Her Prince's Secret Son (7 page)

Nico looked doubtful. “I don’t want Dr. Konstantine to come. I don’t like needle sticks.”

What could anyone say to that? The child had been through enough to last two lifetimes.

Aleks retrieved his sandwich, though guilt and helplessness pinched his face.

Turtle clutched to his chest, Nico wandered slowly toward the shoreline.

Sara followed him with a worried gaze. “He’s not usually fussy like that.”

“No. His behavior concerns me.”

“I’m concerned, too, Aleks, but for other reasons.” She picked at a crust of bread. He needed to hear her suspicions even if he thought she was crazy. “I need to ask you something. Or rather, tell you something.”

He sat up straighter, immediately on guard. “About Nico?”

“About these strange bouts of illness that the doctors can’t explain.”

“They are a puzzle—and a worry.”

She popped a tiny piece of bread into her mouth, chewed and swallowed, unsure of how to approach the subject. Would Aleks think she was trying to cause a problem? Would he believe her?

Neither mattered. If there was the remotest possibility that Nico was in danger, she had to tell Aleks.

Swallowing her tension, she asked, “Have you ever considered that someone might want to harm Nico?”

The air around the warrior prince stilled. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, he leaned toward her. “What are you talking about?”

So fierce was his stare that she trembled. Any threat to the royal heir would not be taken lightly and she could almost feel sorry for anyone who crossed the prince of Carvainia.

When she hesitated, his jaw flexed. “Speak, woman!”

Sara’s tongue flicked out over lips gone dry as the Sahara.
“All right, but you may not like what I have to say. Twice before when Nico’s stomach hurt, he had been tended by Maria during the preceding hours. And then this morning I saw someone go into his room. I thought the person might have been her.”

Skepticism replaced some of his intensity. “There is nothing sinister in that. Maria is devoted to the little prince just as her son was devoted to me.”

“But Nico was sick after her visits. Twice.”

“A coincidence. Nothing more. In case you’ve forgotten, he’s been a very sick boy. Maria is devoted to him and has nursed him tirelessly since this nightmare began.”

“But what if her devotion is a ploy to do him harm?”

Aleks slammed a fist into his palm. “Enough! You have no idea what you’re saying.”

Pulse clattering and more than a little nervous at rousing his ire, Sara refused to back down. He might be the all-powerful Oz but he did not rule her. “Then enlighten me. What’s so special about this woman?”

“Her son.”

“And who might that be?”

His jaw clenched and unclenched, as though he held back great emotion. “Carlo. You remember.”

“Carlo? Your friend? Of course, I do.” The image of a stocky young man with a wrestler’s build formed in her head. “He was very quiet, but a nice guy. A gentle giant.”

The prince’s voice dropped to a murmur. “The best friend I ever had.”

The past tense was not lost on Sara. Dread pulled at her gut. “What happened to him?”

“He died saving my life.”

His tortured expression shattered Sara’s restraint. She knew
how close he and Carlo had been. She also knew Aleks would feel responsible for his friend’s death, whether he was or not.

With no thought of the wall that now separated them, Sara moved to his side, circling him with her arms, her need to comfort overriding the fear of rejection.

When Aleks didn’t resist, she laid her head on his shoulder and whispered, “I am terribly sorry.”

One of his strong, warrior’s hands came up to press her back, bringing her closer.

“As am I.”

The admission was barely a whisper against her hair, the tension in his body rock hard and thrumming with leashed emotion.

She closed her eyes against the unexpected wash of feelings. No matter the years and sorrows between them, she still loved the scent and texture of his skin, the corded strength of him, the depth of character that had made her love him with every fiber of her being.

She touched his side, remembering the knotty, horrid scars. Aleks flinched but didn’t pull away. Instead he buried his face in her hair and sighed, his breath warm against her scalp.

“The grenade that hurt you,” she murmured. “Was that when it happened?”

Beneath the smooth cloth of his shirt, the scars were easily felt along the honed ridges of his ribs and belly. With a light touch, her fingers studied the shape and breadth of his terrible wounds, massaging gently as if to erase his pain and memories.

“Yes. Then.” She heard him swallow. “Carlo threw himself on the grenade to protect me. I was injured but he was killed. He died in service to his ruler, but more than that, he gave his life for a friend.”

He lifted his head and Sara saw the suffering caused by
Carlo’s sacrifice. She saw something else, too, and her pulse quickened as Aleks’s pupils dilated and his gaze flicked to her mouth.

Could he possibly want to kiss her? Did she want him to?

It was her turn to swallow. Her lips parted. Then, as if her acceptance was a turnoff, Aleks gently but firmly pulled away.

The sense of loss stunned her. In that brief moment in Aleks’s arms, she’d longed, not only for his kiss, but for his love.

Wouldn’t she ever learn? She turned to the side and pressed a fist against her trembling mouth.

After a few seconds of loud silence, Aleks cleared his throat.

“So,” he said, as though nothing personal had transpired, as though he’d felt nothing in those sweet moments. Perhaps he hadn’t. “You can understand why I trust Maria with my son’s life.”

She did understand. And yet the strong feeling that something was amiss would not go away.

Reining in her emotions, Sara turned back toward the prince. If he was unaffected, so was she. Nico was the important one here, not them.

“Could there be anyone else who might want to harm Nico?”

“The little prince, as the people call him, is the darling of Carvainia. You’ve seen the papers and the television. You’ve seen the thousands of cards and gifts that have poured in from all over the country.”

Sara sighed and pushed at her hair, frustrated. He was right. Who would want to harm an adorable four-year-old boy?

She gave a small, uncertain laugh. “Maybe I’ve become an overprotective mother, seeing danger around every corner.”

Aleks cut a sharp glance toward Nico, who was out of hearing range. “The only person with power to hurt Nico is you. Kindly mind what you say in his presence.”

His reaction both hurt and angered. “He didn’t hear me.”

“And you should be glad he didn’t.”

The callous remark incensed her. “Exactly what would you do if he
did
hear me? If he found out the truth?”

Fury flushed his dark skin. “Do not challenge me, Sara Presley. This is not a game you can win.”

Face burning and tears pushing at the back of her eyelids, Sara dropped her head and began shoving picnic items into the basket. She didn’t want him to know how upset she was, not only because he refused to see how much she cared for Nico, but because they were fighting again, their truce broken. She’d thought they were moving toward…friendship, but she’d been wrong. Aleks would always despise her.

“Papa.” Nico came toward them, one hand on his abdomen. His skin had turned the color of ashes. He stopped and bent over.

Sara jumped to her feet and hurried to him. “What’s wrong? Are you sick? Do you hurt?”

Aleks was beside her in a flash, arriving just as the child pitched forward into Sara’s arms and began to retch.

After an infusion prescribed by Dr. Konstantine and a call to the liver specialist, the mysterious illness disappeared almost as quickly as it had come.

Aleks was beside himself with worry as he stalked back and forth in his office, contemplating the day’s events.

Sara Presley’s bizarre suspicions had unnerved him. That could be the only explanation for his irrational behavior.

He leaned both hands against his desk and stared down at the gleaming surface. Sara’s pale and lovely face seemed to stare back.

He gritted his teeth. What was she doing to him?

In that brief interval in her arms, he’d felt whole again, the raging guilt and anger and sorrow soothed by her touch.

He slammed a hand against the desktop, the sound echoing in the room as he fought back the raw emotions that only Sara Presley had ever stirred in him.

She was a liar, a traitor, a woman who’d abandoned his son. He could not allow himself to be seduced by her sweetness. A principality and a crown were at stake, as well as his heart and his son.

She was wrong about Maria, wrong about everything. She had to be. No one would wish harm upon a four-year-old child.

A terrible voice whispered inside his head.
Unless that child was the son of an old and still-hated enemy.

“I want a list of everyone who has been in Nico’s rooms,” he said, barking out the command.

“Your Majesty?” His secretary, Jonas La Blanc, stood at attention beside a computer desk—his work space when the prince was doing correspondence. His bland face showed no reaction to his leader’s obvious disturbance.

“I want to know who is in Nico’s rooms and when. I want a full report for as far back as you can get it and from this moment forward. And I do not want you to explain this to anyone. Simply do it.”

“As you wish, sir.” The man bowed and backed away several steps before turning to leave the room.

La Blanc probably thought him mad. Maybe he was. Sara Presley was driving him insane.

Aleks waited until the door soughed shut and then squeezed the bridge of his nose.

She had rattled him, and now his mind jumped from the feel of her in his arms to her dogged insistence that someone might want to harm Nico. Surely no one on his staff, no one
in this household would be so diabolical. And yet, Carvainia had enemies.
He
had enemies.

Though they had enjoyed several years of peace, the king of Perseidia had signed their treaty under duress. He was by no means a friend. Had a spy infiltrated the castle?

He shuddered. What if even now an assassin plotted evil against the crown prince.

“No!” He slammed his fist against the stone fireplace. Sara Presley had put paranoid thoughts into his mind. She was the enemy within the walls, seeking to disrupt his household and create dissension.

But she cares for Nico.

The thought hit him like a cannonball. Though he’d fought against believing anything good about her, he could not deny her devotion to the boy—unless that devotion came with an ulterior motive.

He rubbed the tight, tight muscles in his neck.

Were Sara’s actions truthful? Were her suspicions spoken because she cared for Nico, or because she sought revenge on the father for perceived wrongs?

At this moment, he didn’t know what to believe.

He’d watched Sara at Nico’s bedside, still recovering from her own surgery and yet determined to nurse the sick boy. He’d heard her crooning soft words and tender songs when Nico cried with pain. And then today, when Nico had fallen ill, it was Sara who’d held him on her lap while Aleks rowed them back to the castle. It was Sara Nico had reached for.

His gut clenched. Nico wasn’t the only one who wanted Sara. He, the leader of a nation, a man in control, could not seem to control his thoughts and emotions when it came to one particular American woman.

But experience didn’t lie. She had been false before.

With a groan of frustration, he stormed out of his office and headed toward the security center. He couldn’t decide the best course of action with Sara, but he was taking no chances with his son.

S
ARA HELD
N
ICO
’
S HAND
as they strolled through the vineyards on their way to the children’s garden. In the days since Nico’s last bout of illness, his color had improved, his energy increased, and he’d become restless in the sickroom.

A boy needed to be outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air. A boy needed to run and play. She was happy to give him those opportunities.

Nico was not quite as lively as she’d have liked, but he kicked at dirt clods and paused frequently to investigate a bug or a plant or anthill. He was curious about everything, brilliant child that he was.

“What is that bird, Miss Sara?” he asked, head back, shading his eyes with one small hand.

“I’m not sure.” She turned to the male nurse who trailed them. “Do you know, Mr. Chang?”

The man, who looked strong enough to hoist a car, glanced upward. “A swift, I believe.”

“There you have it, Nico. A swift.”

“What about that one?” He pointed to another.

“That one I know. A blue jay.”

“And that one?”

She laughed. “I’m afraid I don’t know. You must ask your father for a bird book.”

“Papa had a meeting with Count Regis.”

“Yes. But you’ll see him today. He always has time for his favorite son.” It was one of the things she admired about Aleks—one of too many. Though the demands on his time were heavy, he popped in to see Nico often throughout the day. He was a good father. All the years of worrying about her baby’s welfare had been wasted.

Nico giggled, one sweet hand to his lips in that charming manner of his. “I’m his
only
son, Miss Sara.”

She pretended surprise. “Well, my goodness, I guess you are.”

She’d been surprised to say the least when Aleks had telephoned her room this morning with the news that his presence was no longer required for her to visit Nico. Did this mean he trusted her? Or that he could no longer stand the sight of her?

Since the picnic, he’d kept his distance, saying little when they were together, but she could practically feel the wheels turning inside his head.

“Look, Miss Sara, the garden.” Nico pulled away then and rushed off, short legs churning the grass.

Mr. Chang sprinted quickly after him, remaining watchfully by his side. Sara suspected Chang was more bodyguard than nurse, though she was not privy to such information.

When she caught up with the pair, they were in a colorful garden bordered by thick, green boxwood that twisted and turned into delightful mazes, perfect for a boy to explore.

A small, open area contained a wrought iron bench next to a fanciful wishing well.

“We should have our next picnic here, Miss Sara,” Nico
called. He was bent at the waist peering into the well. Sara’s heart jumped into her throat.

“Nico, be careful!” Supporting her side, she broke into a run.

“Do not fear,” Mr. Chang called, stepping up to balance the boy. “The well is perfectly safe.”

“It’s only for wishes,” Nico said, looking up with a grin.

Sara breathed a sigh of relief. Though the stone and timber exterior appeared as ancient as the castle, the interior had been modernized to a solid surface pool of very shallow, crystal water.

“Papa says when he was a boy his papa brought him here to make wishes. And all his wishes came true.”

Sara laughed. “He must have been a very spoiled child.”

“Ah, but my wishes were always altruistic.” Aleks’s amused voice came from behind.

Troublesome heart doing a happy-dance, Sara whirled toward the prince. The usual tension was absent from his expression. His meeting must have gone well.

“Do you mean to say,” she asked, smiling, “that you never, ever wished for anything selfish?”

“Never ever.” He placed a hand on Nico’s head. The boy clung to his father’s knees, his face raised in adoration. “Unless you count the pony.” Aleks grinned. “And perhaps the sailboat.”

Sara laughed, feeling light and giddy in a way she only felt when Aleks was around. “I have no doubt you were the most indulged child in Carvainia.”

“Indulged but disciplined. My father thought, and rightly so, that a crown prince could not learn to rule well if he was pampered and self-focused.”

“Your father sounds like a wise man.”

“A wise and strong monarch, as well as a good father. I hope to emulate him with my own son.”

“You are,” she said simply and received an intense look for her efforts. Did he think she hadn’t noticed? “You must miss your father a lot.”

He tilted his head. “I do indeed. Often I wish I could talk to him again, to seek his advice on troubling matters.”

Expression pensive, he gazed toward the verdant woods. With a pinch of guilt, Sara wondered if she was one of those troubling matters.

Nico tapped Aleks’s thigh. “You told your wish, Papa! Now it won’t come true.”

Aleks’s expression lightened as he exchanged an indulgent look with Sara. “Ah, the rules of wishing. I forgot. Did you make a wish?”

“Yes, but I won’t tell.” The boy clamped his lips shut and slapped a palm over them.

“Excellent. A wise prince keeps his own counsel.”

If Nico had any inkling what his father meant, he didn’t show it. Like any little boy, his attention was snagged by a butterfly and he gave chase.

“He seems well today,” Aleks said, eyes following his son.

Sara wondered if he was subtly telling her that her suspicions about Maria were nothing but fantasy, but not wanting another argument, she didn’t broach the topic. Nico had not suffered any further mysterious bouts of illness, and that’s really all she cared about.

“Yes. Much better, I think. No complaints, though his energy doesn’t last long.”

To prove the point, Nico abandoned his butterfly chase to flop wearily onto the bench.

“Are you tired now, son?” Aleks touched the rounded shoulders. Nico’s breath came in small pants as though the effort of a few seconds had cost him.

He held a forefinger and thumb an inch apart. “Only a bit.”

“Perhaps you and Mr. Chang should return home for a rest.”

Mr. Chang, who had been standing with arms folded over his chest, moved to take Nico’s hand.

By now, Nico’s fatigue was as visible as his reluctance to go inside. “But Sara hasn’t seen the maze. I promised.”

Aleks crouched in front of the boy. “Would it be all right if I kept that promise for you? I can show Sara the maze while you rest.”

Sara couldn’t have been more shocked. Aleks had never willingly spent a moment alone with her. What was going on with him today?

Nico contemplated for only a moment before nodding. “I want to show her the secret passage.”

“Another time perhaps. I’ll save it for you.”

“Okay.”

After a quick hug to both Aleks and Sara, Nico followed Mr. Chang back down the long path toward the castle entrance.

Aleks watched his son depart, expression pensive. “He’s taken with you.”

Sara didn’t know how to respond. Aleks, no doubt, was second-guessing his decision to allow her access to Nico in the first place. He’d wanted only a body part, a donor who would come and go anonymously. He’d never expected this, just as he’d never believed she cared for her baby boy. And now the evidence was mounting. Or at least she hoped it was.

Aleks had never expected, either, that Nico would intuitively respond to the woman who’d given him birth. Part of her was thrilled. Part of her worried. How would the little prince react when she left? Had she been selfish to involve herself in the child’s life, knowing she couldn’t stay?

She had no answers. Only the ruler of Carvainia had that
power. She longed to discuss it with him, but his reaction at the picnic had cut deep. In her precarious situation, she didn’t want to risk angering him enough to send her away.

Suddenly, Aleks grabbed her hand. “Come. I promised to show you the maze.”

She resisted, uncertain. “You don’t have to.”

“I always keep my promises.”

To his son maybe. Not to her. But she didn’t say that either. The prince was in a merry mood and fool that she was, she wanted to enjoy it. Tomorrow he might freeze her out again.

They started through the twisty, turning maze, coming to dead ends and half paths that led nowhere or turned back on themselves.

At one juncture where the path split in two different directions, he said, “Choose a path. Both lead out of the maze.”

Sara gazed down the paths and saw nothing but dark, lush green. “I’ll take that one.”

“Shall we race?” he asked. “I’ll take this way. You take that.”

Adrenaline kicked in. “What do I get if I win?”

He looked down at her, eyes glittering. “To the victor go the spoils.”

Whatever that meant.

Without waiting for a signal, she yelled, “Go!” and hurried off.

Laughing at his yelp of surprise, Sara disappeared into the narrow maze. Blood pumping with excitement, she missed a turn and had to backtrack. After only a minute, her side ached and she slowed. She’d almost forgotten about the recent surgery. But slowing down proved to be the key to noticing the subtle signs of passage. In a short time she found the exit and stepped into the sunlight.

She looked around the clearing, listening for Aleks, but
hearing only birdsong and the gentle buzz of honeybees. Seconds passed before he exited the opposite side.

Sara clapped her hands with glee. “I won. I won.”

Pretending anger, Aleks stalked toward her with a growl. “I cry foul. You cheated, starting before me.”

“Sorry.” She giggled, breathless from the run and from his nearness. “Well, not really.”

“Off with your head.” Like an old-time villain, he pumped both eyebrows. If he’d had a mustache, he probably would have twirled it. “Or better yet, into the dungeon.”

This was the Aleks she’d fallen in love with. This was her Aleks, unpredictable, but teasing and fun to be with.

Head back, Sara laughed, the sudden infusion of happiness a stunning, but welcome thing. He was the most complicated, confusing man, but no one else had ever made her blood hum and her skin tingle in quite this way.

She tossed her head, feeling the swirl of hair around her face. “Castles don’t have dungeons these days.”

“Ah, but some do.” Aleks reached to brush away a stray curl and stepped closer. Sara shivered at his feather-touch. “This is an ancient castle, you know.”

“Truly?” she said in disbelief, blaming her breathless voice on the race through the maze.

“Truly.” He was only inches away, and every cell in her body went on full alert, yearning toward this man who had broken her heart. She was truly a fool.

“Shall I show you?” he asked, eyes twinkling with mischief and a hint of danger. “Do you dare enter the dark and terrible dungeon of Castle-by-the-Sea?”

A tingle of nervous awareness danced down her arms. “Are you trying to scare me?”

His eyes narrowed, but went right on twinkling with
mischief. “Are you game? You’ve explored the maze. Will you also explore the dungeon?”

She patted her heart, nervous but excited, adrenaline revved just to be with Aleks. “Are you going to lock me inside and throw away the key?”

“Are you brave enough to find out?” He laughed and the sound was so like the Aleks she’d loved, she laughed, too.

She yanked at his hand. “Come on, tough guy. I’m not afraid of the big bad wolf. Or his dungeon.”

Aleks laughed again, only this time he added a wolfish growl.

A shiver ran down her back, but it was not a shiver of dread.

When they reached the castle, Aleks led the way around to an entrance Sara had never noticed before. He punched a code into an ironically modern security system and a door slowly swung open. They entered an ornately decorated hall-way, similar to those elsewhere in the castle.

“Nothing here looks creepy,” she said, torn between disappointment and relief.

Aleks’s look was enigmatic as he keyed in yet another security code and part of one stone wall swung inward, creaking just a bit. Musty, much cooler air wafted out.

“Okay, maybe that was creepy.” Fresh shivers tingled her spine.

“You might as well get the full experience. After you, madam.” The prince bowed slightly and indicated she enter.

“Oh, no, you first. I might faint if that door shut behind me.”

“I thought you weren’t afraid of the big bad wolf.” His grin was lupine.

She thrust out her chin. “The big bad wolf I can handle.” She hoped. “But the hidden door and that long dark passageway is another matter.”

With a soft chuckle, Aleks stepped around her to enter the passage. Torch holders and candle sconces had been built into the stone walls, but from what she could see there wasn’t a light switch anywhere.

“Oops, we’ll have to go back.” She turned, half pretending to leave. “No lights.”

Aleks caught her arm. “We keep a torch here.”

“Torch or torture?” she asked.

One eyebrow quirked. “Dare we find out?”

She swatted his hand. “You’re trying to scare me.”

“Of course. What fun would it be otherwise?” From somewhere in the darkness he produced a flashlight and snapped it on, holding it beneath his chin for macabre effect.

She made a face. “Typical male.”

They stepped inside and the heavy door creaked shut. The torch cast a yellow circle of light before them but scarcely illuminated the close stone walls on either side. All Sara could see was empty darkness down a long tunnel. A shiver of fear prickled the hair on the back of her neck, but it was a fun kind of fear, similar to visiting a carnival spook house.

“Five steps down,” Aleks said, squeezing the hand he held, his voice hushed now in a way that made her shivers more pronounced. He was playing the part to the hilt. “Beware of loose stone—and the occasional human bone.”

She squeaked, to Aleks’s obvious delight, and grabbed onto his powerful upper arm. “Were prisoners really kept down here?”

He turned his head slightly and in a stage whisper asked, “Why are you whispering?”

She giggled nervously. “Good question. Were they?”

“In times past.”

“None lately?”