The Sheikh’s Secret Heir(44)

Now he waited outside Elena Battelli’s private quarters, seeking answers he required to move away from his past, as Kira had urged him to do. She had forced him to open old wounds, left him to bleed alone, and assess the direction his life had taken. He had not liked what he had discovered.

Tarek rapped twice on the mahogany door and waited for the woman to answer his summons, which she did immediately.

“Come in, Mr. Azzmar,” she said with a sweeping gesture toward the small parlor. “Please have a seat.”

Tarek chose the small blue sofa while Elena took the paisley chair across from him. “I appreciate you agreeing to meet me on such short notice,” he began, “but I felt this could not wait a moment longer.”

She studied him with keen eyes. “Kira told me you suspected Aadil was your biological father, so we will dispense with all pleasantries and get to the point. Was your mother’s name Darcia?”

Hearing the name had a startling effect on him. “Yes, it was.”

“Then I have something I must show you.”

She pushed out of the chair, disappeared into another room and returned a few moments later holding a yellowed piece of paper and a brown portfolio beneath her arm. “She sent this to Aadil. Read it.”

He managed to take the offered letter, unfolded it and began to scan the text written in Arabic. He immediately recognized his mother’s script from cards she had given him during his childhood. The content itself verified the covert relationship and contained a demand that the king never contact her again.

He turned his attention from the missive to Elena who had reclaimed the chair. “There is no mention of my mother’s pregnancy or anything about me.”

“It’s clear in the letter Darcia believed they could not be together permanently since he was promised to another. She perhaps saw no need to inform Aadil.”

The fury he had felt for so many years returned. “Then I am no closer to learning if he was, in fact, my father.”

“Not necessarily,” she said. “One evening many years ago, Aadil told me that your mother was the love of his life and he intended to give up the throne for her. When he returned to Morocco, she had moved away from her parents’ home and into your father’s house. He managed to find her and when he discovered she was pregnant, he confronted her about the baby’s parentage. She denied you were his child and asked him to leave. He always believed otherwise, but he never bothered her again and went on to assume his duties as king.”

“Suspicion does not equal fact.”

“But this does.” She opened the portfolio resting in her lap, withdrew what appeared to be newspaper clippings and handed them to Tarek. “He followed every step of your rise to fame and fortune as if he were searching for proof.”

Tarek flipped through the photos and articles featuring him then returned them to Elena. “This is not proof of anything other than a man obsessing over the son born to a woman he could not have.”

Elena pulled one last piece of paper from the folder and offered it to him. “Yet this is irrefutable.”

A few seconds passed before Tarek understood what he was reading—a DNA report containing his and the former king’s name. Most important, the test concluded that the results were 99.9999 percent positive he was the offspring of the former king. Still, he had more questions before he would let himself believe. “How did he obtain my DNA?”

Elena lifted her frail shoulders. “He was a very powerful man with many connections. I actually did find a written account from a private investigator outlining an unnamed person he was following in Morocco and that he gathered a paper cup the subject discarded in a trash bin. I assume that subject was you.”

The information was almost too much to digest. “Then I suppose my mother had been truthful to her husband.”

“My guess would be that he rescued Darcia from the shame of giving birth to a child out of wedlock. That was looked upon unfavorably forty years ago. I also think Aadil never sought you out to save you from shame as well.”

“I believe now that was most likely the case.” And as he considered that he would never know his biological father, a certain sadness replaced the ever-present anger.

When Tarek offered Elena the paper, she waved it away. “You’ve waited many years for confirmation, so you should keep it.”

“Thank you. Now that I have the information, I will have to consider what I should do with it in regard to my recently discovered brothers.”

Elena presented a kindly smile. “Of course you should tell them.”

His intent all along, yet everything had changed, including his attitude toward them. “I am not certain they will forgive my deceit.”