amount of pampering could soothe the ache in