“Your money. All the royalties from your time on television,” he explained.
“My uncle spent it.”
“Not all of it. There’s a fuck of a lot left. We’re talking eight figures. And that’s just the primary accounts my guy was able to scrounge up with a cursory search. Give him a few more days, he’ll sniff out the rest.”
I blinked at him again, struggling to process this.
“There’s also the house. Your uncle had no kids to inherit it. Even if he had, he bought it with your money. It’s yours, if you want it.”
My blood ran cold. I hated that house — that prison. “I don’t want it.”
“You’ll sell it, then. It’s huge. Palatial. Should sell for at least two million.”
I swallowed hard, trying to reconcile this information with reality. “Then… that means I... I’m…”
“Fucking loaded,” Cade said, grinning at me. “Yeah. You’ve got enough cash to live comfortably for the rest of your life, anywhere you want.”
“Anywhere I want,” I repeated dumbly.
He nodded, grin slipping a bit. “Yeah, beautiful. You want to go home… Well, now you can do that.”
“Home?”
“Florida.”
“Florida isn’t home.”
A fissure of confusion appeared between his brows. “Isn’t that where you lived with your parents?”
“Yes,” I murmured. “But Florida isn’t my home anymore, Cade. I’m not going back there.”
“All right, not Florida. Somewhere else, then. Must’ve been somewhere you liked living, these past ten years. Or, somewhere you’ve always dreamed of living.”
For once, I was silent.
He kept going. “You want a beach bungalow in Maui? It’s yours. You want a ski chalet in Switzerland? You can have it. Hell, you have enough money for both, if you want them.”
My heart was pounding.
My mind was racing.
I didn’t understand.
Did he want me to leave?
I thought he wanted me to stay.
I thought…
“I don’t ski,” was all I could think to say.
“Point remains.” He shrugged casually, but his eyes remained intense. “You can go wherever you want. You’re free.”
I was free.
That’s when I understood.
He was giving this to me.