Secret Heirs: Royal Appointment. Carol Marinelli

atmosphere lightened a little, and Callie didn’t resist when Luca put his arm around her and drew her close.

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      LUCA WAS BACK. Callie’s mind was in turmoil, and as for her heart... What a time for him to choose to come back! The best time, she conceded gratefully as the ambulance raced towards the hospital. She knew shock was playing a part in her mixed-up feelings, but on top of the accident and Luca returning to find her, and above all the fear that her recent fall had harmed the baby, her thoughts were spinning around and around.

      ‘Okay?’

      Had she really believed that putting distance between them would lessen her feelings for him? This wasn’t the Amalfi coast where she could make the excuse of her senses being heightened by sunlight and laughter, but a grey northern coastal town in winter, and yet Luca was as compelling as ever.

      ‘Hey,’ he whispered. ‘You’re safe now.’

      His arms seemed designed to protect. They had certainly protected Callie when she’d needed him. And now Luca’s embrace was sending a very different kind of shiver spinning down her spine.

      ‘Look at me,’ he whispered. ‘I said, you’re safe.’

      Even with his hair tousled and grazes down one side of his face, Luca looked what he was: a hero, her hero. When they’d first met it had been lust at first sight for Callie, but now it was something much more.

      ‘Callie?’

      Instinctively nursing her still-flat stomach, as if to protect the child inside, she stared into Luca’s eyes.

      ‘We’re here,’ he explained gently. ‘We’ve arrived at the hospital.’

      ‘Oh...’

      The paramedic stood aside as Luca helped her down from the ambulance. She clutched the foil blanket tighter as the wind whipped around her shoulders. The only part of her that felt warm was her hand in Luca’s. His grip was warm and strong, and it was with reluctance that she broke free from him in the screened-off cubicle when a doctor came to check her over.

      ‘I want an exhaustive examination. Whatever it costs,’ Luca emphasised.

      ‘She’ll have the best of care,’ the doctor assured him. ‘We’ll be careful that nothing escapes our notice.’

      ‘She’s pregnant.’

      Luca knew everything. He probably had a drone positioned over the house. But when he thanked the doctor and turned around, she could only feel warm and thankful that he was back.

      * * *

      He was unharmed and impatient to leave, but first he had to make absolutely sure that Callie was okay. He’d wait as long as it took. Mud spattered his clothes. His jeans were ripped. Every bit of exposed skin had taken a battering. The nurses wanted to treat his wounds, but all he cared about was Callie. He sat outside the exam room while she was put through various tests. They were both ecstatic at the outcome. Babies in the womb were surprisingly well protected against trauma, the doctor told them both, and Callie had got off lightly with a sprained ankle and a colourful selection of scrapes and bruises. Apart from the shock, she was fine and could go home. The medical staff had been superb at every stage. He showed his gratitude with a generous donation, which was very well received.

      ‘And now for your bath,’ he told Callie as he escorted her off the hospital premises.

      ‘My bath?’ she queried, looking at him in bemusement.

      ‘Yes.’ They’d cleaned up her minor injuries in the emergency room, but like him she was still covered in dirt from the road, and he had plans. A short drive to the airport would be followed by a flight to his superyacht where Callie could enjoy a rest at sea. Heading south to the sun would be the perfect remedy, allowing her to chill out in privacy while they discussed the future.

      ‘I can have a bath at home,’ she said. ‘Leave me here. I’ll take a cab. Thanks for all you’ve done—’

      ‘You will not take a cab,’ he assured her. ‘You can play tough all you like, Callie Smith, but the rules changed when you got pregnant.’

      ‘It took two for me to get pregnant,’ she reminded him.

      ‘Which is why I’m prescribing rest for you.’

      She gave him a look and then pulled out her phone.

      ‘What are you doing?’

      ‘Calling my landlady to check she’s okay, and calling a cab. And guess what,’ she added after a few moments of conversation with someone on the other end of the line. ‘Turns out an unknown fairy godmother has waved a magic wand, so builders and window fitters are already on site at my landlady’s shop, securing the building. I don’t suppose you’d know anything about that?’

      ‘Fairy godfather, please.’

      She hummed and gave him a look.

      ‘About that cab,’ he said.

      ‘Please respect my independence, Luca.’

      ‘I do,’ he assured her.

      ‘Anywhere I want to go could easily turn into wherever you plan for me to go, and I need to get used to you being back first.’

      He had no answer for that. She was right.

      ‘Are you going to log my every move?’ she asked with a welcome return of her customary good humour.

      ‘Only some of them,’ he said straight-faced.

      ‘My lift is on its way,’ she said. ‘Give me a chance to think things through. It’s all been such a shock. And I don’t just mean the accident. Finding out your true identity, and then the months we’ve spent apart. The gifts you sent. The notes you wrote.’

      ‘Would it have been easier if I hadn’t contacted you?’

      A brief flash of pain in her eyes said it would have been hell. The same went for him.

      ‘I knew we had to talk when I discovered I was having your baby. I would never leave you in the dark. I just need time to process everything that’s happened today. Just the fact that your security team has been watching me is unnerving. I realise you’re a prince and I’m having your child, but that doesn’t give you the right to put me under surveillance.’

      ‘Your safety will always be my concern.’

      ‘Just don’t let it become your obsession.’

      ‘My security team check out anyone I’m seen with. They report to me, and I can hardly avoid reading what they put in their reports.’

      ‘I accept that,’ she said, ‘and I thank you for being so honest with me. And most especially for saving my life,’ she added in a softer tone.

      ‘I don’t want your thanks. I want your time.’ He was impatient for a very good reason. The royal council was pressing him to find a bride. The country was waiting. He needed an heir, and Callie’s pregnancy had set a clock ticking. He needed things settled between them before the ticking stopped.

      ‘You left me without an explanation, Luca, and now you’re back I’m supposed to snap to attention?’

      ‘I never misled you.’

      ‘You never told me you were a prince, either,’ Callie pointed out. ‘You allowed me to believe that you and I were on the same level.’

      ‘As we are,’ he insisted.

      She laughed and shook her head. ‘That’s a fantasy. You’re a prince and a billionaire, and who am I?’

      ‘The most determined woman I’ve ever met.’

      ‘Flattery