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.”