I was afraid to tell him how bad it really was. I didn’t know how much they were monitoring, and I didn’t want to stress him out any more than he was. We were as safe as we could be at Kahina’s.”
“He still could have told me.” Leon had to wonder if Zach had feared Leon would refuse to help if he knew there was a baby involved, but he didn’t want to believe he’d fallen that far in his old friend’s estimation. “You have the paperwork now, though? The cleric approved the adoption or whatever?”
“In a way.” She swallowed and something about her imploring gaze filled his gut with gravel. “He, um, issued a birth certificate for Illi.”
“That says what?” Premonition danced across his shoulders and down his spine.
You must be so excited to meet your daughter.
“Tanja.” He could hardly speak through a throat that was closing like a noose. “Do not tell me you have implicated me in the human trafficking of an infant.”
CHAPTER THREE
“THAT’S A HARSH way to put it,” Tanja protested, but couldn’t help a wince of conscience. “The cleric is a recognized authority on the island,” she defended. “He’s like a government official. He’s also a man with very traditional views. He was fine with me fostering Illi, but he was only willing to release her to my care because my husband was there. It’s not just about propriety. He genuinely wanted assurance that Illi would have both a father and a mother to provide for her.”
Leon glared at her as he snatched up the radio and sent out a broadcast seeking anyone within hailing distance of Malta.
“What are you doing?” Tanja clapped her feet to the deck, adrenaline spiking through her, but there was nowhere to run.
“I can’t dock in Malta, can I? I was going to put you on a plane to Canada, but what if we’re questioned? No. I will be in my own country, with my lawyer present, when we inform the authorities that she’s not biologically ours.”
“I’m not giving her up, Leon!”
“I didn’t say you had to,” he growled back. “But I’m not going to play ignorant to a blatant fraud. What are you trying to do? Send me to jail?”
“No!”
He glanced away. Someone was responding on the radio. He requested they relay a message to the Poseidon’s Crown to intercept the trimaran. He added their course and instructions that the crew stock up on supplies for a baby before they left port.
“What’s the Poseidon’s Crown?” she asked as he ended his transmission.
“My yacht. I’ll be on deck. I need to cool off.”
“Clip on,” she said to his back, but he was already slamming the door on her.
That went well.
She hissed out a breath and gathered their few dishes, taking them to the galley to wash them. As she did, she heard the radio crackle.
“Poseidon’s Crown is leaving port within the hour,” the other party said.
She radioed to thank them and signed off, then poked her head outside long enough to inform Leon. He nodded curtly.
“What, no makeup sex?” she muttered to herself as she closed the door and went below again.
Okay, she had known he wouldn’t be pleased, but desperate times.
She went into the cabin to look at her daughter. Illi was sleeping so angelically that Tanja crawled in beside her and dozed off. Illi woke her an hour later. She was in a ridiculously good mood, wriggling and smiling and cooing and kicking. She really was the most adorable child ever created.
Tanja played with her on the wide berth, telling her about their change in plans. “I know I said you would meet your cousin soon, but the captain has changed course. It might take a little longer to get home.”
Her stomach cramped with fresh anxiety as she wondered how long they would be stuck in Greece. She shouldn’t be upset about going there. Flights out of Athens would likely be more direct. She had been planning to go to Greece anyway, to beard the Leon in his den and demand a divorce.
That still needed to be done, she realized, experiencing a fresh, stabbing pain in her middle.
“I just want to take you home,” she told Illi, nuzzling the baby and growing teary with homesickness.
When Illi began to chew her fingers, Tanja rose to make her a bottle and nearly lost her balance as she stood.
“Whoa,” she muttered, quickly setting the baby safely on the mattress while her equilibrium caught up to her head. Her stomach rolled with