AllFreeNovel
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The smell of weed and eucalyptus hangs heavy in the air as I take in the sight of his massive estate. I knew Vince was rich when I met him, but this is something else.
The stucco facade is three times the size of my mom’s house. Palm trees dot the sprawling drive. The lawn is perfectly manicured. Vince parks his matte black escalade and hangs out the window to punch a code into an iron gate.
The gate opens with a creak, and Vince drives up before punching in another code to reveal a garage that’s roughly the size of my first apartment.
When I told Vince I’d stay with him two days ago, I expected a mansion at best; this place could be an entire commune. He could start a cult. The floor of the garage is so clean we could eat off it.
“Let me get your suitcase,” Vince says as he turns off the car.
I’m too stunned to speak.
Vince grabs our suitcases and holds the door open to reveal a grand marble foyer with polished floors and a spiral staircase. The foyer is open and airy, with gigantic windows allowing buckets of natural light to filter in and reveal dozens of potted plants hanging from the ceiling. It looks like a combination of a greenhouse and Jay Gatsby’s manor. I reach up and touch a string of pearls.
“Holy shit,” I whisper. It echoes. I’ve never known anyone with a big enough place for an echo.
Vince shrugs. “This is the place! Make yourself comfortable. Mi casa es su casa, that whole bit.”
“Vince? Is that you?” a voice calls.
A young woman emerges from a different room, wearing a loose sundress. She’s tan and fit, with long blonde hair. She looks like a prototype of a Laurel Canyon girl like she’ll be working on a folk song after this.
“Yeah! Good to see you, Leah.”
“This is Leah; she’s my groundskeeper,” Vince explains.
Leah extends her hand to me. “Lovely to meet you,” she pauses.
“This is my girlfriend, Lyndsey,” Vince supplies.
Leah quirks up her eyebrow. “Girlfriend?”
“And tour manager,” I add.
She smirks. “Shit, Vince! An interoffice romance?” she jokes.
“I find it hot when women tell me what to do, and she’s in charge of the schedule. What can I say? It was a downright aphrodisiac,” he jokes.
I blush. “It just sort of happened,” I mumble.
“Oh, don’t feel like you have to explain yourself to me. Although Violet might be wondering why she has a new stepmom.”
My palms get clammy. “Who’s Violet?” I ask as my mind draws a blank. I briefly wonder if Vince has a secret kid he’s never told me about.
The answer to my question careens into the foyer and makes a beeline for Vince: a gorgeous, sleek silver greyhound, approximately the size of a small horse. She whines as she nudges Vince with her giant head.
“Vee Vee!” Vince coos. Violet whines and hefts herself up to her full height, placing her paws on Vince’s chest as her nails skitter along the marble floor.
Vince scratches her bunny-sized ears, and she whips her head around in delight. Vince sits down on the floor and lets Violet crawl all over him. Her tail thumps my thigh on accident. It’s ropy and dense; it feels like a whip. I’m glad we’re nowhere near any table or priceless vase.
Violet continues to whine as she licks his face with a giant purple tongue.
“Hi, Violet,” I offer. She looks up at me and tilts her head to the side. I hold my hand out, and she gives it a cursory sniff. She comes up to my waist.
“She missed you,” Leah tells Vince.
“The feeling was mutual,” Vince pipes up from the floor. He pats the ground next to him, and Violet trots over to him before settling her gigantic frame onto his lap.
“She thinks she’s a lap dog,” Vince grunts as Violet settles onto him, covering his entire torso with her slick velvet frame.
