Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
We spent several more long minutes kissing, reconnecting—or maybe connecting on a whole new level, with no lies or pretenses between us any longer—before Way’s stomach grumbled again. After that, I force-fed him snacks before leading him to my bedroom.
On the way down the hall, we passed a framed photo of me with my friends celebrating at a bar the night we’d sold ETC.
“You going to tell me about the money?” he asked. “I get the feeling it has something to do with why you’re so close to these guys.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Let’s see…” He began ticking things off on his fingers. “They all seemed very comfortable with private plane travel. None of them mentioned work conflicts while taking an indefinite amount of time off to help the exhibition. Dev didn’t seem to spare a thought in hiring someone to trailer his horse and personal vehicle across the country. And you live in a massive luxury penthouse across from Central Park.”
“You’re right.” I pulled him over to the foot of my bed and nudged him to sit down before I knelt to remove his shoes. “We invented a software program back in college. At first, it was for a class project, but then we saw the potential and continued perfecting it until it became a really big deal. It’s called ETC. Remember the emergency traffic control program—”
“The really expensive one you got installed in Majestic after finding us a ‘grant’? Yeah, I remember. You created that?” His voice was high with disbelief.
I nodded. “We founded a company called Sterling Chase to facilitate the sale of the software in an effort to hide the true ownership.” I set his shoes aside and reached to peel off his socks. Way’s fingers made their way into my hair until I felt the familiar light scratch of his fingernails on my scalp. “When our families found out we were selling a software program, they all started clamoring for financial support. It became… a problem. A big problem, actually.”
“Shit. I can imagine. My father would have had a long list of expectations if that had happened to me.”
I nodded and moved closer to him, nudging his knees apart so I could reach the hem of his shirt. The idea of getting Waylon Fletcher into my very own bed was intoxicating and distracting, but I wanted to tell him this story first. “It gets worse. Dev’s brother begged him for a sports car. A really fucking expensive Bugatti Veyron. Dev didn’t want to do it, said he had a bad feeling about it since his brother was young and irresponsible. But the kid swore he wouldn’t drive it too fast and he’d treat it like gold.”
I took a breath. “He and a buddy had been out drinking and got stupid. They took the car for a drive. Spun off the road and into a tree. Both of them died instantly. Dev’s parents blamed him. Hell, Dev blames himself even now. Even though it happened several years ago, he’s never been able to kick the grief and guilt. That’s why I was so relieved he agreed to come to the ranch. He’s happiest when he can be around horses and away from the traffic of the city.”
Way’s hand moved from my hair to the side of my face. His thumb brushed across my cheek. “I can’t imagine his pain. But obviously, it wasn’t his fault. He could have been just as stupid in an old Ford truck.”
“I agree. But after that, we made a pact to keep our wealth a secret. Thankfully, we’d never told our families just how much money we’d gotten in the deal, and then after Dev’s brother died, we told everyone we’d given most of it to endow a charity in his name. In truth, we did give quite a bit to endow the charity, but we were still left with an obscene amount of money.”
“Define obscene.”
The number always made my stomach lurch. “A billion dollars.”
“Fuck,” Way breathed.
“Each,” I added.
His eyes widened comically. “Silas.”
“I know. It’s terrifying.”
His hands moved back to my face and held me until I met his eyes. “I understand why you needed to keep it a secret.” His voice was soft and kind. “I promise I won’t tell anyone. But you didn’t need to tell me.”
“I did. I do.” I smiled at him. “You see, the deal was… we agreed not to tell anyone other than our life partners.”
Way’s blue eyes lit with understanding. “Your husband.”
“My husband.” The word was precious, a treasure on my tongue. “My beloved husband.”
I lifted his shirt off and leaned forward to press a kiss to the center of his chest. His skin was warm and familiar. His strong hands moved to my shoulders and down my back. He murmured words of love as I moved to kiss as much of him as I could reach.