‘It’s the Spanish Inquisition.’Details matter.
‘Whatever. But if I hear that you’ve been telling tales to head office…’ He leaves the veiled threat hanging. ‘And by the way, this thing’ – he waves the Mallot Method at me, the large, pointy nail a few inches from my face – ‘is dangerous. Don’t let me catch you with it again.’ He tosses it in the nearest bin.
We all stare at one another for a beat too long. They are all lying. I don’t want Emir exposed to any more of this toxic environment. ‘Emir. How do you fancy a trip to an uninhabited island crawling with strange beasts?’
His excited gasp, together with him pulling on my hand to drag me away, is all the answer I need. ‘But don’t let her push me off the boat again!’ he yells, pointing to Astrid. ‘She’s a horrible lady. I don’t like her.’
Garry and Shaun give Astrid a confounded look. ‘You pushed a small child off the boat?’ Shaun asks incredulously.
Astrid goes beetroot red. ‘I… erm, he just needed… It wasn’t a big push, just a…’
‘Maddie saved me!’ Emir beams. ‘I was drowning.’
‘Is that so?’ says a deep, strongly accented voice. We turn around to see Emir’s father, his wife and a giant but extremely attractive man half their age standing a yard away.Christ, how long have they been there?
An uneasy heat rises up my throat. I should have disclosed this information. I have not done my due diligence as a LoveIt Holidays caregiver and sole responsible adult in charge of their precious offspring. ‘I can explain,’ I say, trying to hide my worried tone.
‘You saved my brother’s life?’ the half-man half-mountain says, stepping towards me and Emir. He lifts the child into his arms. ‘Sounds like quite the adventure, little buddy.’ He rubs the top of his hair playfully. ‘What happened?’
Emir immediately blabs, dropping Astrid right in it, painting her as the evil villain and making me out to be a superhero. He finishes by describing Astrid’s bikini. ‘And everyone was staring because… because…’ He collapses into peals of laughter. ‘Because we could see her boobies.’
This makes the huge man chuckle. ‘I can imagine. Hi, I’m Mehmet. Emir’s brother.’ He shakes my hand. ‘Thanks for taking care of him.’
When did he arrive on board?
Emir’s mother, Cassandra, sweeps over to impart air kisses on her child while hanging off her husband’s arm. ‘My baby. My poor, poor baby. Come here, darling.’ She takes Emir from his brother, squeezes him tight and then turns to give Astrid a look that would burn the sun. ‘If I were you, I’d pack my bags and get ready to leave. And I don’t just mean the boat.’
Oh, my.
Even Garry is lost for words. He’s certainly forgotten that he’s in charge, that’s for sure. His face pales.
‘You cross one, you cross them all!’ Emirs shouts in a sing-songy voice.
‘That’s right, little guy,’ says Mehmet, laughing. ‘Our family motto.’
Emir’s father emits mafia-level energy as he leans over to say quietly in my ear, ‘Watch out for him. Keep him safe.’
‘I will. I will. I’m so sorry that there was an issue. It won’t happen again. He’ll be safe with me.’ I immediately feel guilty because if all goes to plan, I’ll be leaving tomorrow evening when we pull into the next port. And then I feel even worse when something hard nudges me in the stomach. I look down, and Emir’s father is trying to slip a wad of notes into the waistband of my skirt.
‘No,’ I whisper hurriedly. ‘I don’t need…’
He taps his nose. ‘You saved my child.’ And with that they waltz off up to the bar area.
Mehmet turns to wink at me over his shoulder. ‘See you later? Drinks? Come find me.’ He walks away, pointing skyward as though it’s a done deal.
I feel Emir slip his hand back into mine. ‘That’s my half-brother. He’s a big deal. He runs Hello Chicken and More with my father.’
Again, something about that name sounds so familiar, but I can’t put my finger on why. A loud ‘ahem’ alerts me to Garry, Astrid and Shaun standing staring at the huge bulge in my skirt. I instinctively cover it with my free hand. ‘What? Obviously, I’m not going to accept it.’
‘Why not?’ says Shaun, talking to me but glaring at Astrid. ‘Sounds like you deserved it.’
‘What were you thinking?’ Garry is furious with Astrid. ‘He’ll never tip us now! For fuck’s sake, Astrid. This family is loaded, and you pushedtheirkid in the sea.’
‘It was ajoke!’ Astrid yells, her voice breaking as she throws her hands up in frustration. ‘Jesus! A harmless joke. That’s all. No big deal.’
‘Without armbands,’ adds Emir, putting on a deliberately cute voice. ‘I nearly drowned.’
Garry wipes his hand back over his forehead to smooth down a few wisps of hair. ‘Astrid, remind me never to leave you in charge of any kids in future.’
