Chapter Three

The sun was blazing hot. It was so hot that you could feel your brain short circuiting in your head if you weren't wearing a hat and that was exactly how Jonina felt as she sat on the stool behind the rickety table that held her tray of oranges.

Her stepmother didn't want her sitting alone doing nothing at home since she'd banned Joni from going to her store after a robbery incident that was no fault of hers so she'd gotten a space for Joni in the market to sell oranges which wasn't really a lucrative business but Celestina couldn't care less.

She hadn't provided Joni with an umbrella to shade her from the sun and rain so sometimes she had to share a large umbrella with the woman next to her but as fate would have it, the woman fell ill and couldn't come to the market so Joni had to sit there in the sun with a thin scarf covering her head and praying for divine intervention.

"God, I'm so thirsty." She muttered and swallowed but her mouth was so dry, she couldn't draw spit. She shut her eyes.

"How much for the oranges?". A sexy velvet voice inquired. 

Joni's eyes flew open and widened in shock as she stared at the person in front of her. He wasn't just a person but a drop dead gorgeous fallen angel with gray eyes and a shock of black hair. He was dressed in a white button down shirt, black jeans and... She bent her head to look under the table. White designer sneakers.

"Miss?". The fallen angel frowned and snapped his fingers in front of her face making her jump.

"I'm.. I'm so sorry." She apologized flushing with embarrassment at being caught. "What... What did you say?".

"How much for the oranges?". His lips curled up in a half smile.

"Uh... It's um... It's um..." She paused and shook her head. "I'm so sorry." She apologized again and stood up. "It's..." She suddenly felt dizzy and she swayed on her feet.

"Are you okay Miss?". The fallen angel caught her before she could face plant on the ground. "Miss?!". He shook her but she was long gone.

"Your Highness, let me carry her." One of the guards offered as he lifted her up in his arms.

"I got it." He grunted. "Don't leave here until I tell you to."

"Yes Your Highness." The guard bowed.

"Let's take her to the hospital." He told the remaining guard who'd immediately opened the back door of the car as he saw him approaching.

He put her in the back seat and closed the door, rounded the hood and got in front then the guard drove off.

~~~~~

Prince Leonidas paced to and fro in the hallway wondering when the doctor would come out and give him news about the girl. It had been a while and he really wasn't known for his patience in waiting but thankfully before he could go harrass a nurse with questions, the door to the emergency ward opened and the doctor came out.

"How's she doctor?". He asked.

"She's fine. She was very dehydrated and this caused her to faint but also I noticed some marks on her arms and legs... like she was whipped with a belt or something." Dr Caroline said. "Do you know who she is Your Highness?".

"Uh no." He shook his head. "I was going to buy something from her when she fainted so I brought her here." He replied. "She's going to be okay?".

"Yes." There's nothing to worry about." Caroline assured him.

"Can I see her?". He asked.

"Of course. Come with me Your Highness."

Leonidas followed the doctor to see the girl, asked when she'd wake up and thanked Caroline who immediately exited the room.

He pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down staring at the sleeping figure on the bed. He looked at her arms and noticed the marks Caroline had talked about and he wondered who could have been so cruel as to do something like that to a beautiful girl like her but he didn't ponder on it as he took out his phone and texted Anna of his whereabouts so she wouldn't worry... or maybe she would. 

Yeah she definitely would be worried and his father would likely send a battalion of guards to the hospital to guard him but he hoped that would not be the case.

Andrei Sebastiani was nothing if not overprotective of his children.

Forty minutes later, the door to the emergency room opened and not surprising, his mother walked in with a concerned look on her face but when she saw him hale and hearty, she let out a sigh of relief.

"I insisted that I was okay. Yet here you are." He rolled his eyes playfully.

Anna walked over to hug him tight. "I only read the first message and not the second one." She pulled back. 

"Let me guess... Dad is not home which is why he's not here right?". He asked.

"He's been sleeping since you left home so I didn't bother disturbing him." She glanced at the girl on the bed. "What happened?".

"She fainted so I brought her here." He answered succinctly.

"Do you know her?".

"Nope. I wanted to buy oranges from her."

"Why? There are oranges at home."

"From where I was standing, she looked like she needed the help." He shrugged. "I have the money so I said why not and then she fainted after checking me out for about two minutes."

"She checked you out?". Anna chuckled. 

"Not in a creepy kind of way but a 'wow this boy is so fine, can I get your number' kind of way." He said.

Anna looked at the girl again and shook her head. "I doubt she's the type of girl to ask for a boy's number. She's more like the type to have a secret crush on a boy without ever letting him know." She stated.

"Did you have a crush on dad when you first met him?". 

"No. I hated his guts." She laughed softly. "My mom was his doctor so she talked me into being friends with him stating that he wasn't the person everyone thought him to be and she was right."

"So... It was straight up I like like you?". He arched a brow.

"Er no." She shook her head. "There were tiny bumps on the way to 'I like like you' but we got there eventually and I was very happy that I listened to my mom. Up until today, I still thank her for hooking us up."

"Man, am I lucky to have two cool grandmas." He grinned. "Grandma Bianca and I had fun in America as well. I didn't miss home all that much. Do you think Grandma Bianca will ever get married again?".

"No, I don't think so." She answered. "So many men have tried to court her but she turned all of them down. She'd probably never find them good enough to replace your grandpa Mitchell."

"Dad looks exactly like him." Leon said. "You'd think they were twins."

"Just like you and Jax look so much like your father." She pinched his cheek lovingly. "Andres almost looks like me."

"Acts like a girl most of the time." He rumbled. "I think he wanted to come as a girl but God said no and made him a boy."

"Don't let him hear you say that." Anna warned. "He'll chew you out."

The sleeping girl on the bed stirred and her eyes slowly fluttered open. She turned her head to squint at the two people in the room with her as the fluorescent lights shone on her face then she frowned.

"Am I imagining things?". She asked slowly focusing her gaze on Anna. "Queen Anna?".

"Hello." Anna smiled.

The girl's mouth dropped open in shock as she looked at the boy seated on the chair and realized that in her silent albeit embarrassing admiration of his beauty, she'd not recognized him as one of the Princes. He was either one of the two; Prince Jaxon or Prince Leonidas.

"I'm so sorry for the way I acted earlier Your Highness." She could have curtsied if she could get out of bed but as it was, she was so tired even her head felt like lead. "Please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive." He said. "I'm glad you're okay now."

"Thank you very much for... bringing me here. I feel so ashamed." Her face fell.

"For fainting?". Anna looked surprised. "It happens to everyone. There's nothing to be ashamed of and I'm glad that you're okay now."

"Thank you Your Majesty, Your Highness." She said.

"You're welcome." Anna said. "Do you have anyone you want to call?".

"Erm... Not really." She muttered then she let out a gasp as she remembered something. "My tray of oranges!".

"Don't worry about it." Leonidas told her. "It's in safe hands."

Joni looked skeptical but nodded and muttered her thanks.

"I wanted to buy all of them so how much do I owe you?". He asked her.

Joni gaped at him. "All of them?".

"Yes." He nodded. "How much?".

"Um... Two thousand." She said. "But you can buy them for 1500."

"Let me." Anna said to Leonidas as he made to pull out his wallet and she opened her clutch purse, took out some notes without counting and handed it to Joni. "Here you go."

Joni took the money with a shaky hand, counted the money and saw that it was three times the amount she'd said so she took the one she wanted and passed it back to Anna politely.

"Thank you Your Majesty but this is just mine." She showed her the notes.

"I'm giving the rest to you." Anna told her. "Take it."

"I can't. I didn't earn it." She shook her head.

"I'm giving it to you because I want you to have it. It's not charity." Anna informed her. "You have earned it."

Joni took the money shyly and thanked her all the while thinking of what her stepmother would do to her if she ever found out that she collected money from the Queen.

Celestina Samuels would probably flay her or do something worse. She was evil like that.