‘It’d be great if you could take her mind off things—make her laugh and have some fun. I just don’t want her falling for you. She’s bruised and battered enough.’
‘You’ve nothing to worry about on that score, Rupe, I promise you. I’ve no intention of hurting Audra. Ever.’
‘She’s special, Finn.’
That made him smile. ‘All of the Russel siblings are special.’
‘She’s more selfless than the rest of us put together.’
Finn blinked. ‘That’s a big call.’
‘It’s the truth.’
He hauled in a breath and let it out slowly. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
‘Thanks, Finn, I knew I could count on you.’
* * *
Audra pressed her ringing phone to her ear at exactly eight twenty-three the next morning. She knew the exact time because she was wondering when Finn would emerge. She’d started clock-watching—a sure sign of worry. Not that she had any intention of letting Rupert know she was worried. ‘Hey, Rupe.’
He called to check on her every couple of days, which only fed her guilt. Last night’s false alarm sent an extra surge of guilt slugging through her now. ‘Sorry about last night’s fuss. I take it the police rang to let you know what happened.’
‘They did. And you’ve nothing to apologise for. Wasn’t your fault. In fact, I’m proud of the way you handled the situation.’
He was? Her shoulders went back.
‘Not everyone would’ve thought that quickly on their feet. You did good.’
‘Thanks, I... I’m relieved it was just Finn.’ She flashed to the lines of strain that had bracketed Finn’s mouth last night. ‘Do you know how long he plans to stay?’
‘No idea. Do you mind him being there? I can ask him to leave.’
‘No, no—don’t do that.’ She already owed Rupert and the rest of her family too much. She didn’t want to cause any further fuss. ‘He wasn’t looking too crash hot last night. I think he needs to take it easy for a bit.’
‘You could be right, Squirt, and I hate to ask this of you...’
‘Ask away.’ She marvelled how her brother’s Squirt could sound so different from Finn’s. When Finn called her Squirt it made her tingle all over.
‘No, forget about it. It doesn’t matter. You’ve enough on your plate.’
She had nothing on her plate at the moment and they both knew it. ‘Tell me what you were going to say,’ she ordered in her best boardroom voice. ‘I insist. You know you’ll get no peace now until you do.’
His low chuckle was her reward. Good. She wanted him to stop worrying about her.
‘Okay, it’s just... I’m a bit worried about him.’
She sat back. ‘About Finn?’ It made a change from Rupert worrying about her.
‘He’s never had to take it easy in his life. Going slow is an alien concept to him.’
He could say that again.
‘He nearly died up there on that mountain.’
Her heart clenched. ‘Died? I mean, I knew he’d banged himself up pretty bad, but... I had no idea.’
‘Typical Finn, he’s tried to downplay it. While the medical team could patch the broken arm and ribs easily enough, along with the dislocated shoulder and wrenched knee, his ruptured spleen and the internal bleeding nearly did him in.’
She closed her eyes and swallowed. ‘You want me to make sure he takes it easy while he’s here?’
‘That’s probably an impossible task.’
‘Nothing’s impossible,’ she said with a confidence she had no right to. After all her brother’s support these last few weeks—his lack of blame—she could certainly do this one thing for him. ‘Consider it done.’
‘And, Audra...?’
‘Yes?’
‘Don’t go falling in love with him.’
She shot to her feet, her back ramrod straight. ‘I make one mistake and—’
‘This has nothing to do with what happened with Farquhar. It’s just that women seem to like Finn. A lot. They fall at his feet in embarrassing numbers.’
She snorted and took her seat again. ‘That’s because he’s pretty.’ She preferred a man with a bit more substance.
You thought Thomas had substance.
She pushed the thought away.
‘He’s in Kyanós partly because he’s trying to avoid some woman in Nice.’
Good to know.
‘If he hurts you, Squirt, I’ll no longer consider him a friend.’
She straightened from her slouch, air whistling between her teeth. Rupert and Finn were best friends, and had been ever since they’d attended their international boarding school in Geneva as fresh-faced twelve-year-olds.