The words took Jiyong completely off-guard. Four months had passed with nary a word from the Park, and he’d thought the possibility of a pregnancy long past. His knees buckled, and he barely guided himself into his chair. Eyes burning, his throat frozen with shock, he could only stare at the older man. After several endlessly long seconds, he finally said, “You’re just now discovering it?”

The judge waved his hand, accidentally sloshing liquor over the edge of his glass. He didn’t seem to notice the spill on the Persian carpet. “Her mother never told me.”

He broke off and closed his ey es for a moment. “She hoped the cessation of her flux didn’t mean any thing.” He raised his lashes to fix Jiyong with an anguished gaze. “She was wrong. Dara’s breeding, no doubt about it.”

Jiyong sank back in his chair. “Damn.”

“The question now is what do we do? I believe she’s too far along to terminate the pregnancy without endangering her life.”

Jiyong knew there were disreputable physicians who, for a price, would perform such procedures, but the thought sickened him. His brother’s child? His own niece or nephew? Even if a termination were possible at this late date, he wouldn’t allow it. To him, children were an unattainable dream and precious bey ond measure.

As if reading his thoughts, the judge downed the remainder of his brandy and said in a shaky voice, “My Dara isn’t capable of raising a child, Kwon, and my wife and I are too old to take on such a responsibility . We’ll be doddering old fools before it ever reaches its majority .” He shook his head. “If she weren’t so far into the pregnancy , I’d have it terminated without batting an eye. Probably that’s why Minyoung wouldn’t admit the possibility to me.”

“You’re forgetting my responsibility in this. Has the thought occurred to you that I might be willing to raise the child?”

“That isn’t an alternative.”

“Why the hell not? Because of your political career?” Jiyong snorted. “There are ways to get around a scandal, Park.”

Though the admission came with difficulty , Jiyong knew this was no time to mince words. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors that I’m sterile. They ’re true. Mumps in my early twenties.” Feigning a casualness he was far from feeling, Jiyong shrugged. “Because I’m unable to father children, I have no intention of taking a wife. If nothing else, I’d be willing to marry Dara and claim this child as my own.”

The judge shook his head vehemently .

Jiyong rushed on to argue his point. “Aside from the young men who witnessed the , and I doubt they ’ll talk, no one will know the babe isn’t mine. Given Dara’s affliction, there might be some speculation about why I’d marry her, but that would reflect badly on me, not you. After an acceptable period of time, I could claim irreconcilable differences and seek a separation. Dara could

return home to be with her mother. It’d be the perfect solution for all involved. This is my brother’s child we’re discussing, after all. I’v e a responsibility for its welfare as well as for Dara’s.”

“No.”

With that pronouncement, the judge slapped his glass back down on the sideboard. Like a blind man, he made his way across the room toward the fire, hands groping for support on the chair backs he passed. When he reached the hearth, he grasped the mantel and pressed his forehead against the rock. Dara was shocked when he heard the man sob.

“If you ever breathe a word of this,” Park whispered raggedly , “I’m ruined. Swear nothing I say will go beyond this room.”

Jiyong shot a glance at the door to be certain it was securely closed.

“Of course you have my word.”

“I know you think I’m a hardhearted bastard for wishing we could do away with the babe, but you aren’t aware of all the facts. Our Dara, she—” He broke off and heav ed a jerky breath. “Well,