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Christ.
I wasn’t thinking clearly.
“Yeah, I fucked that up, huh?” I said, wincing. “I guess your first task as my house… manager,” I said, deciding that housekeeper was probably not the right term if I was requiring this type of shit from her, “is to go buy yourself a bed. And maybe a dresser. You should be able to find somewhere who will deliver today. I will give you cash for it and the tip.”
“Really, I’m sure I could find someone to help me move my bed…” she said.
“Hey, part of the job was to decorate, right?” I asked.
“Right,” she agreed.
“You’re starting with your room. A bedroom needs a bed, bedding, a dresser, some nightstands, a lamp or two… fuck, you’re gonna be busy today,” I said, wincing at her.
“I mean… I’m not actually going to complain about getting to spend my day shopping,” she said, giving me a small smile. “But you have to tell me the budget,” she insisted.
“Right. The budget,” I said, nodding. “Give me a second,” I said, then moved out of her room and down the hall into my own.
The thing about being in the Family was, well, you couldn’t exactly put all your cash in the bank, now, could you? Not if you didn’t have a legitimate business to explain its existence. And while I was invested in some of the legit businesses the Family had, I hadn’t fully started my own yet. So, yeah, I always had a fuckton of cash stashed all around.
I went into the safe hidden in a wall in my closet, grabbing a stack, then another, and bringing it back to Avery’s room, finding her looking out at the view of the garden.
“This could be so nice out here,” she said, hugging her arms.
“You can fit that into your plans eventually too,” I agreed, watching her turn, seeing her eyes widen as I set the stacks of cash on one of her boxes. “Spend as much of that as you need to. If it’s not enough, you can let me know, and I will give you some more.”
“I, uhm,” she started, then cleared her throat. “I’m pretty sure I could furnish an entire village for that,” she said.
To that, I shrugged. “Get the good shit,” I said. “Real wood kind of thing. Not shit that is gonna break and need to be replaced in a year or two.”
“I, ah, okay. Oh, what size bed?” she asked, looking at the space. “Full? A queen would probably eat up the space, right? I have a full. And you can comfortably sleep two people on it if you have guests. But not so comfortably that they want to extend their stay,” she added with a little smirk.
“I like the way you think,” I decided. “I had a key made for you. It’s on the counter in the kitchen. The security system is going to be installed soon, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Because I couldn’t quite decide if it was smart to give someone new in my life the access to codes like that. But she also needed to be able to come and go.
Security-wise, things were pretty safe at the moment since Lorenzo was a few doors down, and he had constant guards out front, so they kept an eye on my place too.
Well, maybe by the time I could get the security guy out here, I will have established my trust level with Avery, and this whole thing would work itself out.
“Okay. Great. Is there anything else you want me to get done today?” she asked.
“Nah. Think of today as a light day. Get the shit for your room, get to know the house. Figure out how you’re going to schedule your day, that kind of thing. I honestly have no fucking idea what goes into home management,” I admitted. “But you clearly have my Ma’s number, so if you have any questions I or a search engine don’t have an answer to, I assure you she’ll be too happy to help out.”
And then start planning the seating arrangement for our wedding.
“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind. Should I have, ah, your number?” she asked, shifting her feet.
“Yeah, of course,” I agreed, rattling it off after she fished out her phone with its spiderweb screen. How the fuck did she even read what was on it? “Alright. I have to head out,” I said, checking the time. “Need anything else?”
“I think that covers it all for now,” she said, giving me a nod, then following me out of her room.
I could feel her behind me on the steps.
And because she was so close, I could hear her foot catch even before she could gasp.
Whipping around, my arms reached out, grabbing her before she started tumbling forward, likely taking me with her in the process.
