Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
When Jin placed his phone on the desk and gave West a relieved sigh, West gathered him into another hug. Glancing over Jin’s shoulder at Gabriel, West said, “Name your price. Whatever you want. What you and your husband have done for me…I can’t. I’m not a poor man. Name your price and I’ll make sure it happens.”
The assassin’s expression turned sly, and West could hear Justin chuckling in his ear, but it was Jin who had his attention as he pulled out of his arms.
“West! You can’t!”
“I can.” He cupped Jin’s cheek and pressed their foreheads together as he released a deep breath he felt like he’d been holding for weeks. “I’ll pay any reward within my power. The only thing that matters to me is keeping you safe.”
“Actually, if you could put in a good word with the royal family,” Gabriel drawled, “Justin and I have a small request.”
They separated as Gabriel reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “That proposal we presented to Dianxia wasn’t entirely fake. Rather than buy the island, my husband and I would like to lease it for a period of about fifty years.”
“What?” West choked out. He ripped his eyes from a grinning Gabriel to skim the piece of paper Jin was now reading. Rather than buying the island, the offer was to lease the island from the kingdom of Gaoxing for a period of fifty years for thirty billion dollars. After that period, the island’s full ownership and usage would revert to the kingdom of Gaoxing. There was more about the development of the island as a vacation resort and it would fully abide by all the laws of the kingdom, but West’s brain locked on the dollar amount. That would help the kingdom’s financial woes.
“What? How? Why do you even have that much money?” West demanded, not caring how tactless it sounded.
Gabriel just laughed. “It seems my sweet husband didn’t immediately divide up that dirty money my nephew fell into this past summer. Instead, he was bored and invested an enormous chunk of it. The idiot managed to more than double his investment in a few short months, and now we have access to even more money.”
“So we wanna lease an island!” Justin shouted.
“For vacations,” Gabriel said primly.
West was pretty sure they were both insane.
“This charity…it’s too much,” Jin stammered. “You’ve already done so much for us.”
“Kairo, could you kill the comms for a moment?” Gabriel cut in.
“Got it,” Kairo agreed.
Gabriel paused for a second as they waited to make sure that the earpieces were at least temporarily dead.
“While Justin and I are happy to help Gaoxing, please don’t think of it as charity. It’s more of a thank-you gift for him.” Gabriel nodded toward West, almost knocking his knees out from under him. A thirty-billion-dollar thank-you gift? They were ridiculous!
“How? Why?” West choked out.
“Alexei,” Gabriel stated. For the first time, his smile softened, and all his harsh edges seemed to disappear. “Alexei is my only remaining blood relation, and all I want for him is happiness. Soren has filled the role of boyfriend, but Alexei has always lacked that ‘big brother, best friend’ person in his life. Since he came to visit us in Colorado, all he has talked about is you and Soren. Justin and I want to thank you for being such a good friend to him. For understanding him.”
“No.” West had to pause and clear his tight throat. Just the idea of the gift touched him beyond words. “I don’t need thanks for that. Alexei is the insane little brother I didn’t know I needed in my life. He’s saved my sanity more times than I can count. I don’t want the money if that’s the reason. Alexei’s friendship and happiness is enough thanks for me.”
Qin gasped, but West’s eyes were on his lover alone. And Jin was smiling with a look of such pride on his handsome face. He understood.
Gabriel sighed extravagantly. “Fine. Not a thank-you gift. An early wedding gift, then. Really, the money isn’t ours. We couldn’t spend this in our lifetime. Alexei doesn’t want it. Charlie and the rest of your team have no interest in it. We’ve got to do something responsible with it. Supporting the people of Gaoxing is a good cause.”
Jin laughed and rested his head on West’s shoulder. “So be it. I’ll have some people look into the offer and draw up some formal documents. We hope that you and your husband will consider Gaoxing your second home.”
Gabriel rose and bowed deeply to the crown prince. “On behalf of my husband and myself, we thank you.”
A second gasp from Qin drew them from their conversation. A frantic blur of words exploded from the prince’s assistant into the phone, but West caught one important one: escape.