Page 351 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “We don’t even need todrive pastthe house today. Let’s just get to the bank, sign the paperwork, and then we’ll figure everything else out as we go. Okay? One thing at a time. Right now, all I want you to do is remember you’re safe, and I’ve got you.”

Alice had a mimosa on the plane, and it had helped her relax a little.An escort from the bank picked us up and we were ushered into the manager’s office, treated like VIPs.

Not only had Quinn left Alice his house, but he’d also left her all the contents, including the China, the crystal, the silver, a box of his grandmother’s jewelry, a good amount of money, and some of his personal items. Quinn had arranged for a lockbox to be picked up in-person from the bank, as well as the key to the monitored storage container that held all the expensive and precious belongings. Woodrow had given up on ever receiving those things after the bank had turned him away, saying their marriage certificate wasn’t enough for him to retrieve the lockbox.Quinn had specified that Alice herself had to be there, be of sound mind, and sign for the items.

Alice stared blank-faced at the lockbox sitting on the desk, as if it were a snake.

“You don’t have to open it.”

“I want to know what’s inside, but I don’t want tosee ituntil Iknowwhat is inside. Does that even make sense?” She peered up at me, her huge rainbow eyes full of worry.

I nodded and asked the manager if there was a list of the belongings, and he provided them. “The key to the storage container, a watch, some photographs, a heart-shaped necklace, a few buttons, and a journal. There is also a manilla envelope containing sealed letters.”

She sighed, and covered her face for a minute, taking deep breaths. “Um, Nope. No, I’ll just... can we just take the stuff home and I’ll look at it later?”

“Of course, little bug.” I asked one of the employees to empty the lockbox into my briefcase, and he did so.

The bank manager handed over the paperwork she needed to sign to get the house put in her name. She stared at the stack of papers with copious sticky notes and highlighter lines while he explained the process, but then looked up at me, interrupting the manager and the notary.

“I don’t want this house.”

The notary immediately launched into how she could sell it, but she needed to sign for it, especially since if it was left in the bank’s possession for too long, it would eventually be sold by the bank, and she would get a much smaller cut.

“No,” she said, looking back at them. “I mean... I’ll sign for it, but I don’t want this house. I don’t want to live here, I don’t even want tovacationhere. But... it’s really close to Maryn and their club, isn’t it? And we both know there’s a big community here, because it’s how I got involved.”

“What are you saying?”

“I want you to have it.”

“Have what?”

“The house.”

“No,” I laughed, and handed her the pen. “Sign the paperwork, Alice.”

“But, listen.” She took the pen but set it down. “What if we do something with it... like... Like The Weston House. But here. We both know there’s a need.”

“Sure, sweet girl, we can talk about something like that, but you have to own it first.”

“Okay, but, here me out. If I own it, and I give it to you, what’s that process like? It’s like, super complicated, right? Like, do I have tosellit to you? Or do I have togiveit to you? How does that work? And if I keep it, then it’s super expensive, because of the taxes. And I’ll have to pay those taxes, and I don’t have a job. So thenyouhave to pay those taxes. And if I “donate it” to The Weston House, there’s all this paperwork and tax shit that we have to do, and it gets weirder because I’m your dependent. Right?”

“Well... yes, it could get complicated, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing.”

“I know, but, wouldn’t it just be easier and less complicated if we got married, andthenI signed for the house? Because then it would be both of ours.”

Time froze for about seven seconds while we stared at each other, and it was highly possible my jaw had fallen to the floor. “What?”

I could barely hear Alice’s voice over the rushing blood in my ears. “Then, not only would the house be yours, but also, so would the money I inherited. And then we could do something really great with it, and there would be a lot less tax shit and paperwork. And then also, we could have sex.”

I stuttered and stammered for a few more moments, completely at a loss for words. Her eyes were bright and focus, and she didn’t appear to be messing with me.

“Well,” the manager started, “That’s not exactly–”

I cut him off with a raised finger. Watching her, I asked, “Alice, are you serious?”

“Sure. It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“Well, hypothetically, yes. But you don’t just get married for financial reasons and sex.”

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