There wasn’t one person around this bed who didn’t care.
‘Wake up, Lily,’ the surgeon said again, pressing his patient’s hand. ‘The operation’s over. It was a huge success. You’re going to be okay.’
And finally Lily’s eyelids fluttered open.
She had dark eyes. Brown. Too big for her face.
Confused.
‘Hey,’ the surgeon said and smiled. ‘Hello, Lily.’
‘H… Hello.’ It was a faint whisper, as if she’d forgotten how to speak.
‘How many fingers am I holding up?’
‘Three,’ she said, not interested.
‘That’s great,’ the surgeon said, jubilant. ‘You’ve been ill—really ill—but we’ve operated and the tumour’s been completely removed. You’re going to live.’
Lily’s gaze was moving around the room, taking in each person. The medical uniforms. The eager, interested faces.
And then, as if she’d remembered something really important, her eyes widened. Fearful.
‘Are you in pain?’ the surgeon asked. ‘What hurts, Lily?’
‘Nothing hurts. But… ’ Her hand shifted, slow from disuse, and her fingers spread over her abdomen.
‘Where’s my baby?’
‘I, ALEXANDROS KOSTANTINOS MYKONIS, do swear to govern the peoples of the United Isles of Diamas—the Diamond Isles—on behalf of my infant cousin Michales, until such time as he reaches twenty-five years of age.’
Alex’s black uniform was slashed with inserts of crimson and richly adorned with braid, tassels and medals. A lethal-looking sword hung by his side, its golden grip emblazoned with the royal coat of arms. His snug black-as-night trousers looked sexy-as-hell, and his leather boots were so shiny a girl could see her face in them.
If she got close enough. As once she’d been close.
Lily could barely see Alex’s face from where she watched in the further-most corner of the cathedral, but she knew every inch of his hawk-like features. His brown-black eyes were sometimes creased with laughter, yet sometimes seemed so severe she’d think he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
It had been wonderful to make him smile. He’d made her smile, too.
He’d melted her heart—or she thought he had. Love was all about trust, and trust was stupid. She’d learned that now, but what a way to learn.
She watched on, numbed by the day’s events. Shocked. Bewildered. Trying desperately to focus on what was happening.
The ring, the glove, the royal stole, the rod with the dove, were bestowed on Alex with gravity, and with gravity he accepted them. This coronation ceremony was as it had been for generations. Alex looked calm, assured and regal.
The last time she’d seen him he’d been in her bed, leaning over her in the aftermath of loving. His eyes had been wicked with laughter. His jeans and shirt had been crumpled on the floor.
Alexandros Mykonis. Successful landscape architect, internationally acclaimed. Her one-time lover.
The new Prince Regent of the Diamond Isles.
The father of her baby.
‘Doesn’t he look fabulous?’ The woman sitting next to her—a reporter, according to the press pass round her neck—was sighing mistily as Alex knelt to receive the blessing.
‘He does,’ Lily whispered back.
They watched on. He was well worth watching.
The blessing over, Alex rose and proceeded to sign the royal deeds of office. Trumpeters, organist and choir filled the church with triumphant chorus, but there was room within the music’s shadow for talk.
‘There’s not a single woman here who doesn’t think he’s hot,’ the reporter whispered.
Lily hesitated. She should keep quiet, but she was here with a purpose. If she were to get her baby back she needed all the information she could gather. ‘It’s a wonder he’s not married,’ she ventured.
‘He’s not the marrying kind,’ the reporter told her, sighing again with the waste of it. ‘Though not for want of interest. There’s always been some woman or other. My guess is he’s disillusioned. His father, King Giorgos’s brother, disobeyed royal orders and married for love, but the marriage caused nothing but grief.’
‘Why?’ she asked, but before the reporter could answer they were distracted.
The Archbishop, magnificent in his gold and white ecclesiastical gowns, had handed newly signed documents to an elderly priest.
The priest, a bit doddery and clearly nervous, took the documents with fumbling fingers—and dropped them.
‘That’s Father Antonio,’ the reporter whispered as the old priest stared down at the scattered papers in dismay. ‘He’s been the island’s priest for as long as I can remember. The Archbishop didn’t want him to be part of this ceremony, but Prince Alexandros insisted.’
The old priest was on his knees, trying to gather the scattered documents, clearly distressed. Instead of helping, the Archbishop looked on with distaste. Following his lead, the other officials did nothing.
It was Alex who came to his rescue. As if this pomp and ceremony was an everyday occurrence, he stooped to help gather the papers, then helped the old man to his feet.
Then, as the old priest’s face worked, trying desperately to contain his distress at his clumsiness, Alex set his hands on his shoulders and he kissed him. Once on each cheek, in the age-old way of the men of this island.
It was a gesture of affection and of respect.
It was a gesture to restore dignity.
‘Thank you, Father,’ Alex said simply, his deep voice resonating throughout the church. ‘You’ve looked after the islanders well during my whole life. You baptised me, you buried my parents, and now you do me honour by being here. You have my gratitude.’
He smiled, and almost every woman in the cathedral sighed and smiled in unison.
‘See, that’s why the islanders love him,’ the reporter whispered, smiling mistily herself. ‘That’s why the islanders would have loved him to take the throne himself. If only this baby hadn’t been born. Who’d have expected the old King to get himself a son at his age? He only did it to block Alex from the succession. His marriage to Mia was a farce.’
But Lily was no longer listening. That smile… that gentleness…
She’d
