A purser greeted them, introducing himself as Kyle. He sounded Australian.
“Toy room?” Tanja asked, reading the sign on a door in the stern wall.
“Jet Skis and kite-surfing gear, that sort of thing,” Kyle said. “Forward of the gym is our sauna and spa, but the specialists can come to you for massage or nails.”
Growing up at the marina, Tanja had seen some swanky vessels. Beasts like this tended to anchor offshore, though. She’d never been on one to see the extravagance within.
“You have an elevator,” she noted with a scathing glance at Leon as they entered it.
“We have four,” Kyle said helpfully.
“Oh? How many helipads?” She was being facetious.
“Two.” Kyle was serious.
“Two,” she repeated with a curl of her lip.
Her air of superiority died a quick death when the elevator stopped and she completely lost her balance.
Leon caught both her and Illi with a glower, then took Illi and kept his arm around Tanja as they stepped out. He was so warm. It took all her concentration to make her legs work. She wanted to melt right into his heat and strength, close her eyes and let him take complete control.
“Have the medic come to my apartment immediately,” Leon ordered. “Tell the captain to keep us in heli distance to Malta in case we need to evacuate her to a hospital.”
“Yes, sir.” Kyle quickly set aside her bags and moved to pick up a white telephone mounted near the elevator.
“Helicopters do come in handy,” Leon said pithily as he steered her along what would be called a gallery in a mansion.
They skirted an atrium that looked down to the main saloon—accessed by a glass elevator, she noted as they passed. There was a dome of colored glass above them, and now they were moving through double doors into, well, it was nothing less than a mini penthouse.
On one side there was a galley fronted by a wet bar with stools. On the other side stood a business area with a stately desk, a monitor on an articulated arm and a printer on a bookshelf that held a handful of novels.
They moved into a spacious and bright area for lounging and dining. Walls of windows on either side opened to the wide, surrounding deck. The windows continued wrapping forward past a partition wall that held a fireplace.
On the other side of the wall was a walk-through closet and a spacious head before she reached the massive bedroom with an equally massive bed. It was situated so the sleeper could sit up and take in a one-eighty view across the bow or walk out to the private forward deck and slip into a hot tub.
Her weak legs folded and she sat down on the foot of the bed. How did one process this much wealth and attention to comfort?
Leon hung back in the main living area to instruct Kyle to leave the luggage and find something for Illi to sleep in.
When he finally showed up in the bedroom, she asked, “Why did you bring us to your stateroom?”
“You need help with the baby.” He was still holding Illi, who was making raspberry noises against her wet wrist. She smiled and held out her arm to Tanja.
“I can manage,” Tanja insisted, lifting heavy hands to take her daughter.
“Can you?” Leon scoffed, offering her the baby, but holding on to her.
Good thing. Tanja’s arms felt like wet spaghetti. She couldn’t take Illi’s weight and wound up dropping her arms empty to her sides, whimpering even as she glared resentfully when Leon’s brows lifted in superiority.
The last thing she wanted to do was rely on him, but it was painfully obvious she would have to. For now.
The medic arrived with a message from the captain. “We were hailed by the Pennyloafer on our way to meet you. Dr. Kyrkos issued an invitation to meet them in Malta.”
Kyrkos was a racing buddy from Leon’s school days. He picked up the phone and told the captain, “Invite Kyrkos aboard if he’s still in the area. Tell him it’s a house call.”
Leon then hovered, still holding the babbling baby, listening as the medic asked Tanja a few questions while taking her temperature.
“High, but not dangerously high,” he pronounced. “My guess is that this will pass in a day or two, but I’d feel better if you had a doctor’s opinion.” He gave her something for fever and told her to rehydrate, promising as he left to order fruit juice spiked with electrolyte tablets.
“Can I shower while I wait for the juice?” Tanja asked.
“I don’t know. Can you?” Leon made no effort to disguise his sarcasm.
“Ha-ha. Water was as precious as everything else at Kahina’s. That’s why I was in the habit of drinking whatever I’d poured.” She grimaced. “And that’s why I haven’t showered in three days. Feeling grimy doesn’t help me feel better at all.”
“Go,” he urged with a nod. “Don’t lock the door. Call if you need help.”
She sent him an I’d rather die stare over her shoulder.
He wanted to say something sharp about her taking advantage of the amenities on the yacht that so offended her, but he had a brief flash of how she’d almost collapsed on the trimaran. It had scared the hell out of him. She needed to conserve her strength, not pit what she had against him.
As for the vessel, he knew it was an obscene expense. He’d been considering unloading it, but it was damned convenient. It had brought him quickly and comfortably to Malta and was allowing him to take care of her and the baby with ease.
Her drink appeared as she emerged wearing his robe, still flushed and glassy-eyed, but with a healthier glow on her skin. He gave her a T-shirt to sleep in and she looked with worry at Illi, making no move to change.
He read the conflict in her. She was sick, but she still wanted to be the one to care for Illi. It was as clear as the maternal tenderness she kept showing the baby with such natural ease. It was a regard that was so foreign to him he couldn’t help staring with fascination each time he noted it.
That’s how I knew I was her mother, he heard her say again as he took in her sharp cheekbones and the way her collarbone stuck out. That evidence of deprivation stoked the frustrated helplessness in him again, the one that wanted to be angry with her for not looking after herself, but how could he fault her?
He couldn’t. He could only order sternly, “Go to bed. I can hold her while I check emails. I’ll let Zach know you’re safe.”
“Oh. Yes, please. Thank you,” she said with subdued relief, and slipped back into the head to change.
Two hours later, Leon had watched a handful of videos on the basics of baby care. It turned out four-month-old babies didn’t know how to sit up so he didn’t need to be alarmed that Illi couldn’t. For a few seconds, he’d been convinced he had broken her.