left her bed and flown out that same night.
He had spent the last few months recovering from his own accident—months of rehabilitation after he’d almost lost his leg. He’d barely been able to look at himself in the mirror, let alone consider showing himself to a woman.
But that excuse had gone now and his treatment of Kiki Fender had recently made him feel ashamed. It was another burden of guilt he found he could not move on from, because it had taken him almost five months before he was able to rule his own life again. A loss of control he never wanted to experience again.
By the time he had begun to search for her, at least to attempt an explanation, she’d been untraceable.
At first he had tried the hospital in Sydney, then her home phone, mail to her old lodgings. He did not know her friends or family. She had disappeared without a trace. Ironically to this very ship.
Tomorrow he would finish this and then fulfil his destiny for his country. Seek her forgiveness, allow himself to let go, and move on to secure the succession.
But for the moment his man-boy brother needed reassurance. Theros was playing with the legs of the latex suit he’d found under the chair and Stefano reached out and took them from him gently. ‘Manos will drive you to Vesuvius.’
‘Oh, good. And Marla will come.’
Theros looked childishly happy and Stefano supposed it was good that someone was pleased.
Later that afternoon, in the ship’s medical centre ten floors below the royal suite, Dr Hobson was ready to discharge Marla.
‘You can go back to your suite.’ Kiki helped her sit up. ‘Your observations are fine, and will stay that way if you stay away from latex.’
Poor Marla blushed again. ‘No more birthday gifts that almost end it all!’
‘It was just bad luck.’ There was a lot of that around at the moment. Kiki grimaced with her. ‘Allergies can be to anything. It could have been peanuts.’
Marla smiled. ‘I’m supposed to be the sensible one. But thanks for that.’
‘Hey, it was your birthday.’ Kiki grinned back. ‘At least now you know latex sets up a reaction in your body and you can make sure that if you ever go into hospital the staff keep you latex-free.’
The young woman nodded and stared down at the little Epi-pen in her hand.
‘And be careful with that.’ Kiki smiled. ‘You can get into trouble if you inject it in the wrong place.’
Maria nodded.
‘True,’ Will said helpfully. ‘I saw a man once who injected it into his thumb trying to work the plunger. It’s a powerful drug and it shuts down the peripheral blood flow. His thumb fell off with gangrene.’
Kiki’s eyes widened as she helped Marla up. ‘Imagine what a disgruntled wife could do?’
The senior medic held out his hands in horror. ‘That’s true. Don’t go there.’
Kiki shook her head in amusement, because Wilhelm’s seriousness always cracked her up. ‘Is he scaring you, Marla?’
‘Only because of my husband.’ The girl laughed and shook her head. ‘I will not let Theros near it. I truly can be sensible.’
‘Not too sensible.’ Kiki smiled. ‘Still have a great birthday. It’s such a shame this has marred your holiday.’
Kiki couldn’t help but think that Marla wasn’t the only one whose voyage had been affected. And this week of all weeks, when her emotions were already on a rollercoaster. Bummer. Bummer. Bummer.
Usually fair-minded, Kiki guessed she owed Stefano an apology—but it wasn’t going to happen. She still didn’t get why he was on his brother’s holiday as his minder—on her ship—and was finding it hard to forget that somewhere above her head was the man she’d accepted she’d never see again.
She glanced at the ceiling above her head. Up there, larger than life and twice as disconcerting—because she might not have agreed to dress in latex for him, like Marla had for Theros, but she’d been just as weak, losing her common sense in the sensual haze they’d created together.
And as for her less than flattering thoughts of him earlier—well, he could jump off the owner’s suite balcony before she’d apologise.
Ginger’s offer to escort Marla to the suite was jumped on with enthusiasm. No way was Kiki going back up there. Because during the long weeks while she’d waited for his promised return, during the phone calls when she’d tried to contact him after she’d discovered she was pregnant, it had been too shameful.
There had been an unexpected lowness of her spirits when he hadn’t called, and she’d been so sick and weak, barely able to function in early pregnancy, that she hadn’t been able to motivate herself to do anything more about it.
By the time the first trimester had been over and she’d begun to feel more like herself again Kiki had accepted that Stefano wasn’t coming back. He had clearly decided his royal status meant she wasn’t good enough for him to follow up. Well, she and her baby didn’t need him. All her life she’d been independent—the youngest sister to three brilliant sisters who didn’t need her, with her doctor parents who were busy. The only person she’d felt connected to had been her big brother Nick. And briefly Stefano. But soon she’d have her baby and they would be a team. She couldn’t wait.
But at eighteen weeks, when she’d already begun to create a nursery of tiny clothes and softest wraps, the pains had come and suddenly her baby was gone. Soon her baby’s due date would pass and she would finally be able to move on. She’d promised herself.
The best thing she’d done was to come here to heal and move on to a new life.
Wilhelm wandered back into the main office. ‘Marla seems very sweet.’
‘She does.’ Kiki blinked and came back to the present.
‘Embarrassing for our royal guests, though.’
‘Mortifying.’ Kiki raised a smile. ‘I bet her brother-in-law hated that!’
Even in the brief time they’d been together Stefano’s avoidance of the whole topic of his royalty and his absolute hatred of the press had been obvious. At the time it had seemed sensible—she knew little of the life of a minor royal, which was the impression of himself he’d left her with. Not that she’d even thought about it much when they were together. As a man he’d been able to help her forget the world.
She dragged her mind back to Marla and Theros. ‘It’s Marla’s birthday. They’ve been married less than a year. And Theros wanted to holiday on a cruise ship instead of their island like most of the family do.’
Will shrugged. ‘So why is his brother here? Heir to the throne and all that. A bit high-powered for a minder, don’t you think.’
Kiki tried for a careless shrug. ‘Family name is very important to everyone, so I imagine in a royal family it would be more so.’ She wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince—Will or herself. ‘Apparently Marla’s husband
