Reclaiming the Prince's Heart

by Rebecca Winters

  “A surprise.”

  “Can I see it now?”

  She carried it over and placed it on the end of the bed to open.

  “A laptop?”

  Her eyes brightened. “It’s your laptop with all the mining information on it.” She pulled it out and set it on his lap. “I’ll plug it in.” She walked around the bed to find a wall outlet.

  Rini’s heart pounded. Maybe looking through it would trigger something in his memory. Excited, he turned it on, but there was a prompt to supply the password. He had no idea and his excitement turned to more frustration.

  “I’ll type it in.” As Luna leaned over, a strand of her metallic-blond hair grazed his cheek and he breathed in her fragrance. The delicious smell of strawberries distracted him.

  Only then did he notice the icons that had popped up on the screen.

  Luna stepped away. “Click anywhere you want, and you’ll see photos, maps, charts, everything you want to know about the King Midas Mine. It’s your baby,” she added with a wink he found intriguing.

  He got started, but after ten minutes of going through material he didn’t recognize, he closed the lid.

  She got the message. “You’re tired. Tomorrow you can go through more of it.” After unplugging it, she put the laptop back in the suitcase and moved it over against the wall.

  Just then one of the female staff came in to take his vital signs and give him more pills to fight the infection.

  “Where are you going?” Rini called to Luna after the nurse left.

  “I’m staying right here until you fall asleep.” She walked toward him and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

  And then what? “I don’t want you to leave.”

  “I wouldn’t think of it. I’ll be sleeping on the couch in the other room of the suite.”

  He looked around, realizing this hospital room didn’t resemble the one at the hospital in Slovenia. Rini hadn’t thought about it until this minute. “This is a suite?”

  “Yes, with everything you could want, including the best doctors in the world.”

  Rini rubbed his chest absently. “Why am I being treated like royalty?”

  “Because...you’re the Crown Prince of San Vitano. When your grandfather passes away, you’ll be King of your beautiful country.”

  His eyes closed tightly in reaction. “He’s the King? You’re not teasing me, are you?” She’d overloaded him, but Dr. Romano told her to be natural with him.

  She got up from the chair. “While you let that sink in, I’ll bring you our family album of photos that will prove your heritage beyond doubt.”

  In a minute she put a large, heavy album in his hands. He looked at her before opening to the first page that showed the royal family in full dress from years earlier. Rini recognized his grandparents but no other members of the family. Slowly, he leafed through each page, bringing the photos up-to-date.

  Luna pointed out the picture of Vincenzo to him. It meant nothing.

  Rini studied him for a moment, then kept turning the pages. He stopped when he came to the wedding pictures of him and his dazzling bride, Luna. He felt a quickening of his pulse. Rini might not remember her, but his attraction to her was growing stronger by the minute. In the picture she wore a tiara.

  He looked up and stared at her. “This means you have to be Princess Baldasseri.”

  Luna nodded. “I’m a commoner, married to the prince of my dreams.”

  A grimace marred his features. “I don’t recall anything about my life or yours.” This time he shut the cover of the album with more force than he’d done the laptop. How in the name of heaven couldn’t he remember her?

  “You have to give it time, Rini.” On that note she took it from him and put it back in the suitcase. “I’ll take your toiletries to the bathroom so you can brush your teeth and get ready for bed.” She disappeared. When she returned, she said, “There’s a hospital gown in there for you, too. You must be exhausted.”

  “On the contrary, I’m wide-awake,” he claimed. “I’m afraid you’re the one who should be in bed after this long day. Ask the staff to bring in a cot. The other room is too far away. I want you to sleep by me in case I wake up in the night and need to talk.”

  He not only needed her near him, he wanted her near him, too. In truth, he found that he desired her. It came as a shock to him.

  “Just push the button on the bed, Rini. Someone will come.”

  Within a minute one of the male staff entered the room. Luna smiled at him. “Could a cot be brought in for me?”

  “Of course. I’ll see to it housekeeping brings one immediately.”

  “Thank you.”

  Rini waited until they were alone. “I’ll be right back, Luna.” He got out of bed to head for the bathroom. Inside he discovered the things she’d brought. He opened the new toothbrush and got busy, then took off his robe and slipped on the hospital gown. When Rini did emerge, he knew he looked a far cry from the prince of her dreams.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  AFTER HOUSEKEEPING ARRIVED and turned down the main lights, Luna went in the other room to change into a pair of pale blue running pants and top. When she was ready, she walked back in his room and climbed under the covers of the cot set up next to Rini’s bed.

  To think that after ten days of grieving for her beloved, he was alive, and they were together under miraculous circumstances. She said a prayer of gratitude and vowed never to let him out of her sight again. It thrilled her that he wanted her to sleep near him. If he only knew how much she adored him, how much she’d missed their lovemaking.

  When she’d finished her prayers, she turned on her side to face him and realized he’d already gotten into his bed and was looking down at her.

  “I see tears,” he murmured. “Am I so hideous?”

  “Oh, Rini—” she cried out in pain, wiping them with the back of her hand. “These are tears of thanksgiving that you didn’t die! I’m still trying to absorb the horrendous experience you’ve endured while we all th-thought—”

  “I was dead?” he broke in. “To be honest, I prayed for oblivion every time I woke up to another day of endless hell, not knowing who I was or where I came from.”

  She rose up on one elbow. “But you know now, and I’m here to help you for as long as it takes.”

  His black brows furrowed. “I might never get my memory back,” he said in a gravelly tone of voice. “Considering that we’re married, have you thought of what that means?”

  It was all she’d been thinking about. The possibility that he might never remember anything made her too ill to think about right now. “I’d rather we took this one step at a time. Yesterday morning I woke up to face another day without you. Before the morning was out, I’d flown to Rezana to find out any information I could. Then I found out you were alive!”

  “Drugged was more like it,” he muttered with irony.

  Shades of the old Rini made her smile. “Yet, after you woke up in the hospital, I discovered you could understand and speak Romansh when you hadn’t understood any other language.

  “Can you have any idea how I felt? I didn’t know you could only speak Romansh. My love for you came pouring out, and suddenly you opened your eyes because you understood me. I thought I’d die for joy!”

  He moved closer to the edge of his bed. “When I heard your voice say, ‘I love you,’ I thought an angel was speaking to me. In all that horrific time, those were the only words that I understood. It wouldn’t be possible for you to understand how I felt. In that moment there was a connection between us. I didn’t remember you, but you became my lodestone to cling to. It was an answer to my anguish I never thought I’d receive.”

  “From your wife, no less,” she quipped. “If two miracles can happen in one day, who knows how many more are in store? What I want to know is why the other hospital didn’
t send any of your things with you?”

  “Things?” He sounded incredulous.

  “Your clothes and wallet. Your boots. Where are your watch and wedding ring?”

  He actually let out a dry laugh, the first she’d heard come out of him. “You’d have to have been there to understand.”

  She sat straight up. “Tell me. I want to know everything.”

  “First things first.” His gaze wandered over her. “What are you wearing?”

  “Oh—my running pants and top.”

  “Have you always worn them to bed?”

  Heat swamped her cheeks. “No. But I brought these because we’re around other people.”

  “What do you normally wear to bed?”

  Honesty was vital between them. “A nightgown, but it never lasts long.”

  He thought about it. “What do I usually wear?”

  “Nothing once your robe comes off.”

  A frown marred his handsome features. “How come I didn’t get you pregnant?”

  “Oh, Rini.” She laughed. “We talked about having a family right away and decided not to use protection. I couldn’t wait to have babies with you.”

  Rini rubbed the side of his smoothly shaven jaw. “Were you worried about it when conception didn’t happen?”

  It did happen, but this was one piece of information her husband wasn’t ready for yet. They needed to get closer to each other before she told him he was going to be a father.

  “Six months is such a short time to be married, don’t you think?”

  “You’re right. Was I upset about it?”

  “No, but we both hoped I’d get pregnant soon.”

  He rose up and dangled his powerful legs over the side of the bed. “We didn’t sleep together before our wedding?”

  She smiled. “We only dated six weeks before marrying. You told me you wanted me to be your wife before you made love to me. We were both in a hurry. Your grandparents were shocked that you proposed to me so fast. They’d hoped you would marry a certain princess from Rome.”

  “So it would have been an arranged marriage?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did I know her well?”

  “You avoided the subject of marriage as much as possible.”

  “So what are you saying about us?”

  She flashed him a smile. “The moment we met we knew we were in love. That was it, and you broke off with her. You told me you were never in love with her and I believed you. Otherwise, how could we explain what happened to us?”

  He eyed her for a quiet moment. “Were my grandparents upset?”

  “If they were, they hid it well and allowed you to marry me, a woman of the people. That’s something no other royal has ever done in your bloodline. From what I understood, you often defied convention, but you are your own person and your grandparents’ favorite.”

  At this point he got off the bed and started pacing, then stopped. “What happened to my parents?”

  “They died in a boating accident in a ferocious storm four years ago on Lake Diamanti on the outskirts of Asteria. I’m so sorry and wished I could have met them.”

  He moved closer to her. “What about your parents?”

  “They died when I was two in a plane accident, so I don’t remember them. I was raised by my grandparents. My grandfather managed a bank. They died separately of pneumonia. I ended up getting my degree in business administration from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. I worked later, but didn’t find satisfaction, so I applied for jobs elsewhere, even outside the country.

  “Being bilingual in Italian as well as Romansh, I was able to interview at the Baldasseri Gold Mining Corporation here in San Vitano. Fabio Machetto, the office manager, offered me a position. I liked the staff and atmosphere and felt I could be happy there.

  “Two weeks later you came into the office. I fell so hard for you it was embarrassing.”

  His hands went to his hips. “Apparently, that worked both ways.”

  “Yes, thank heaven! My grandparents would have loved you. As for the rest, you and I started to speak Romansh and you took me to lunch. From that time on we were inseparable.”

  “What about other boyfriends?” he rapped out, as if he couldn’t take in the information fast enough.

  “I dated some, but meeting you altered my universe. Now, enough about me. I’ve answered your questions and want you to tell me why you were sent in the helicopter without your belongings.”

  She heard a sharp intake of breath before Rini got back into his bed, stretching out before turning to her. “As I told Doctor Romano, I tripped and fell on the side of the highway. A kind man drove me to the hospital, but I don’t remember what happened. Maybe someone came by before he did and stripped me of everything. When I was dressed in hospital scrubs, they probably threw my clothes away. I don’t know. No one in there spoke my language, or I theirs.”

  Luna groaned. “But the contents of your wallet would have told someone everything.”

  “Maybe I lost it in the cave-in. Once in that hospital, I figured that one day I wouldn’t wake up. I prayed for that eventuality.”

  “Instead, the policeman, Zigo, helped me find you,” she blurted. “If it hadn’t been for him, I would never have found you. I plan to do something wonderful for him.”

  “We’ll find a way to do it, Luna. I’ll want to reward the doctor, too.”

  “Of course, we will. Carlo Bruni, the man who came with me, is your grandfather’s foreign emissary. He was responsible for arranging everything. Carlo is one of our favorite people.”

  For a minute quiet reigned. Luna lay back on the cot, wishing they shared a bed. She ached to hold him in her arms and love them both into oblivion.

  “Are you going to sleep on me?” The deep voice she loved sounded close to accusatory.

  “No.” She smiled. “I thought you had nodded off.”

  “Anything but. Tell me where we live.”

  Luna turned to him in the semidarkness. “Our home is a lovely, spacious palazzo not far from the royal palace. You were born and raised there. It has fruit trees in the back. When they blossom, it looks like fairyland. We have a housekeeper, Viola, who’s also the cook. She’s married to the caretaker, Mateo. Both have been with you for close to fifteen years now.”

  “Do I have friends?”

  “You and your second cousin, Vincenzo, are good friends, but with him running the timber business in Scuol, neither of you see each other as often as you’d like.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Since you and I met, I’m afraid we haven’t socialized that much with other people. I only met him at our wedding. As it is, you have to squeeze in your royal duties with your mining concerns.

  “Since the quake, Vincenzo has taken over some of your royal duties. He’s your grandfather’s grandnephew. He’s always had a great relationship with him. Your whole family is very close. Needless to say, you and Vincenzo have been like brothers.”

  She heard the rustling of his sheets. “Speaking of brothers, if mine hadn’t died, he’d be the Crown Prince.”

  “That’s true.”

  Rini let out a frustrated sigh. “How soon can I get out of here?”

  He’d grown restless. This was obviously too much information for one day.

  “After your tests tomorrow, you’ll have your first session with Doctor Tullia. Then the barber will come, and Doctor Romano will make his rounds. You can negotiate with him.”

  “Am I that impossible?” he asked in a dry tone.

  “The hospital record in Rezana indicated you’re a tour de force.”

  “In other words, I’m out of control.”

  “Not at all. Let’s just say you have a convincing way about you.”

  “That’s the definition of a tyrant.”

 
“Hardly, Rini. You’re a man who knows what he wants and goes after it.”

  “Come hell or high water?”

  “I’ll let you decide. According to Doctor Miakar, you’re manageable if you’re given time to think about it. I’d say that sums you up very nicely. Now, you need to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow after your first session with Doctor Tullia. Buna notg, Rini.”

  * * *

  Rini wasn’t ready to call it a night, but his wife had other ideas and turned on her side away from him. The clock on the wall said 1:40 a.m. After the day Luna had lived through in order to find him, it shouldn’t have surprised him she’d just passed out on him.

  Without her, he knew he would have eventually died in Rezana.

  To realize that she’d followed her gut instinct to discover if he was still alive had humbled him so deeply, his body shook with sobs. He buried his face in the pillow, needing no convincing that he was married to the most exceptional, courageous wife he could imagine. And exceptionally desirable.

  He went over the things she’d told him about their marriage. They’d taken vows within six weeks? Incredible. He’d married a beauty, but it came from her soul, too. Obviously, they’d been so close, they hadn’t wanted or needed other people.

  But before falling asleep, something had started to disturb him. He planned to bring it up with the therapist Dr. Romano had told him about.

  The next day when he was brought back to his room following his tests and had gotten into bed, to his surprise a younger man entered the room with Dr. Tullia. He introduced himself as Chispar, bilingual in Italian and Romansh. “I teach at the college here and have been sent by the head to offer temporary assistance to Doctor Tullia.”

  Rini didn’t like it that Luna hadn’t come to this session. For that matter, she’d already left the hospital when he’d awakened. He’d felt abandoned. “Where’s my wife?”

  Chispar explained there would be other times when the doctor wanted her there, but not for this first session. All Rini could do was accept the situation and they got started.

  It was a strange experience because he’d thought Dr. Tullia would ask him a lot of questions. Instead, he said, “Rini? Doctor Romano tells me you’ve been told you have amnesia and understand the meaning of the word. Do you feel well enough to talk?”