she had the chance. Hopefully, once she was safely home, Tanja would be able to contact him and help him, too.
“The map you wanted...” Leon emerged from below to hand off what was no doubt another handful of notes to Aksil. “And some chocolate for your children.”
One or the other would be a final bribe to the mercenaries circling like sharks. Whatever got them out of the port without being shot at, Tanja supposed.
Leon helped her aboard with Illi, then tried the engine while Aksil cast off. The motor turned over and so did her heart.
She ought to be urging Leon to wait until first light to set sail, but she was anxious enough to get off Istuval that she was willing to take her chances in the open waters of a dark Mediterranean. Leon was a very experienced sailor. She knew that much about him, even if he was a stranger in other ways.
Her marriage had become something of an urban legend among her friends, only mentioned if someone was persistent about asking her on a date or setting her up. Since the summer she’d married Leon, Tanja’s life had been school and work, school and work. She hadn’t had time for socializing, never mind a serious relationship. Perhaps if she had met someone who had really tempted her, she might have felt compelled to seek a divorce sooner, but she never had.
Nevertheless, when she had come to Istuval, it had been with the intention of going to Greece afterward, to properly end things with Leon.
Everything had gone sideways shortly after her arrival. Had she procrastinated contacting him? Absolutely. She’d been so hurt and angry after his initial betrayal, she had resolved to force him to come to her if he wanted a divorce. It was a juvenile attitude she had come to regret when five years passed without a word, but the longer their silence went on, the harder it became to be the one to break it.
So she’d put off reaching out to him until she reached Istuval. Then she had told herself she’d contact him once she was settled in her flat and job. She had pushed that until she had her class schedule and her lessons started. As soon as she felt comfortable teaching, she would definitely let him know she was in the “neighborhood.”
By then she’d been so caught up in Brahim and Illi’s situation, chasing her absent husband for a divorce had ceased to be a priority.
Now here Leon was, arguably doing one of the most gallant, husbandly things a man could do. He had swooped in to rescue his wife and had shouldered responsibility for a child who wasn’t his, without giving away the game.
Tears of gratitude arrived at the backs of her eyes like a battering ram. She could hardly see, but she braced her feet where she stood in the well of the outer deck, near where Leon took the wheel. With the baby clutched firmly to her chest, she waved at Aksil with her free hand.
Aksil waved once, but didn’t linger. He exchanged something with the nearest soldier and made his way back to the car.
“PFDs were taken,” Leon said tersely. “Go below so I don’t have to worry about you falling overboard.”
She didn’t take offense at his abrupt order. She’d sailed with enough captains, her father and brother included, to know that even the best conditions required focus and potentially quick action. They weren’t sailing into a storm, but it was dark and they would all be better off if she did as she was told and let him concentrate.
Even so, she was compelled to say, “Same.” Turning any sailing vessel around to recover a man overboard was tricky. She didn’t want to test whether she had the necessary skill. Not tonight. Not in the dark.
“Once we’re under sail, I’ll settle into the helm and won’t leave it until daylight.” He jerked his head to indicate he would be inside with her.
“Do you need help with the sails? I can put Illi down—”
“I can manage this alone. That’s why I bought her. Go to bed.” He might have glanced at her, but it was hard to tell in the dim glow of the running lights. “We’ll fly once she gets going, but it’ll be tomorrow afternoon before we reach Malta.”
Was that where they were going? She probably should have asked. “You don’t have to stay up all night. I can spell you off.”
“I’ve raced,” he reminded. “Sailed sleep-deprived