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But it was more money than I had ever known.
And I was tempted. I was so tempted to take it all, to figure out a way to invest it, maybe ask Ward for his advice since he was living high on the hog.
But, in the end, all I did was take the money out for my beach house, figuring they owed me a real home for the first time in my life.
The rest just sat there.
Until I took out the money for Kennedy.
Fact of the matter was, I had been born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had never even understood the concept of hunger. Even leaving all that behind, things just... fell into place for me. I made a very nice living between Hex and The Henchmen, way more than I needed which was why I felt fine about blowing it on off-roading toys that I knew I was going to crash and sports cars that were completely overpriced.
And then there was this woman, this fucking amazing, beautiful, resilient woman, who had been fed nothing but shit, had met with nothing but resistance to her trying to better her life.
It came down to the fact that... she fucking deserved a goddamn leg-up already. That was enough reason for me to dip into that account that had sat untouched for years since I bought the beach house.
It had just been sitting there; I might as well have put it to use. Especially for a worthy cause.
Because, at the end of the day, I knew Kennedy was good for it. I knew she would take that space and make it into something fucking amazing; she would find a way to make it thrive.
Because she was still hungry.
Maybe not in the physical way, but in a very soul-deep kind of way. She was hungry to prove herself, to prove to everyone else who had ever doubted her, who had refused to invest in her, that she was worth it. That she could rise up from the ashes of her past and fucking soar.
At the end of my story, her lips started twitching, watching me with eyes that somehow didn't see me any differently even though the image of the rough and dirty biker and cage fighter had to have been marred slightly by learning I got a goddamn Lambo for my sixteenth birthday.
"So, what does the inside of a Rolls Royce smell like?"
"Money," I said with a smirk. "It smells like fucking money."
She smiled at that, reaching out to hook a finger into my belt hoop, the first time since I walked in that she even got close to touching me.
"You really should have talked to me about this before you did this."
"Would you have fucking let me do it if I had?"
Her lips curved up. "That'd be a no."
"Which is why I had to do it behind your fucking back. You're too goddamn stubborn."
"You're the stubborn one."
"Says the woman arguing over who is the most stubborn," I said with a smirk as I slid my hands over her hips to fold across her lower back, pulling the bottom half of her body against mine.
Her hands rose to press into my chest as her head ducked for a minute, trying to get her thoughts together, trying to put a mask on. It wouldn't work, of course, she wore every goddamn emotion on her face. But I understood the need for self-preservation in the face of something that brought out a lot in you. Her eyes rose and while she certainly tried not to seem emotional, it was in her big eyes, in the depth of her voice. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," I said, leaning in to take her lips for a moment, feeling her melt into me. "Oh, there is one stipulation. It is actually in the contract too. I made it all legally binding and shit."
To that, her brows drew together as I pushed away, flipping through the paperwork, and pointing to the passage.
"Pagan!" she hissed, eyes bugging out. "You can't use that word in official documents!"
"Yeah, the girl at the office turned bright red when I added the 'no pussy-colored walls' clause."
"Well what color do you suggest then?"
"Green!" Benny declared through the closed front door, making it clear he had been eavesdropping for a good long while. I expected nothing less. You could see him practically bouncing out front the door. Part of it was because it was a good thing for him that business was expanding, sure. But I was inclined to think a bigger chunk of it had to do with the fact that he just loved Kennedy, had been with her through the ups and downs, tried his best to take care of her. He wanted her to have a break from all the stress as well.
