Born of Betrayal (6 page)

“Good. I won't miss you, then.”

*   *   *

Fain knocked on the door of Galene's condo. Only a block from the palace, it was one of the nicest buildings in the bustling metropolis of Eris—the Andarion capital city. The doorman had been a little skittish on his arrival, but since Fain had come in with an Andarion royal guard, he'd let Fain pass with nothing more than an irritated grimace.

So what the hell was taking her so long to answer the door, anyway? Her condo couldn't be
that
big.

She's doing it strictly to piss you off.

Most likely.

He knocked again.

The door slid open to show her boy toy in nothing but a simple white towel. He had a blaster in one hand while he eyed them warily.

Anger boiled inside Fain at the sight, especially given all the scars on the little bastard's body, including marks on his shoulders that appeared to be those of a disinherited male. But the one that truly chafed his ass was the tat on the kid's throat that marked him as an Andarion felon who'd spent time in one of their top-sec prisons. Given all that, Galene must have seriously called in favors to keep the little bastard in the military with a commander's rank.

Worse, she hadn't been lying. They really did live together. And she must dearly love the boy to overlook that degree of scarring. In their culture, those marks were considered a deformity, and explained why such a high-ranking male in the Andarion armada remained unmarried.

No female, other than Galene, would be able to look at Talyn with anything except scorn and disdain.

This day keeps getting better and better.

Fain curled his lip. “I'm here for the commander.”

Her boy toy sneered at him. “You should have called first.”

“She was told to expect me.”

“Not first thing in the morning.” Grimacing at the group, the boy toy allowed Fain into the elegant condo, but not the others. He closed the door in their faces, and headed toward the kitchen, where he had a bowl of hot cereal set on the countertop. He placed his blaster beside it before he sat on a barstool and returned to eating.

“You have company, Commander.”

At his disgruntled words, Galene leaned over the counter to see Fain. Dressed in a short, lacy nightgown, she gaped then pulled her robe closed and belted it. But not before an image of her lithe, athletic body and those lush, full breasts was firmly implanted in his mind. “What are you doing here?”

Dying of horniness, apparently.

And unspent rage.

Fain ground his teeth at the violent reaction of his treacherous body. Dammit! Why couldn't he be near her without getting the hard-on from hell?

“I'm supposed to escort you to the Porturnum's HQ. Remember?”

“In an hour,” she growled.

“What can I say? I couldn't wait to see you again.”

She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm.

Her boy toy stood up and leaned over the counter to place his bowl in the sink. He met her gaze and arched a quizzical brow. “You want
me
to shoot him this time?”

She had the nerve to smile. “Don't tempt me, scamp.” She moved his blaster away from his hand. “You should finish dressing.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He headed for the hallway. For the first time, Fain realized he had a pronounced limp as he walked.

“And don't leave your damp towel on the floor again. Hang it up.”

Without a word, the boy toy jerked the towel off his hips and tossed it at her. Completely naked, he passed a smug, taunting grin at Fain before he headed to the rear of the condo.

Disgusted by his flagrant display and the wealth of hideous scars over the boy's back, Fain wanted blood. It took everything he had not to go after the punk and teach him a valuable lesson in manners.

Laughing at the boy's impudence, Galene took the towel into what must be the laundry room. She came out to add her own glare at Fain. “I wish you wouldn't antagonize him.”

“
I
antagonize
him
? Are you serious?”

“Yes. I would think you're old enough to know better.”

“But not him, huh?” Fain curled his lip. “Maybe you should sleep with someone closer to your own age.”

She didn't respond as she headed for the hallway. “We'll be out in a minute.”

Biting his lip, Fain had never been so furious in his entire life. It was actually painful.

As he waited and contemplated murdering them both, he drifted into the spacious living room that held an incredible view of the city. Something he would have appreciated more if he'd been in a better mood.

But right then, only bloodshed would placate him.

Trying to put it out of his mind, he swept his gaze over the contemporary furniture and noted the number of pictures in the place. More than that, he realized that the photos were
all
of her pet.

Little effing bastard …

He paused at one of her with the boy toy when the kid was a lot younger.…

A
lot
younger. Like around six or seven, and dressed in a yellow and black lorina costume for a play. How sickening was that?

Scowling, Fain stepped closer to the frames that held the boy's graduation certificate, and an article from a sports magazine about him. His frown turned into a gape as he saw the kid's name on the cover and he realized who the boy was.

Talyn
Batur
.

Oh dear gods, he's her son.

Shit! Talyn Batur.

Talyn B-a-t-u-r,
the
Ring fighter of the century, was her only son. Her kid was an Andarion legend. That little bastard had also beaten every record Fain had set in the Ring.
Every
one of them. Records that no one had ever thought would be beaten by another fighter.

And
that
is her son. Effing figures.
She'd probably had him beat Fain's records just for spite.

Feeling like an idiot, he rubbed at his sore jaw. No wonder they called the kid the Iron Hammer. He definitely hit like one.

Disgusted with himself for how he'd behaved toward them, he sighed at his own childishness. He should have recognized the Hammer. How could he have been so stupid as to not realize who Talyn was?

But that thought ended as he noticed the date on the boy's graduation certificate.

If that was correct …

Carefully, he scanned the document more closely. It was only partially filled out because it was missing Talyn's paternal lineage.

All
of his father's heritage.

For that matter, Batur was
her
family name. And now that he looked closer at the photos of Talyn as a boy, Fain realized how much Talyn favored his nephew Darice. How much Talyn looked like him and Dancer.

Then his gaze went to Talyn's caste code that was listed on his certificates.
-12-6.
The bastard son of a disinherited male
.
That
slammed into him like a cheap kick to his stones.

Ah, shit
.

He stiffened as he sensed a presence behind him. Turning, he saw Talyn there in his Andarion battlesuit. Talyn, who was the same exact height and build he was.

The boy's gaze went past Fain to the diploma before he called out. “Hey, Ma! Dad just figured out how to do the math to calculate my age and date of conception. He's having some kind of apoplexy over it. I think you need to come in here before he pisses on your floor. And if he does, I did not do it, so don't yell at me for it. And I will
not
clean it up.”

Fain couldn't breathe as Talyn confirmed his fears.

I have a son.

A beautiful, strong, grown son.

Stunned and awed, and feeling like a total asshole, he reached to touch the bruise he'd given Talyn yesterday during their fight.

His white eyes filled with hatred, Talyn pulled back and licked at the scab on his lip from another blow Fain had gifted him with. “Don't touch me.”

Dressed in her uniform, Galene hesitated in the doorway. No wonder she'd shot him. It all made even more sense now.

Completely aghast, Fain stared at her. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I tried, and you told me to shush … that you didn't have time for me. You were busy.”

Fain winced at the memory of her hurt expression that day in the locker room before she'd stormed out, only to return a few minutes later to confront him with Merrell's lies.

“That was what you came to tell me?” he asked her.

“Yeah. Congratulations, Fain. You're a father.”

And how had he thanked her for her precious gift? He'd allowed her to believe that he was in love with another female. That he'd shamed her with a human lover. “No wonder you shoved me into that auditorium.” He shook his head. “You still should have told me.”

“Why? So that I'd be forced to marry a male in love with someone else? A human, no less. Call me provincial, but I wanted better than that.”

Fain twisted the ring on his pinkie around with his thumb. Fate had seriously fucked him over.

No, fate had fucked all of them over.

“I'm so sorry, Galene.”

“I'm not the one you need to apologize to.” Her gaze went to Talyn.

His features were absolute stone.

Fain wanted to embrace him. It was a physical ache inside him to touch a son he'd never thought to have, but it was painfully obvious that Talyn wanted him to die on the spot. “I'm sorry, Talyn.”

“There are some things sorry doesn't fix, old man. This is definitely one of them.”

“I know. Believe me, I know.” His heart shattering, Fain blinked against the tears that choked him as he thought about everything they'd all been deprived of. The years that the three of them should have been a family.

I have a son.…

A child he'd never been able to hold and soothe. A son he'd never taught to fight or protect himself. One he knew absolutely nothing about. Bitter, aching regret choked him hard.

Talyn met his mother's gaze. “I'll give you two the room.”

As he started past her, Galene touched his arm. “Are you okay, baby?”

“I'm fine, Matarra.”

Galene winced. That wasn't true and she knew it. But it was the best she'd get out of him. Talyn never showed anyone his emotions. His childhood had been too brutal for that.

Without another word, her son headed for his room.

Her heart hammering, she watched as Fain scanned the other photos of Talyn over the years. Their son had been a beautiful child. Overachiever to the extreme.

But then, Talyn had been forced to be three times better at everything he did to be seen as half as good as others.

Fain met her gaze again. “I don't know what upsets me more. The number of times I made money off Talyn's wins, or the times I lost money betting someone would gut him in the Ring.”

“Don't even talk to me about that, Fain. Or I
will
kill you where you stand. You've no idea how much I hated him fighting for a prestige that should have been his at birth. How many times I've paced a waiting room floor, praying he'd live through the injuries he'd sustained because he had no future without battling for it. And even then, he was never given his due, because he never had a fully Vested lineage backing him.” She clenched her teeth and glared at him. “Damn you for that.”

Fain choked on the pain inside his heart. As a boy, he'd thought to trade his own life and future to save Dancer's. Instead, that “noble” action had cost his son his.

Galene's and Talyn's futures were not supposed to have been part of the bargain he'd made with Chrisen and Merrell Anatole to keep Dancer and Keris safe. Nothing had turned out the way it should have.

And never had he hated himself more.

“I can imagine what you've been through.”

“No, Fain. You can't. Not really. You were always so popular. Everyone loved and adored you. Worshiped the ground the mighty War Hauk tread upon … Our son has never known that. Most decent, self-respecting Andarions won't socialize with him. At all. Even as an officer, he wasn't allowed to shower in the same barracks area as any Vested soldier. The only female who will have anything to do with him is a paid companion he has set up in his condo, across town. I had to send him to school with Hyshians because our race wouldn't allow him to attend an Andarion school with a broken lineage. Every door he reached for was brutally slammed, not in his face, but on his little hands.”

He winced in response, and well he should.

“The Hyshian and human children weren't allowed to play with him because he was Andarion. And the Andarion children weren't allowed to talk to him because he was the bastard of an Outcast father. Do you know he was even too humiliated to tell me that he'd finally broken down and paid for a mistress? Had he not been coldly shot down by his own commander—who hated
you
—and almost killed, I'd have never known he had that much in his life.”