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Nim looked up from cutting peppers. “Jude, honey, what are you doing home? And how is your dad?”
“He’s out of surgery and stable. His prognosis is good.” His jaw clenched. “And instead of sitting around at the hospital, I thought I’d come back here and entertain our guest.”
Turning to Jude, I studied the lines around his eyes and the grim set of his mouth.
He turned in the direction of the winding staircase. “We’ll start from the top. There’s a rooftop garden and a bar if you need a drink after last night.”
I chuckled, already feeling more relaxed. He seemed much easier going than his older brother. “You know what? A drink sounds perfect.”
There was nowhere I had to be. For the first time in years, I had a day completely free. No responsibilities.
Following him up the marble staircase, I brushed my hands across the mahogany banister, feeling the smooth wood. We climbed three floors before walking outside into an oasis. “This is amazing.”
The rooftop had been completely transformed into a rainforest, most of it encased in glass to keep it safe from the biting wind and cold.
Jude shrugged. “Can’t take any credit. Freya wanted it, so my parents made it happen. And we have gardeners who take care of the plants.”
We stopped at a tiki bar set into the middle of the rooftop, nestled in among the plants. There was a pergola with a daybed off to one side and a hot tub on the other.
Jude noticed the longing look I shot at the bubbling water. “Feel free to use the hot tub. Or anything else in the house.” He rifled through the fridge behind the bar. “We have margarita, beer, or wine. Nobody comes up here now that Freya’s gone, so the choices are a bit limited at the moment. But if you tell Mom what you want, she’ll make sure Nim gets it on her next trip to the store.”
“Beer, please. And there’s no need to get anything for me. I shouldn’t be here for too long.”
Jude was too slow to hide the grimace. “You’re Freya’s best friend. In fact, you’re her only friend. And someone found out about you. They’ll do anything to hurt you because you’re connected to us. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to stay until we’ve dealt with the threat.”
He finished almost all his beer in one go and opened another.
Pulling myself up to my unimpressive height of five foot three, I fixed him with my best glare that had been known to make my suppliers cry after they thought they could overcharge me. “I have work to get back to.” Hopefully. “A restaurant to run.” Maybe. “And a life to live.” As pathetic a life as it was at the moment, it was still mine.
He finished his second beer, and I wondered if that was normal for him or if I was going to be calling an ambulance once he collapsed from alcohol poisoning.
“That’s not possible at the moment,” he said, throwing his empty bottles into a box in the corner.
I took a healthy gulp of my beer before answering. “So what, you expect me to put my life on hold? I have a business.”
“You can work from here.”
Gaping at him, I started to rethink my idea of him being the fun brother. “It’s a restaurant. I can’t cook food or serve guests remotely.”
Jude shrugged. “You can still make orders, pay invoices, and whatever else you do that’s office work. Besides, it’ll take a while to get back into the building after the fire.”
The thought that I might not even have a workplace to return to anymore was a sobering reminder of my situation. It also made it that much more important for me to go back and salvage what was left of my business. “One week. No more.”
I refused to be bullied into anything. No matter how much I liked the house and Freya’s family, there was no way I could sit idle for who knew how long.
“We’ll see.”
And with that ominous comment, we continued the tour of the house. He seemed a little more relaxed as we wandered past bedrooms, a small theater, a cigar room, a library, a lot of locked doors, and an indoor pool. Eventually, we made it back to the kitchen, and I wondered why Freya would have ever left.
“You’re here,” my best friend’s voice sounded from the kitchen entrance.
Locking eyes, we both squealed at the same time and threw our arms around each other. My beer tilted precariously to the side, but I managed to avoid spilling anything.
“It’s so good to see you,” I mumbled into her hair, where my face was currently squashed. “And I’m so sorry about your dad.”
“He’s going to be okay. Mom told us all to go home. She’s staying until he wakes up.” She pulled back, her hands remaining on my arms. “But how are you? I can’t believe you were in a burning building. I’m glad Vlad was there to pull you out.”
“I’m fine. A little banged up, but nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.” I took in her hunched shoulders and dull eyes that missed their usual sparkle. “You look like you could do with a rest as well. You’re not helping anyone by running yourself into the ground.”
