The Horseman's Son Read Online Free

was find my child. Until now.”
    He cursed. And then as if he’d declared war on it, he peeled off his jacket and tossed it into the closet. He didn’t stop there. Dylan came across the room, bracketed his hands on his desk and leaned in so he could stare at her some more.
    “And why should I believe you?” he challenged.
    Collena tried to keep her voice level. “In my car I have the police and doctors’ reports detailing what happened to me and the subsequent arrest of the director at Brighton. I also have the original files. Both sets, the legal ones that Brighton put together, and the illegal ones they figured no one but them would ever see.”
    He shook his head. “Reports and files don’t prove anything about Adam. So what if you had a child? It could have been any child.”
    “Adam’s date of birth matches the day I delivered,” she pointed out.
    “That could be a coincidence. You could be confused about the date.”
    She took a deep breath and tried to tamp down her frustration. She couldn’t say she hadn’t expected this though. In fact, Collena figured there’d be many rounds of stonewalling before he started to come to terms with this.
    “I’m not confused. There were only four baby boys born that particular day at Brighton,” Collena said. “And three are already accounted for.”
    He waited a moment, and she could almost see the thought process going on behind those eyes. “This doesn’t make any sense. I want to talk to Adam’s birth father.”
    “He’s dead.” And for the time being, that’s all she intended to say about her late fiancé, Sean Reese. Thankfully, Adam would never have to have Sean in his life, but that didn’t mean Sean’s DNA couldn’t come back to haunt them. Later, she’d have to explain all of that to Dylan. “Look, I know this is hard to accept—”
    “You have no idea.”
    “But I do. Remember, someone stole my baby and tried to kill me. I have an inkling of what it’s like to lose something as important as a child.”
    Oh, mercy. She felt the tears threaten, and she tried to blink them back. One escaped anyway, but she quickly wiped it away so there’d be no proof of the pain that had ripped her heart apart.
    “Look at me,” Collena requested. “Don’t you see some kind of resemblance between Adam and me?”
    It was a gamble, because Collena had no idea if her son did indeed resemble her.
    But the gamble paid off.
    Dylan combed his gaze over her. Studying her, hard. And at the end of several snail-crawling moments, he groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. He dropped down in the chair across from her and raised his head.
    “Adam has blond hair and brown eyes,” he admitted. “Like you.”
    The relief washed over her. Not because she doubted this child was hers. No. She was positive of it. But the resemblance might go a long way to convincing Dylan of what she already knew.
    It might also convince him to accept the deal she was about to offer.
    “I won’t believe any of this until I see DNA results,” he added a moment later.
    Collena had anticipated that, as well. “I already have DNA results to prove he’s mine.”
    “You couldn’t.”
    “But I do. You probably remember telling your adoption attorney that you wanted your baby’s umbilical cord to be stored in case it was needed in the future. Since the storage facility was also owned by Brighton, the police got a search warrant to have all the umbilical cords tested. The newborns’ identities were all in code, so I knew that one of the babies was mine, it just took a lot of DNA tests to figure out which one.”
    He pulled in his breath. “And how do you know that you unraveled the code correctly?”
    “Because all the other babies have been accounted for. All except Adam. He’s the last one on the list.”
    Collena took the small DNA test kit from her pocket, opened it and wiped the sterile swab on the inside of her cheek. She put it in the plastic bag, resealed it and handed