“Yeah,” she whispers. “Where are we?”
“In the middle of nowhere.”
She nods, almost as if she can’t believe she’s woken up here.
“Come on, I wanna show you inside.”
Pushing the door open, I grit my teeth at the pain that shoots around my body while she does the same behind me.
“Are you okay?” she asks, moving faster than me and taking note of my slow movements.
“Been sitting in the car too long. I’ll be fine.” When she gets to me, I wrap my arm around her shoulder and walk her toward the huge wrap-around deck.
“Please don’t tell me this is your holiday home or something.”
I chuckle. “No, it’s not. It’s Nico’s parents’.”
“Jesus. It’s like the thing of dreams.”
“It’s a one-of-a-kind, hand-built Canadian log cabin.”
“So definitely a thing of dreams, then. I can’t even begin to imagine how much something like this costs,” she murmurs, dragging her fingertips along the wooden handrail as we climb the steps.
“Probably best you don’t think about it. Just enjoy the escape.”
“This is utterly insane, Toby. When I said I wanted to leave, I—”
Coming to a stop in front of the door, I turn to her, taking her cheeks in my hands.
“You need this. All you’ve got to do here is relax. Okay?”
“I don’t deserve this. You.”
“Let me be the judge of that,” I tell her, pressing a kiss to the end of her nose.
“Seriously?” she gasps when I press my hand to the biometric scanner beside the door. “Who the fuck are you, the kid of a fucking MI6 agent or something?”
“If only. How cool would that be?” I joke as I push the door open and step inside.
Warmth surrounds us and I quickly shut us in, leaving the bitter winter night behind us.
“Wow,” Jodie breathes, stepping farther into the huge open plan living space. The building is a hexagon built around a huge centre pillar that a spiral staircase wraps around.
I remember coming out here the first time with Nico and Evan when it was being built and was completely mesmerised by how it was all put together. It really is a work of art.
“Who started the fires?” she asks, coming to a stop in front of the one roaring in the living area.
“There’s staff.”
She glances over her shoulder, a look of total disbelief on her face.
“You live in a completely different world from me.”
“Money isn’t everything, baby. It’s the root of all evil.” And I have no doubt it’s a major factor in the reasons why Jonas did many of the things he did.
“So what does Nico’s family do to have a place like this?”
“His dad is… second in command of a massive company.”