Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Shari smiled. “Of course. I’ll be waiting just down there, in the first room on your right. No rush at all.”
“Thank you,” he replied, but I could feel his eyes on me.
I waited until Shari was out of sight before finally looking up at him. I wanted to slap him for this. Showing me all that was available and unaffordable. Dangling this in front of my face, knowing I’d want it, but hating the idea of being charity.
“Stop grinding your pretty teeth,” he scolded me. “I didn’t bring you here to upset you or anger you. I had the resources available, and I wanted to share that with you and your Grams.”
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose. “This can’t be free. And I will not take a handout from you.”
His brows drew together. “This isn’t a handout.”
“Okay, fine. Charity then. It’s … it’s embarrassing enough. My house. My life. Compared to yours.” I felt my eyes sting, and it angered me more. I would not cry. “We’ve been on one date. And you feel so sorry for my pathetic life that you’re pulling strings to get my Grams into some elite … home. Or whatever this is. I just …” I pressed my fingers to my temples and closed my eyes. “I want this for her. And I hate that she has to live the way she does. But at what cost do I get it?”
I dropped my hands and looked back up at him. “I like you, Amory. I do. A lot, okay? But this is new, and we are just getting to know each other. I don’t want you to see me as … some problem or weight on your shoulders. My life isn’t yours to fix. I just want to get to spend time with you.”
He cupped my face and took a step closer to me. “You like me a lot.”
“Is that seriously all you got out of what I just said?”
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “No. I just wanted to clarify.”
I let out a sad laugh. Wishing that, for one day in my life, I could be happy. The entire day. Not have something remind me of the shitty hand I’d been dealt.
“It just so happens that I like you a lot too, Ace. I’ve liked you since I sat in that bar and watched you play an Oscar-worthy game of pool. The more I get to know you, the more I’m around you, the more I fucking like you. Not once”—he stopped and leaned down closer to me, his eyes darkening—“not one time, have I ever considered you a charity case or a problem. I’ve been impressed by how fucking clever and ingenious you are. How you have taken your strengths and found a way to make money with them. You juggle more roles than anyone I know, and you do it like a badass. I don’t see you and think needy or weak. I just have the ability to help you. Help your Grams. I can do that, and I want to. Let me. Please, Royal. Please. Let me do this.”
I sniffled, and he wiped a lone tear that had escaped with the back of his finger. He was very good with words. In just a few sentences, he’d made me feel strong and impressive rather than needy and pathetic.
“Do you promise me this will cost you nothing?” I asked him, still struggling with that. This couldn’t just be free.
“This house—not Haven House and what it does, but the house it is in and the property it sits on,” he said, “my family owns it. Haven House leases it from us.”
I blinked, letting that process.
They owned this house? Why wouldn’t they live in it? What in the world could their house look like if they owned one this incredible that they just leased out?
Again, I was in over my head. This man was a kind of wealthy that had to surpass even Merce’s family.
“You own this house,” I repeated.
He nodded. “Yes. It’s been in our family for over a hundred years.”
So, they weren’t just rich, but they were old-money rich. Well, I was old-money poor, and this was a lot to take in.
“Trust me, Royal.” His tone sounded pleading.
Trust him? I didn’t trust people. I knew better than to do that. Yet I had done nothing but trust this man from almost day one. Okay, week one. Not day one. But still, that was a big deal.
Finally, I nodded.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever really had a choice. He was claiming me at a rapid pace with every action, touch, and word that came out of his mouth.
• Twenty-Two •
I didn’t give a fuck what she’d done
Sebastian
Standing by while Royal frantically searched for her father was hard. I hated seeing her worried. Why she was so damn concerned about the piece of shit, I didn’t know. He sure as fuck had no concern for her.