Walker (Bowen Boys, #1)(56)
“You don’t like it?”
He looked around the bedroom that looked like something from one of the rich and famous magazines that his mother was always bringing home from the store. “We can change anything you want. As I said, I think my mother had it decorated about a month or so before she died and I’ve not done much to it since.”
He rested his head on hers. “Caitlynne, I know I asked you not to tell me, but now I have to know. Just how much are you worth?”
She cleared her throat once before answering and he knew it was far more than he had even guessed. When she pulled away from him and closed the door to the room, dismissing the man who had been following behind them, he sat down on the closest object. The chair looked much more comfortable than it actually was.
“I’m one of the richest…okay, you want the truth, don’t you?”
He nodded.
“Even though you told me fifty times you didn’t want to know?”
“Yes. I need to know. This house is not just a mansion and you know it. This house is big enough to house several large families and they’d never see each other. Not to mention there are several other houses in the back that I saw when we were in the last bedroom.” He stood up and looked out the window. “Is that a pool, or have you had the ocean moved back there?”
“A pool. And don’t be a shit, Walker. I tried all morning to tell you that the house was big. And so you know, those houses are for guests too. Not just the staff stays here.” He turned to look at her and she flushed. “At last audit, I was worth just over five point five—”
“Five point five million dollars? Five point five—” He stopped when she shook her head. He moved to the big bed and sat. “Tell me.”
“Five point five billion. And that’s only in cash and houses. There are also the stocks and things that I have invested in that—” She stopped talking when he raised his hand.
“Who are you?” She turned away from him and he knew he’d hurt her. Standing again, he went to her and held her. She was stiff and unyielding in his arms.
“When they told me that my parents were dead I realized that I didn’t know them. Not at all. I lived here with them for the most part, but didn’t interact with them. They would bring me out during parties to show their pretty little girl off then I’d be sent back to the nannies and maids. I lived here for another ten years with the people who worked for them, never knowing anything any different.” She moved away from him and he let her. “The staff that came with me to Ohio had raised me, and when I explained to them that I was going to be living with you but had to travel to DC more, they said that they weren’t leaving me. That you’d have to get used to them.”
“I like having them there.” He did too. For the first time since he’d moved in, his laundry was washed and put away and his refrigerator, which he hadn’t even looked in for months, was full of things he loved.
“Most of the time we eat together when I’m home. They’re the closest thing to family I’ve ever had.” She knelt before him and took his hands. “I know that you’ve had a great deal thrown at you today. I’m sorry for that. I didn’t want you to…Walker, I don’t know what I’d do if you left me.”
He pulled her up for a kiss and then pulled her onto the bed. “I’m not leaving you. I can’t. I love you. This house and the money are a lot. More than I ever thought it would be even when you told me that you came from money. I love you, Caitlynne. More than I ever dreamed possible, I love you. Besides, the alimony to you would kill me.”
She rolled him to his back, straddled his hips, and sat up. He wanted to roll her to her back and take her again, but held her over him when she looked toward the windows. He waited for her to speak.
“I have something more to tell you. I don’t want you to get pissed until I’m finished telling you, but it’s important. Not just to your family, but to me as well.” He nodded. “I’ve set up bank accounts for all your family. None of them will ever have to work again if they don’t want to. The house, the one that your parents live in, and all the houses on the property are paid off and the taxes have been paid in full for the next fifty years.”
He swallowed hard. He knew that the taxes had been a struggle for his family. When they’d gotten the property they had agreed to pay the lien on it. It wasn’t until later that they were told there were nine liens on it and it amounted to in the hundred thousands of dollars.
“Thank you.”
She nodded and continued. “I’ve also paid off all the debt of your student loans, as well as all the brothers. I had my accountant take care of it all. And even though the hospital has agreed to pay off your debt if you work for them another five years, that too has been taken care of. As well as a generous donation for them to break your contract so you can work for Warren.”
He did roll her to her back then and settled between her legs. He stretched her hands above her head and was glad when she left them there. He started unbuttoning her blouse as he spoke. “While I appreciate you taking care of my family, you won’t handle me again. Understand me?” When she started to speak, he covered her mouth with his hand. “I’m not finished. You won’t do things like this without telling me first and you will not be treating me as a kept man without letting me make some sort of payment arrangements for it.” He lifted his hand from her mouth when she licked it. His cock jerked hard in his pants. He nodded his permission for her to speak, afraid if he tried to talk, he’d begin by begging her to let him take her.