CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE #2
“I can’t start taking anything yet,” she said. “I probably can’t start until the fall.”
Even though Kiara was an avid reader, she wasn’t one to sit around and read for hours on end.
Angela sat back in the chair and crossed her legs and arms. “So what would you like to do?”
“I don’t know,” Kiara said. “I have all this money, and yet I feel like a prisoner. I want to be able to go into town and do some shopping or pick up a coffee. Maybe walk around and see what the town has to offer. Go to the library.”
“There’s no reason you can’t do that, I wouldn’t think,” Angela said. “As long as you take Lucy with you.”
“And that’s another thing. I’m not thrilled that I have to have a guard with me everywhere I go.”
Angela tightened her arms around herself. “You don’t need to stay here. This doesn’t have to be your life.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“Of course not,” Angela replied. “But it’s not fair to ask you to completely change your life just because I am.”
Kiara sighed heavily, shifting on the loveseat to stare out the window. “It’s not that I don’t want to be here with you. I just need… more.”
“Let’s ask Duncan about you having a bit more freedom. I know why I have to be limited in being seen around here because I look like Annie, but there’s no reason you have to be so restricted.”
“I just wish I knew what the future looked like for me. In Briar, we always had a plan. Something we were working towards. Now, it feels like we don’t need goals anymore. We’re being handed everything on a silver platter. It makes me feel… unanchored, useless.”
“We’re still working toward things. Getting our licenses. Learning self-defense. Learning to use a gun.”
“I know. It just feels different now.”
Angela felt helpless to know how to help her sister. Kiara had always taken the lead in their lives, but it felt like that wasn’t as necessary now.
This wasn’t how she’d expected the conversation to go with Kiara when she’d come to tell her about Jude, but she knew it was important to hear Kiara’s thoughts.
Kiara had been there for the worst part of her life. She’d stood by her. Supported her. Helped her get to safety. Angela wouldn’t just abandon her now. She needed to help Kiara find peace in her life on the estate.
It might help once they moved into their own place. However, even though they’d broken ground on the site and work was underway, it wasn’t going to be ready for awhile.
“Sorry,” Kiara murmured. “I’m in a bit of a mood today. Just need to snap out of it.”
“You’ve always told me that my feelings are valid,” Angela reminded her. “And so are yours. It’s been a big change for us.”
“I should be happy,” Kiara said. “There’s really no reason to be unhappy in this current situation.”
Angela didn’t know how to respond to that because she wasn’t unhappy. But it hurt that Kiara was struggling so much.
“I’ll be fine,” Kiara said after a minute of silence between them. “I just need some time.”
Angela got to her feet and went to hug Kiara. “I’ll let you be. But remember that I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Angela left Kiara’s room, closing the door softly behind her.
Rather than return to her room, she headed downstairs, hoping that maybe she could have a conversation with Duncan. There was an hour until dinner, and the workday should be over, but Angela had come to realize that Duncan didn’t hold to conventional business hours.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she spotted Julian coming from the direction of Duncan’s office.
“Hey, Julian,” she said. “I didn’t know you were back.”
“I just got here a couple of hours ago.”
“Are you here for long?”
“Probably a week or so.”
Angela looked at Julian more closely. He didn’t look good. Gaunt was the first word that came to mind as she took in his features.
“Are you feeling okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“You look like you haven’t slept or eaten in ages.”
“I’m fine,” Julian said dismissively.
Angela didn’t know him well enough to push the subject, so instead, she said, “Is Duncan in his office?”
“Yep.”
“Do you think he has time to talk to me?”
“I’m sure he’ll make the time. Just knock on his door.”
Angela watched as Julian turned and walked up the stairs. Something was wrong with him, she was almost positive. But maybe that was just how he was. Without knowing him better, there was no way for her to be sure.
When she reached Duncan’s office, the door was closed. She hesitated for a moment, then knocked. When she heard Duncan respond, Angela opened the door and entered the office.
It was hard not to feel intimidated by the space. But before she could dwell too much on that, Duncan got to his feet, a smile on his face.
“Angela.” He came around the desk to greet her. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I wonder if I could chat with you for a few minutes,” she said, clasping her hands together tightly.
It was the first time she’d sought him out, let alone initiated a conversation of importance.
“Sure.” Duncan motioned to the sitting area in his office. “Why don’t we go sit over there by the fireplace?”
Once they were seated, Duncan said, “So what’s on your mind? Are you doing okay?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him, then smiled. “Better than fine actually.”
Duncan returned her smile, a twinkle in his eyes. “Does it have something to do with Jude?”
“It might,” Angela said, not sure how much she wanted to talk to him about it.
“Well, I hope this makes you both happy. Jude is a good man. The best.”
“Yes. I think he’s pretty awesome.”
“Though he’s not a man of many words, I do believe he thinks you’re pretty awesome as well.”
Her smile grew at that comment. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Did you want to talk about Jude?”
Angela shook her head. “Actually, I want to talk to you about Kiara.”
His expression sobered as he nodded. “Okay. What’s on your mind about her?”
“Can you tell me how restricted she is with her movements?” she asked. “Like, could she go into Serenity with her bodyguard?”
“Does she want to leave the estate?”
“Yes. I think she’s finding it difficult not having anything to do. I don’t think either of us is well-suited to a life of leisure.”
“I understand that.”
“If you’d asked me if I would like to be able to sleep in every day and live my life with no financial worries, I would have definitely said yes. However, the reality is quite different. We both need a purpose in life.”
Duncan had a contemplative look on his face as she spoke. Angela hoped he truly understood and didn’t think that she and Kiara were just being difficult.
“Would she have any interest in traveling?” Duncan asked.
“She might.”
“I have properties around the world, and she could use the jet to travel to any of them.”
Angela wasn’t really keen to go traveling when she was just getting used to living there. And she didn’t know if Jude would be able to go with them. She wasn’t prepared to leave him behind right when they were starting to develop a relationship.
“I’ll ask her about it.”
“I don’t want to make you two prisoners here, and I’m sorry that Kiara feels that perhaps she is. If she has any suggestions of things she’d like to do, we’ll certainly consider them. I just want you both to be safe.”
“I understand that,” Angela said. “This is just new for us. For all of us.”
“Yes, it is,” Duncan agreed. “But I’d endure anything just to have you back, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you make this transition as smooth as possible.”
“I appreciate all you’ve done for us,” Angela said. “We are very thankful.”
“Do you have any other concerns?” Duncan asked. “Might as well address them while you’re here.”
Angela hesitated for a moment, then said, “Is Julian okay? I’m worried about him.”
Duncan’s brows rose at her words. “Julian?”
“Yeah. He just looked exhausted and a bit… gaunt.”
Duncan frowned and seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. “He’s had a pretty busy schedule since he left, so I suspect he hasn’t been sleeping or eating well.”
Angela considered that, and she couldn’t argue that it wasn’t the case because she didn’t know how Julian normally reacted to stress and busyness. Still, combined with his obvious need to drink, it felt like something more was troubling him.
She left it alone, though. Even if Duncan hadn’t considered Julian’s health before, perhaps now that Angela had said something, he’d give it more thought.
“That was all I wanted to talk to you about,” Angela said, getting to her feet. “I should probably go get ready for dinner.”
“Sounds good. Thank you for coming to talk to me.”
Angela gave him a quick smile, then headed for the door. She hurried back upstairs to her room.
She and Kiara didn’t exactly dress up for dinner. However, they also didn’t rock up to the table in shorts and a tank top. Their days of eating dinner in their pajamas on the couch were in the past until they were living in their own place.
They’d always eaten dinner as a family with Jim and Sandra, but it hadn’t exactly been a pleasant experience. The meals with Duncan and the family were much more pleasant. Although Julian's presence might make them a little more tense.
As she switched into a nicer sweater and a pair of black slacks, Angela couldn’t help but wish that Jude would be joining them for dinner. She wondered how long it would be before he was welcome at the table with the family.
His absence would be harder to accept if Cole was at the table. But as far as Angela was aware, he was still in California. However, he was likely to show up at some point if he missed Annie the way she missed him.
Once dinner was over, Angela decided that she needed to have a talk with Kiara about the travel idea. Hopefully, Jude would call after that so that they had plenty of time to talk.