He hesitated. ‘Elsa, I’m sorry. Of course I don’t think that. But you don’t understand.’
‘So make me understand,’ she flashed at him. ‘Are there no other surgeons in New York?’
‘I can’t hand this over.’
‘Why not?’
‘I can’t explain this while you’re angry.’
‘You don’t have a choice,’ she said wearily. ‘From my point of view, you’ve conned me into bringing Zoe here. You’ve seduced the two of us, with your promise of palaces and lovely clothes and happy ever after. But what do I know of this life? How do I know Zoe is safe here? It was your assurance of safety and care that brought us here. How can you calmly say you’re going away and leaving us when we’ve scarcely set foot in the place?’
She was staring downstairs at the massive chandelier below them. Wishing she wasn’t in these clothes he’d bought her. Wishing she could wave a magic wand and be home with her beach and her starfish and even her disgusting fish-head cat food-somewhere where she knew the risks and could face them for her small charge; knowing exactly where she stood.
But it seemed that Stefanos wasn’t backing down. He was hesitating over what to say to her but she could see that Manhattan was a done deal.
‘Just explain,’ she said wearily and for a moment she thought he wasn’t going to say anything. And then he did.
‘I work with overseas aid agencies,’ he said slowly into the silence, as if he didn’t yet know that he should admit it.
Aid agencies? What sort of aid agencies? What part of this could she believe? ‘But you said you work in Manhattan.’
‘I do. Patients come to me.’
‘How?’
‘Aid agencies send them,’ he said bluntly, his tone implying he’d decided he might as well tell her and get it over with, whether she believed him or not. ‘International aid agencies know what I do and they contact me at need. I intersperse these operations with my normal surgery-that way I can afford it. Mostly I treat people with head injuries from Africa. Neurological stuff. For children especially, as the brain continues to grow, scar tissue causes major problems. I work on techniques to remove the worst of the scar tissue without it reforming. I had to cancel some desperate cases when I realised I needed to find Zoe and get this place sorted. Those kids are still waiting. Now you’re here, I need to go back, finish what I’ve promised and try to hand over my techniques to others to take them forward.’
‘You cancelled…’ She was staring at him in horror. ‘You cancelled them for Zoe?’
‘For the welfare of the whole island. If Zoe wasn’t back here by the end of next week, then she’d forfeit the throne.’
She frowned, trying to keep up. ‘But then you’d inherit.’
‘You think I want it? I want to carry on my work.’
She swallowed. Hard. Trying to take this in. ‘So…So you really are abandoning us?’
‘No,’ he said flatly. ‘I can’t. This place is a mess. Hell, Elsa, there’s one doctor on the whole island and that’s just the start of it. The local school only takes kids up to sixteen and then there’s nothing. There’s no infrastructure. The council needs replacing with good, solid people and they’ll need support. How can I walk away and leave that to Zoe?’
‘I haven’t heard about this.’
‘I keep it quiet.’ He shrugged. ‘My wealthy patients come to me in part because of my social position. To be honest, their fees pay for the other work I do, so I have to pander to them.’
‘Honestly?’
‘Honestly,’ he said.
She stared at him. Said nothing. Stared at him still. Why did she believe him?
She did believe him. And if she did believe him…
She took a deep breath, summoned the words she needed and said them. ‘I could help,’ she said.
There was a loaded silence. He rose and stared down at her, as if she’d suddenly announced the arrival of aliens.
‘You’re kidding me,’ he said at last.
‘I don’t say what I don’t mean,’ she said, and rose as well. ‘Tell me what you need me to do and I’ll do it.’ She wasn’t feeling very steady. She put her hand on the balustrade to support herself and suddenly Stefanos’s hand was over hers.
‘You can’t,’ he said softly.
‘I can’t help? How do you know I can’t?’ She tilted her chin. ‘Sure, I don’t know anything about this place, sure I was angry just then, but I’ll get over it. You can teach me. If your work’s so important, then I can try.’
The silence extended. She really was exhausted, she thought. If it wasn’t for the balustrade and Stefanos’s hand…
‘Elsa, I’m starting to think there’s nothing you can’t do,’ he said softly into the silence. ‘There’s no end to your generosity. Zoe’s parents die and you abandon your career and take care of her. I arrive and tell you she’s needed here and you upend your life and abandon your echinoderms and come with her. And now…your anger turns to an offer of help, just like that. If I said I had to leave tomorrow would you try and handle the council yourself?’
‘Maybe I could,’ she said and jutted her chin and he laughed, a lovely deep chuckle that had her confused. Veering towards anger again. If only she wasn’t so tired.
‘No, don’t be angry, my lovely Elsa,’ he said softly, and he placed a finger under her chin. ‘I’m not laughing at you. Indeed, I never could. But no. Your generosity is amazing. Stunning. And, if I could, maybe I’d be tempted. But the island needs a ruler who knows it. Like it or not, I was raised here. I know the islanders. I know the problems. No, I don’t want to rule here. I want to practice my medicine. I won’t be able to practice the medicine I want here, but that’s a small sacrifice in the scheme of things. I’ve already started a training scheme back in New York. I just have to hope my work keeps going. If you could bear me to be away for these few weeks it will make all the difference.’
‘You should have told me.’
‘I should have told you,’ he agreed. ‘Indeed, I’m starting to think I should have told you many things.’ Then, as she pulled slightly away from him, his hands came to rest on her shoulders. ‘Thank you, Elsa. I can’t believe your generosity, and I will keep you safe. I will keep Zoe safe.’
‘I know you will.’ Unaccountably, her eyes filled with tears. Dammit, she would not cry.
But he was too big and too close and too male.
Matty, she thought, but it was a faint echo of a love that was gone. Only…why did it feel as if she was betraying him now?
‘You’re as exhausted as Zoe,’ Stefanos said softly. She shook her head and tried again to pull away from him- and staggered on the staircase.
But she didn’t fall. This man had promised to keep her safe and that was just what he was doing.
‘That hip…’ he said, holding her steady.
‘It’s fine.’
‘It’s not fine. It’s on my list to do something about. But not now. Now’s for sleeping.’ And, before she realised what he intended, she was lifted into his arms and he was striding down the hallway, just the same way he’d carried Zoe. As if her weight was nothing.
‘Put…What do you think you’re doing? Put me down.’
‘In a moment,’ he said, not breaking stride. ‘You need to go where Zoe’s going.’
She wanted to struggle. She really did. But suddenly all the struggle was sucked out of her.
His arms were strong, he was big and capable and he was carrying her like a child. For Elsa, who hadn’t been treated as a child since…well, since she was one, the sensation was indescribable.
She could melt into these arms, she thought. She could let herself disappear, stop struggling, let these arms hold her for ever.
Was this what jet lag did to a girl?
He was at her bedroom, pushing open her door with his foot. The interconnecting door to Zoe’s room was open
