“I’ve got the money for that, too.”
“Okay.” He passes the phone back to me with shaking hands. “If you’re serious, I’ll talk to the listing agent and see what I can do.”
“Thank you. Oh, and, um… Please don’t mention any of this to Luke yet.” I bite my lip with a wince. “I’d like to tell him about it myself. I’d rather it come from me.”
“Yeah,” Dmitry answers absently, giving me another weighing stare. “Okay. Sure.”
He disappears down the stairs in search of the woman who greeted us when we entered the house, and I go off searching for Luke.
I find him sitting outside on the upstairs balcony terrace overlooking the city. From this distance, we can just see the tips of some of the taller skyscrapers nearby, but there’s a decent amount of trees below us, giving the space some unexpected privacy as well. Luke is sitting on the expensive patio furniture, wistfully staring off into the distance, and when I sit down next to him, he leans into the crook of my arm and sighs, letting his head drop on my shoulder.
He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t need to. I know exactly what he’s thinking—can we live like this forever?I can’t help but smile, knowing that we’re about to have the opportunity to find out.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Take Me Home, Country Roads
Lukeisstillasleepwhen I slip out of bed around seven o’clock the next morning. He doesn’t stir, oblivious to what I’m about to do. His face is so achingly beautiful, even in sleep, that it’s hard to leave his side. But Dmitry is waiting for me at the front door, and the two of us leave the apartment together to head to his office and fill out some necessary paperwork for this harebrained scheme of mine—his words, not mine.
Turns out, buying a house is a little more complicated than a simple, “Here’s some money—now give me the keys.” However, I discover the process runs much more smoothly if you throw ten million dollars at it. The seller agreed to my offer within two hours of Dmitry making it, and from there, all it took was a simple text to my financial advisor to get certified proof of funds, and Dmitry pulled off the rest of the legal stuff to get me a closing within twenty-four hours—the fastest closing he’s ever witnessed. One wire transfer and my signature on a few documents later, I’m officially the new owner of a high-end townhouse in the Upper West Side of New York City.
As I sit in the conference room of Dmitry’s real estate office after everything is said and done, I stare out of the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the massive city beyond it and the decent view of Central Park—the brightest patch of green in an otherwise urban landscape. It makes me smile when I remember how I recognized that very same park in the first dream I ever had about Luke. Maybe it was prophetic all along.
Dmitry gives me another of his deep, appraising looks, and I can tell he still has reservations about my sanity. He pinches his brow between two fingers, then says, “I don’t know whether to say ‘congratulations’ or knock you upside the head. Maybe both.”
I laugh. “I probably deserve that.”
“I mean, what are you thinking?” He frowns. “What’s the plan?”
“Honestly? I have no fucking clue.”
Dmitry balks at me, clearly flabbergasted.
“The opportunity presented itself, and it just felt right,” I try to explain, but I know how it sounds. Crazy.
“That’s gotta be the most insane shit I’ve ever heard,” Dmitry confirms. “Lottery or no lottery, that’s a pretty fucking bat shit crazy impulse purchase.”
I shrug. “I’ve spent the last thirteen years with that money sitting in investments doing nothing but multiplying. I kept working full-time, holding my nose to the grindstone, not really doinganythingfor myself because I didn’t see the point, ya know? My life up until now has been pretty rote and mundane… Luke opened my eyes to the fact that I wasn’t trulyliving. Just existing. And I don’t want to ever go back to that.”
Dmitry’s expression softens, and he nods slightly. “He has a weird way of doing that to people.” He gives me a commiserating smile, and I know he understands.
“It’s fucking annoying.” I laugh, and Dmitry chuckles as well. “But I feel good about this.” And I do. I’m still shocked that I feel no apprehension or anxiety—just pure serenity.
“Well, I still think you’re nuts,” he muses. “But I guess I should be thanking you for the commission I’m getting out of this deal.”
“I’d rather you have it than someone else.”
“Luke’s going to lose his shit when he finds out about this. The timing couldn’t have been better—or worse, depending on who you ask. But this will definitely take the financial burden off his shoulders.”
“What do you mean?” I frown.
“Our lease expires at the end of December.” Dmitry cocks his head to the side and regards me curiously like he thought this was information I should have already known. “We’ve been trying to pin him down about whether or not he’s going to sign on for another year, but he’s been noncommittal—avoidant, even. I was beginning to think he was never coming back, or that he’d stupidly keep paying two household expenses without ever living in one of them. Now, I guess he’ll move in with you… Unless that’s not your intention?”
I gape at Dmitry, frozen in shock as I process this new information.
“Oh, god. Did I just stupidly assume that you two were at that stage?” Dmitry asks, moderately horrified.
“No, it’s not that…” I stammer, feeling slightly thrown off. “I guess I didn’t realize the extent of Luke’s money problems. I mean, it makes sense that he was still paying his share of bills while he was away, but I never put two and two together.”
