by Amy Ruttan
A shock reunion...
A son reclaimed!
In this Cinderellas to Royal Brides story, Dr. Jeena Harrak’s returned home. Banished years ago by the king of Kaylana upon falling pregnant with Prince Maazin’s baby, Jeena never had a chance to say goodbye to Maazin, or to tell him of his father’s cruelty. After she reveals his heir, working alongside gorgeous yet closed-off doctor Maazin is harder than she ever imagined...but might their overwhelming connection be enough to reunite their family?
Cinderellas to Royal Brides
Two docs swept into a royal world!
With the king taking a step back, the island kingdom of Kalyana in the Indian Ocean needs Princes Farhan and Maazin to do their duty. But it won’t be an easy ride for these skilled royal medics. Especially when they meet the two women who will shape their country’s legacy, and their own futures!
Crown Prince Farhan must take newly discovered Princess Dr. Sara Greer as his convenient wife to avoid political disaster in:
Surgeon Prince, Cinderella Bride
by Ann McIntosh
And Prince Maazin discovers the secret his former flame Dr. Jeena Harrak has been keeping for a decade in:
Royal Doc’s Secret Heir
by Amy Ruttan
Both available now!
Dear Reader,
Thank you for picking up a copy of Jeena & Maazin’s story, Royal Doc’s Secret Heir.
I always try to find something special about a book, and this book is special to me because it’s the first duet that I got to write with my critique partner of over ten years, Ann McIntosh. It was amazing being able to world build and write a linked story with Ann.
Maazin was a bit of a playboy and when the love of his life left, his world came crashing down. He’s tried to forget her, but when a cyclone ravages his kingdom he’s shocked to discover that the team leader of the relief effort is none other than the woman who broke his heart.
Jeena never planned on returning to Kalyana, but when her new country sends her there, she plans on keeping her nose down and getting the job done. She didn’t count on running into the man who broke her heart and left her a single mother.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.
I hope you enjoy Jeena and Maazin’s story. Be sure to check out Farhan and Sara’s story too!
I love hearing from readers, so please drop by my website, amyruttan.com, or give me a shout on Twitter @ruttanamy.
With warmest wishes,
Amy Ruttan
Royal Doc’s Secret Heir
Amy Ruttan
Books by Amy Ruttan
Harlequin Medical Romance
Hot Greek Docs
A Date with Dr. Moustakas
Christmas in Manhattan
Navy Doc on Her Christmas List
Royal Spring Babies
His Pregnant Royal Bride
Hot Latin Docs
Alejandro’s Sexy Secret
Tempting Nashville’s Celebrity Doc
Unwrapped by the Duke
Convenient Marriage, Surprise Twins
The Surgeon King’s Secret Baby
A Mommy for His Daughter
NY Doc Under the Northern Lights
Carrying the Surgeon’s Baby
The Surgeon’s Convenient Husband
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
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For my prince charming who swept me off my feet twenty years ago when we first met and who continues to do so.
Praise for Amy Ruttan
“From start to finish, this book was entertaining.... The instant chemistry these two have from the moment they’re introduced together into the story sets the fast pace of the book.”
—Harlequin Junkie on His Pregnant Royal Bride
“Beautiful, captivating prose and engaging dialogue. The storytelling in Alejandro’s Sexy Secret is vibrant and unique.”
—Goodreads
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EPILOGUE
EXCERPT FROM DR. RIGHT FOR THE SINGLE MOM BY ALISON ROBERTS
CHAPTER ONE
IT HAD BEEN a long time since she’d been home. Jeena’s heart beat triple time as the relief plane that was carrying medical supplies and her team of doctors and nurses approached the island kingdom of Kalyana.
She took a deep calming breath as the cloud cover evaporated and the jewel of an island set against the Indian Ocean came into view.
Her home.
Only Kalyana hadn’t been her home. Not for a long time. Not since that night ten years ago when her father had woken her up and told her they were leaving Kalyana.
They were all leaving because they were in danger.
She hadn’t wanted to go and didn’t know where they were going, but her parents needed her and she needed them. So she’d left Kalyana for Canada.
She hadn’t regretted it. It had been for the best. Still, she’d never thought she’d see Kalyana again.
She glanced down at her Canadian passport gripped tightly in her hand and hoped she’d be allowed in.
Her father had made it clear they couldn’t go back. They should never go back. They hadn’t been banished, but her father had said they weren’t welcome in Kalyana. Because of her indiscretion, they would be judged. Harshly.
Jeena still found that hard to believe in this day in age, but her father had been adamant. He wanted to protect her and her unborn child.
The Canadian consulate had assured her that the visa had been cleared. That there shouldn’t be any issues.
There shouldn’t be a risk of someone waiting to pounce on her to ask her about her son and pry into her private life. She knew deep down there was nothing to fear. She hadn’t done anything wrong.
All she’d done was become pregnant and decide to have her child. A lot of women were single mothers so there was no reason she would have to watch her back, but still those old anxieties were creeping into the back of her mind. The night her father had insisted they leave. He’d been so scared. He’d thought they were in danger and Jeena knew that someone had made him think that.
And it was all because of who her son’s father was. If it had been someone else, they probably wouldn’t have left...
“Why do we have to leave?” she asked.
“Lady Meleena said that the King will take your child!” her father said. “We have to go to keep our family together. Your child would be looked down upon. Do you really want that?”
“No.” She shook her head. “But we can’t afford to leave.”
“Lady Meleena will help us. She just asks that we never come back. That we never contact anyone and keep your pregnancy secret. I promised her that for your safety.”
“How does Lady Meleena know?” Jeena asked, confused. “No one but Mother and you know. Did you tell someone?”
“Of course not!” her father exclaimed. “Someone at the clinic told her.”
“Why would someone at the clinic tell her?”
“Becau
se people know about who you were seen with and it wasn’t long before Lady Meleena put two and two together. Meleena’s father invests in my plantation. There would be scandal for all of us, and Lady Meleena wanted to take care of us.”
“I’m pregnant. I didn’t commit a crime!”
Her father hugged her. “Of course you didn’t, but Lady Meleena knows first-hand how an illegitimate child with a parent in the aristocracy can be treated. Look at her half-brother Kamal. He was treated so poorly by his peers and then he died in that terrible accident.”
“But—”
“No buts!” her father snapped. “We’re leaving. It’s the best thing for you and the baby. It will protect our family’s name and avert scandal for all concerned.”
Guilt coursed through her. “Yes, Father. You’re right.”
Jeena shook the memory away and clenched her Canadian passport tighter in her fist.
The consulate might say that she was cleared to return and work in Kalyana, but was Lady Meleena, soon-to-be royal bride, okay with it?
They’d left ten years ago to save face and her father was indebted to Lady Meleena for her assistance, but then three years ago Lady Meleena had become engaged to the father of Jeena’s unborn baby and a little part of Jeena couldn’t help but wonder if Meleena had had her eyes set on a certain prize right from the start.
It had bothered her for years that Lady Meleena had taken such an interest in her.
Does it matter? He wouldn’t have married you anyway. He couldn’t. His family would have chosen his bride, and they wouldn’t have chosen a farmer’s daughter.
Her stomach twisted and she tried to relax on the last little bit of the long trip from Canada to Kalyana, only she knew she wouldn’t feel at ease until they landed and she was cleared by customs. She was breaking her father’s promise to Lady Meleena about never returning.
You didn’t promise.
Jeena relaxed then. She was different now. She wasn’t such a pushover.
This had been her home, whether Lady Meleena liked it or not. She was going to do her job here. She had no wish to interfere in Meleena or Maazin’s life.
Even then, she wasn’t sure she could relax, visa or not. She glanced out the window again and a lump formed in her throat, tears stinging her eyes as she saw the island get closer.
Home.
This was where her family had lived and thrived on the same vanilla plantation for generations and it was all her fault that it no longer belonged to her family. All because she’d got involved with and fallen in love with the wrong person.
“You okay?”
Jeena glanced at Teresa, one of the other doctors who had come to help with the relief efforts.
“Yeah, fine.” Jeena forced herself to smile brightly. “Just missing my son.”
Which wasn’t a complete lie. She did miss her son. She’d never really been apart from him for this long and with this much of a distance between them.
He was safe in Canada with her parents. His competitive junior hockey team was in the finals and they were playing at Scotiabank Saddledome, which was a huge deal. He’d gone on and on about it for months. As had her father.
Syman was the reason her parents had taken Lady Meleena’s aid and come to Canada, and why she needed them. She couldn’t have raised him alone in Kalyana or Canada. She couldn’t have become a surgeon without their help, and becoming a surgeon had been hard even with their help.
Still, there were things Syman would never know about Kalyana. Things she’d experienced that he’d never get to, like playing on the sand of a pearl-pink beach or swimming in a turquoise sea. Running through her father’s vanilla fields or climbing a palm tree to stare out over the Indian Ocean.
Canada had been a good home for them and Syman loved his life there, even with the ice and snow that Jeena had never gotten used to. That she didn’t miss.
If you’d stayed in Kalyana, Syman wouldn’t even be interested in hockey.
Kalyana was near the Seychelles and was very traditional. Hockey wasn’t one of the sports played in Kalyana. If she had raised Syman here, he would probably be into cricket.
Or polo?
Jeena shook that thought away. She didn’t want to think about Syman’s father and how she had met him during a divot stomp at a match she should’ve never been at. She had only gone because her friend had dragged her along and during the divot stomp she’d lost her footing and been rescued by the man of her dreams.
Well, she hadn’t been completely sure when she’d first met him. Maazin had been a known playboy and she’d known she should keep away, but when he had been with her, he hadn’t been the bad boy that everyone had said he was. He had been different.
So kind and caring.
And the more time they’d spent together, the more she’d truly believed he’d loved her.
Her heart skipped a beat just thinking about him. She’d been a fool. Young and naive.
Don’t think about him.
Only it was hard not to. He was never really far from her thoughts. The older Syman got, the more he looked like his father, the more she saw the only man she had ever loved. Syman was all the good parts of his father. He was kind and caring. Also driven and stubborn.
Her heart may have been broken, but she loved Syman and she was grateful that her time with Maazin had given her her son.
“You’ll see Syman soon. And I’m sure his team will win the tourney,” Teresa said brightly, interrupting her thoughts of Syman’s father.
Jeena chuckled. “They’d better or he’ll be lamenting it until next hockey season.”
Teresa laughed and went back to her book.
Jeena glanced at the reading material she’d brought for the long flight from Dubai, which was just one of the flights she’d been on since they departed from Vancouver. She really didn’t know which way was up and given that there was a significant time zone difference, she couldn’t help but wonder if Syman had actually won his tournament. Maybe he’d already played?
I should be there.
Only this was her job and her father had taught her and given her a work ethic she stood by. Kalyana needed her and her new country, Canada, needed her to represent them in the best possible light. She understood the customs. She knew the terrain and the people.
Even if it meant facing something that she wasn’t sure that she was ready to face.
And when she closed her eyes she could still feel Maazin’s arms around her, but then she was reminded of the pain when he’d turned his back on her, when Lady Meleena had told her he’d chosen his duty over her. When Lady Meleena had told her father that Syman would be an outcast. That Jeena would be an outcast because he would not marry her, even though he knew she was pregnant.
Then, a few years later, it had been announced that Prince Maazin had chosen his bride. None other than Jeena’s supposed savior, Lady Meleena.
She shouldn’t care, but it made her angry. Jeena knew her family had been manipulated.
Don’t worry about it. Maazin isn’t part of your life.
And she had to keep remembering that.
He hadn’t been there for her when she’d had Syman. Neither had he been there when she’d scrimped and saved, worked odd jobs while attending medical school. That had been all her. She didn’t need him. She was better off without him.
Syman was better off without him.
Are you sure?
“We’re making our final descent into Huban. Please buckle up. It’s a bit windy and there has been some damage to the airstrip from the cyclone so it might be a rough landing,” the pilot said over the speaker.
“Here we go,” Teresa said, setting down her book and buckling up her seatbelt.
Jeena nodded and pulled her seatbelt tighter. She kept her eyes focused on Kalyana as it got closer and closer. She could see the damage.
Trees ripped from their roots, buildings along the coast destroyed, but there on the main terminal still flew the blue, green and gold flag of Kalyana. Untouched and fluttering in the strong winds in a clear blue sky. A sight she’d thought she’d never see again.
It helped tame the erratic beat of her heart.
She was home.
* * *
Maazin waited on the edge of the tarmac in a van to help transport medical supplies to the makeshift hospital that he and Farhan had set up between Huban and the southeast district, which had been the hardest hit when Cyclone Blandine had ripped through Kalyana.
Kavan, the bodyguard who also acted as chauffer-pilot, had seemed keen to accompany Maazin, but he’d eventually agreed it was best he stay with Farhan, Maazin’s older brother, Sara, and her grandfather, Mr. Raj. Ever since the cyclone had hit, Farhan had been jumpy, fussing and fuming over his new bride.
Not that Maazin could blame him.
If he had someone he loved...
Maybe if he still had the one woman he’d once loved he would’ve felt the same way that Farhan did, but he didn’t have anyone.
He didn’t deserve anyone. Not even the arranged marriage his father had set up three years ago. Not that he’d really cared for Lady Meleena. It had just been expected and since Maazin had lost the only woman he’d loved when she’d left in the middle of the night, he had settled for the bride his father had chosen. Or eventually settled. After everything that had happened when Jeena had left, he’d spent some time doing what good he could.
He’d served in the Royal Guard and earned his doctorate as a surgeon in the guard. It gave his life meaning, after all his past actions had caused so much pain. His service was the least he could do.
Which was why he’d agreed to marry Meleena. His father had guilted him into it and he had been tired of the nagging to find a wife. He’d had no interest in Meleena, so had had very little to do with her.
Of course, Meleena hadn’t liked it too much when he’d devoted his life to healing others, to serving his country, and had ignored her. She’d left him, but no one knew about that yet and that’s the way his father wanted it. There were diplomatic policies and contracts at play and his father wanted to wait until it could be properly addressed after Kalyana recovered from the devastation of Blandine.