Page 21

“And now?” he asked curiously, wanting to hear the rest. “Do you still work for Anna?”

“Unfortunately, she passed away last year … from cancer,” she told him, letting him know that, while she had gotten a happy ending from her past, it didn’t mean that there still weren’t bumps in the road in the future. “But she left her charity, Moonbeam, to me, and I still get to help so many teens today.” Proud of what she had accomplished was an understatement. Moonbeam, which had started out in the same building it was housed in today, was about to get an upgrade in their mission to help shelter even more at-risk teens, thanks to her and Haley. “That’s why I’m stuck here.” She laughed. “I met your father at his casino hotel for a meeting.”

“Did you get your donation?” he asked with a slight smile, knowing why she must’ve come.

“Oh, I got a bit more than that,” Nadia joked, looking at where she sat in the middle of the freaking ocean.

The two sat for a few more eternal moments under the moonlight, not needing to say another word. The hardest part had come, and now she had to wait, for not only when Leo was ready to talk, but if. It hurt to know he would have to come to her first, as all she had done was open the door.

Feeling like she had accomplished enough with Leo for one night, she stretched out the next few moments until she yawned then got to her feet. “What do you say to getting some sleep? That way, we can spend the day resting in the sun tomorrow?” she asked with a smile while she held out her hand to help him up.

“Sounds good,” Leo told her after a few seconds before taking it. As he did so, both of them had a silent understanding that he was taking the helping hand not only literally but figuratively as well.

The walk back to the cabins below was spent silently between the two as they were careful to not wake anyone else on the boat. Whispering good night to the boy, she then opened the door to her room when she heard him speak.

“Nadia?”

Nadia turned her head to look at Leo, who stood down the hall just a bit outside of his door.

“Thank you.” He said the words so gratefully that it almost broke her.

She swallowed, hoping her voice didn’t come out hoarse from too much emotion. “You’re welcome.”

Watching him slip into his room, she slipped into her own and wiped away the tears that were able to fall upon both her cheeks. There was always that fear she had when she dealt with teens who had extreme cases …

Nadia just hoped she wasn’t too late.

Eight

Thinking of You ????

Nadia felt groggy the next morning after going to sleep with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t help but be affected by the teen. She hoped that at least while they were on the boat, she would be able to shoulder his pain for a few days.

Getting dressed for the day, she focused on de-puffing her eyes and followed up with the tinted SPF again. Quickly brushing through her short hair, she left the bathroom with a silent prayer that she would magically find something appropriate to wear.

Of course, she had no such luck.

Scavenging through the bathing suits, she didn’t pay any attention to looks or color; all she focused on was which one had the most coverage. Finally, she came across a neon orange bathing suit that at least wasn’t a string bikini. She had to admit, it did do a lot of favors for her, especially the bright color against her tanned skin.

She then found a pair of cutoff blue jean shorts that didn’t cover much more than her bikini already did, but when she finished it off with the button-up shirt that Dante had let her borrow, she didn’t feel so self-conscious. She looked perfectly appropriate to be dressed this way on a yacht and finally felt comfortable enough to leave her room.

You’re going to enjoy yourself. It’s not like you’ll ever get to be on a freaking yacht again.

Mentally preparing herself for the day was important as she went up the steps. It didn’t take her long to notice the glass doors were already opened once she had reached the landing. Following the sound of commotion, she saw Dante already at the breakfast table, drinking a coffee.

“Good morning.”

* * *

“Morning.” Dante had simply raised his eyes above his mug for only a second before instinctively looking back down then straight back up for a double-take to make sure he had seen what he had seen.

Thankfully for him, Nadia had been walking to her seat and didn’t catch his action. He was simply noticing her slow change in appearance from her usual uptight self. He could still see that part of her, but now he could at least picture her having fun outside of an office.