LITMIR.BIZ

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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 has bad luck with the press.’

      ‘Bad luck, eh?’ Will raised his brows as he waved Ginger off duty on her return and shut the clinic door.

      Kiki picked up her bag, but he put his hand up to stop her.

      ‘One sec.’

      She paused, looked back, and her stomach sank. She’d been afraid of this.

      Will scratched his head. ‘So what’s going on between you two?’

      ‘Which two?’ She’d hoped nothing had been noticed. Nothing had been said. She hadn’t even looked at Stefano as they’d wheeled Marla out.

      Will waited patiently and Kiki felt the blush heat her cheeks. The silence stretched and she didn’t like silence. That was her only excuse for being unable to extricate herself. ‘You mean me and Theros’s brother? Nothing.’ How the heck had Wilhelm sensed that? ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

      She switched off a computer she’d thankfully missed at shut-down. An excuse to turn away.

      But the flood of memories she’d been holding back all day rose like a wave in her throat. Such rotten timing. She concentrated on her feet, firmly planted on the deck. She was not going under. Control re-established, she turned back to Will, who tilted his head and went on.

      ‘Come on. I may be a bit oblivious sometimes, but the air was thick between you two and the guy was watching your neck like Dracula on a diet. Nick didn’t mention you knew any royalty?’

      Because she’d told no one about her stupidity—not even her closest sibling, and definitely not any of her sisters. ‘Nick has nothing to do with this.’ Because her brother Nick would be out for Stefano’s blood if he knew what the Prince had done to his little sister. ‘Stefano is a surgical consultant I worked with him briefly in Sydney during my last rotation.’

      ‘You worked with a prince?’

      Will looked even more interested, not less, and Kiki could feel the walls of the little clinic begin to close in on her. She didn’t want to think about that time with Stefano, let alone talk about it, but her South African colleague could miss the obvious sometimes.

      He proved it. ‘So what

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