The Prince She Never Forgot

‘But I sent one. My head of security—he took it to the hotel. Gave it to the reception clerk. You must have got it.’

She shook her head and lowered her voice. ‘There was no message, Alex. None. I waited and waited.’

She hated the way the words made her feel. She hated the way she wanted to reach out and grab them. Grab the fact that Alex had tried to reach her—no matter what else had happened in his life. But it was the expression on his face that was worse. He looked hurt. He looked injured.

But, most importantly, he looked tired.

She knelt down in front of him. His father had been sick for ten years. He had a country to run. His wife had died from cancer—she was assuming he’d nursed her through that—and he had a daughter whom he clearly loved but needed help with.

She reached up and touched his hand. Her skin coming into contact with his almost made her smile. Her pale skin against his tanned skin. A world of difference.

The sensation she felt touching his skin was still there. Still electrifying. But she had to put a reality check on things.

She spoke quietly. ‘Why now, Alex? Why me?’

It was only a few words but they meant so much more than she was actually saying. He knew that. He must.

He reached up and touched her cheek. Zing.

‘Because there is no one else. No one else I could trust with the thing that is most precious to me.’

She blinked, trying to stop the tears forming in her eyes.

Nothing about wanting to see her again. Nothing about wanting to know how she was.

But he had just told her he trusted her with the thing most precious in the world to him. His daughter.

She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.

He pulled a picture from his wallet. A sad-looking blonde-haired toddler. She was beautiful. Just like her mother had been. But she wasn’t laughing. She wasn’t playing. She didn’t look happy.

‘Oh, Alex...’ she breathed.

‘Will you come?’ His voice sounded as if it was breaking.

She stood up, her mind whirling. ‘I’ll need to think about it. You’ll need to give me some time.’

How ironic. Ten years later she was asking him for time.

How on earth could she not do this? The picture of the little girl had broken her heart. She had no idea if she could help or not—but she could try.

Outside her office she could see figures rushing past. The hospital was always busy—never enough time to do everything. It was wearing her down. She loved her job, but the truth was she’d spent the last few months searching the vacancy bulletins.

One thing. If she did this one thing she could help this department and these kids for ever. Was it really such a hard task?

A chair scraped along the floor behind her. Alex had stood up, a resigned look on his face. He nodded at the desk, ‘I’ll leave those things for you to look at. My contact details are there. Let me know when you make up your mind.’

He thought she was going to say no. And right now that was the way she was leaning. What would she do with her flat—her cat—if she left to go abroad?

The file and the photo of Annabelle sat on her desk. He had his hand on the door handle.

‘Alex? How did you know where I was?’

It had bothered her since he’d first arrived.

His bright blue eyes fixed on hers. It was the first time she’d seen anything resembling the eyes she’d looked into ten years ago.

‘I’ve always known where you were, Ruby,’ he said quietly as he opened the door and walked down the corridor.

CHAPTER TWO

THE PLANE JOURNEY was smooth. The private jet immaculate. Any other person might have taken the opportunity to relax, but Ruby’s stomach had been jittery ever since they’d left London.

She stared out of the window as the plane came into land. Her first sight of Euronia. A stunning, winding coastline overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. A population of two hundred thousand people over an area of only seventy kilometres. The rich and famous flocked here because of the tax benefits. The press loved Euronia because it seemed to host every celebrity wedding that had ever existed.

The plane landed quickly and glided to a halt on the Tarmac. She hadn’t spoken to Alex since she’d seen him at the hospital. The number he’d given her had been for his secretary—a chirpy little man who’d been delighted when she’d said she would come to Euronia and had spoken with great fondness about Annabelle. He’d arranged everything. Even advising on what kind of clothing to bring and asking her for her dress and shoe size so he could provide some extra items if required.

The pilot and the stewardess had both been polite but formal. She wondered if they were used to fading into the background.

A black limousine was waiting for her.

‘Welcome to Euronia, Ms Wetherspoon. It will only take ten minutes to reach the palace. Please make yourself comfortable and help yourself to refreshments.’

Another man in black. She hid her smile. Any minute now she would hear the theme tune to that movie in her head. It was the same garb that the men in Paris had been wearing all those years ago. Those men had made her uncomfortable. This man was a little different. His eyes were scanning the horizon constantly. Was he a chauffeur or security?

She settled into the comfortable leather seats. The ‘refreshments’ in front of her were wine, champagne and beer. It was ten-thirty in the morning. What she’d actually like was a cup of tea.

She watched the scenery speed past.

Polly’s words echoed in her ears. ‘This isn’t a movie. He’s using you, Ruby. Don’t get any ideas about this at all.’

Her disdain had been apparent as soon as she’d heard what had happened. Polly had long since abandoned any romantic notions of her prince. She’d been the one to see exactly how devastated Ruby had been. But it was all right for Polly. She’d got her happy-ever-after—a doting husband and a baby in her arms.

‘How long will you be gone?’ she’d asked Ruby moodily.

‘I have no idea.’ And she really didn’t. She couldn’t plan anything until she’d assessed Annabelle.

The car swept through some regal gates, past armed guards and down a long pale yellow sweeping drive. The view over the Mediterranean was breathtaking.

No turning back. She was here now. She tugged at her pale green dress. It was a little more formal than what she normally wore, but at le

ast it didn’t crumple.

The palace came into view. Nicknamed the Pink Palace, the Palace Principale was built from pink and red sandstone. She’d seen pictures on the internet, but seeing it in reality was entirely different.

Ruby took a deep breath. There must be a million little girls’ birthday cakes all over the world based on this palace. Four square turrets and it seemed like hundreds of slim windows looked down on her. The palace doors were enormous, with wide sweeping steps leading up to them.

Intimidating. Definitely intimidating.

She would be lying if she claimed she’d never thought about this. Of course she had. Every girl had.

But every girl hadn’t kissed a prince.

Oh, boy. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. This was harder than she’d thought.

Actually being here in Euronia was much harder than she’d imagined it to be.

In her head this was a job. This was professional. So why was her heart fluttering so much? And why did she want to run back along that yellow driveway?

A man was standing at the top of the steps to greet her. It wasn’t Alex. Of course it wasn’t Alex. He hadn’t even spoken to her on the phone.

She climbed the steps and looked out over the Mediterranean Sea. Lots of little white boats bobbed up and down on the beautiful blue water. Little boats? They probably cost more than she would earn in her lifetime. This was a whole other world.

But she was here to do a job, not to admire the scenery—no matter how beautiful it was.

The sooner she got started the better.

* * *

He watched her step from the car. She was picture-perfect. Her elegant legs were the first hint of what was to come as her slim figure emerged in a pale green dress that fluttered around her in the strong sea winds. It was an occupational hazard of having a palace on the sea.

His mother had always joked that one day a press photographer would get a picture of something they shouldn’t. She’d been born before her time, and had been taken much too soon. She would have known exactly what to do with Annabelle.