Page 85 of Blade

At the very least, I needed to know if I had enough money to buy clothes with. Even if they’d saved mine, which they probably had since they knew what size to get me, nothing from my past would work today.

“What does the financial situation look like?” It felt so wrong to ask that. “I know the upkeep on the property must’ve been a lot over the years.”

With as modern as everything looked, there had to have been major work done at some point. Anything could’ve happened to the stock market and just the economy in general in all that time. Fortunes could’ve been made and lost several times over seventy years.

Her pleased grin said I probably didn’t have anything to worry about and it was the first time she looked happy aboutthe situation. “Your personal net worth is just over ten million dollars.”

What?

Henley blinked but went perfectly still.

Serena was so excited she didn’t seem to notice and charged right in with her explanation. “Yes, over time money was used to repair the house and keep it running. You’ve also made charitable contributions to local organizations based on what your father liked and what he said you would be interested in supporting. You’ve also got a foundation set up to provide scholarships to local high school students to go to college. Your father said it was what your mother would’ve wanted.”

Blinking, I did my best to swallow past the lump in my throat. “She was passionate about it and for a while was on the board of the first community college in the area.” Squeezing Henley’s hand, I took a breath and let it out slowly. “She would’ve loved that.”

And she would’ve loved that I could take care of Henley too.

There was still a rock in my throat I couldn’t seem to budge, but the weight on my shoulders was feeling lighter than it had in days.

I could take care of Henley…no matter what his family did.

CHAPTER 27

HENLEY

“At what pointwill it be acceptable to start making money jokes and asking if I’m cute enough to be a kept man?” Walking around a rack of polo shirts that Blaine seemed to love, I couldn’t help poking him a bit to see where his mental state was.

He laughed as he studied a shirt I couldn’t decide was pink, purple, or something else entirely. “You’re definitely cute enough.”

“I do a pretty good job of making you happy too.” I picked up a blue shirt that looked more like something I could picture him in. “I even helped you pick out new shoes.”

Some kind of leather loafer-looking things that he said were much more appropriate than wearing sports shoes all the time.

He was going to need more closet space than I’d expected.

“You are a wonderful helper.” Shooting a smile that looked like he’d rather be kissing me, he pretended to study me. “I can’t decide if you’re a diamonds kind of kept man or if I should be looking at something with more color.”

That would be weird. “How about the expensive brownie mix when we get groceries? That stuff is obscenely priced but they’re so good.”

With my random finances, I’d learned very quickly not to splurge on stupid even if it felt like I had the money at the time. But Blaine had the money, and even just living on the interest he’d be fine if something happened to me.

It was a weight lifted off my shoulders I hadn’t realized was there, but it felt amazing nonetheless.

“I think that’s perfectly reasonable and I’d like to get some steaks to practice with the new grill.” Picking up a few different colors in what looked like a random burst, he walked back over to the stack of preppy casual shirts that probably had a more specific name.

Blaine would definitely know it, but thankfully he realized he didn’t want to torture me with fashion information. I could’ve debated different patterns of camouflage with him but that wasn’t his kind of shopping.

“Sure.” How was he basing his color selection? Was there a method to this? “Anything else you want?”

I was thinking of stuff he might want to grill but the way he shrugged and did his best to look innocent said we weren’t working off the same mental grocery list. “I’ve had thoughts.”

What kind of food would make him look that guilty?

“About something expensive? Lobster? I don’t know how to cook that.” Was there anything at the store even more expensive than that? “If you want a really expensive fancy steak we should just go out to dinner. I don’t think we’ve got the right stuff to cook some of those.”

At least, not according to what I’d seen on cooking shows.

Chuckling, he shook his head. “No, but those do sound good, so how about we do something like that tomorrow?”