A shock reunion...

A son reclaimed!

In this Cinderellas to Royal Brides story, Dr. Jeena Harrak’s returned home. Banished years ago by the king of Kaylana upon falling pregnant with Prince Maazin’s baby, Jeena never had a chance to say goodbye to Maazin, or to tell him of his father’s cruelty. After she reveals his heir, working alongside gorgeous yet closed-off doctor Maazin is harder than she ever imagined...but might their overwhelming connection be enough to reunite their family?

Born and raised just outside Toronto, Ontario, AMY RUTTAN fled the big city to settle down with the country boy of her dreams. After the birth of her second child Amy was lucky enough to realise her lifelong dream of becoming a romance author. When she’s not furiously typing away at her computer she’s mum to three wonderful children, who use her as a personal taxi and chef.

Also by Amy Ruttan

Navy Doc on Her Christmas List

The Surgeon King’s Secret Baby

A Mummy for His Daughter

A Date with Dr Moustakas

NY Doc Under the Northern Lights

Carrying the Surgeon’s Baby

Cinderellas to Royal Brides collection

Surgeon Prince, Cinderella Bride by Ann McIntosh Royal Doc’s Secret Heir

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Royal Doc’s Secret Heir

Amy Ruttan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09014-8

ROYAL DOC’S SECRET HEIR

© 2019 Amy Ruttan

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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For my Prince Charming,

who swept me off my feet twenty years ago

when we first met and who continues to do so.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

IT HAD BEEN a long time since she’d been home. Jeena’s heart beat triple time as the relief plane that was carrying medical supplies and her team of doctors and nurses approached the island kingdom of Kalyana.

She took a deep calming breath as the cloud cover evaporated and the jewel of an island set against the Indian Ocean came into view.

Her home.

Only Kalyana hadn’t been her home. Not for a long time. Not since that night ten years ago when her father had woken her up and told her they were leaving Kalyana.

They were all leaving because they were in danger.

She hadn’t wanted to go and didn’t know where they were going, but her parents needed her and she needed them. So she’d left Kalyana for Canada.

She hadn’t regretted it. It had been for the best. Still, she’d never thought she’d see Kalyana again.

She glanced down at her Canadian passport gripped tightly in her hand and hoped she’d be allowed in.

Her father had made it clear they couldn’t go back. They should never go back. They hadn’t been banished, but her father had said they weren’t welcome in Kalyana. Because of her indiscretion, they would be judged. Harshly.

Jeena still found that hard to believe in this day in age, but her father had been adamant. He wanted to protect her and her unborn child.

The Canadian consulate had assured her that the visa had been cleared. That there shouldn’t be any issues.

There shouldn’t be a risk of someone waiting to pounce on her to ask her about her son and pry into her private life. She knew deep down there was nothing to fear. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

All she’d done was become pregnant and decide to have her child. A lot of women were single mothers so there was no reason she would have to watch her back, but still those old anxieties were creeping into the back of her mind. The night her father had insisted they leave. He’d been so scared. He’d thought they were in danger and Jeena knew that someone had made him think that.

And it was all because of who her son’s father was. If it had been someone else, they probably wouldn’t have left...

“Why do we have to leave?” she asked.

“Lady Meleena said that the King will take your child!” her father said. “We have to go to keep our family together. Your child would be looked down upon. Do you really want that?”

“No.” She shook her head. “But we can’t afford to leave.”

“Lady Meleena will help us. She just asks that we never come back. That we never contact anyone and keep your pregnancy secret. I promised her that for your safety.”

“How does Lady Meleena know?” Jeena asked, confused. “No one but Mother and you know. Did you tell someone?”

“Of course not!” her father exclaimed. “Someone at the clinic told her.”

“Why would someone at the clinic tell her?”

“Because people know about who you were seen with and it wasn’t long before Lady Meleena put two and two together. Meleena’s father invests in my plantation. There would be scandal for all of us, and Lady Meleena wanted to take care of us.”

“I’m pregnant. I didn’t commit a crime!”

Her father hugged her. “Of course you didn’t, but Lady Meleena knows first-hand how an illegitimate child with a parent in the aristocracy can be treated. Look at her half-brother Kamal. He was treated so poorly by his peers and then he died in that terrible accident.”

“But—”

“No buts!” her father snapped. “We’re leaving. It’s the best thing for you and the baby. It will protect our family’s name and avert scandal for all concerned.”

Guilt coursed through her. “Yes, Father. You’re right.”

Jeena shook the memory away and clenched her Canadian passport tighter in her fist.

The consulate might say that she was cleared to return and work in Kalyana, but was Lady Meleena, soon-to-be royal bride, okay with it?

They’d left ten years ago to save face and her father was indebted to Lady Meleena for her assistance, but then three years ago Lady Meleena had become engaged to the father of Jeena’s unborn baby and a little part of Jeena couldn’t help but wonder if Meleena had had her eyes set on a certain prize right from the start.

It had bothered her for years that Lady Meleena had taken such an interest in her.

Does it matter? He wouldn’t have married you anyway. He couldn’t. His family would have chosen his bride, and they wouldn’t have chosen a farmer’s daughter.

Her stomach twisted and she tried to relax on the last little bit of the long trip from Canada to Kalyana, only she knew she wouldn’t feel at ease until they landed and she was cleared by customs. She was breaking her father’s promise to Lady Meleena about never returning.

You didn’t promise.

Jeena relaxed then. She was different now. She wasn’t such a pushover.

This had been her home, whether Lady Meleena liked it or not. She was going to do her job here. She had no wish to interfere in Meleena or Maazin’s life.

Even then, she wasn’t sure she could relax, visa or not. She glanced out the window again and a lump formed in her throat, tears stinging her eyes as she saw the island get closer.

Home.

This was where her family had lived and thrived on the same vanilla plantation for generations and it was all her fault that it no longer belonged to her family. All because she’d got involved with and fallen in love with the wrong person.

“You okay?”

Jeena glanced at Teresa, one of the other doctors who had come to help with the relief efforts.

“Yeah, fine.” Jeena forced herself to smile brightly. “Just missing my son.”

Which wasn’t a complete lie. She did miss her son. She’d never really been apart from him for this long and with this much of a distance between them.

He was safe in Canada with her parents. His competitive junior hockey team was in the finals and they were playing at Scotiabank Saddledome, which was a huge deal. He’d gone on and on about it for months. As had her father.

Syman was the reason her parents had taken Lady Meleena’s aid and come to Canada, and why she needed them. She couldn’t have raised him alone in Kalyana or Canada. She couldn’t have become a surgeon without their help, and becoming a surgeon had been hard even with their help.

Still, there were things Syman would never know about Kalyana. Things she’d experienced that he’d never get to, like playing on the sand of a pearl-pink beach or swimming in a turquoise sea. Running through her father’s vanilla fields or climbing a palm tree to stare out over the Indian Ocean.

Canada had been a good home for them and Syman loved his life there, even with the ice and snow that Jeena had never gotten used to. That she didn’t miss.

If you’d stayed in Kalyana, Syman wouldn’t even be interested in hockey.

Kalyana was near the Seychelles and was very traditional. Hockey wasn’t one of the sports played in Kalyana. If she had raised Syman here, he would probably be into cricket.

Or polo?

Jeena shook that thought away. She didn’t want to think about Syman’s father and how she had met him during a divot stomp at a match she should’ve never been at. She had only gone because her friend had dragged her along and during the divot stomp she’d lost her footing and been rescued by the man of her dreams.

Well, she hadn’t been completely sure when she’d first met him. Maazin had been a known playboy and she’d known she should keep away, but when he had been with her, he hadn’t been the bad boy that everyone had said he was. He had been different.

So kind and caring.

And the more time they’d spent together, the more she’d truly believed he’d loved her.

Her heart skipped a beat just thinking about him. She’d been a fool. Young and naive.

Don’t think about him.

Only it was hard not to. He was never really far from her thoughts. The older Syman got, the more he looked like his father, the more she saw the only man she had ever loved. Syman was all the good parts of his father. He was kind and caring. Also driven and stubborn.

Her heart may have been broken, but she loved Syman and she was grateful that her time with Maazin had given her her son.

“You’ll see Syman soon. And I’m sure his team will win the tourney,” Teresa said brightly, interrupting her thoughts of Syman’s father.

Jeena chuckled. “They’d better or he’ll be lamenting it until next hockey season.”

Teresa laughed and went back to her book.

Jeena glanced at the reading material she’d brought for the long flight from Dubai, which was just one of the flights she’d been on since they departed from Vancouver. She really didn’t know which way was up and given that there was a significant time zone difference, she couldn’t help but wonder if Syman had actually won his tournament. Maybe he’d already played?

I should be there.

Only this was her job and her father had taught her and given her a work ethic she stood by. Kalyana needed her and her new country, Canada, needed her to represent them in the best possible light. She understood the customs. She knew the terrain and the people.

Even if it meant facing something that she wasn’t sure that she was ready to face.

And when she closed her eyes she could still feel Maazin’s arms around her, but then she was reminded of the pain when he’d turned his back on her, when Lady Meleena had told her he’d chosen his duty over her. When Lady Meleena had told her father that Syman would be an outcast. That Jeena would be an outcast because he would not marry her, even though he knew she was pregnant.

Then, a few years later, it had been announced that Prince Maazin had chosen his bride. None other than Jeena’s supposed savior, Lady Meleena.

She shouldn’t care, but it made her angry. Jeena knew her family had been manipulated.

Don’t worry about it. Maazin isn’t part of your life.

And she had to keep remembering that.

He hadn’t been there for her when she’d had Syman. Neither had he been there when she’d scrimped and saved, worked odd jobs while attending medical school. That had been all her. She didn’t need him. She was better off without him.

Syman was better off without him.

Are you sure?

“We’re making our final descent into Huban. Please buckle up. It’s a bit windy and there has been some damage to the airstrip from the cyclone so it might be a rough landing,” the pilot said over the speaker.

“Here we go,” Teresa said, setting down her book and buckling up her seatbelt.

Jeena nodded and pulled her seatbelt tighter. She kept her eyes focused on Kalyana as it got closer and closer. She could see the damage. Trees ripped from their roots, buildings along the coast destroyed, but there on the main terminal still flew the blue, green and gold flag of Kalyana. Untouched and fluttering in the strong winds in a clear blue sky. A sight she’d thought she’d never see again.

It helped tame the erratic beat of her heart.

She was home.

* * *

Maazin waited on the edge of the tarmac in a van to help transport medical supplies to the makeshift hospital that he and Farhan had set up between Huban and the southeast district, which had been the hardest hit when Cyclone Blandine had ripped through Kalyana.

Kavan, the bodyguard who also acted as chauffer-pilot, had seemed keen to accompany Maazin, but he’d eventually agreed it was best he stay with Farhan, Maazin’s older brother, Sara, and her grandfather, Mr. Raj. Ever since the cyclone had hit, Farhan had been jumpy, fussing and fuming over his new bride.

Not that Maazin could blame him.

If he had someone he loved...

Maybe if he still had the one woman he’d once loved he would’ve felt the same way that Farhan did, but he didn’t have anyone.

He didn’t deserve anyone. Not even the arranged marriage his father had set up three years ago. Not that he’d really cared for Lady Meleena. It had just been expected and since Maazin had lost the only woman he’d loved when she’d left in the middle of the night, he had settled for the bride his father had chosen. Or eventually settled. After everything that had happened when Jeena had left, he’d spent some time doing what good he could.

He’d served in the Royal Guard and earned his doctorate as a surgeon in the guard. It gave his life meaning, after all his past actions had caused so much pain. His service was the least he could do.

Which was why he’d agreed to marry Meleena. His father had guilted him into it and he had been tired of the nagging to find a wife. He’d had no interest in Meleena, so had had very little to do with her.

Of course, Meleena hadn’t liked it too much when he’d devoted his life to healing others, to serving his country, and had ignored her. She’d left him, but no one knew about that yet and that’s the way his father wanted it. There were diplomatic policies and contracts at play and his father wanted to wait until it could be properly addressed after Kalyana recovered from the devastation of Blandine.

So he had no one.

No one to worry about. No one to care.

Which was what he deserved.

It was best that he handle this. He was just as capable a doctor as Farhan and Sara were. This was what he lived for. This was all that had mattered since Jeena had left and his brother Ali had died trying to help him. The last thing he wanted to do was put Farhan or Sara in danger.

His mother had already suffered enough because of him. He wasn’t going to put Farhan in harm’s way when he had military training and could manage this kind of disaster situation with ease. Not that they were in much danger now. The cyclone was over. It was just a matter of picking up the pieces. Cyclone Blandine had done severe damage to the islands.

He couldn’t remember such a storm ever hitting Kalyana.

His father King Uttam was all for Maazin helping with relief efforts. He should be a part of it. Farhan was an excellent doctor, but he didn’t have the training Maazin had.

However, his mother Queen Aruna was a little more reluctant to hear a prince of Kalyana was out there helping with relief efforts and getting his hands dirty. She thought it was unsafe.

Of course, even if she didn’t show it, Maazin worried his mother had never been happy with anything he’d done since Ali had died.

But Maazin wanted to help.

He needed to help.

Still, his mother had made her reservations clear...

“You’re a prince!”

“So? What else should a trained surgeon be doing, Mother?”

“You’re only a surgeon because of your time in the Royal Guard.”

“So what would you have me do?” Maazin asked.

“You should stay in the safety of the palace.”

“And tend to royalty? To aristocrats?”

“Perhaps. And perhaps if you had done more of your royal duties and spent time with your betrothed, Lady Meleena wouldn’t have left!”

“I don’t care that she left, Mother. I don’t love her. I couldn’t stand be around her.”

“Ali did his duty!”

“I’m sorry that I’m not Ali.”

His mother’s had a faraway look as she murmured, “You’re right. You’re not...”

Maazin winced. He hadn’t wanted an arranged marriage. Especially with someone his father had chosen only for the betterment of the country.

Your father chose for Ali and he’d been happy. Your father chose for Farhan and he’s happy with Sara.

He ignored that niggling little thought.

Right now Kalyana needed him. When Ali had been alive, he’d always been out there lending a hand, and that was the least Maazin could do since he was responsible for Ali’s death.

You’re not.

Only he felt he was. And he was sure his mother felt that he was responsible for Ali’s death. Ever since then his mother had been cold and distant. With him especially.

And he hated it that he was the cause of her grief, that he was just a living reminder of her pain. And he couldn’t help but wonder if she wished it was him who’d died instead of Ali.

He pushed that thought aside and watched as the Canadian plane landed with much-needed supplies. Cyclone Blandine had done so much damage and they hadn’t been very prepared. Storms had come and gone, but there had never been a cyclone like this. It had formed out of nowhere and so quickly and it had struck so hard.

There was no way they could prepare for quite how extreme it was and they were lucky that it hadn’t done even more damage.

The plane from Canada that he’d been waiting for made its landing. Maazin had made sure that the airport runway in Huban had been cleared of debris so that they could receive assistance from other countries, like Canada, and he had his sister-in-law Sara to thank for that assistance.

The plane circled as the winds were high.

Maazin waited with bated breath as the plane came around again then touched down. He didn’t know why he was so nervous about this plane landing, but something about this was eating away at him.

He hadn’t felt like this in so long.

The last time he’d felt like this...well, he didn’t want to think about her.

This was not the time to think about it. It was not time to think about Jeena. Of course, she was never far from his mind. He was always thinking of her, whether he liked it or not. Always wondering why she’d left him. It drove him mad.

“They’re ready for us, Your Highness,” his driver, Kariff, said.

Maazin nodded. “Let’s go and fill this van with supplies and their doctors. The southeast region is in dire need of supplies and medical help.”

Kariff nodded and drove the van toward the large plane that had dropped its rear door to make a ramp, ready to start unloading its precious cargo of medical supplies and doctors to aid them.

Kariff parked close and Maazin got out of the van. He opened the side doors and the back so that Kariff and a couple of the other men he’d brought with him could start loading up.

“Who should we be reporting to?” a female voice asked, which sent a shiver of recollection down his spine. He knew that voice. He knew it well because it was burned into every single neuron in his brain. Just the mere sound of her voice fired them off, bringing every bitter-sweet memory to the surface.

Maazin turned around and came face to face with someone he’d never thought he would see again.

His blood froze and everything around him stopped. He couldn’t quite believe his eyes and he wondered if he was dreaming. It was like she had walked right out of his dreams, like nothing had changed, like time had stood still. She hadn’t changed one bit. Her rich, dark brown hair was tied back in a braid, just like the first day he’d met her. Her skin was still a warm, rich tawny color.

Her deep brown eyes widened and her red lips, lips he remembered so well the taste of, dropped open for a moment and a subtle pop of coral colored her cheeks. She was just as shocked as he was.

Jeena.

In an instant he remembered when he’d first seen her. She’d looked so out of place and uncomfortable on the polo pitch.

She’d worn a long emerald dress and high heels as she’d teetered on the grass, trying to flip over a divot.

He’d been so entranced by her and had wondered who she was...

“You’ll fall over, trying to flip those divots in those heels.”

She looked up, embarrassed. “Pardon?”

Maazin knelt down and took her foot in his hands. “May I?”

She pursed her lips and nodded. He removed her shoe and pried off the large chunk of turf that had been impaled on the end of her stiletto heel. He replaced the shoe and then stood, steadying her in his arms, catching a scent of her perfume.

Jasmine and vanilla. It was intoxicating and he was instantly drawn to her.

“Thank you... Your Highness.”

“Ah, so you know who I am.”

“Everyone knows who you are,” she whispered, and wouldn’t look at him.

“Well, I am at a loss. I don’t know who you are. I have never seen you at one of these events before.”

She smiled. “My name is Jeena. I am here with my friend as her guest.”

“And who is your friend?”

“Aishraya Raj.” Jeena nodded in the direction of her friend. “Her husband is a diplomat, but I’ve known Aishraya for a long time.”

Maazin smiled and bowed at the waist. “Well, allow me to welcome you to our little match...”

Maazin tried to calm the pulse that was now thundering in his ears. She had been the only one to truly see him.

The world thought he was this playboy and he let everyone believe that. The tabloids, his parents all believed it and it had got him off the hook of so many responsibilities, but Jeena had seen past that.

He had been so in love with her. He’d wanted to marry her, even though he had always been afraid and not interested in marriage because he’d felt it would tie him down, just like his royal duty.

And he hadn’t wanted to drag Jeena into a life of protocol.

She had been free. Which was why he’d wanted her.

Jeena had left him. Left him without a word, and it was because of her leaving that he’d gone to that party to drown his sorrows and then called his brother Ali to get him.

And that had cost Ali his life, because after she’d left, Maazin had decided to take the bad boy road everyone thought he traveled. Ali came to sweep his indiscretions under the rug and died trying to cover up his mistakes.

It had destroyed him when Jeena had left. It was his own fault, though, because he knew he’d driven her away. He didn’t deserve her and he certainly didn’t deserve anything now. He knew that.

“Maa... Your Highness.” And she curtseyed.

He was angry that she had almost addressed him with familiarity, like he wanted, but had then changed it to a formal address and curtseyed in deference to his station, which he hated.

Were they such strangers?

Yes. They were now. She’d left. He’d never left Kalyana. He’d never left in the dead of night, not telling anyone where he was going. And when he’d tried to find her there’d been no trace of her. It was as if her whole life in Kalyana had been erased.

She’d cost him so much.

You were the selfish one. She cost you nothing.

“I’m surprised that you’ve returned to the country you abandoned with such ease,” he snapped.

Her expression hardened. “My apologies, Your Highness. I’m the lead surgeon on this relief mission. I’m representing Canada and I’m here to deliver your supplies and lend my services to your country.” She turned on her heel and walked away.

She was a doctor?

Maazin was shocked, but as she stormed away he couldn’t help but smile to himself. She still had that spirit he’d admired in her.

That fire.

That had been hidden under the surface, something she’d tried so hard to control, but he’d known what a strong woman had been under that demure exterior.

It’s what he’d loved so much about her then.

Now, to see her standing her ground, it surprised him, but pleasantly so.

It woke up a piece of him he’d thought was long gone and as he watched her walk away, giving out orders, he knew that working with her would be a challenge.

One he hadn’t expected.

CHAPTER TWO

JEENA DIDN’T KNOW what she had been expecting. She knew one thing, she hadn’t planned on seeing him. Actually, she hadn’t expected to see him at all. What was a prince of Kalyana doing at the airport, collecting medical supplies?

Not your concern.

And she had to keep telling herself that.

She was stronger now. She could handle seeing Maazin.

Can you?

She’d changed, but had she really expected a bad boy rebel prince to have changed in the last ten years?

No. Well, maybe? One could hope. Other than his engagement to Lady Meleena, Maazin hadn’t really been in the papers. Perhaps he had changed? She’d always wondered if that image he’d projected before she’d met him had been an act. She knew one thing was for sure, his appearance hadn’t changed at all.

It was like time hadn’t even touched him at all.

When she’d seen him there, she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was like all those years ago when he had knelt down in front of her on the polo field and stopped her from embarrassing herself in front of a social class that she had not been comfortable being around at all.

His ebony hair was shorter than it had been. Gone were the long curls that had framed his face when they’d first met and he was now clean shaven. He’d lost the neatly trimmed beard she’d loved so much. His skin was deep, lustrous gold and warmed by the heat and sun from Kalyana. And he’d lost some of that baby fat that came with youth, but those green-gray eyes were still the same as they’d bored deep into hers, totally riveting her to the spot.

Making her quiver with desire. Even after all these years apart her body still reacted to him. She remembered the feeling of those strong hands on her, the taste of his lips as he’d brushed kisses lightly on hers.

How safe he’d made her feel when his arms had been wrapped around her.

He turned his back on you and Syman, remember...?

“He knows,” Meleena said in a scathing tone.

“He knows?” Jeena asked, stunned.

“Yes.”

“How do you know that he knows?”

Meleena rolled her eyes. “My father is very close to the royal family. That’s how I know. Prince Maazin can’t commit to you.”

“I don’t believe that.”

Meleena fished out a check and held it out to her. “Here. Compensation for your...situation.”

It was like a slap in the face and her heart clenched as she stared at it.

This was all she was worth?

The fact he knew about her pregnancy and had turned his back on her made her firm her resolve. She wouldn’t be duped again by anyone.

She was no longer that foolish innocent who could be swept off her feet by a dashing Prince Charming.

He hadn’t been there when her family had sold off everything to start a new life in Canada.

Neither had he been there when Syman was born.

Syman, who had those same eyes as his father.

Syman.

Her heart sank. He always was curious about his father and as he got older she knew it was something she would not be able to keep from him. Not when he could go online and look Maazin up.

He’d learn his father was a prince and a playboy. How his father had turned his back on her. His father’s whole private romantic life had been splashed across tabloids around the world. The only romance not there and not known was hers. Lady Meleena’s parents had paid people off to keep that secret.

“Dr. Harrak!”

She turned and saw Maazin coming toward her and her heart skipped a beat again.

Stand firm.

She crossed her arms and narrowed her resolve. How many people had tried to push her around when she’d been a resident and learning to become a surgeon because she was short at only five feet four? Too many and Jeena had had to rise above all of that and make sure that her voice had been heard above the others in a competitive medical program.

And on top of all of that she’d raised Syman.

She was stronger than some spoiled and pampered prince who was coddled by parents who gave him everything and ruled a country.

She could handle him. She wasn’t going to let a prince sweep her off her feet again. She didn’t need saving or a knight in shining armor.

And she wasn’t going to be sent back to Canada because he and his fiancée were uncomfortable with her presence in Kalyana.

“I have every right to be here,” she snapped when Maazin caught up with her.

“What?” he asked, frowning.

“I have a visa and clearance from the consulate to represent Canada and assist in this humanitarian and relief aid effort. Kalyana may not be my home any longer...”

“I’m aware of that,” he answered stiffly. “What I came over to say was sorry. I’m sorry for embarrassing you like that.”

Jeena was shocked, but she didn’t let him know that. That was different. The Maazin she remembered had been a bit arrogant with people he’d felt deserved it, but he had always been kind and gentle to her. She’d often wondered why he hadn’t shown that side of himself to the public.

Of course he’d turned his back on her. She wasn’t going to be fooled again.

It had been a painful lesson to learn that she didn’t need a prince to come and save her and that she was more than capable of saving herself.

“No apology needed, Your Highness. I forgot myself for a moment, you are absolutely right, I left Kalyana for another country, because it was right for me. Now I’m here on behalf of Canada. I’m home now and I’m here to help.” She curtseyed again.

“Jeena, stop that.” He was annoyed. She remembered how much he hated protocol. She knew she was getting to him.

Good.

“Stop what, Your Highness?”

“Curtseying and calling me Your Highness. Jeena, we know each other intimately.”

“That’s Dr. Harrak to you, Your Highness.” She crossed her arms and leaned forward. “Perhaps we knew each other once, but a lot has changed. I prefer the formality, Your Highness.”

His eyes narrowed. “Fine.”

She nodded and felt a bit of satisfaction knowing that she had won that battle. It felt good.

Did it?

“Well, Dr. Harrak,” he said, exaggerating her name. “My driver Kariff and I are to take you to the southeastern region, which was hardest hit by the cyclone. Our doctors have been working non-stop since the cyclone hit four days ago and they could use a break.”

Jeena smiled. “Of course, Your Highness.”

He stood there. “Well?”

“Well, what?” she asked.

“We have to leave.”

“I’m waiting for you to lead the way, Your Highness. It’s only proper.”

He rolled his eyes and turned around and started marching stiffly toward the van, the tail of his blue kurta billowing out behind him.

If she really wanted to bite back at him, now would be the time to tell him that he reminded her of his father, which had always used to annoy him as well.

She chuckled softly and kept that to herself.

Right now, there were patients waiting for help and that was all that mattered to her, but it was nice to have a little victory over the man who’d broken her heart.

A man who had ruined her for all others.

A man who still had a piece of her heart, whether she liked it or not.

* * *

The ride in the van was uncomfortable and tense. Maazin sat in the front next to Kariff while she and her team were crammed in beside medical equipment and gear. There would be another van coming soon to take the rest of the supplies and gear into Huban, but right now they were transporting what was most needed to the hardest hit region. That had been her plan. Get to work, help out and keep out of sight.

She might not really care about her father’s promise to Lady Meleena but she didn’t want the drama that would come with it.

The press didn’t know about Syman or her romance with Maazin and she preferred it that way.

The only reason she was here was to save lives.

As the van navigated the damaged streets of Huban, Jeena’s heart sank to see the destruction. The little wooden shacks of the poorest hadn’t fared as well as the colonial buildings that had been built by the British over a century ago.

There were downed power lines, crumbled stone and debris everywhere.

“Hold on,” Maazin said over his shoulder. “This part of Huban was flooded quite badly. The water has receded enough to allow passage, but it will be a bumpy ride.”

Jeena bit her lip. Her head began to spin and her pulse thundered in her ears. A panic attack was coming on and she needed to center herself. She needed to gain control, but it was hard. She didn’t like water too much. She was fine if she was on a large boat or had her feet firmly planted on the ground, but in a van going over a washed-out road, this she didn’t like.

And she closed her eyes and tried to not think about that time when she had been a young girl and she’d wandered too far from her parents’ home and down to the small creek that ran adjacent to the plantation.

She’d been playing in the water when it had begun to rain, but since there had been no lightning and it had been so hot and dry, Jeena had just stayed where she was and enjoyed not being hot for once.

It was then that a flash flood had ripped down the mountainside. She would have been swept away if she hadn’t gripped that low-growing palm. She’d held onto the trunk of that tree for what had felt like an eternity as the water had rushed past her, trying to snatch her away and wash her out to sea.

And she remembered the terror of it all.

The water that had rushed over her while she’d clung to life, while she’d tried to breathe and not take water into her lungs. The weariness of trying to stay afloat had begun to set in.

And then she remembered the strong arms of her father reaching down to pluck her from the swollen creek and into the safety of his arms.

She’d gotten into trouble, but not too much as her father had felt that she’d learned her lesson about doing dangerous things and not listening to them, but really she hadn’t learned her lesson. Not really.

And how had she repaid her parents?

She’d become involved with a prince of Kalyana, even though it was forbidden because he’d been destined to marry someone of his father’s choosing.

Her parents had got her out of the country to protect her. Lady Meleena had helped before’d she got engaged to Maazin a few years later. Her parents had lost everything.

They love Syman, though.

Still, she should’ve learned to curb her reckless ways that day she’d almost drowned and maybe then her parents would still be in Kalyana and she could’ve been here with the cyclone had hit and she could’ve been helping right from the start.

But you wouldn’t have Syman.

No. She wouldn’t have had Syman and for that she couldn’t regret her past mistakes. Even though she regretted everything about falling in love with a prince, there had been one bright spot to the whole thing and that was her son. And that thought made her feel guilty for wishing her mistakes away.

He was her world and she missed him. Especially at this moment when she could do with a smile and a hug. She really missed her son.

The van rocked, jolting thoughts of Syman out of her head. She gripped her seat as the van made its way through another washed-out section of the road. The rushing water caused the van to sway, but it wasn’t deep.

It was deep enough for Jeena’s pulse to thunder even more loudly in her ears and for beads of sweat to break across her brow. Her hands felt clammy as she dug her fingers into the upholstery of the seat.

She looked up and saw that Maazin was watching her in the rearview mirror. He looked concerned and she tried to shake it all off. The last thing she wanted was for Maazin to feel bad for her.

Or, worse, think that she couldn’t handle this, because she could.

Jeena looked away and the van carefully made its way through the water and back onto dry road as they made their way out of the capital city of Huban. Jeena took a deep breath of relief and glanced out of the window. She could see the palace rising in the distance. It had sustained some damage, but it still stood there, like a rock, reminding all the people of Kalyana that the country was still strong.

And a blowhard loud-mouthed king ruling them.

Well, not really. King Uttam might not be her favorite person in the world, but he wasn’t a terrible king. He was a fair ruler.

And she saw a lot of his stubbornness in Syman. When Syman set his mind to something, there was no convincing him otherwise. It made her laugh from time to time. At least Syman was strong.

He had a strong personality. One she hadn’t had until she’d had him and had worked her way through medical school.

“We’re nearly at the hospital,” Maazin announced.

Jeena didn’t respond. She just looked out the window toward the Indian Ocean, remembering precious days gone by and how it was all her fault that her son couldn’t enjoy this with her.

* * *

Maazin watched Jeena as she and her team had a quick meeting and then started to move around the makeshift hospital that was set up in an old shanty town, or what was left of a shanty town now that it had been leveled.

Something had bothered Jeena in the van when they’d crossed through that water and he couldn’t help but wonder what.

It’s not your concern.

And it wasn’t. She wasn’t his and could never be his.

Still, he was drawn to her and he was worried that something had happened to her and he felt responsible.

“You all right?”

Maazin turned to see Farhan standing beside him. Farhan looked exhausted and Maazin couldn’t blame him. He and Sara had been working hard to help since the storm had started. Farhan hadn’t been here when Maazin and Jeena had had their torrid and short love affair.

So there was no need to explain it all now.

It was over.

And it wasn’t Farhan’s business.

It was Maazin’s pain to bear.

“Nothing, just...” Maazin scrubbed a hand across his face. “Tired and relieved that help is here.”

Farhan nodded. “So am I. Sara has been working herself to the bone and she needs her rest.”

“Take her back to Huban and get rest. I’m going to stay and help the Canadians and help Kariff unload the medical supplies.”

“You should rest too,” Farhan suggested. “You’ve been working non-stop since even before the cyclone hit.”

“What for? I have no wife and I like to keep busy.”

“You’re going to work yourself into an early grave, brother.” Farhan turned and left and Maazin let out a breath that he hadn’t even known that he was holding.

He glanced back over his shoulder to see Jeena sitting next to a patient’s bed and talking with the elderly woman, who seemed to recognize her.

Why had Jeena left?

“She’s left,” his mother said with finality.

“What?” Maazin asked, stunned.

“Your paramour. She is gone. Now you can do the duty we all must, and marry someone of the lineage to be your bride.”

“I don’t believe you,” Maazin said hotly. “Jeena would never do that.”

His mother walked calmly over to her desk and pulled out a letter, handing it to him. It looked like Jeena’s handwriting.

His mother held it out to him between two fingers. “Read it.”

Maazin snatched the letter from his mother and quickly read the letter. It didn’t sound like Jeena, but it was her writing.

“Where did you get this?”

“Meleena found it.”

“Why would Meleena find it?” he asked.

“Her father has invested in the Harrak plantation and she’s trying to prevent a scandal for a family her father supports.”

Maazin read the letter again and couldn’t believe it.

It stated that she was leaving him because she couldn’t stand being linked to a prince who had a checkered past full of women and gambling. Even though she knew those things weren’t true...even though he had never been unfaithful to her. He’d wanted to marry her.

Maazin crumpled up the paper. “She would never leave her parents. I’m going to find her.”

He turned to leave but his mother cleared his throat and Maazin turned back.

“Her parents are gone too. They left Kalyana with her. This morning, in fact. They should already be in Dubai.”

“Where are they going?”

His mother shrugged. “Who knows? They didn’t tell me. Kalyanese people are free to come and go out of their country as they please.”

Maazin had gone to her parents’ vanilla plantation, which was on the westerly side of the main island. And his mother had been right. They had left and their plantation had been for sale. It had made no sense.

And he’d felt betrayed.

So he couldn’t help but wonder why they’d left and why she was now back. She’d fled in the middle of the night like she’d been afraid. So why had she come back?

At least now he knew where she had gone and what she had done with her life these past ten years. She’d become a surgeon!

He hadn’t expected that.

Why not? You became one too.

“You okay?”

Maazin turned around to see Jeena standing next to him.

“Perfectly,” he said.

She cocked an eyebrow. “You sure?”

“Yes,” he snapped, and then he sighed. “Sorry. I’m tired. It’s been non-stop since we set up this hospital.”

“I can see,” she said gently, and then tilted her head to the side. “I thought the Royal Guard set up this hospital?”

“They did. I’m part of the Royal Guard.”

Her mouth dropped open and then snapped shut. “You’re a member of the guard? Since when?”

He wanted to tell her since she’d left and he’d had that drunken night, the night his brother Ali and his wife Chandni had died.

After the funeral he’d joined the guard to give back and try to appease the pain and guilt he’d felt for surviving when they hadn’t.

And when he’d served his first year he’d decided to become a surgeon, to save even more lives.

It won’t bring Ali back.

He cleared his throat. “I’ve been a member of the Royal Guard for almost ten years.”

“That seems so unlike you.”

His spine stiffened and he wanted to ask her who she thought he was. He hadn’t been the one to leave. He’d stayed and made the most of the heartache she’d caused.

“Help!”

Maazin spun around as a man came in carrying a lifeless boy. He ran toward the man, who looked exhausted and sick. He scooped the boy up in his arms.

“Your Highness, please...my son.”

“What’s wrong?” Jeena asked, coming up beside Maazin and looking at the boy.

“He’s burning up,” Maazin stated, touching the boy’s face.

“He started complaining of abdominal pain two days ago and there was blood...” The boy’s father looked pale.

Maazin’s stomach dropped and he felt sure he knew what it was.

The boy’s father was probably a farmer who got water from the river. After the cyclone the water source had probably become contaminated.

“We need to isolate the boy and his father. I think it’s dysentery,” Maazin said to Jeena under his breath so as not to alarm the others in the hospital.

Jeena nodded and Maazin took the boy to the back of the hospital. There was a small building that they had the use of with a few rooms for cases such as this. Jeena led the boy’s father to one of the rooms as well.

They had to get the two of them away from the other patients as bacillary dysentery was highly contagious, and since Maazin had picked the boy up without gloves he was going to have to go on a course of antibiotics as well and burn his clothes.

At least Jeena had on a surgical gown and gloves, as well as a mask. She was prepared and Maazin had been too busy thinking about the past and letting Jeena’s presence unnerve him, so that he hadn’t thought about dysentery being a problem after a cyclone. He hadn’t changed into scrubs. He hadn’t set up to deal with such a contagious disease, and he was kicking himself for not doing it sooner.

He was a fool, but right now he was going to try and save this young boy’s life.

The boy winced and moaned in pain, but had a high fever and was completely out of it. Maazin set him on a bed and then got about setting up an IV with a bolus of fluids, electrolytes and antibiotics.

Jeena got the boy’s father into the room beside him and through the small window that separated these two rooms he could see that she was doing the same and instructing a nurse, who had put on a hazmat suit, how to set up the quarantine.

Jeena then slipped out of the room and came to him. She looked at the boy and Maazin thought he saw a pained expression on her face.

“You’re going to need to get out of those clothes and go on antibiotics in the other room.”

“I know,” Maazin said. “And you’ll have to as well.”

She nodded. “I know. I’ve changed and disposed of the gown, gloves and mask. I’ll have the decontamination shower just to be sure, and then get the course of antibiotics.”

“I want to make sure my patient’s fever comes down.” Maazin glanced down at the boy. So small and so sick. He hated seeing his people suffer.

“Your patient? I didn’t realize you were a doctor.” And he could hear the surprise in her voice.

“Yes. I’m a surgeon, a surgeon in the Royal Guard. My brother Farhan and I have been working here since the cyclone hit. I do my duty to my people!”

“Wow, I’m surprised,” she said.

“What? That I’m a doctor or that I’m competent?” he snapped.

Jeena’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” he said. He appreciated her apology.

“Either way, you need to take precautions. Princes are susceptible to dysentery too.”

“I’m not leaving my patient!”

“I can take care of that, Your Highness.” A Canadian doctor he was not familiar with came into the room in a hazmat suit. “I think you best go and clean up so we can keep the infection from spreading.”

Maazin sighed. “Fine. You’re right.”

He followed Jeena to where the showers were. She slipped into one of the stalls and Maazin made his way to the other stall. As he passed by, he glanced down at her phone, which was buzzing, and was shocked to see a picture of a little boy on her phone. At first glance it reminded him of his late brother, but there were no pictures of Ali in a hockey jersey. And then it hit him.

The picture was of a little boy with gray-green eyes like his, looking back at him.

And suddenly he felt a bit dizzy.

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