Read Online The Billionaire Bargain (Millionaire's Club) by Barb Han - Free Book Online Page B

unconscious?”
    “Asleep. The bump isn’t big enough to do any real damage.”
    “She slept through my putting pressure hard enough to stop her forehead from bleeding.”
    “Is she a deep sleeper?”
    “Yes.” Daegen rose to his feet and shook the doctor’s outstretched hand. “I appreciate you for coming so fast.”
    “She’ll be fine,” he reassured.
    Except his words had the opposite effect on Daegen. The question he’d been battling surfaced. What if she’d inherited the blood disease from her father? The thought of Rae becoming sick clenched his gut. The disease didn’t have to be deadly if she took care of herself. Or allowed someone else to for a change.
    Daegen walked the doctor to the door and then moved to the kitchen to get a glass of water ready for when she woke.
    He glanced at the tabloid on the floor. His shock didn’t register at first. There he stood staring at the picture. Astonishment wasn’t the word for what he felt next.
    The boy in the photo, whom Daegen suspected to be around eleven years old, was a blast from the past. He had his mother’s eyes. Almond-shaped face. Regret ate at Daegen’s stomach lining.
    He thought the man calling was just another prank.
    He palmed his cell and called his assistant. “Change of plans, Nancy.”
    “Yes, sir. Which account are we talking about?”
    “This is personal. The boy’s mine.”
    “Oh.”
    ****
    When Rae blinked her blurry eyes open, she couldn’t immediately get her bearings. All she knew was her eyes burned, and she had an enormous headache.
    Feeling around, she realized she was on a bed, lying down, and something warm and wet was on her forehead.
    Her hand came up to investigate her forehead. Blood?
    Daegen blanketed the doorway with his graceful athletic frame. His eyes connected to hers, and he dropped to his knees beside her. “How do you feel?”
    “Confused...okay...what happened?”
    “You fainted, bumped your head on the counter,” he said, worry lines deepening the brackets around his mouth. His warm smile hitched air in her throat.
    It was easy to see why so many women, including herself, fell into bed with him.
    Sure hurt falling out though. She had the marks to prove it. “I take it I cut myself?”
    “You’ll be fine. It’s a small wound. There’ll most likely be a nasty bruise though,” he said as the back of his hand grazed her cheek, sending chills racing through her veins. “My doctor just left.”
    Doctor? How long had she been out? Rae couldn’t for the life of her remember falling. A sliver of fear sliced through her at the thought she might have inherited her father’s condition. She pushed up on her arms. “I’m fine.”
    Daegen raised a dark brow. “It’s just a bruise, not too bad. It’ll heal. I had my physician work up your blood just in case.”
    She remembered. The tabloid. Her physical bumps might mend, but the shock of Daegen being a father and leaving his son to grow up alone might scar her for life. “Is it true? Is he your son?”
    He nodded.
    “How could you do that to him? Leave him all alone?” Tears streamed down her cheeks, no longer able to keep up the façade that she was okay.
    An explosion of anger crossed his dark features. “Wait a minute. I had no idea. What kind of person leaves his own child to fend for himself?”
    Right. Daegen wasn’t the kind of man who could do that. “Mine.”
    “I didn’t mean it like that.” Daegen’s concern was genuine, outlined by worry etched on the creases of his otherwise perfect and bronzed face. The lines were somehow deeper than she’d ever seen. He looked as though he’d seen a ghost. “For what it’s worth, Rae, I’m sorry.”
    “Me too.” It took her more than a few seconds to fight beyond the squall enveloping her, and when she did, her gaze connected with the dark brooding stare of the man in front of her. She dredged a smile from somewhere deep inside herself, a consolation to him for the pain he must feel. “I