Surgeon Prince's Fake Fiancée
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Karin Baine
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13
CHAPTER ONE
‘WHAT THE...? WHAT, NOW?’
Soraya’s head was spinning, partly from the information that had just been launched at her, but mostly from being ushered into a small office at top speed by someone who usually didn’t have two words to say to her. At least not pleasant ones.
‘I need you to operate on my father.’
Raed Ayad, a neurosurgeon who worked at the hospital, and someone she’d had the misfortune to run into on occasion, sighed as he repeated his demand.
He was slightly less frantic now than when he’d first accosted her in the corridor, asked her for ‘a quick word’, then corralled her into this room. After the rambling about a country in need and his responsibility, at least now he was clarifying what he wanted from her. She just didn’t know why.
It was an open secret that Raed, super surgeon, was also a prince in his own country. An island in the Persian Gulf somewhere that apparently wasn’t missing him. Although his royal status was something she could have guessed by the regal way he glided through the hospital corridors. Goodness knew why he was working in a busy London hospital if he had a luxurious palace somewhere to lounge around in. Some people didn’t have a choice but to work day and night to pay the bills, but at least she only had herself to support now the divorce had come through. Still, she had a lot on her mind, what with the debt her cheating ex-husband had run up, moving into her sister’s tiny flat, and transferring to the London Central Hospital. Getting involved in Raed’s family drama wasn’t something she needed on top of that.
Especially when he’d been so rude to her when she’d asked him for his help not so long ago. She’d been trying to raise funds for a young local carers’ charity to provide a centre where they could go for respite. Something that was close to her heart as she’d cared for her elderly, ailing parents and taken on the responsibility of her younger sister, Isolde, in her teens. New to the hospital, and the area, she’d targeted her fellow surgeons during her fundraising, knowing they had a bigger income than most of the medical staff. When she had approached Raed during the fundraising day, dressed in her pyjamas, her hair tied in pigtails and her front tooth blacked out, he’d snapped, ‘Not now,’ and stomped off down the corridor. For a prince, he’d been sadly lacking in manners.
‘Tell me again what’s going on. Slowly.’
His breath of frustration and clenched jaw did little to win Soraya’s sympathy.
‘My father’s in the hospital. He’s had a heart attack and needs a bypass operation.’
‘Okay, but what does that have to do with me?’ Apart from his complete dismissal of her charity fundraising, she was pretty sure this was the first time he’d actually spoken to her directly. Usually he swept into the hospital, worked his magic in the operating theatre, then swept out again, leaving everyone in awe behind him. His reputation was second to none, at least professionally speaking. He wasn’t known for being personable. Cool, precise and controlled were usually the words used to describe him. The nicer ones at least.
Raed was tugging at his hair now, mussing the usually sleek raven locks. Even the carefully groomed beard he sported seemed a little unruly today. ‘My father is the King. If anything happens to him, our country will be in uproar. We need to keep this quiet until we know he’s going to be all right. You’re the best cardiac surgeon the trust has.’
She couldn’t argue with that, yet she held a little resentment that he’d clearly had privileges to get where he was in his career, when she’d had to struggle every day. A prince wouldn’t have had to work menial jobs to pay for schooling, or raise a sister alone after their parents died, or sell a home to pay off a cheating ex’s debts.
Okay, so none of that was Raed’s fault, but if he weren’t so arrogant she wouldn’t have taken such a dislike to him. Not that she would let her personal feelings get in the way of her doing her job.
‘I’ll check my schedule.’
‘You don’t understand, there is no time.’ He was pacing the room now, which brought back memories for her. She’d been equally worried when both of her parents had been ill. Although a patient still had a chance if they received a heart bypass. Terminal lung cancer was somewhat more difficult to reconcile. Especially when both of her parents had succumbed to it within a year of each other.
‘I know you’re upset, Raed. Why don’t you sit down and we can talk about this?’ She tried to direct him towards a seat but he simply resumed pacing.
‘Don’t you see? I’m the next in line to the throne. If he dies I have to go back.’
This was the first time she’d seen Raed anything other than cool and in control and it was clear he was in a crisis. Not least because he’d chosen her to confide in.
‘Surely, that’s not news to you? I mean, I don’t know much about your country but if you’re next in line to the throne...’
‘It was supposed to be Amir but I can’t expect him to go back now.’
‘Ah, yes, your brother? I was sorry to hear about the accident and the loss of your sister-in-law. My sister, Isolde, is working with your niece on her mobility issues.’ Soraya remembered the story about the car crash being on the news, back before Raed had been in her orbit. Isolde had recently been working with Farah, his nine-year-old niece, who was still struggling to walk six months on. It was clear the family had been through a lot recently.
‘So you know he can’t go back. He’s not in the right head space to run a country and he’s needed here. I—I just need some more time.’ He finally dropped into the chair, seemingly defeated by his circumstances, and Soraya couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
‘Forgive me, but aren’t you the eldest? Shouldn’t it be you?’ Surely he’d had a lifetime to prepare for this role? Soraya didn’t understand why it seemed to come as such a surprise now.
‘Amir was going to take my position as rightful heir. We were about to make an official announcement to surrender my right to be next in line to the throne when the accident happened. Of course we’ve had to delay that because he has to focus on Farah, but, with my father ill now, someone will have to go back to Zaki. I guess that’s going to be me.’ The reluctance was there in every word, but also an acceptance that this was his fate as the eldest son.
Although she wasn’t royalty, Soraya knew how it was to be so burdened by responsibility, given she’d spent most of her life looking after her younger sister. Their parents had had them late in life, their health gradually declining when Soraya was a teenager, so she’d parented Isolde even before they’d been orphaned, putting her sister’s needs before her own. It was clear Raed had a life here in London, including a successful career, that he didn’t want to leave behind, but it appeared he had no choice. That familiar pressure awakened a new empathy towards him.
‘Okay, okay. I’ll go and see your father and talk to his consultant.’
‘Thank you, Soraya.’
She didn’t know if it was the unfamiliar sound of her name on his tongue or the look of gratitude in those deep brown eyes that made her legs wobble beneath her jade-green wrap dress as she left the room. Not a development she was excited about when she was still getting over her marriage break-up.
It had been only fourteen months since her whole world had come crashing down, when she found out, not only that Frank had cheated on her, but also that he’d funded it with her money. Romance had been the last thing on her mind when she’d been busy with work and raising Isolde, and though there’d been a few dates and disasters in medical school her priorities had lain elsewhere, so it wasn’t until Isolde had grown up and moved out that she’d been open to the idea of sharing her life with someone else. Frank had been her first real relationship.
He was a lawyer who specialised in helping charitable causes, and she’d thought him a man she could trust, who would put her before anything else as he clearly had such a big heart. Wrong.
She’d thought, because he was so generously giving his time and effort to good causes, it was only right that they would live off her earnings. What she’d been unaware of was the fact that he was giving a lot more to one of his administrators than paperwork, and running up credit in both their names to fund his affair.
Isolde had wanted her to go to the police and have him charged with fraud for forging her signature on loans and credit agreements, which she’d later found out paid for luxury holidays and expensive hotels. When she’d believed he was away fighting for funding and debating issues with parliament, he’d actually been living it up with his mistress. Despite all that she didn’t want a long, drawn-out court case where she’d have to face Frank and his lies all over again. It was more important to her to cut her losses and walk away. Even if that meant selling her home to do so and taking up residence in her little sister’s box room in the meantime.
All that trauma and upset meant she wasn’t in any hurry to even think about another man. If and when she was ready to get close to someone else, it would be with a man who would put her first for a change. Certainly not one who had the weight of an entire country on his shoulders.
Royalty was a world away from the life she led, but when she operated on his father she would treat him as every other patient. And Raed? He was just another attractive, successful, concerned family member she would probably never have to deal with again.
Raed stayed in the chair long after the blaze of Soraya’s red hair had disappeared out of sight. There was a definite sense of relief easing the tension from his body now that she’d agreed to perform his father’s surgery, but it was mixed with the shame of his emotional outburst. In their line of work it was nothing new to have relatives breaking down on them, but Soraya was a colleague, one he didn’t know particularly well. That hadn’t stopped him blabbing some very personal details he’d clearly been bottling up for too long though.
It had been a long couple of days, watching his father fighting for his life, and inwardly dealing with all the consequences of that. At least he’d been stabilised now, even if he needed that all-important heart bypass. In the meantime, it was down to Raed how they publicly dealt with the situation.
He’d been under pressure to return to the family fold ever since the car crash that had devastated his brother Amir’s life. Responsibility to his family and his country had already cost him his relationship, but he wasn’t ready to leave his whole life behind here in England just yet. And he knew if they revealed his father’s serious health woes his countrymen would expect him to immediately go home and take up the reins, which would be no mean feat. It was something Amir had been preparing for, not Raed.
He took his phone out of his pocket and called his brother.
‘How did it go?’ Amir knew his plan to get Soraya onside to give their father the best chance of surviving.
‘She’s on board, though it took a little grovelling.’
His brother gave a brittle laugh. Raed didn’t think he’d heard him truly laugh since his wife had died. ‘Now that I would like to have seen.’
‘It wasn’t my finest moment.’ He cringed, thinking about the display he’d put on. Usually he was able to keep a lid on his feelings. Even when Zara had left him, unable to deal with the idea of potentially having to move back home with him and become part of the royal family, he hadn’t made a scene like that. His emotions were usually the one thing in his life he could keep control over.
From a very young age his whole life had been dictated by his royal role—until he’d rebelled against his position and decided to go into medicine, making his own path. He’d worked hard to be a success, but this just proved he still had no control of his own life. And now he’d loosened his grip on those emotions he usually tried so hard to keep to himself in front of a colleague, it felt as though everything was slipping away from him again.
He supposed it was the culmination of everything hitting him all at once, plus lack of sleep. Add to that the initial hostility towards him from the one person who might have been able to help them get through this nightmare, and he’d lost his usual composure. In that moment when it had seemed as though she wasn’t going to make things easy for him, he’d seen himself on the first private jet home. Alone. Leaving his family and all their problems here without him. Despite Soraya’s help there was no knowing if his father would survive, his mother was in bits, and Amir and Farah needed his support. Even if he could walk away from his career and the independent life he’d made for himself here, he was torn between the responsibility he felt towards his family, and that for his country. His life was never going to be his own again.
‘Well, we’re all struggling, Raed.’
‘How is Mother? Sorry I had to leave but I wanted to catch Dr Yarrow.’
‘I know, don’t worry. I’ve sent her back to the hotel to rest.’
‘Good idea. A five-star suite with an entourage to take care of her is a lot better than sitting in a tiny family room with a cup of cold coffee waiting for news. Something Mother is not used to, even if the two of us spend a lot of time in those situations. Albeit on the other end of the conversations that tend to happen in the family room.’ His brother was a thoracic surgeon who often worked in life-or-death situations too. Both he and Amir had gone to England for medical school and were working in the same hospital. For now. Neither of them knew what the future held.
‘We all need some rest or we won’t be any use to Father at all. Listen, I’ll be in with Farah for her physiotherapy appointment tomorrow. Why don’t you get some sleep tonight and come and say hello tomorrow?’
‘I might just do that,’ Raed said and ended the call.
Before that he’d check in with his mother to make sure she was all right, and get an update on his father from his consultant. He needed to be with his family. After all, he didn’t know how much longer he’d have left with them.
‘Hey, Fa-Fa.’ Raed greeted his young niece with the nickname he knew she secretly loved even when she pulled that face at him. He hadn’t slept any better last night than he had by his father’s bedside when he’d been first admitted to the cardiac unit, but he put on a brave face for Farah so she didn’t unduly worry. He supposed his brother and mother were also trying to shield her from the possibility of losing another loved one. She knew her grandfather was ill, but they hadn’t shared any critical details in the hope he would recover before she realised how sick he really was.
‘Hi, Uncle Raed.’ Farah smiled, though these days there was a sadness in it that broke his heart.
He kissed her on the cheek. ‘So, how’s it going?’
She screwed up her nose. ‘It’s not fun.’
‘I know, sweetheart, but these exercises are all to try and make your legs stronger.’
‘What’s the point if I’m never going to walk again?’ It was tough to see her so despondent in the wheelchair, as though she’d given up. She wasn’t the same energetic child who used to dance on his feet while holding his hands, giggling and singing. Even though there was a chance she could regain full use of her limbs, he wasn’t so sure he’d get that fun-loving niece back again. That crash had stolen so much from her—and Amir—and Raed wished he could do something to make them happy again. Something he wouldn’t be able to do if he was on the other side of the world from them.
‘We’re working on it, Farah, aren’t we?’ a perky young blonde said as she came into the room. She clearly knew his niece and, judging by the uniform, he assumed it must be the physiotherapist helping her with her rehabilitation.
‘Raed, this is Isolde.’ It was Amir who introduced her and Raed didn’t miss the smile on his face as he did so.
‘Isolde? That’s not a name I’ve heard before, yet I think that’s the second time in a couple of days... Is Dr Yarrow your sister?’ It slowly dawned on him as he saw the family resemblance that Soraya had mentioned something about her sister working with Farah.
‘Yes. I’m supposed to be meeting her for lunch once I’m finished up here. Speak of the devil...’ Isolde turned her head and Raed followed her gaze to see Soraya waving from the door.
‘We’ll let you go. I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on.’ The sight of her immediately made him cringe at the thought of their conversation yesterday. She’d witnessed him at his worst, his most vulnerable, a side of him neither his patients nor his family had ever seen. It had been a moment of weakness he hoped never to repeat, or be reminded of again.
‘Can Isolde come to lunch with us, Papa?’ Farah, who’d been quiet during the exchange around her, now spoke up to torpedo Raed’s plan to try and avoid the Yarrow sisters as much as possible.
‘Ms Yarrow just said she already has plans with her sister,’ Amir countered, clearly as uncomfortable with the idea as he was.
‘Soraya moved into my tiny flat with me last year so we’re sick of the sight of each other. Only joking. It would be nice to have some company other than my bossy big sister and it makes sense for us all to have lunch together.’ Isolde looked as thrilled with the idea as his niece, and Raed knew they were fighting a losing battle.
Both he and Amir would do anything to make Farah smile again. Even if it meant asking Soraya to join them too. Sitting through a lunch with a colleague he’d embarrassed himself in front of seemed a small price to pay for his niece’s happiness.
‘We’re having afternoon tea at Grandmother’s hotel with scones and tiny sandwiches and macarons.’
‘Sounds lovely.’ Isolde was grinning at Farah’s unexpected excitement over such a simple thing as lunch.
It was clear to see the pair had quickly built up a rapport and, though his brother probably wasn’t ready to socialise just yet, Raed thought it would be worth both their personal discomfort to keep that smile on Farah’s little face a while longer.
‘Of course you and your sister should join us for lunch. As a thank you for helping us, and we are all work colleagues after all.’ He took the initiative, realising he would have to face Soraya again sooner or later as they’d probably be seeing more of each other because of his father.
Isolde rushed over to offer the lunch invitation to her sister and he watched the puzzled look on her face turn into one of irritation. Then she saw he was watching and forced a smile as she waved over.
With a little prompting from Isolde, Soraya came into the room to join them. ‘Thank you so much for the invite but—’
‘But nothing,’ Isolde interrupted her sister. ‘We are going for afternoon tea with the lovely royal family, Soraya.’
The pointed look Isolde gave her almost made Raed laugh out loud and he had to turn away so they wouldn’t see the smirk on his face. It was clear who really called the shots in this sibling relationship and it made him feel better to see her on the back foot this time.
‘We would have to go and get changed first, Isolde, and I don’t really have time to take out of my day,’ Soraya insisted through gritted teeth.
‘You look absolutely fine, and it’ll be a private affair. We won’t be expected to dine with the public, don’t worry. There is a car waiting to take us there and it can bring you straight back after lunch so you don’t miss any work. You are allowed a lunch break, Soraya.’ Despite previously embarrassing himself, and not wishing to revisit it in her presence, there was a greater part of Raed that was enjoying seeing her discomfort. It proved the great Dr Yarrow was human too.
Soraya Yarrow had an excellent reputation for her surgery skills and for working well in a crisis. Which was partly why he was cringing at the memory of his mini emotional breakdown when it had looked as though he couldn’t hold it together.
‘Thank you. That’s very kind.’ She smiled graciously but there was a tension in her body that couldn’t disguise her annoyance.
It was obvious she didn’t want to have lunch with him and Amir, but here she was, trapped by her loyalty to her sibling. He knew something about that. Hopefully her unease would go some way to cancelling his out, then they might even be able to enjoy their meal. Although he did enjoy seeing her lose her cool, proving he wasn’t the only one who could have an off day.
Dr Yarrow had a good reputation in the hospital. He’d asked around, and apparently she had joined the staff around the same time he’d split with Zara. He didn’t recall meeting her before, but he hadn’t been in the mood for much conversation with anyone at that time. His mind had been full of worries about his future, where he was going to end up, and how he was going to get through it all without any support. As usual he’d simply had to push his emotions to one side and get on with things. The same thing he’d been doing from a young age when it came to public appearances, or when he was sent to boarding school away from his family. He hadn’t been allowed to say he was unhappy, and had been expected to carry on regardless.
So when Zara had called it quits on their relationship and moved out, he’d gone back to work and helped those who still needed him. It hadn’t meant he wasn’t hurting on the inside. Just like now.
He would try and make friends, share a meal with the woman who would hopefully save his father’s life, but he was still frightened half to death about what was coming next for him too.
