Mountains of Dawn

"Yes, Paul. I will. Bye for now." She hung up the phone and frowned, slightly uncomfortable, but unsure why.

"Tanya, is everything all right?" Kevin asked, gathering her into his arms when she arrived at his villa. "You're later than usual, and when I called, the line was busy."

"Yes, fine. There was a message for Charles on the fax machine, and I made the call for him."

"But where are your guardians? They've been gone for a while now."

Tanya shrugged. "Away for a few days. Vacation."

Kevin turned her to face him. He held her by the upper arms and looked intently into her face. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me what your problem is? At this point, I'm a better guardian for you than Charles and Edda, or anyone else, for that matter."

She shrugged free of Kevin's grasp, then laughed. "What problem? I have no problems." She giggled and hugged him.

Kevin caught her arms again. "You can't socialize, you live in seclusion…you can't even go out for dinner once in a while."

"That's going to change," she said, lifting her hand to stroke his cheek and run her fingers along his jaw.

"When?" he asked, catching her hand.

"Soon."

"How soon?" He kissed each finger, then the palm of her hand.

"Very soon."

"Right now?"

Tanya laughed. "Yes, now. Where do you want to go?"

Kevin frowned and clasped her hands to his chest. He raised one eyebrow. "Whatever shall I do with you?" he said with a deep sigh.

"You do very well with me, indeed. Where do you want to go? I'm ready to live again!"

"Well-" Kevin paused. "You know I have business with Luigi Amedeo. What about dinner on his yacht? It's anchored in the bay of San Remo. He invited us both for dinner tonight."

She frowned, turned away for a moment. No dinner at a fine restaurant, no dancing? No romantic hideaway for two? Onto a yacht, with someone Kevin barely knew-that was a surprise. "I thought you were a little jealous of Luigi Amedeo," she said.

Kevin caught her hands in his again. "I am. I'm jealous of any man whoever looks at you. But I'm also sure of the love of my woman." He kissed her hands. "Shouldn't I be?"

Tanya sighed. Again, it seemed as if she had no choice. "Let me go home and change." She turned, drawing her hands from his, and hurried to her bedroom.