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“It was Sebastien’s,” was the only explanation offered. “Ethan’s son. He’s grown out of it now, so I asked for it to be moved in here.”
“Everything else you should need is in the cupboard beneath the changing table,” Magda explained as she laid my baby beside me. “I can come back if you need me to help.”
She’s likeable enough, but was in no mood to play nicely. I couldn’t keep the caustic sarcasm from my tone. “You’re a nanny as well as a pilot, then?”
“In fact, it’s the other way round,” she replied, ignoring my tetchiness. “I’m a nanny who has a pilot’s licence. It comes in handy for the school run. I’m on number three-two-three on the internal phone system. Please feel free to summon me if you want anything.”
“We will,” Jack replied, sparing me the need to apologise for my rudeness. “Could you ask Mrs McRae to send up something to eat?”
“Of course.” Magda offered me a smile I didn’t entirely deserve, then she was gone.
Jack didn’t stay long either. “I’ve been neglecting my work this last few days so I need to catch up. I’ll let you get some rest. Settle in and take it easy. We have a doctor here, you met her briefly before, I think. Megan. She’ll probably call in to make sure you’re okay, but her number is seven-four-three if you need her. The numbers are written beside the phone. I’ll see you later.”
“I thought this was your apartment…” It occurred to me I didn’t want to be on my own, after all.
“It’s yours for now.” He kissed my forehead, then stroked Morgan’s cheek. “Enjoy your meal.”
And now,I’m waking up in an unfamiliar room, a strange woman at my door. She taps again.
“Can I come in?”
I sit up and pull the duvet up under my chin. “Yes,” I call, on the basis that there’s probably no point saying anything else.
A slender, delicate brunette enters carrying a tray of tea and toast. She glances at the cot and smiles as she deposits the tray on the bedside table. “I came bring your morning tea and to ask if you want me to take your little one for a while.”
My heart lurches. “T-take her…?”
“I understand you are injured, unable to walk. I could change her nappy and give her some breakfast…”
“I feed her myself,” I reply. “I should probably get on with it.” The last thing I want is to be separated from my baby in this unfamiliar place. I can hear Morgan stirring and know she must be hungry.
“I will pass her to you, then.” Cristina plucks Morgan from her cot, coos at her and gives her a swift cuddle, then hands her to me. “I could stay, and I want to, but I will leave if you do not wish me to be here.”
Her words are faintly accented, but her tone is gentle. And her offer to respect my wishes is unexpected. Instinctively, I find I like her.
“It’s okay, if you want to stay…” I might even appreciate the company.
She settles on the edge of the bed. “You have had a dreadful ordeal. I hope we can make you comfortable while you recover.”
“I don’t think I can stay very long. I have…things to sort out.” Such as the rebuilding of my home and a living to earn since I chucked in my steady job as a police officer. “But I’m grateful to be here,” I add hastily, if not especially truthfully.
Her brow furrows. “Oh. I had thought that you and Jack… He is the little one’s father, is he not?”
“I…”
I don’t honestly know how to answer, apart from with the bald truth. He took me prisoner, tortured me, then fucked me. Morgan was the result.
She seems to understand without further elaboration. “Please, I do not wish to pry. I should go.”
“You’ve no need to.”
“I am upsetting you. That was not my intention, but as you are a guest in my home it is my duty to see to your comfort.”
“Your home?”
“I am Cristina Bival-Savage. Ethan is my husband.”
“Oh.” Once again, I am speechless. She’s not what I expected. Nothing like. This gracious, soft-spoken woman is the wife of the boss of this organisation, a murdering Mafia king who I know doesn’t trust me and wants me dead. He’ll probably have me killed at the slightest provocation. I know that first appearances can be deceptive, but the diminutive and impossibly beautiful creature sitting beside me and offering to care for my baby is far from the haughty, hard-faced crime queen I imagined.
