Final Offer (Dreamland Billionaires #3) by Lauren Asher

He turns at the sound of my voice. “You came.”

“Of course I came. No way am I going to let some asshole tear down the house.”

A tall man almost the same height as Cal walks around him. He wears an expensive-looking suit with an equally fancy watch, looking out of place compared to Cal’s relaxed look of jeans and a linen shirt.

“And who are you?”

“The asshole who wants to tear down the house.” He holds out his hand. His fingers are long like that of a pianist, lacking any kind of callouses that would suggest hard work. “I prefer to go by Lorenzo Vittori, though.”

Lorenzo Vittori. The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. He doesn’t look like someone I know, but there is something about his dark gaze and eye shape that sparks recognition.

“Vittori?” I grip his hand and give it a quick shake.

“Yes.”

“Was your mother the one who used to work at the Hawthorns’ house by chance?”

His jaw ticks. “She was.”

“You two know each other?” Cal’s head tilts.

“Our mothers were friends before my family had to move away,” Lorenzo replies.

“How is she?” I ask out of politeness.

“Dead.” His voice is flat and void of any emotion.

Cal’s eyes widen as he looks over at me.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I offer.

Lorenzo doesn’t even blink. “Have you considered my offer, Ms. Castillo?”

Okay then. Safe to assume Lorenzo likes to get to the point.

“Not really, seeing as you want to destroy my house.”

“I prefer to describe it as tapping into a property’s true potential.” He smirks in a way that seems well-practiced, as if he trained himself to charm others. If it weren’t for his lifeless eyes, I would have believed it.

“I’m going to have to pass.”

His brows crinkle for a second before smoothing out. “What if I match the highest offer?”

“Which is?”

“Three million.” Cal tucks his hands into his pockets.

Wait. What? Last time I spoke to the agent, he said two million.

Lorenzo blinks twice in the most human display of emotion I’ve seen. “You’re joking.”

Cal grins. “Unless you want to counter, it looks like mine is the best and final offer.”

Mine is the best and final offer?

Mine?

Mine?!

Cal made an offer on his own house? Why would he do that?

The room spins around me as I try to wrap my head around what the hell is going on.

Lorenzo’s eye twitches. “You’re insane to pay that much on a place like this.”

Cal lifts a shoulder. “We do crazy things for the people we love.”

Lorenzo’s upper lip curls. “Let’s pray I never find out.” He tips his head in my direction. “Good day, Ms. Castillo. Wish you two the best of luck with this endeavor because you’re going to need it.”

He waltzes out of the room, taking his air of superiority with him.

“Asshole,” I say.

“Couldn’t agree more,” Cal grumbles. “I never thought he would leave.”

I turn to face him. “What the hell is going on, and why are you putting an offer on a house you own?”

Cal’s smile wavers. “Because I’m not the one buying the house.”

“What?”

“I’m speaking on behalf of a trust.”

“What trust?”

“The one I made for our future kids.”

The air whooshes out of me. “You opened a trust for our future kids?” I choke on the last two words.

“Yes.”

I reach out for the fireplace mantle to stop myself from keeling over. “But why?”

“Because I wanted to prove to you that the inheritance means nothing to me personally.”

Oh. My. God.

“How much is in the trust, Cal?”

He hesitates. “Does it matter?”

I shoot him a look.

He doesn’t hesitate as he says, “Twenty-six billion once we sell the house.”

“To Cami and whatever hypothetical children you think we are having one day.”

“To their trust. It’s a whole complicated legal loophole, but it works. Grandpa’s lawyer and I sorted it all out.”

My knees give out, but Cal wraps an arm around me before I crash to the floor.

“Twenty. Six. Billion. Dollars.” I pinch my arm, wince at the pain, before repeating the same move again.

Cal swats my hand away and rubs at the red spot. “They won’t have access to the whole thing all at once.”

“Well, that’s a relief. I was worried what might happen if the kids had the urge to blow through twenty-six billion dollars on a whim.”

His eyes narrow. “I can’t get a good read on how you feel about all of this.”

“I’m not even sure myself.”

“Are you happy?”

“Yes.” My eyes mist.

So damn happy. Not because of the money—there is no way I would let Cal give up his entire inheritance—but because we get to keep the house.

His arms tighten around me. “Then it was worth it.”

“How is this even possible?”