“Good luck with that.”
“Thank you, but I doubt I’ll need it. Money’s better than luck.” He waves and walks off.
I watch him go before heading back inside. I place the glasses down on the bar and look around, trying to picture Brice in this room. She’s like a pure white blanket, like freshly bleached sheets, like clean, dry grass, and this place feels to cheap, too outrightrichfor a woman like that. And something about it makes me smile.
I fish out my phone, find her number, and start a video call. It rings and rings, until she finally picks up, looking surprised. “Carmine?”
“Hello, Brice,” I say with a smile.
Her eyebrows raise like she’s surprised I didn’t call herfilthy girl, which is what I wanted. Now she’s thinking the words all on her own. “What can I do for you?”
“First, I wanted to see the ring on your finger.”
She scowls. “I’m not wearing it.”
“Go find it and put it on.”
“Carmine—”
“I mean it. Go find it and put it on. I’ll wait.”
Her jaw works and she glares at me, but finally she stands. The camera shakes and I get a nice view of a bland ceiling, some fancy light fixtures, very nice molding, and I hear her grumbling the whole time. She must still be back at the mansion with her grandfather then. Finally, the camera rights itself and she’s standing in a bedroom near a huge four-poster bed, everything perfectly in its right place, her fingers waggling. My ring glitters like heaven.
“Happy? I was doing my nails and I’m not used to keeping rings on when I’m painting them.”
“Get used to it, but yes, I am happy. Now, how about a tour of our future house?”
“You found somewhere already?”
I turn the camera around and pan across the bar, the sitting area, the large TV room. “It’s in Highland Park. A friend and business associate of mine is selling it in a hurry, and we happen to be buying in a hurry.”
“I figured we’d have more time before we moved anywhere. I haven’t told Cassidy I was leaving yet, and I haven’t packed and—”
“No more excuses.” I flip the camera back around. “We made a deal, didn’t we? I buy a house in the Dallas area and you move in as soon as it closes.”
“Which gives me, what, thirty days?”
“Fifteen, actually. We’re expediting the process. Things are a lot easier when you do everything in cash and waive most of the paperwork.”
“Two weeks,” she says softly and the fear in her voice sends a thrill down my spine. “That’s really soon.”
“That’s enough time to tell all your friends and get your affairs in order. How is your grandfather reacting to the upcoming nuptials?”
“I’ve never seen him so happy before in my life. Which is honestly weird.”
“You’re saving your family.”
“Right. Yeah. I’ll keep reminding myself of that.” She looks away at something nearby.
“Give me a tour of your room.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because I want to see where you come from. Got something to hide? Dirty magazines?”
She snorts and smiles a bit. I love the way her nose wrinkles when she smiles. A little thrill runs down my spine thinking about having her here in this house with me, this massive, empty house. So many rooms to explore. So many places to violate her.
“Fine, but it’s nothing special.” She flips the camera and pans across the bed, a dresser, paintings on the walls, a fireplace, a sitting area, a massive walk-in closet. It’s all white and silver and pink and light blue and looks like it belongs in a magazine. There’s no personality, no mess, no touches of humanity. “See? Happy?”