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She pulled away, still holding my hands until they were so far apart they sort of fell back at our sides. She looked more beautiful than any woman I’d ever known. Like a raven-haired angel, sent from heaven.
“Maybe I’ll even let you boys open one of your presents early,” she winked, before disappearing back into the other room.
Thirty-Five
SLOANE
“Go on,” said Brock. “Open that last one.”
I knelt in the shadows beneath the glimmering tree, feeling loved and spoiled. I’d already opened three gifts from each of them, and it was almost midnight. Everywhere I looked, I was surrounded by wrapping paper.
“That one’s from all three of us,” Kade added.
I held the shoebox-sized present in my hands, staring down at the shiny red wrapping paper. I turned it over very carefully, hefting its weight.
“It’s not fragile,” smiled Brock, “if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“So I can shake it?”
The guys all laughed. “Shake away.”
I did it for the hell of it, more than to determine anything about the contents. Something soft and heavy thudded around inside the shoebox, but that was about it.
“Are you sure you don’t want to keep this one until morning?” I asked. “I mean, there’ll be nothing left to—”
“Just open it,” smiled Valerio. “When you know what it is, you’ll understand why.”
With the last of my reservations tossed over my shoulder, I dug eagerly into the package. Oddly enough, the box inside actuallywasa shoebox. I pried it open and looked inside…
“Really?”
Inside the shoebox was a brick-like stack of cash. A very large stack, actually.
“You got me…cash?”
“Yes and no,” said Brock. “I mean yes, it’s definitely cash. That part’s true. But it’s also so much more.”
I shook my head in confusion and disappointment. I expected a thousand things — more fun and creative things — but certainly not this. I just didn’t get it.
“Think of it as an investment in your future,” said Valerio. “Inourfuture.”
I hefted the brick in my hand. It still didn’t make sense.
“I can’t accept this,” I protested. “This is the very last thing I—”
“That money isn’t just money,” Brock explained. “And it’s not for spending, not for shopping.”
“Not for paying bills either,” Valerio chimed in.
I let out a bitterly sardonic laugh. “Well what the hell am I supposed to do with it then?”
“The money’s to replace your missing show piece,” said Brock. “Or rather, pieces.”
I crossed my legs on the floor, squinting back at him. Slowly, the realization of what they were trying to do dawned on me.
“You need money for materials, correct?” Brock asked. “Bronze and aluminum casting shot?”
“Well ingots, but yes.”
