The Only Woman to Defy Him(63)

                Under any other circumstance Alina would be mortified to have been caught so bitterly crying but as she stepped into the bedroom, though at first she was startled to see him sitting on the bed, as he looked up, his grief was so evident that there was no room for embarrassment.

                Fear had her running to him. For a second she actually thought his son must have died.

                ‘You are the only person I can discuss this with...’ His voice was hoarse. It was a shocking admission for him; he even hesitated now from revealing it.

                He never asked another for advice.

                Yet he wasn’t his mother—where his son was concerned, Demyan was not too proud to ask for help. Instead, he was strong enough to change and so he forced himself to continue.

                ‘You are the only person I feel can speak with. For the first time, I honestly don’t know what to do.’

                Oh.

                Life had been one constant surprise since she’d met Demyan but perhaps this was the biggest of them all.

                ‘Roman might not be mine.’

                Alina was wet from the shower, on his knee, trying to scramble, to shoot down fears, to give an instant solution. ‘He is.’

                ‘He might not be.’

                ‘There’s DNA.’

                ‘And then what?’ He tipped her from his knee and stood, almost appalled by his own revelation. Yet the words had finally been said and he turned to look at Alina, who was pulling on a dressing gown, trying to wrap her head around what he had told her.

                ‘Does Roman know?’ Alina asked.

                ‘No. This morning he asked why I am letting him go to Russia, why I don’t put up a fight. He thinks I don’t love him...’

                ‘Then you have to let him know that you do.’

                ‘If only it were that simple.’

                ‘Demyan, you’re involved, it could never be that simple,’ Alina said, and he knew then he had chosen wisely. He even managed a pale smile before explaining some more. ‘For a long time Nadia has wanted me to get back with her.’

                Alina tried to ignore the squeeze of fear to her heart as this was not about her.

                ‘When I refused to even discuss things she said she was marrying Vladimir and taking Roman to Russia to live. Of course I told her that would never happen. I don’t want him in Russia, his home is here...’ Demyan closed his eyes as dark memories swirled, there was nothing nice he could remember about his homeland.

                ‘I knew she was trying to make me jealous, I said that I would have a stop put on Roman’s passport and that I would contact Mikael. I said that I wanted my son to finish his schooling here, that when he was eighteen then he could make a decision but till then...’ Grey eyes were black now when they turned to Alina. ‘It was then that she told me there was a very good chance that Roman was not my son. To challenge her legally I would have to find out if Roman is mine.’

                ‘He already is.’

                Her simple statement halted him and Alina spoke on.

                ‘That’s never going to change. You were there when he was born, you told me you were, all the memories you’ve made, all those times you’ve shared can’t be erased by some test.’