Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
She smiled when I served her. “I don’t know… I’m pretty sore.”
“There are other places I can put it.”
She was about to take a drink of her coffee when she released a quiet chuckle instead. “I forget how innovative you are.”
“And you know I’m good with my hands—and my mouth.”
A hint of a smile was still on her lips. “You never let me forget it.”
I drank my espresso as I looked at her across the table.
She took a few sips of her cappuccino before she tried a piece of her bacon.
“Still going into work today?”
She released an abrupt laugh. “God no.”
I’d already known that wasn’t gonna happen.
“The place can burn down to the ground for all I care.”
“But I’d rather it not because I’ll have to rebuild it too.”
She grabbed the salt and pepper and sprinkled them over her eggs. “I can’t believe you did this all by yourself. The windows alone are so heavy.”
I shrugged. “I lift more than that every day.”
“And then all the other things you had to do,” she said as she looked around the room. “I don’t even know what because I don’t know shit about carpentry. The bullet holes, the paint, I know the island was pretty much destroyed…”
“Yeah, it was a lot,” I said. “But I know how much you love this house. And I love it too. I wasn’t going to let someone destroy something so special to us. Even if I could have hired a crew, I wanted to do it myself.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s our home,” I said simply. “The place where we fell in love, the place where we’ll live together, raise a family…”
Her eyes softened as she looked at me. “Kind of small for a family.”
“I can expand it,” I said. “Build an extra bedroom here and there.”
“You know how to do that?”
I shrugged. “I can figure it out.” I was a smart guy who learned quickly. “We can live in the main villa if you want, but I assumed you would want to live here.”
She considered the suggestion before she gave a slight nod. “I do, actually.” She sliced her fork into another egg, and the yolk started to run. “That place will always feel like my dad’s house. I don’t mind working in his office, but I can’t see myself occupying his bedroom. I’m not sure what to do with it.”
“You don’t have to do anything with it,” I said. “That’s a decision for another day.”
“I’d ask Leo if he wants it. But I doubt he’d want it, and even if he did, I don’t think he deserves it.”
I gave a nod in agreement and took another drink of my coffee.
“What should we do with your place down the road?”
“I’ll put it back on the market,” I said.
“It’s a nice house, but I’m not sure how much we’ll use it.”
“We’ll need to prepare better boundaries around this property. You can just drive up to most of your vineyards, and that’s a problem.”
“That would cost a fortune,” she said. “We have so much land.”
“We can create boundaries in sections,” I said. “Build a smaller wall that encompasses our place and Leo’s. Put large gates that lead to other parts of the property. Something needs to be done, because it’s too easy for people to come for us. Will a wall and a gate stop them? No. But it buys you time.”
She nodded in agreement.
“I’ll start working on that tomorrow,” I said before I took a drink of my espresso, feeling the caffeine hit my bloodstream with every sip.
She finished her eggs before she took a drink of her cappuccino. “Should we talk about finances?”
“Sure.”
“I assumed we would just consolidate everything, unless you have a different suggestion.”
“My money is your money, and my salary for my employment is also our money, but I want the business to remain separate from our marriage.”
Her eyebrows immediately rose when she heard that. “What?”
“It’s separate property.”
“But it’s not. We own it together.”
“No, you own the business, and I work for you.”
She shook her head like she didn’t understand. “We’re husband and wife now.”
“I understand that, but I consider it separate property. It belongs to you, and—if you want to get technical about it—Leo. You’ll pass it to our children someday, and they can continue to run it or sell it. I want you to run this business as you see fit, without my opinion or solicitation in any capacity. My job is to help you and protect you, and you pay me for that, so we’re square.”
She continued to maintain her confused expression. “I’m just not sure why you feel this way.”
“Because it’s a family business—and I’m not family.”
“But you are.”
“Not by blood—and that’s okay. You know I have plenty of money, and I don’t need further assets. This is your business and your property, and I would like it to be separate from our marriage. But what’s mine is absolutely yours.”