“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“I guess we’d better check the place out then, see if it’s good enough.”
“Mum,” I gasp. “We can’t accept this.”
“Sweetheart, they haven’t bought us a house. This building is an apartment block. They’ll just be loaning it until we get back on our feet. I’m sure they’ll want rent and all the other usual stuff.”
I stare at her unblinking, once again reminded of where my naivety has come from.
“What?” she asks innocently.
“Even if that is true,” although I already know it’s not, “we can’t afford rent on a place like this. I mean, look,” I say, waving my hand toward the floor-to-ceiling windows at the other end of the vast room.
“It’s incredible.”
“Yeah,” I breathe, walking farther into the flat and taking it all in.
It’s not as big as Toby’s upstairs, but it’s still huge and over the top and everything anyone could want for a home. And the views over the city, even on the opposite side to Toby’s, are breathtaking.
“We’ll figure it out. We’ve got his money. What better way to spend it than to put it back into the Family bank?”
“Well, I guess when you put it like that,” I mutter, staring out at the city below in total shock.
“Come on, let’s check the rest of the place out,” Mum says, looping her arm through mine.
I want to refuse and call Toby to rip him a new one for this over-the-top gesture. But he’s in class, and I also kind of don’t want to. The smile on Mum’s face and the excitement in her eyes is everything. This is the beginning of our new start, and I really want her to have this. Her own place, somewhere she can make a home and rebuild her life. And I know that we don’t need to worry about Jonas anymore, and she’ll be safe here. We’ll be safe here. And Toby is right upstairs along with the rest of his friends, who are quickly becoming almost as important to me as he is.
Each room is better than the next, and by the time we’re standing in the master bedroom, both staring at the view once more, I swear my heart is going to explode with happiness.
He did this. He did this for us, for Mum.
“You picked a good one with Toby, Jojo.”
A smile tugs at my lips as I think of him.
“He’s really something,” I whisper, thinking of the guy in question.
As if he knows we’re talking about him, my phone starts buzzing in my pocket.
“Is that him?” Mum asks when I pull it out.
“Sure is.”
Swiping the screen, I walk out of the room, leaving her to get acquainted with her new bedroom.
“Tobias Doukas, what the hell have you done?” I bark down the line as I move into the living area and lower my arse to the sofa.
“Do you like it?”
“Toby,” I sigh, my fake irritation disappearing with that one simple question. “It’s stunning, of course I like it.”
“Good. Although really, I’m more concerned about your mum’s opinion, because I don’t intend on you spending a lot of time down there.”
“Oh, moving me somewhere else, are you?” I ask lightly, my heart taking flight in my chest.
“You belong one floor up, baby.”