“Did you just buy this yacht?”
“I did. I bought it for y—”
The sound of one helicopter taking off so another could land interrupted what he was going to say. We both turned to watch the exchange and Dominic appeared as surprised as I was. He motioned for me to follow and headed toward the stairs that led to the helipad. “It’s Abby. Someone must have told her I was meeting you.”
I almost laughed at that. “You have a snitch?”
He paused halfway down steps and said, “Oh, so many of them. I used to find their loyalty to Abby over me irritating, but if people are going to disappoint someone, I’d rather it be me than her.”
It was an unexpectedly beautiful thing to say about his wife that left me not knowing how to respond. He turned and I followed him the rest of the way to where we waited for the passengers of the helicopter to exit. A tastefully dressed, middle-aged woman ushered a younger woman and lanky boy past the swirling rotor blades. As soon as they were clear, the helicopter departed, and the original returned and cut the engine.
The younger woman rushed over. “Dad!” She gave him a hug, then stepped back and smiled at me. “Kal, I’m your niece, Judy, and I’m here to save you.”
I offered her my hand. She shook it vehemently. “Thank you?” Her smile was so warm and open I found myself smiling back. “I didn’t know I was in danger.”
“Not in physical danger.” When she shook her head, her long ponytail swung back and forth behind her. “My dad comes on too strong. Like this boat. It’s too much, right?”
She was a bit much, but not necessarily in a bad way. “It’s a lot.”
“I told him not to buy it for you. I told him it was too big of a welcome-to-the-family gift.”
Wait. What? That had to be a joke.
She flounced. “I keep telling him he wouldn’t have so many issues if he’d take my advice.”
“Judy, stop,” the woman behind her said as she stepped forward with an easy smile. “Kal, I’m Abby, Dominic’s wife. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She pulled her son forward. “And this is Leonardo, our son.”
The boy who looked younger than ten shot me a pained smile. “Hi, Kal.”
“Nice to meet both of you.”
“You’re enormous,” Leonardo said. “Is that natural or did you use steroids?”
“It’s not polite to ask people things like that,” his mother said quietly.
“All natural,” I answered smoothly. He wasn’t the first to ask me that and likely wouldn’t be the last. “A lot of hours in the gym went into these.” I raised an arm and flexed for him.
Leonardo raised his own thin arm and frowned at it. “I don’t look like much now, but considering my gene pool, I could conceivably turn out like you. My dad is old and he’s still muscular.”
Dominic leaned over and ruffled his son’s hair. “Old, huh?”
Leonardo shot him a guilty smile. “It’s not a judgment call, just a fact.”
Dominic laughed and met my gaze. “These are the people who keep me humble.”
They certainly had an effect on him. Any aggression or anger I’d sensed in him earlier was gone. It was fascinating to watch him transform to a family man before my eyes.
“I like them already,” I said, earning smiles all around.
Abby greeted Dominic with a kiss then a wag of her finger. “You. Didn’t we just talk about this? You promised to give him space and take things slowly.”
Dominic wrapped an arm around her waist. “He reached out to me.”
“I did.” It was true and his kids were watching. Any man would have helped out.
“And I didn’t tell him the boat is for him.” He gave his daughter what was an attempt at a stern look. “If he says no now, it won’t be my fault.”
Judy put her hands on her hips. “It won’t be mine either. Mom, tell him this is the kind of gift that scares people off.”
I looked around before saying, “You’re probably joking, but to be clear, I would never accept a gift like this.”
“I’ll take it,” Leonardo said as if it were the last mozzarella stick on a plate that no one else seemed to want. “This is the one that comes with a submarine, right?”
“Good memory,” Dominic said with a smile.
“Is the submarine a Nautilus Vas or a Triton? Or did you splurge for the Atlantis 9?”
“That would definitely have been a splurge,” I said with a hint of sarcasm that went right over Leonardo’s head.
“It would have been, for sure.” He was quite serious when he explained, “Given the choice, though, I’d go with the deep-sea Triton. The company has set new records using it to explore the Abyssal and Hadal zones. Oh, man, I’d love to go there.”
“When you’re older,” Dominic promised.
Leonardo rolled his eyes. “He says that about space too.”
“Being you is rough,” I joked.
“Sometimes.” Leonardo looked down then met my gaze again. “You really don’t want this yacht?”
Abby cut in, “Judy, why don’t you and Leonardo go check out the submarine for yourselves.” She gave them a look. “Don’t get in it. Don’t even touch it. Just go see which type it is.”
“Mom,” Judy protested. “I’m the one who found Kal. Leonardo can go see the submarine with Marc.”
“Excellent idea.” Abby called out, “Marc.”
He appeared. “Yes?”
“Please take Judy and Leonardo below to see the submarine. Do not let them touch anything.”
“I’m not a child, Mom,” Judy said in a low voice.
Abby’s expression didn’t change. “Then I won’t have to ask you to go twice.”
Judy looked like she might argue that as well but didn’t. “Come on, Leonardo. The adults want to talk.”
When they were out of earshot, Dominic said, “She’s a handful.”
“No idea where she gets that from,” Abby added with a straight face.
He hugged her closer to his side then shot me a look. “My wife is all talk. She adores me.”
“I do,” Abby said without hesitation, then smiled at me. “But that doesn’t mean he’s not a handful as well. Sometimes he goes too far.”
I needed to see her take on a situation, so I said, “Like what happened with Riley.”
Abby looked up at Dominic and sighed. “Exactly.” Then to me she said, “I fell in love with this man when I saw what a good person he was under all that growl. He would do anything for the people he loves.”
Dominic’s chest puffed with pride.
His wife added, “He just has a tiny problem with respecting boundaries.”
He didn’t look upset by her share. After giving her a kiss on the side of her head, he said, “You do realize I can hear you, right?”
“That’s my hope,” Abby answered with a sweet smile. “And, Dom, before you say anything, you know Leonardo is too young for his own yacht.”
“I didn’t buy it for him. I bought it for Kal.”