by Penny Jordan
‘So what you want from me is a no-strings-and-no-emotions-involved temporary sexual relationship?’ she asked.
‘I hate to drag you kicking and screaming out of the Dark Ages, but being in love with a sexual partner is no longer a prerequisite,’ he said. ‘People nowadays can have very satisfactory relationships without the complications of feelings that rarely last the distance anyway.’
‘So I’m a sex buddy—isn’t that what it’s called these days?’
‘This is not the time for this discussion. You’ve just lost your father in terrible circumstances. Your whole world is crumbling around you. You need time to get your head around all this and quite frankly so do I.’
Amelia watched as he moved across the room, his back turned towards her. He was right, she thought. This wasn’t just about her; it was about him as well. In some ways he had received an even bigger shock than she had. His whole life had changed and he was still trying to negotiate his way through it. She had at least been well prepared for the news of her father’s death, and even though it had happened, as Alex had described, under terrible circumstances, at least she was still who she had always been—Amelia Vialli. Alex, on the other hand, had suddenly found himself caught between two worlds: that of his life back in Australia as Dr Alex Hunter surrounded by his loving adoptive family, and his new one here on Niroli, as Prince Alessandro Fierezza with a role set before him that was as daunting as it was inescapable.
But even so it was painful to accept that what they had experienced together was coming to its inevitable end. It had to. She was part of the family that had taken his heritage away from him.
‘You’re right,’ she said, releasing a little sigh. ‘This is hard for both of us.’
He turned to look at her. ‘It’s going to get harder, Amelia. I have to make some decisions in the next few days that less than one per cent of the population ever has to make. Whatever I decide is going to hurt someone somewhere and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life.’
She swallowed at the anguish she could see written in stark lines on his face. She knew she too was going to be one of the people most likely to be hurt by whatever decision he made. ‘I wish I could help you,’ she said.
He gave her a twisted smile. ‘No one can help me. I have to do this alone. But right now you are the one who needs support. The next few days are going to be tough on you.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ she said, knowing it was a lie. Inside she felt shell-shocked and vulnerable in a way she hadn’t felt since her mother had died. She ached to feel secure, but it was as if her whole world were tipping out of control. Alex was offering her his support, but she knew it could only be temporary. He’d made it perfectly clear his emotions were not involved, which she could only assume meant he only saw their relationship as a brief interlude before he made his final decision about his future. The most painful part was recognising that, no matter what he decided, there was no place for her in either choice he made.
The day of the funeral was one of the most miserable days of Amelia’s life. For a start it rained constantly, which meant the very few people who were considering attending decided against doing so at the last minute. Even Alex was unable to offer his support when a difficult case went overtime in Theatre.
Her brothers stood stiffly beside her during the brief service, their faces largely impassive, but inside she knew they were feeling the loss as keenly as she was.
Alex showed up just as they were leaving the cemetery and respectfully stood to one side as she said goodbye to her brothers, who were leaving the island the following day.
She joined him a few moments later, her face looking pinched and white, but even so she managed a small smile for him when he took her arm.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked.
She nodded and let out a little sigh and looked back at the grave that marked her father’s final resting place. ‘He lived such a hard life, but I can’t help feeling he’s finally at peace.’ She turned back to look at him. ‘How did your case go?’
‘It was touch and go there for a while, but we managed to pull a miracle out of the hat. Sorry I couldn’t make it in time.’
‘It’s all right,’ she said as she let down her umbrella now the rain had ceased. ‘You of all people wouldn’t be expected to pay your last respects.’
He let a small silence fill the space between them before he announced, ‘I’m doing the surgery on the king first thing tomorrow.’
Her throat moved up and down as she held his gaze. ‘Are you nervous?’
‘Why should I be?’ he asked. ‘As far as I’m concerned he’s just like any other patient.’
‘But he’s not just any other patient. He’s—’
Alex placed the pad of his index finger against her lips to silence her. ‘As far as I’m concerned he’s just an old man in need of bypass surgery.’
Amelia felt her lips tingling at his touch, brief as it was. She felt as if she couldn’t get enough of his touch even though she had spent every night since her father’s death in Alex’s arms. She knew their relationship was on borrowed time; the sense of urgency she felt had taken their intimacy to increasingly erotic levels until her whole body felt as if it would never be the same. She longed to tell him she loved him but knew it would not achieve anything except further pain for her in the end.
‘I have to get back to the hospital,’ Alex said with a quick glance at his watch. ‘Are you working at the palace tonight?’
She nodded. ‘But don’t worry, I can make my own way there. Rico has left me the car.’
‘I guess I’ll see you at the hospital tomorrow afternoon.’
‘Yes,’ she said, forcing her lips into a tight smile. ‘Good luck in the morning. I hope it goes well.’
His expression clouded for a brief moment. ‘Yeah. thanks. I hope it does too.’
She watched him walk back towards his car, his long strides taking him farther and farther away. She could feel the words to call him back tightening her throat, but they couldn’t get past the knot of emotion lodged there.
‘I’m so sorry about your father,’ Lucia said the following afternoon when Amelia came on the ward. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine,’ Amelia said as she put her bag away. ‘It was a horrible shock, but I’m coming to terms with it…more or less.’
‘Have the police found out what happened?’
‘The case is now closed,’ she said with a despondent sigh. ‘I was speaking to them before I came on duty. They’re putting it down to an accident, apparently suggesting my father fell asleep while he was smoking in bed.’
Lucia grimaced in empathy. ‘That’s exactly what happened to my grandmother. She’d been told a thousand times not to smoke in bed, but she wouldn’t listen. Fortunately she woke up before things got out of control, but the very next week she was back at it, much to my mother’s disgust.’
Amelia met Lucia’s gaze. ‘My father gave up smoking as soon as he found out he had cancer.’
Lucia’s eyes went wide. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I don’t know. He could have fallen asleep with a candle burning, but I can’t help feeling uneasy about it all.’
‘You mean you think it wasn’t an accident? That he was…’ she swallowed over the word ‘…murdered?’
‘I don’t know. The police don’t think so, but there are certainly people on the island who would have liked to see him dead.’
‘Has this got something to do with Alex Hunter?’ Lucia asked.
Amelia tried to disguise her startled look. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘I don’t know. It’s just when my mother came over to help me with the girls she told me how everyone is talking about Alex Hunter’s amazing likeness to the Fierezzas and how people are speculating on whether the prince was actually killed all those years ago. I suppose you’ve heard the rumours? They think Alex Hunter is Prince Alessandro.’ Lucia gave a little chuckle of disbelief. ‘It�
��s totally crazy, don’t you think? If you ask me, I think it shows just how old and desperate the king has become in looking for an heir to take his place.’
‘Yes…it’s certainly crazy…’
Lucia gave her a probing look. ‘You’re not starting to believe all that nonsense, are you?’
Amelia avoided the other woman’s eyes as she tidied some papers on the desk. ‘If the palace officials think Alex Hunter is the prince, then surely they will conduct their own investigations to prove it either way.’
‘Have you heard how the king’s surgery went?’ Lucia asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. ‘It should be over by now.’
‘No, not yet, but no news is good news, I suppose.’
‘Were you on at the palace last night? How did the king seem?’
‘He didn’t sleep very well, ‘Amelia answered. ‘But I guess that was to be expected. It’s a big operation for an elderly man.’
She didn’t tell her friend about the general air of excitement she’d been able to feel the whole time she had been there. The castle staff had bustled about in an atmosphere of high expectation, which she felt sure had nothing to do with the king’s surgery. She wondered how they had come to know of Alex’s identity. Had her father spoken to someone before he had died or had the palace staff activated their own investigation?
As she’d left the palace that morning she had wandered past the tiny grave of the child who had been buried in place of the prince, but there had been no fresh flowers in the brass vase, which had seemed to her to be rather remiss. It was as if the little child was to be of no significance now the real prince had been located.
‘Poor little baby,’ she’d murmured softly as she’d bent down to empty the sour water from the vase and replace the faded blooms with some sweet-smelling roses that had been growing nearby.
Lucia broke through her thoughts. ‘At least the king is in the very best of hands,’ she said, and then added with a teasing smile, ‘and, speaking of those very clever hands, have they been anywhere near you lately? I heard you’re sharing his cottage. Could it be you’re sharing his bed as well?’
Amelia could feel her face heating, but forced herself to meet the other woman’s gaze. ‘Alex Hunter isn’t going to be here for much longer. I would be a fool to get involved with him in anything other than a temporary way.’
Lucia’s eyes twinkled as she leaned closer conspiratorially. ‘But you’re tempted, aren’t you? Go on, admit it. He’s totally irresistible. If I wasn’t married with two kids and in desperate need of a tummy tuck, I’d make a play for him myself.’
Amelia was relieved when a patient pressed the buzzer by his bedside for attention. She gave Lucia a weak smile and headed off down the corridor, but she felt her friend’s speculative gaze following her all the way.
Amelia had not long finished attending to the patient who had summoned her when she caught sight of Alex coming down the corridor to the cardiac unit with Dr Morani by his side.
‘Ah, Amelia,’ the doctor greeted her cheerily. ‘We’ve just returned from the private hospital. We have wonderful news. The king has come through the surgery very well. He is expected to make a full recovery. Alex did a brilliant job.’
‘Congratulations,’ she addressed Alex, not surprised at how tired he looked. ‘It must be a relief to have it over with.’
He let out a barely audible sigh. ‘It is.’
‘Dr Hunter?’ The cardiac unit ward clerk came towards them with a harried look on her face. ‘There are some royal officials waiting to speak to you in your office. They refused to make an appointment and insisted on waiting.’
Alex met Amelia’s eyes briefly before turning back to the ward clerk. ‘It’s all right. I’ll see them now. I can do a round later.’ He looked at Dr Morani and asked, ‘You don’t mind if Sister Vialli comes with me, do you, Vincenzo?’
‘Of course not,’ Dr Morani replied. ‘Things are pretty quiet on the ward.’
Amelia blinked at Alex once the others had moved on. ‘Me?’
‘Yes, you,’ Alex said, leading her by the elbow towards his office.
‘Do you think this is about you know what?’ she asked in a worried undertone.
His expression was grim as he glanced down at her. ‘It looks like it,’ he said. ‘Just before I scrubbed for his operation the king grasped my arm before being anaesthetised. He looked at my birthmark scars for a moment and then looked me in the eye and called me Alessandro with tears in his eyes. I had a hard time keeping my head throughout the procedure, especially as the theatre staff were giving me speculative looks all the time.’
‘But you did it, Alex,’ she said softly. ‘The operation was a success.’
He didn’t answer, but opened his office door and indicated for her to go in before him, but Amelia could tell he was struggling to deal with the situation now it was coming to a head.
Four men in suits stood as they came into the room, their expressions speaking for them as their collective gaze went to Alex.
Amelia stood silently as the leader stepped forward and informed Alex of the investigations that had been conducted over his identity, including the details of his adoption. They had even gone so far as to apply for a warrant to examine his medical records, which clearly documented the removal of a strawberry birthmark several years ago. They had also gone to the extraordinary lengths of conducting a DNA test on the glass he had sipped from on the first night he had gone to the palace.
‘So there’s absolutely no doubt?’ Alex asked once the man finished.
The official shook his head. ‘No doubt at all. You are His Royal Highness Prince Alessandro Fierezza. Your family will want to spend time with you as soon as the king is out of hospital and a press release has already been prepared to be released immediately.’
Alex visibly stiffened. ‘I’d like this kept out of the press for as long as possible. I would like some time to prepare my adoptive family of this news. It will come as a dreadful shock to them.’
‘We will do what we can, but I can make no promises,’ the official said. ‘The king gave instructions that as soon as your identity was verified a press statement would be released.’
Amelia saw Alex’s throat move up and down and her heart tightened painfully at what he must be going through.
‘We have made arrangements for you to move into the royal household immediately,’ the official said.
‘No.’ Alex held up his hand. ‘I need some time to get used to this. I’d prefer my own private space for the time being.’
‘But King Giorgio will be concerned for your safety,’ the official insisted. ‘And you will need to be briefed on your royal duties.’
‘I don’t care,’ Alex said implacably. ‘I still have work to do and I don’t see any reason to change my living arrangements.’
‘Your work will have to end,’ the official said. ‘The king will not allow you to maintain your profession. It is against royal protocol. The ruler of Niroli must devote his life to the kingdom. Therefore maintaining a profession is out of the question.’
Alex’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t answer, Amelia assumed because he didn’t trust himself to remain polite. She could see the tension move from his jaw to encompass his whole body; even his spine was rigid with it and his expression dark as a stormy cloud.
‘There is one other rather sensitive subject we wish to bring up with you.’ The leading official spoke into the stiff silence. ‘But perhaps it would be best if the young lady was not present when we discuss it.’
Amelia felt her face begin to flame, but as she made a move to leave Alex’s strong fingers captured her wrist and brought her back to his side. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I would prefer for her to stay.’
‘Very well.’ The official looked distinctly uncomfortable. ‘It has come to the king’s attention that you are currently…er…involved in a relationship with Miss Vialli. Is that correct?’
‘I don’t see that it’s anyone’s business but m
y own,’ Alex responded coolly.
‘It is everybody’s business when the woman you have chosen to be involved with is the daughter of the man who kidnapped you when you were an infant. The people of Niroli will not accept her, not even as your mistress.’
‘Amelia had nothing to do with her father’s activities,’ Alex pointed out. ‘I don’t see why she should be discriminated against for something she had nothing whatsoever to do with.’
‘Are you saying that your current relationship with Miss Vialli is likely to become more permanent?’
Amelia held her breath as she waited for Alex to respond to the official’s blunt question. The silence stretched and stretched like a thin wire that at any moment could snap and flick back with a stinging blow.
‘My relationship with Miss Vialli is not something I am prepared to discuss right now,’ Alex finally said. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me, I have patients to see.’
‘We will be in contact with you tomorrow,’ one of the other officials informed him. ‘There are legal matters to see to and you will need to be advised on official protocol and your schedule of duties. Also, your siblings will want to speak with you.’
‘Thank you for your time,’ the leading official said. ‘We realise this is a very difficult situation for you and the king will not want you to suffer any undue stress.’
‘Thanks, I really appreciate it,’ Alex said, with no attempt to tone down his sarcasm.
One of the men turned to face Amelia just as they were leaving. ‘The king has advised me to terminate your contract at the palace. He will no longer need your services as a nurse,’ he informed her officiously before turning with the others to leave.
Amelia waited until the door had closed on their exit before she brought her gaze to meet Alex’s. ‘You really didn’t have to spare my feelings, Alex,’ she said with a distinct chill in her tone. ‘You could have told them straight out that our relationship wasn’t permanent.’
He frowned darkly. ‘I’m not prepared to be told how to live my life, certainly not at my age.’
‘But it’s true what they said. I won’t be accepted as your mistress. They don’t even want me to take care of the king any more.’ She took an unsteady breath and continued, hoping he wouldn’t be able to see through her emotionally detached act. ‘I think it’s time to say goodbye, Alex. It’s not as if we have any lasting feelings for each other. It was nice while it lasted and I really appreciate what you did for me in stepping into the breach after my father died. But I think it’s time we ended this relationship. It’s not what I want and, if you’re honest with yourself, it’s not what you want either.’