He traced the bridge of her slim nose. She truly was beautiful. "It's not. I need you, Amy Fields, and I loveyou."
"I love you too." She placed her hand on his knuckles. "And I believe you. I was just shocked because I’ve longed to hear those words fromyou."
He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips again. She tasted sweet and better than any candy or pastry. He carefully adjusted his weight on the mattress of the narrow hospital bed. "Good. Now that you understand how I feel, I want to tell you we're working on finding Suzie. Did you ever suspect her of being ananarchist?"
"No." She tugged on his hand. "I don't care about any of that. I just want you to kissme."
"That I can do." His lips curved into a smile. Together they would be unstoppable. He'd ensure the threat was gone and soon they'd be man and wife. His life would be complete the day they said Ido.
21
Trapped in the hospital bed,Amy stared out the window. The morning light was disturbed with camera flashes, so she knew Lucio must have returned. Her heart sped up. She needed to get out of here. Now. At least in the palace, she'd be less surrounded by reporters with long cameras trying to get pictures ofher.
She tried to move, but the cast kept her immobile. Finally, the door opened and Lucio walked in with a wheelchair, the nurse and another woman who looked like she worked for the hospital, but Amy hadn't met her. She kept her gaze on Lucio's strong shoulders. "Are you busting me out ofhere?"
He nodded while the woman took the wheelchair from him. He then walked with the nurse who pressed buttons on her bed to get her to sit straight while Lucio said, "The palace has doctors on staff, where I’m sure you would be more comfortable. Suzie has been stopped in Italy. Marco is there, representing our nation'sinterest."
The woman who seemed like a nurse but didn’t wear the uniform, and the hospital nurse, helped Amy out of the bed and placed her in the chair. "She would stop in Venice, but I don't care about her. I'd love to get out of here and gohome."
Lucio helped them adjust her, but knelt beside her good side. "We both need your leg to heal, so you have to becareful."
The nurse secured her cast in an elevated position. Amy tried to pretend she was fine, and kept her gaze on Lucio. "There is less danger of someone snapping my picture when I try to hobble to thebathroom."
Lucio stood without laughing. "Technically, they'd want your picture there too, but we have private property to protectyou."
"Are you stalling?" She motioned toward the door. "I'm looking forward to this royal bath where I can keep the cast dry butsoak."
"We're waiting for clearance," Lucio told her once the nurseleft.
Lucio motioned toward the other woman who seemed poised and ready to help. "Amy, this is your paramedic, Nancy, from the night we found you. Nancy will be driving us to thepalace."
Amy's eyes widened slightly. No wonder Lucio seemed like he knew her. If she could, she'd get up and shake hands, but instead she motioned with her head. "Nice to meetyou."
The woman curtsied toward her, like she was important, and kept her head down. "Nice to see you awake this time, YourHighness."
"No, I'm not that, not yet." Hopefully nothing else went wrong because she’d loved Lucio all her life. She coughed and finished, "I'm still MissFields."
The nurse returned and gave them the thumbs up sign. "We're ready, YourHighness."
Lucio walked beside her while Nancy pushed. "Until our wedding you are now the Lady-in-Waiting to Her Royal Highness, Queen AnnaCamilla."
A title of sorts? Seriously? Amy's lips pursed as she tried to imagine anyone taking her seriously with such a title. "When did thathappen?"
Finally, they were at the elevator and he pressed the button. She was almost out of here. "When Mother started writing invitations and wanted to elevate yourstatus."
They boarded and the doors closed. A formal wedding with the royal treatment sounded like a strange foreign concept where she'd have a lot of work in planning. "Ohh." The elevator went down. "Will your mother be waiting to discuss wedding details rightaway?"
"No. I won’t let her walk over you, Amy." They made it to their floor and the lobby seemed clear of people. "However, your parents are giddy at the invitation list." "I can imagine," she saiddryly.
No one was going to walk over her again, especially her parents. Her wedding would have her own choices in it. They walked toward the door fast and the nurse gave someone a sign. Outside, the ambulance was parked so close to the door that she couldn't see beyond it. Nancy wheeled her up without a problem. "We'rehere."
"Thank you, Nancy." The paramedic secured Amy's chair so it wouldn’tmove.
A few minutes later, Nancy was in the driver’s seat and they took off. Lucio stayed beside her and held her hand. They slowed down and Amy wished she could turn and see the palace, but she was strapped inplace.
The ambulance stopped and Nancy reappeared to unlock her. Lucio waited until the doors were opened and Nancy wheeled her downstairs. The second she saw the green lawn, it felt like a weight lifted off her shoulders. She was safe here at her newhome.
Lucio traced her arm and shoulder. "Are you ready for me to wheelyou?"
