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‘That’s none of my business,’ Lizzie pointed out. ‘I’m here to run the clinic, not manage his sex life.’
‘I’m just letting you know. Leo is what he is …’ How did you describe a sun that burnt? ‘He’s an amazing surgeon, not that he uses it much …’
‘He explained all that.’
‘Leo likes the fast lane, there’s nothing more to him than that.’
Lizzie wasn’t so sure. Brilliant surgeon or not, you didn’t get to be where Leo was by chance and she was quite sure there was far more to Leo behind that very smooth exterior.
‘Lizzie …’ Ethan liked Lizzie and decided to get straight to the point. ‘He’s a bastard. Leo—’
‘Ethan,’ Lizzie broke in, ‘I don’t need a big brother looking out for me.’
‘Neither do I,’ Ethan said, and gave a wry smile. ‘I’ve told him the same thing many times.’ Yet she was right. He thought of Lizzie more like a brother would and he didn’t want her to get hurt. Ethan knew the damage Leo so easily wreaked and he could not stand that for Lizzie so he pressed on when, with anyone else, he wouldn’t have. ‘I’ve never known Leo serious about anyone …’ Ethan hesitated and then corrected his lie by omission. ‘Actually, there was one …’ Lizzie glanced up at the tentative note to his voice ‘… but they were never serious.’ God, Ethan hated talking about personal things and he certainly wasn’t going to tell Lizzie about Olivia. ‘All you need to know is that Leo—’
‘I get the message.’
‘Good,’ Ethan said. ‘So long as you do.’
They both fell silent as they heard a car pull up and a few moments later Leo stepped in.
His hair was damp and he smelt as fresh as if he’d just that second stepped from the shower and sprayed cologne on himself.
‘Bitching about me?’ he said, for his entrance.
‘It’s so very easy to do,’ Ethan responded.
‘Don’t believe a word,’ Leo quipped to Lizzie, but he was unusually rattled, a smidge jealous at the sight of Ethan and Lizzie gossiping over coffee, and not for the first time he wondered about the nature of their relationship.
‘I’ll get you a coffee.’ Lizzie headed off and Leo took off his heavy coat and hung it up.
‘Here again?’ he said to Ethan.
‘I had a conference call,’ Ethan said. ‘So you’ve got Marianna coming in for major surgery this morning?’
‘I do.’ Leo refused to be drawn; he knew how little Ethan thought of his work and that his skills could be far better utilised. Leo certainly wasn’t about to justify himself, especially not at this hour!
‘Have a look at this,’ Leo said, as Lizzie returned with coffee. ‘Hot off the press.’
‘Oh, my goodness!’ Lizzie smiled. There was a picture of Marianna wearing her eye patch and a white arrow pointing to the streak of fluorescein running down her cheek. There was an extraordinarily long piece about corneal scratches and how she would have to keep her eye covered and wear dark glasses. The Sirmontane royal spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the reports that Marianna had been scratched by the puppy Prince Ferdinand had bought her.
‘There’s even a photo of her puppy!’
She couldn’t help but laugh but a less than impressed Ethan limped off. He could hear them laughing and chatting through the empty clinic, hear their easy conversation as Lizzie set up for the surgery, and he wondered if he’d been clear enough in his warning.
No, he wasn’t overreacting and it wasn’t far too soon, he’d seen the way Leo had first responded to her.
They’d known each other close to twenty-four hours now.
For Leo, that could be considered contained!
Gwen arrived early too and then, a short while later, Marianna arrived via the basement, with her security, and very soon the procedure would be under way.
Marianna really was delightful.
‘Well done!’ she said to Leo as he marked her eyes with his purple pen for the procedure. ‘I read the article on the way here.’
‘Good, isn’t it?’ Leo smiled. ‘By the time most people are waking up to read it, you’ll already be done. I’ll let you know how many journalists we have calling to make an appointment with the ophthalmologist.’
‘Do you have one here?’ Lizzie asked, and Leo nodded.
‘He comes in twice a week. It works out great for this type of thing. They’ll all be ringing to make appointments, just trying to catch us out. They won’t, though.’
Leo really did have everything worked out, Lizzie was fast realising.
He was very good with Marianna. She lay down and he chatted with her easily as he put in an IV. Incredibly stoic, she asked for only minimum sedation.
‘You’re sure?’ Leo checked. ‘You can sleep through it.’
‘I’d really rather not.’
‘That’s fine,’ Leo said. ‘I’ll give you lots of local and just enough sedation to make sure you’re relaxed. You can always change your mind.’
‘Thank you,’ Marianna said, but Lizzie guessed she wouldn’t be changing her mind. Marianna was a woman who clearly liked to be in control at all times.
Leo and Lizzie set up for the procedure, chatting to Marianna as they did so.
‘How are you enjoying your work?’ Marianna asked.
‘Very much,’ Lizzie said, keeping a careful eye on their patient as Leo administered the sedation.
‘How are you feeling?’ Leo checked.
‘Good.’
‘Okay. I’m just going to put in the local anaesthetic around your eyes.’
‘The things we have to go through …’ Marianna said, as Lizzie wiped a few tears away and they waited for the anaesthetic to take effect. ‘I am hoping once the wedding is over the press will get tired of me.’
Leo’s eyebrows rose above his mask and Marianna smiled. ‘Yes, I know they will go crazy again when we have children but, like you, I have my secret weapons.’
‘Do tell.’ Leo grinned.
‘Marco.’
Leo laughed and glanced over at Lizzie. ‘That’s Prince Ferdinand’s younger brother. He’s a bit of a wild card—I can see he could help take the spotlight off the two of you.’
‘Ferdinand is much quieter.’ Marianna yawned, the sedation making her feel a little drowsy. ‘Marco is the one who makes the headlines.’
‘I haven’t heard much about him lately,’ Leo mused, checking around Marianna’s eyes to be sure they were numb before starting. ‘What’s he up to these days?’
Marianna didn’t answer. Lizzie wondered if she’d dozed off but, no, she was still awake, telling Leo that she couldn’t feel anything as he dabbed at the area with a needle.
‘We’ll start then,’ Leo said. He had worked with celebrities and royalty long enough to know when a question was deliberately ignored—whatever Prince Marco was up to, Marianna did not want it discussed.
‘Okay, keep your eyes closed, Marianna, unless I tell you otherwise.’
Lizzie had never seen such steady hands as Leo’s. He was incredibly precise.
Leo too was enjoying working with Lizzie. The mood in the room was relaxed and he knew Marianna was being well taken care of as he focused on her eyes, removing the smallest sliver of her upper lids. Even as he tied off one long suture, Lizzie could see the difference.
‘Less is more,’ Leo explained to Lizzie as he worked. ‘In this case we’re not trying to change anything, just enhance.’
‘Will there be any more procedures?’ Lizzie asked now that Marianna was dozing quietly as Leo worked.
Leo shook his head. ‘I’ve already zapped a few capillaries and I’m sure Marianna won’t mind me telling you she had some work done with the most impressive ceramist. I might have to pay him a visit.’
Lizzie smiled behind her mask, Leo needed no work done on his teeth, which were white and very even, but not so falsely perfect that she really couldn’t be sure if he’d had work done.
‘Have you ever thought of having anything done, Lizzie?’ Marianna asked groggily.
‘I have.’ Lizzie refused to look at Leo.
‘Have you had anything done yourself?’
It was Lizzie who chose not to answer this time.
‘That’s what I’m trying to work out,’ Leo answered for her.
It was all good-natured teasing, just the sort of idle chatter that took place during a straightforward procedure, and in less than an hour Marianna was sitting up, a little woozy but looking into the mirror as Leo outlined what he had done.
‘You will get a little bruising and swelling but not too much, I think.’
‘Will I be able to cover it with make-up?’
‘No make-up yet,’ Leo warned. ‘It’s going to look worse before it looks better. We’ll keep you here for today …’ He wrote his operation notes and gave Lizzie his instructions. ‘Lots of iced eye masks and if Marianna can rest in a recliner, that would be great. I’d like her head up.’
‘Sure.’
Lizzie watched as he wrote on a small card. She assumed it was the instructions but he clipped it to the operation notes.
‘Okay, call someone to help you take Marianna to the recovery area.’
It was nothing like anywhere Lizzie had worked.
She didn’t even have to push the wheelchair.
Charlotte was waiting in the sumptuous recovery room, which was more like a day spa than anything Lizzie was used to. She welcomed Marianna and they helped her into a chair and checked her obs and then, as Marianna slept, Charlotte showed Lizzie a few things—such as letting the chef know that they had a patient back from Theatre after twilight sedation.
‘Iced water.’ Charlotte read Marianna’s choices to the chef and Lizzie hid her amazement—you even ordered water here! ‘Could you send some chamomile tea in half an hour and I’ll let you know when she’s ready for breakfast. Poached eggs and salmon and brown bread, no crusts, no butter.’
‘I want to get my eyes done just so I can lie in that chair and have poached eggs and salmon brought up to me.’ Lizzie smiled. ‘But I’ll have butter, please.’
‘You can,’ Charlotte answered. ‘Leo lets us have one procedure a year on the house … it doesn’t have to be you, you can use it for a family member.’
Lizzie wondered if she should get a T-shirt with ‘I LOVE MY JOB!’ printed on the front.
‘Usually a patient who has had a blepharoplasty would just stay till around lunchtime but Leo wants Marianna here all day and you’ll take her back to the hotel this evening.’
‘Okay.’
There was a knock at the door and Gwen came in, smiling. ‘Have you got something for me?’
‘I do.’
Charlotte removed the little card from the patient notes and handed it to Gwen, who headed off. ‘It’s just a note to attach to flowers,’ Charlotte explained. ‘Gwen will have them sent to the hotel.’
‘Do all patients come home to flowers and handwritten notes from the surgeon?’
‘Leo’s Ladies do,’ Charlotte said with a smile. ‘I’ll leave you, then.’
Lizzie was completely unused to doing nothing at work but, for this esteemed patient, the head nurse was with her at all times and Lizzie found herself checking cupboards for something to do.
‘You can sit and read,’ Leo said, when he came in later in the afternoon to check in on Marianna. ‘You don’t have to pretend to be busy. You may as well enjoy the quiet times, it’s not always like this.’
‘Thanks.’
He went over and checked on Marianna.
‘I think I can go back to the hotel now,’ Marianna said, and Leo agreed. Really, she could have gone home a while ago but naturally Leo had wanted to make sure everything was fine.
‘Lizzie will see you back to your hotel. If you have any concerns at all, don’t hesitate to call me. Otherwise I’ll see you tomorrow.’
He gave his instructions to Lizzie before they headed off.
‘Don’t worry about coming back,’ Leo said. ‘Thank you for coming in so early. It all went very well. I’ll give you a call a bit later.’
‘A call?’
‘To make sure the transfer to the hotel went okay.’
Why else would he be calling her? Lizzie thought, trying to tame a sudden blush.
The hotel ensured everything went seamlessly too and, completely unseen by any prying eyes, Lizzie transferred her patient from Harley Street to a gorgeous suite at the hotel, where flowers were waiting from Ferdinand and, of course, from Leo too.
‘How sweet!’ Marianna said as she read the card and whatever Leo had written made her laugh. ‘He says my puppy really needs his nails trimmed. Leo is gorgeous, isn’t he?’
Lizzie didn’t really know how to answer. ‘He’s a great boss,’ she said. ‘Well, so far …’ And then her voice trailed off. Really, their start had been terrible, she’d been thinking of walking out on the job there and then, but in less than two days somehow all had been forgiven.
Not forgotten, though.
As she slipped eye masks into the fridge for Marianna to use overnight Lizzie recalled Ethan’s words this morning—he’d been warning her, Lizzie knew.
He didn’t have to.
Of course Leo was gorgeous and of course she fancied him, but there was no way Lizzie was going to add herself to the list of Leo’s Ladies. And anyway, she told herself, as if someone as stunning and delicious and as in demand as Leo Hunter might be remotely interested in her.
He was, though.
Lizzie swallowed and then corrected herself.
Leo Hunter would have been flirting from the cradle—those blue eyes, that slow smile certainly weren’t exclusive to her.
Two days in and Lizzie was in love …
With her job!
And she had every intention of keeping it.
She applied some ointment to Marianna’s eyes and made sure she was settled before saying goodbye then heading out to the street and into a taxi and home.
Lizzie was just sinking into the bath with the last of the champagne chocolate truffles and wondering if it was true that she could have a procedure done, and what she might choose if it was, when her phone rang.
Of course she had to race through to the lounge and stood naked and dripping wet as the very unruffled voice of Leo came on the line.
‘Did I disturb you?’
‘Of course not,’ Lizzie lied.
‘How was Marianna?’
‘Fine. Everything went well,’ Lizzie said, trying to tell herself she was freezing, that it wasn’t his voice that had her shivering and made her toes curl.
‘Good.’
There wasn’t much to say really. It had been a very simple procedure and just as she thought she was done thinking about Leo Hunter for the day, he made sure that he would spend the rest of the night and days to come perpetually lodged in her thoughts.
‘Did Gwen discuss the ball with you?’
‘The ball?’
‘There’s a charity ball for Princess Catherine’s next weekend. You’ll be attending as my guest.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes.’
Lizzie just stood there as Leo calmly explained that as head nurse it was right that she accompany him.
It was pretty ironic that she was naked and soaked as he invited her to such a prestigious event—a fish out of water was exactly how she’d be, and she knew it.
‘I don’t think you …’ How could she explain that she’d never been to a ball in her life, let alone on the arm of someone as glamorous as he? How could she properly explain to someone as sophisticated and worldly as Leo that she would stand out like a sore thumb? ‘I think I’m away that weekend …’ Lizzie frantically attempted.
‘I’m not asking you if you’d like to go, Lizzie,’ Leo said, and she realised that she might have witnessed his might but only now was she glimpsing his power. No one said no to Leo, unless they had an exceptionally good reason. ‘There’s an important work function coming up—I’m hoping you’ll be able to attend.’
‘Of course,’ Lizzie responded.
‘Good.’
He rang off then and instead of running back to her bath Lizzie headed to her wardrobe and then the computer and logged into her bank account.
She might be working in the most luxurious surroundings but her pay didn’t go in till next Thursday and … Lizzie winced as she saw the damage Christmas had wreaked on her credit card, and her mother’s hairdresser was booked for this weekend and she charged like a wounded bull.
Leo might call it a mere work function but it was the renowned Princess Catherine’s Charity Ball he was referring to. It wasn’t just that she had no idea what to wear that had her head spinning, it was also that she would be attending with Leo.
No, Lizzie didn’t sleep well.
CHAPTER SIX
‘I THINK THAT Lizzie seems an excellent choice.’ Declan didn’t hold back on his praise. They were having a medical staff meeting and Leo was trying to wrap it up, yet the conversation kept turning to the new head nurse.
‘I agree.’ Rafael nodded. ‘I had a few problems with my schedule on Monday and it was all swiftly dealt with without anyone being upset.’
‘Okay, can we move things along? We’re not just here for the Lizzie Birch Admiration Society,’ Leo said, irritated and not sure why.
They discussed a few internal matters. With so many eminent surgeons working there, often they would talk about a particularly difficult case but this morning they were discussing the charity side of things. ‘How are things going?’ he asked Ethan.
‘Slowly,’ Ethan admitted. He loathed meetings and sat turning his pen over and over. ‘But then again, most people I need to speak to are still away for the Christmas break. Things should start to kick into gear next week but I’m having trouble deciding the next patient. I’ve narrowed it down to two possibilities and I’m waiting for some test results to come back for the insurance companies.’ They spoke for a little while longer but as the meeting wound up, despite Leo’s best efforts Ethan got back to the one topic Leo would rather not discuss. He looked at Leo, his eyes black with anger, and Leo guessed what was coming before Ethan even said it. ‘I hear that you’re taking Lizzie to the ball.’
‘Of course.’ Leo didn’t bat an eyelid. ‘It’s an important function, and I think that she should be there to represent the clinic.’ Rather abruptly Leo stood. ‘I’ve got a patient to see.’
He did have a patient to see but he was also questioning his decision last night. It had seemed an obvious choice at the time but as he saw Lizzie chatting to Charlotte in a treatment room as he walked past, saw her throw her head back and laugh at something that was being said, Leo knew the decision hadn’t just been about representing the Hunter Clinic well. But did he really need the complication of an aggrieved head nurse?
Yes, Leo had enough insight to know that she’d soon be aggrieved. The only thing he took seriously was work, not that Ethan could get that. Ethan seemed to think it all just magically happened, no one really understood the effort that he put in.
‘Darling Leo!’
His favourite patient stood when she saw him. Tiny, petite, she was trailing scarves and expensive scent as they walked to his office and past Lizzie, who, with a brief nod at them, was heading into hers.
‘Francesca …’ Leo helped her off with her luxurious coat. She had once been his father’s patient and more recently Leo had done a lot of work on her. Last year Francesca had had a full facelift and they both were thrilled with the result. She often popped in for a smudge of cosmetic filler or to have her lips plumped up a fraction. Francesca only ever saw Leo, even for the tiniest procedures. ‘It’s lovely to see you,’ Leo said.
‘And you, darling. It’s terribly cold.’ She shivered without her coat and Leo suppressed a smile. The routine never changed.
‘I can have the heating turned up.’
‘No, no …’ Francesca waved her hands. ‘I don’t want to cause trouble. I am always cold, you know that.’
‘Perhaps a small brandy might warm you?’ Leo suggested.
‘Just a small one maybe,’ Francesca said, and Leo duly headed to the decanter.
‘It really is freezing out there,’ he added, as he handed Francesca a drink.
‘How are you, Leo?’ Francesca asked once she’d taken a sip. ‘How’s the love life?’
‘You know I don’t have a love life, Francesca.’ Leo grinned. ‘The social life’s amazing, though.’
Francesca laughed and then got to the real reason she was there. ‘I have a wedding to go to in the summer,’ Francesca started, and Leo sighed inwardly as he realised that she wasn’t just there for a little top-up. Francesca knew enough about procedures to know she would need a few months for the swelling and bruising to go down fully and the effect to show properly, except Leo didn’t want to do any more surgery on her. Francesca looked amazing as she was.
‘Just here …’ Francesca ran her fingers along nonexistent jowls. ‘And I think if I had more volume in my cheeks—’
‘Francesca,’ Leo interrupted, ‘you never had much volume in your cheeks even when you were younger.’ Leo came over and examined Francesca’s face carefully.
Objectively.
He tried to ignore the fact that he had done her previous surgery and to look at Francesca as if she were a new patient who was coming to see him for the first time. He asked himself what he would advise if that were the case.
Nothing.
Leo had taken care of everything in last year’s surgery. He was incredibly proud of his work. Francesca, from a distance, could pass as a woman in her late forties or early fifties, thanks to the amazing care she took of herself. Even examining Francesca close up, even scrutinising her features carefully, the work she’d had done, combined with her already breath-taking features, meant that she looked two decades younger then she was.
‘Francesca.’ Leo went and sat back behind his desk—he knew this was going to be difficult, knew just how volatile Francesca could be. ‘You don’t need any work.’
‘I want it, though.’
‘You don’t need surgery.’ Leo would not budge. Ethan might consider most of Leo’s work unnecessary but what his brother did not understand was that Leo would never put a patient through an unnecessary procedure. Yes, he catered for vanity but not insanity and in this case absolutely nothing needed to be done. ‘We can maybe do a small touch-up with fillers before the wedding and naturally I will see you a month before so that your cosmetic filler is at its optimum, but—’
‘Leo!’ Francesca interrupted impatiently. ‘I want this surgery. This wedding is very important to me. Tony is going to be there. I haven’t seen him in years. I want to take his breath away.’
‘You’ll more than take his breath away if you look like Cat Woman.’ Leo could be very direct when needed, though he did try to soften it with a touch of humour. ‘He’ll choke on his hors d’oeuvre.’
‘Leo, you are not listening to me.’
‘You are the one who is not listening to me, Francesca. Do you remember when I took over your care from my father? You made me promise that no one would ever be able to guess that you’d had some work done. I’ve kept that promise. You look stunning. Even knowing the work you have had done, I still can’t really see it and I’m the surgeon. What you’re asking me to do will have everybody knowing that you’ve been under the knife and that you’ve got a face pumped up with fillers, and I’m just not prepared to put my name to it.’
‘Leo, please!’
‘Francesca, we can arrange for some skin treatments in the lead-up to the wedding and as I said I will make sure that your—’
‘I want to have the surgery.’
‘And I’m not prepared to operate,’ Leo said. ‘There are risks with any surgery, Francesca, and at seventy-two years of age …’ Don’t mention the war, Leo thought as he watched her furious eyes widen, but Leo simply would not be swayed and he continued on with the truth. ‘It would be foolish at best to operate for absolutely no reason.’
‘So you are saying that I’m too old for surgery?’
‘For completely unnecessary surgery, yes,’ Leo said. ‘Francesca, why don’t we—?’
But Francesca wasn’t listening. First making sure to drain the last of her brandy, angrily she stood. ‘You can’t say no to me.’
‘I can,’ Leo answered. ‘I just have. But I will—’ He didn’t get to finish. Francesca didn’t want to hear about fillers or skin treatments, she wanted surgery and she wanted it booked now! She stormed out in rage, hurling out her anger as she left.