Page 39 of Shâhzâdeh

She folded her arms and gestured at me as though I were the proof that my words were ridiculous. Playful Vanya kept me smiling and I had to admit that I enjoyed it. It made me feel far lighter than I normally did. Vanya always had a way of lifting my spirits. It was just her being that made everything feel far brighter than it normally did.

“I didn’t think you did anything by half measures. Based on your taste and your ego, I can’t see you with a toddler-sized desk. That doesn’t evoke the same power and control that your presence gives.”

It was my turn to blush ‘cause she really had a way with words. Her tongue was sharp when she didn’t like me but was even more potent now that she did. “Flattery. I’m already buying zhe house,azizam.”

“That’s nice to know. But I am not a flatterer. I feel like most people’s egos are already falsely inflated. It just so happens that yours isn’t.”

My hand went to my chest a la Fred Sanford and I braced myself against the wall like I was about to slide down it. “Wallah, I might need to find somewhere to sit wiz de amount of kindness you are showing me.”

“There are stairs right behind you.” She was laughing at me again but I listened to her and sat down on the steps studying how right she looked in these walls. It was refreshing seeing her in this place, the joy she was feeling, how easy she seemed to move throughout this place that would be my home. Our home. The pretty yellow skirt was the color of a daffodil paired with a sleeveless, cream-colored silk blouse.

“I zhink you have granted me every desire of my heart wiz zhis home, ziba. If you are not honored as zhe top broker I would have to call zhe game rigged.”

“Even if I don’t win this year, you’ve set me up to be in the running again for next year.” Her humility made me want to reach out and caress her but I kept my hand to myself.

“Or we shall claim zhat you will win back-to-back years. I like the sound of zhat much better zhan either or.”

“Greedy?”

“Determined. And you’ve worked hard for what you have achieved. From the way you have found this location to be more than I expected, I would say that you are worth every penny.” Her eyes, the pools of cool-toned burnished bronze that threatened to keep me forever under her spell, shone with such joy.

“Speaking of pennies. You haven’t asked the price.” Her hands went to her hips as though she needed to brace herself to hear me rebut the costs of this place. Since it was in Charlotte, it was probably already half the cost it should’ve been. Especially since the construction started long before the supply chain issues occurred.

“I’m a man who can afford a lot. If I didn’t already have a general idea of how much zhey would want, I would have given you a budget.”

I tried not to sound like an asshole, but I couldn’t help it. My need for her to understand I could provide her any type of future she wanted was driving my insecurity around money. The last thing I wanted her to think about was money when she was with me. I was coming into our life together to expand her shine. I refused to be a man who put financial stress on a woman. And my father would disown me if I ever did.

“So if they are requesting twenty million dollars?” She folded her arms defiantly and I was about to show my hand earlier than I wanted.

I stood tall as my arms went behind my back and I kept my face blank. “I would ask if zhey wanted it wired in zheir preferred currency, transferred in bonds, gold, jewels or in some ozer asset.”

She gulped that look of unease back on her face and my mind fluttered back to her revulsion of rich people. “You just have twenty million dollars lying around?”

“Of course not—”

Relief flooded her face at my words, “Good—”

“If my accounts got zhat low wiz zhe way my ancestors have instilled zheir work ezic in me I zhink zhey would rise and beat me wiz zheir shoes.”

“So you’re like... the type of wealthy that laughs at rich people?”

I wasn’t one to lie even if it was to put the woman I wanted at ease. I knew she would find out the truth eventually and her knowing now would save us from her feeling lied to later. “No, ziba. I’m zhe type of money zhat people never hear about because I do not allow my funds to be counted for zhe entertainment of zhe masses. Men like me and my friends, we laugh at zhe people who make zhe lists and zhink zhey run zhe world.”

“How is that possible?” She truly sounded shocked at my answer and I realized that people had no idea how the world actually worked. Those who were the loudest about their wealth were normally the ones on the cusp of losing it all or doing shady shit to maintain it. People like us didn’t need external validation because we were secure within ourselves and our finances.

“When you don’t depend on zhe government, stocks or ozer public means of manipulation to make your money you can keep private how much of it you actually have. It is not to brag, it is just a level of knowledge zhat no one needs to have. It’s zhe reason people don’t know how much money zhe Emiratis have. It is not anyone else’s business.” A mindset that my grandfather adapted to appear on the same level of his rivals but truly concealed how broke he really was.

“So you have Emirati money.” She was nodding like it all made sense and I had to laugh at how I was going to fuck up her perception yet again.

I smirked despite her comparison being mildly insulting. “Again, if my accounts got zhat low—”

Her mouth dropped open before she snapped it closed and held up her hands. “So you can afford the house. Gotcha. It isn’t twenty million dollars, it’s not even half that. And since there are certain aspects of the house that still need to be completed, I figured we could get them to knock off another million.”

“What is zhe purchase price?”

“Just under eight million with the last price reduction. It includes the central two-acre lot and the three surrounding lots for just under fifteen acres. Which is almost unheard of in this area.” She muttered the last part like even she was surprised and now I needed to dig deeper into the owner.

“What is zhe story?”

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