Page 76 of Her Billionaire Boss
I could buy a house like his.I could buy all the cars I knew he owned.I could even build a little sex house.Hell, I’d built a whole sex island.The numbers in my bank account were so much bigger, but we spent the same.There was no true gap in what the both of us could afford.
Maybe Charlotte was right.Maybe I didn’t need all the money I had.
I opened the door and thought belatedly about a potential alarm going off.But outside, I found the gas fire pit burning and Neil sitting in one of the armchairs.He stared into the flames, so lost in thought that he didn’t notice me until I spoke.
“Couldn’t sleep?”I asked.His head snapped up, and I used his startled moment to indicate the other chair.“Mind if I join you?”
He recovered smoothly.“Not at all.”
“You seemed pretty intent on something,” I said as I sat down.
“I suffer from insomnia, at times,” he explained.“Partially due to my husband’s nocturnal tooth grinding.”
“Charlotte snores,” I confided.“It’s like sleeping next to a construction site.”
A small smile touched Neil’s mouth, then quickly faded.“To tell you the truth, I had a bit of a nightmare.About my daughter.”
I took a breath.Neil’s daughter had died in a car accident several years ago, but we’d never been such good friends that we’d discussed it.
“It happens sometimes,” he went on.“I’ll dream that I’m at the funeral, or in the hospital room where we saw her last.Once I see her face, well… I can’t get back to sleep.”
“I’m sorry.”I wasn’t sure what else I could say.
He shrugged it off.“You.What was keeping you up, besides your snoring girlfriend?”
“I was thinking about how I have so much more money than you do,” I admitted with a laugh.
“Well, that certainly disturbs my sleep.”He reached down for the bottle of mineral water on the ground beside his chair.
“I was thinking about how much it doesn’t matter.And how I probably don’t need it all.”
He paused with the bottle frozen near his lips.“Charlotte?”
It was the only thing he needed to say.“Yeah.Sophie?”
He took a drink and swallowed it down.“She’s the reason I started my foundation.Well, that and personal experience.”
“My personal experience tells me that I should start some kind of bear-eradicating charity,” I said, tapping my leg.
Neil followed my hand.“Yes, I did notice your scars.You’re coming along, though.Your balance is much better than it was the last time I saw you.”
“Thanks.”It seemed like a weird thing for a sex-acquaintance to compliment me on, but at the same time, I liked that he’d noticed.It was difficult to tell, from day to day, if I was making any improvement.
“I’m not sure there’s much need for a reverse-conservation program,” he began dryly.“But if you’re looking for a way to assuage Charlotte’s guilt over your fortune, why not something along the lines of amedical charity?Lord knows this country is a disaster when it comes to accessible healthcare.”
“It’s gotten slightly better,” I protested.“But that’s what Charlotte suggested, too.I tried to call up a hospital and pay off all the outstanding bills, but they didn’t take me seriously.”
“I should think not.You need someone who has experience with these types of things.I can recommend the firm I worked with to establish my foundation,” he offered.
Unfortunately, I already knew someone suited to the job, and if I didn’t offer it to her first, mother would have a fit.“My sister does that for a living.I’m sure she can help.But if I need it—”
“You can call me any time.”He put the bottle back down.The night was so still, I could hear the tink and scrape of the glass touching the stone.
This was a peaceful life.One I could have, and never work another day.Never worry about making more money, because I would always have enough.Never worry that I was failing the family name, because it was carrying on in my businesses already.
And I could make Charlotte happy.
“Personal experience,” I repeated from his earlier statement.He ran a foundation that got therapy and safe housing for victims of sexual violence, and he’d shared his story in the press numerous times.“Did making the foundation take some of the pain away?”
