The Italian's Passionate Proposal

Using a false surname that only he, his security team and the most senior member of the hospital were aware of.

Her eyes widened. ‘That’s spooky! I work there, too.’

Did she, now? That was the best news he’d had for months.

‘Which definitely means I can come on your visit,’ he said smoothly. ‘We’re colleagues. And after that I’m walking you home and we can heal each other’s bruises.’

Her lips parted slightly and he held his breath. If she said no, he was in big trouble.

‘I—I don’t know…’

The wary look was back and he gave her a smile that he hoped was non-threatening.

‘Look, I know this was an unconventional meeting, but you don’t need to be scared of me. If I step out of line you can always black my other eye.’

Maybe he was playing dirty by appealing to her conscience but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to let her walk out of his life.

‘All right.’ She hauled the bag onto her shoulder and jerked her head towards a high-rise building in the next street. ‘Come with me to see Kelly and then we’ll go back to my place and sort your face out. It’s the least I can do after having tried to half kill you.’

Resisting the impulse to punch the air in triumph, Carlo shortened his stride to match hers and followed her up seemingly endless flight of soulless concrete steps that intersected the flats.

He glanced around with a deepening frown.

No wonder she didn’t like coming here at night. The place was menacing and rough. Definitely not somewhere to be after dark. Especially for a woman on her own. The walls were covered in graffiti, there were smashed windows and boarded-up doors and, even this close to Christmas, there was very little evidence of festive cheer.

The girl came to a halt in front of a door, tugged the woollen hat back on her head and stuffed her hair back underneath it.

‘All part of the disguise.’ She tossed him a smile that made his whole body ache, and tapped on the door.

‘Kelly?’ She leaned closer to the door. ‘Kelly, it’s Zan. Let me in.’

Zan? Carlo blinked in surprise.

What sort of a name was Zan?

He was still trying to work it out when the door jerked open and a burly man stood there.

If ever a man was looking for a fight it was this one, and instinctively Carlo straightened his shoulders and prepared himself for trouble.

What the hell was the girl doing in a place like this? This certainly wasn’t his idea of midwifery.

‘Hi, Mike.’ Zan didn’t seem remotely nervous. Instead, she just gave the man the same warm smile she’d used on him earlier and peeped round him into the flat. ‘Can I see Kelly? I brought some stuff…’

She jiggled the black bin back temptingly and Mike’s face darkened.

‘We ain’t taking no charity!’

Zan shook her head. ‘Of course you’re not. It isn’t charity,’ she said easily, her tone relaxed and friendly. ‘Mothers swap clothes all the time. Someone I look after was having a clear-out—I just thought you might find it useful, but I can offer it to someone else if you prefer…’

Mike glowered at her and then opened the door wider. ‘And while we’re at it Kelly ain’t going to hospital, so don’t even think about suggesting it.’ He looked over her shoulder and his eyes narrowed as they fixed on Carlo. He looked at him man to man, his eyes resting on the width of Carlo’s shoulders. ‘Who’s he?’

Zan opened her mouth but Carlo spoke first.

‘I’m a doctor. Carlo Bennett.’

He almost stumbled over the surname, because it wasn’t his and he wasn’t used to it yet, but it was the name that everyone had agreed he should use while he was hiding out in London. As a qualified surgeon he was actually entitled to call himself Mr, but he didn’t think this was the time to worry about the finer points of titles. ‘I’m going to be working in this area and Zan said I could come with her on some visits.’

Aware that Zan was staring at him, Carlo gave the other man a friendly smile and reached out a hand.

There was a moment’s hesitation and then Mike shook it briefly, but his expression was still unfriendly.

‘You don’t look English and you don’t sound English.’

‘Part Italian,’ Carlo lied smoothly, denying some of his heritage in the interests of discretion. Mike pulled a face, leaving no one in any doubt of what he thought of foreign doctors.

‘Well, you can come in as you’re here, but you might as well know that I hate doctors and I’m not having one of them near my woman. Zan’s the only one I’ll let look at her.’

‘No problem.’ Careful to be non-confrontational, Carlo strolled into the flat after Zan, trying not to show his shock as they walked into the tiny sitting room.

The room was filthy and stacked high with old newspapers and half-eaten plates of food. In the middle of the carpet a German shepherd dog lay with its head on one paw, eyes fixed warily on Carlo.

The place was damp and freezing, and in the corner was a thin wisp of a girl with a rounded stomach and skinny legs.

‘Hi, Kelly.’ Clearing a space on the sofa, Zan sat down and opened the bin bag. ‘How are you feeling?’

Kelly glanced nervously at Mike, who gave a nod. ‘I’m doing OK,’ she said in a low voice, ‘but I’m pretty tired. Well, very tired, actually.’

And he would have bet half his fortune that she was anaemic, Carlo thought, running a professional eye over the patient and her surroundings. Judging from the remains of the food on the plate, she wasn’t eating properly.

‘I think it’s possible that you may be anaemic,’ Zan was saying as she delved into the bag for a blood-pressure cuff. ‘That basically means that your blood isn’t carrying enough oxygen. It can happen very easily when you’re pregnant, especially if you don’t eat properly.’

Carlo blinked with admiration. So she’d homed in on the same problem immediately.

She checked Kelly’s blood pressure and then glanced at Mike. ‘I really want to take a blood sample, Mike.’

‘No way.’ His tone was unfriendly. ‘I’m not having you sticking needles in her. Just do what you have to do and leave.’

Zan’s expression was understanding. ‘I’m just trying to help her, Mike. She’s thirty-four weeks pregnant. If she is anaemic then that could be the reason she’s so tired, and we need to get it sorted out before she has the baby. I want to check the iron levels in her blood.’

‘No needles.’ Mike moved towards Zan and Carlo took a step forward, ready to intervene.

No way was that thug going any nearer to Zan.

‘If you’ve got iron in your bag then just give it to her,’ Carlo said smoothly, and three pairs of eyes turned to look at him.

‘There’s a strong chance that you are anaemic, and obviously we’d like to check that out.’ He spoke directly to Kelly. ‘But if you’d rather we didn’t then the next best thing is to just give you the iron.’

‘Will it hurt the baby?’