Page 91 of Mistaken Impression

“How would I know? I don’t even understand what this is.”

“It’s the result of me having inherited a lot of money from my father.”

“Okay… before we go any further, can we define ‘a lot’?”

“If you want to. My brothers and I inherited a little over fifteen million dollars each… plus the house in Newport, which we kind of share between us.”

I shoot to my feet, unable to help myself. “D—Did you say fifteen million?”

“Yes.” She sounds disappointed, and I sit back down again, taking her hands in mind.

“What’s wrong, Ella?”

“You. You’re gonna go all weird on me, aren’t you?”

“I’m trying very hard not to, but it’s an enormous shock, discovering that my girlfriend is a multi-millionaire.”

Her eyes widen. “Y—Your girlfriend?”

I move closer. “Yes. Isn’t that what you are?”

“Do you still want me to be?”

I put my arms around her, and she leans against me. “Of course I do. None of this changes how I feel about you. I’m just a little embarrassed that I suggested you should feel at home staying at my place, when this is what you’re used to.”

She pulls back, looking up at me. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I love your place.”

I look around the room. “Well… I love yours too, so we’re even.” She chuckles and leans against me again. “If it isn’t a rude question, why do you work? You don’t need to, surely?”

“No, I don’t need to, but my brothers and I have never understood why our father left us his fortune, and I guess I wanted to prove I’m not just some rich kid who can buy her way into anything she wants. I didn’t earn any of this, and it’s important to me that people realise I’m more than just a bank balance. I’m pretty sure my brothers feel the same. That’s why they’re so driven, too.”

“I see. Tell me about your father. What did he do?”

“He founded one of the biggest advertising agencies in the city… in the whole of America, I believe. At least, it was in its heyday. Hunter runs it now.”

“You talk about its success as though it’s a thing of the past.”

She shakes her head. “Not necessarily. It’s doing okay, but when Dad died, it hit a rocky patch. I think Hunter’s pulled it back now… or he’s getting there. The last time we talked about it, he said he’d picked up some new clients.”

“When did your father die?” I ask, caressing her cheek with my fingertips.

“About eighteen months ago.”

That’s more recent than I’d expected, and I pull her a little closer. “I’m sorry, Ella.”

“Don’t be,” she says, surprising me. “I barely knew him.”

“Why not? You’d have been, what… twenty-two when he died?”

“Yeah, but he was too wrapped up in his business and his own life to care about his children.” I can hear the hurt in her voice, and I pull her onto my lap, just so I can hug her tighter.

“What about your mum?”

“I don’t remember her at all.”

“I’m sorry… did she…?”

“She left us.” Her interruption surprises me even more than her revelations about her father, and I lean back a little, gazing into her face.

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