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How To Propose To A Princess
Rebecca Winters
She fell for a doctor… Can she love a crown prince? It’s love at first sight for both Dr. Nico Barsotti and Princess Fausta of Domodossola. But before proposing orphaned Nico resolves to uncover the secrets of his birth. Fausta’s always longed for a life away from the royal court, so what happens when Nico reveals his discovery – he’s a Crown Prince!
She fell for a doctor…
Can she love a crown prince?
In this The Princess Brides story, when Dr. Nico Barsotti meets Princess Fausta of Domodossola, it’s love at first sight—for them both! Before he asks for Fausta’s hand in marriage, orphaned Nico resolves to uncover the secrets of his birth. Fausta’s always longed for a life away from the royal court, so their future is uncertain when Nico reveals his discovery—he’s a crown prince!
REBECCA WINTERS lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. With canyons and high alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favourite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her romance novels—because writing is her passion, along with her family and her church. Rebecca loves to hear from readers. If you wish to email her, please visit her website at rebeccawinters.net (http://www.rebeccawinters.net).
Also by Rebecca Winters (#ufd94c3b9-e1be-5d4e-9530-d7ca1c388418)
The Magnate’s Holiday Proposal
Holiday with a Billionaire miniseries
Captivated by the Brooding Billionaire
Falling for the Venetian Billionaire
Wedding the Greek Billionaire
The Princess Brides miniseries
The Princess’s New Year Wedding
The Prince’s Forbidden Bride
How to Propose to a Princess
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
How to Propose to a Princess
Rebecca Winters
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-09163-3
HOW TO PROPOSE TO A PRINCESS
© 2019 Rebecca Winters
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 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.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Note to Readers (#ufd94c3b9-e1be-5d4e-9530-d7ca1c388418)
This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:
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Text to speech
To my dear daughter Dominique, herself a wonderful
writer, who cried through parts of this story with me.
That told me her heart had been touched too.
Contents
Cover (#u603a878a-cda9-534e-a253-2ab57a653e79)
Back Cover Text (#u921eec88-f97d-5296-bb38-e4f084a61e20)
About the Author (#ud05cef34-4639-5c4c-814f-703c01c12ae9)
Booklist (#u355d4c48-fd6a-53a1-8a34-03b813c8833b)
Title Page (#uf445da0f-f6f0-556e-9957-ee7d2a88d53e)
Copyright (#uca4b3b94-1531-5f5e-9eba-5c5b2164dd89)
Note to Readers
Dedication (#ue5b62051-c89b-583c-b50b-286950234e04)
CHAPTER ONE (#uedf01e94-9156-571b-8825-7945677ef534)
CHAPTER TWO (#u6781358d-5753-53e7-bce6-d03c214d9600)
CHAPTER THREE (#u41ff61c7-71a7-57c6-8e70-1641ddb6f09d)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ufd94c3b9-e1be-5d4e-9530-d7ca1c388418)
THOUGH OFFICE HOURS for patients ended at 4:30 p.m. weekdays, and the receptionist had gone, Dr. Nico Barsotti didn’t say good-night to his last patient until five thirty Tuesday evening. Even after diagnosing her with strep throat and writing out a prescription, he still couldn’t call it a night. Before he could grab a bite in town on his way home, he needed to check on his nine-year-old patient, Tommaso Coletti.
Once he’d said good-night to his nurse who would lock up, he walked through the Hospital of the Three Crosses in the capital city of Domodossola to the pediatric floor in the other wing. The boy had suffered a ruptured appendix on Monday evening. Dr. Sala had performed the surgery, but Nico was his physician. He needed to follow up on the course of IV antibiotics he’d ordered and study the latest lab tests.
Nico nodded to the charting nurse at the station before walking into the room. He’d expected to see at least one of the boy’s parents. Instead he beheld a sight that brought him to a halt.
Sitting in a chair next to the bed reading to him was a woman probably in her midtwenties who had luminous golden hair that fell to her shoulders. She wore a light blue volunteer lab coat over a dark blue dress. He caught a glimpse of her lovely profile and moved closer to discover she was reading a book popular with children.
Adriano, il Cane di Pompei was the story of a special stray dog who sawancient Pompei as a magical place with its archaeological sites. The smile on Tommaso’s face meant he was enjoying it. Who wouldn’t be mesmerized by the woman’s voice? She read it with all the charm and allure of a great storyteller.
He waited until she’d finished before walking over to the other side of the bed. His gaze met hers. Between her light sea glass blue eyes and golden hair, he couldn’t look anywhere else. Nico knew he’d seen that beautiful face before. But where?
The blonde knockout reminded him of a celebrity, but he couldn’t think which one. She gave him an enticing smile she probably wasn’t aware of. That’s when he remembered. Last month she’d been eating in the hospital cafeteria with Mia Giancarlo, one of the nurses. He recalled she’d been wearing a silky print blouse and skirt, her womanly figure transformed. Her image had stayed in his mind, and he’d been looking for her ever since.
“Look who’s here, Tommaso,” she said. “It’s Dr. Barsotti.”
The boy turned his head in Nico’s direction, his eyes excited. “Dottore—”
“Ehi,Tommaso. I can see you’ve been well entertained. Come stai?”
“Fausta has been reading to me!”
Fausta? The name rang a bell.
Santo cielo! Now it was all coming back to him. Princess Fausta Rossiano in the flesh.
“How do you do, Princess?” he said as he checked the IV bag and took Tommaso’s vital signs. “He’s a lucky boy to receive a visit from you.”
“I’m the lucky one, dottore.”
“Her name’s Fausta,” Tommaso corrected him.
Nico smiled to himself.
The three daughters of King Victor, ruler of the small country of Domodossola that touched on the borders of France, Switzerland and Italy, were known for their beauty. During these last few years there’d been two royal marriages, and their pictures had been on TV and in the newspaper. Nico ought to know since the magazines in his office put there for the patients were filled with royal news. There’d been constant speculation that the third stunning princess would be marrying a royal prince in the near future.
He shouldn’t be surprised that the yet unmarried daughter of the royal family would actually volunteer her time this way. They did a lot of admirable philanthropy for the country. Her friendliness had won over his patient.
“When can I go home?”
“You’re doing much better this evening, Tommaso. I’ll probably release you in the morning.” He turned to put some information into the computer.
“Not until then?” the boy muttered. “I’m fine now.”
“We must do what Dr. Barsotti says!”
Tommaso’s father had arrived. His wife followed him inside. Nico watched their interaction. Tommaso didn’t know how lucky he was to have loving parents. Nico had grown up in an orphanage run by the nuns. For years he’d been trying to find his parents and where he’d come from with no success.
After they thanked the princess for her time, she slipped quietly from the room. He gave instructions to the parents before he left to catch up with her. Strongly drawn to her by her appeal, he wanted to get acquainted, but other than staff, he saw no sign of her in the corridor.
He approached the charge nurse. “When did Princess Fausta start reading to the children?”
The other woman’s face broke into a broad smile. “She’s been a hospital volunteer for several months in the geriatric department. This week she was assigned to Pediatrics. So far, all the patients have been delighted. She has a real way with them. We’re excited she’ll be working with us until she’s transferred to another department.”
“When will she be here again?”
“Tomorrow. For the time being she comes on the afternoon shift four times a week.”
“I see. Thank you.”
Nico left the hospital, glad he had to wait only until tomorrow when he checked on another patient. Hopefully he’d find her here.
During the drive back to the palace in the limo, Fausta relived those moments in Tommaso’s hospital room when Dr. Barsotti had come in. Over the past two months she’d seen him several times from a distance when he’d come in to the hospital cafeteria. But they hadn’t actually spoken to each other until now.
Fausta hadn’t thought it possible to be attracted to another man after her heart had been broken four years ago. Dego Spinella had been her childhood sweetheart.
Dego’s father, Tano, had been the personal chauffeur for her father over the years. He, along with his wife and two children, lived in a house on the estate. Their son Dego was Fausta’s age. Along with her sisters, they’d all played outside together over the years. As they grew older, the friendship between Fausta and Dego grew into love.
They’d planned to go to the University of Domodossola together and then get married. But her dream was shattered when one day just before college started, her father told her that Dego was leaving for Rome, Italy, to attend college there. The king had made plans to pay for his lodging and tuition as his way of thanking Tano and their family for all their years of service.
In panic, Fausta had phoned Dego. “Why didn’t you refuse my father so we could be together?” she cried in despair. “That’s all you had to do!”
