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“Thanks.” I stepped forward and shook his hand, clearing my throat. “I’m sorry for what I said. I wasn’t expecting company.”
“Not at all. My fault for barging in. Technically, I’m breaking the law by being in this apartment now you’ve signed the lease. I have to request a meeting if I want to see you guys, but...” He winked. “If you’re as easy-going as Jack Taylor is then I feel as if we’re friends already. But of course, if you’d rather keep things strictly by the books, then...boundaries.”
“You’re giving us the place below market rent and offering work to my fiancé while we arrange for his visa. I think we’re beyond boundaries,” Neri said with a respectful smile. “We’re super grateful for the apartment. And for everything else you’re doing for us. I can’t believe the space for the price and how close it is to James Cook.”
Griffen smiled. “Your dad and I bonded over a matriarch orca who practically made us part of her pod. I feel like he’s been a mate for life, so it’s no trouble to help out his daughter.”
He glanced around the bedroom, his forehead furrowing a little at the state of it. “I bought this block about ten years ago when the market retracted. Best thing I ever did with my money. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that we spend our lives learning about sea beasts and discovering the secrets of the deep, not for the money, but for passion. My advice?” He held up his finger like a sage. “Take the pittance amount you earn from your career as a marine biologist, and put it into something that will turn a profit. That way, you can keep doing what you love but also have money to retire with.”
“Wise words.” Neri grinned. “I’ll remember that.”
“Now.” Griffen cracked his fingers, making me flinch as his knuckles popped. “I’m guessing you figured out the keycode system outside, found your carport, spied your letterbox, and worked through the jumble of keys to find the one linked to this place.”
“We did.” Neri grinned. “When Dad said you were sending the keys, I assumed it would just be one. Not an entire envelope full.”
“Yes, in hindsight, I should’ve waited to see you before handing over every key in the building. My mother always did say that when I got an idea, I went all guns blazing...sometimes with good consequences and sometimes with bad. But...” He laughed, his eyes crinkling. “I believe when fate drops a solution into your lap to a problem that’s been irking you for ages, you don’t procrastinate. This happened quick, but...” His eyes landed on mine. “If you’re as good as Jack says you are, Aslan, then I’m very excited to let you loose on my building.”
I shot Neri a glance and did my best to seem knowledgeable about all things renovation. “I-I’ll do my best not to let you down. I can start tomorrow—”
“No, no. Take a week to settle in. This place needs a good scrub down—my apologies for the state of it. In fact, I won’t charge you the first week’s rent—put that money toward cleaning supplies. I’m embarrassed by the state of it, to be honest. I had bad tenants who did a number on the place. Still chasing them up on unpaid rent. I’ve been busy with research and overseas commitments and haven’t had a chance to do the hard yards myself.”
“You oversee the building yourself?” Neri asked. “You don’t use a company?”
“Not anymore.” Griffen shook his head with an exaggerated cringe. “I fired my last rental agency for negligence. They’re the reason I’m seventeen grand out of pocket for unpaid rent. They weren’t keeping track of payments and failed to do police checks. I lost all faith in them, hence why I’m in this mess.”
He rocked back on his heels, his tan shorts, cream shirt, and camo-coloured Birkenstocks looking as if he’d come off a cruise ship, not from lecturing at the local university. “In fact, the whole palaver with the rental agency is why I got so excited when Jack told me about you, Aslan.”
“Oh?” I frowned, keeping one eye on Neri out of habit. “How come?”
“He said you’re a math nerd. That you have a real gift with numbers.”
“He’s the best.” Neri placed her hand on my forearm proudly. “He tries to pretend he’s not, but I swear he’s a genius. He said numbers feel good in his brain. That he—”
“I like math, but I’m definitely not a genius.” I shot her a look, scowling. No one liked a bragger. My gift with numbers filled me with pride to stay linked with my father, the math professor, but also scared me shitless that the synesthesia I suffered was yet another tie to my biological father, who I wanted nothing to do with.
