Page 7 of Marrying a Prince

He narrowed his eyes. He was a royal. Gisella had no right to speak to him like that. "Are you contradicting your prince?" he asked, summoning his commanding voice. One reserved only for when he was going to reprimand a servant or leader.

Gisella's mouth opened, but Leo just held her gaze, challenging her to defy him again. As if she suddenly realized that she wasn't going to win, she closed her lips and shook her head. "No."

He nodded, straightening the covers over his lap. "Good."

At least this was a start.

Chapter Three

Marianna couldn't comprehend what Dr. Wilson was saying. She scoffed and folded her arms, shaking her head, trying to get the ringing in her ears to dissipate. "I'm sorry, what?" she asked again. She glanced over at Donna, who was nodding as if she understood what was being asked.

"I think it would be best for you to come back to the ER, just to tend to Prince Leo. He seems to have taken a liking to you. It might help him to remember. Besides, in situations like this, it's better to play along with their ideas than try to shock them into remembering."

Marianna studied Dr. Wilson's lips. She knew he was speaking English, but the words were not making any sense. How could he be asking her to come back to the one place she'd sworn she wouldn't return? "But, I changed departments." Dr. Wilson had to understand what he was asking of her. "I can't come back."

Dr. Wilson grew serious. "I was informed that the family would be willing to make a sizable donation to my research if I could help him remember." He leaned closer to Marianna. "This is important to my department. You'll do this for me, right?"

Marianna studied him. Truth was, she liked Dr. Wilson. He was like the grandfather to all the doctors here. She felt bad leaving him in the lurch. "So I have to wait on the prince in the hopes that he might remember his fiancée?" Man, just saying the words out loud made her sound crazy.

"This is amazing," Donna breathed as she moved her gaze from Dr. Wilson to Marianna. "You have to do this," she said.

Dr. Wilson looked so earnest that she sighed and nodded. "Okay. I'll do it."

He smiled. "Perfect. I'll put you on the shift. Go home and take a shower, you're going to be here for a while."

Two hours later, Marianna pulled her duffle bag farther up onto her shoulder and made her way into the locker room just outside of the ER. She wasn't sure how long she was going to be the prince's personal nurse, so she'd gone home, taken a quick nap, eaten, and showered.

Anything to prepare for the night ahead.

After everything was secured in her locker, she adjusted her scrubs and headed toward the ER hallway. She pushed open the large doors that groaned as they moved. A sound she'd heard so many times. One that held too many memories for her.

A sinking feeling settled in her gut, and she swallowed. Why was she doing this? This was crazy. All she had to do was say no. Then she could run upstairs and protect herself from the pain this place held.

She shook her head. She was being ridiculous. She needed to stop letting Samson have this kind of control over her. He was a selfish jerk who had led her on. It was time she started showing him that he couldn't control her like that again. She would never get those three years back, and she needed to stop him from ruining any more.

A hushed giggle made her freeze. Stilling her pounding heart, she peeked around the corner to see Samson pressing Barbie up against the wall. He had his hands resting on either side of her and, she was smiling up at him.

Marianna wanted to throw up. She's seen this before and even though time had passed since she and Samson were anything special, coming face to face with the couple who had broken her heart was too much.

She was a fool to think that she could remain at this hospital with Samson and his new fling.

"Is everything okay?" A deep Italian accent sounded behind her.

Marianna yelped and jumped, turning to see Leo standing behind her. He had his eyebrows raised and a playful smile on his lips.

"Y-Yes," she stammered and then mentally slapped herself for sounding so stupid.

"It just seems strange that you are standing in the hallway, looking as if you were spying." He inched forward and glanced around the corner.

Marianna wished that the ground would just swallow her whole—right here. She leaned her back against the wall and sighed. How had her life come to this? Was she really that pathetic?

"It's ridiculous doctor," Leo whispered as he peeked back at her. "Why are you hiding around the corner to watch him make out with some nurse."

Marianna tipped her face toward the ceiling and closed her eyes. "He's my ex." She swallowed—the feelings of embarrassment growing in her chest. Did she want to tell this prince just how pathetic she was? What did it matter. He was going to find out anyway. "The girl he’s kissing. She's the one he cheated on me with." Ugh. Those words tasted like acid on her tongue.

When Leo didn't say anything, Marianna glanced over to see him peek around the corner again. "You can do better than that insect," he said.

Marianna laughed. "Yeah. Are you serious?"

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