Page 55 of A King’s Obsession

The broker immediately opened his mouth.

I lifted my hand without looking at him. “I asked her.”

Jru looked between us, then slowly surveyed the space again. “It's nice.”

“That's it?” I asked, watching her closely.

“No,” she admitted, glancing toward the rear of the building.

“Then talk.”

She hesitated, and I could tell she was deciding how honest she wanted to be in front of the man trying to sell me the building.

Finally, she pointed toward the hallway she'd just come from.

“If this is supposed to operate anything like Vice, I wouldn't take it.”

The broker's practiced smile slipped.

“May I ask why?” he questioned, turning his attention to her.

Jru faced him. “Where would liquor storage go?”

He pointed toward the rear of the property, looking like he didn't understand why she was asking.

“Exactly,” she replied.

I looked in the direction he indicated.

Jru stepped closer to the center of the room and explained what she saw. The distance between the proposed main bar and storage would force employees to repeatedly cross service paths during the busiest hours. The obvious location for VIP created another traffic problem, and one of the corridors we'd need employees using would become useless if the crowd spilled over the way it did at Vice.

The broker tried explaining possible renovations. Jru listened before shaking her head.

“You could fix it,” she said. “But if you're already spending that much just to make the building function the way you need it to, you're paying for problems before you even open.”

I looked around again.

This time I saw what she saw.

By the time she finished, the broker wasn't smiling anymore.

I was.

Not because I enjoyed watching her tear apart a multimillion-dollar property.

Because she was right.

Outside, Jru waited until the broker walked ahead of us before looking at me.

“What?” she asked, noticing the way I was watching her.

I slipped my sunglasses on. “Nothing.”

“You keep saying nothing after staring at me,” she pointed out, studying my face.

I opened the truck door for her. “You did good.”

That stopped her.