Paid To Love

Episode 24

Paid To Love EPISODE 24

Victoria's POV

"How bout this one ?" James asked, sliding his phone across the table and over to me. "Two bedrooms, two baths. Only two thousand per month."

I gave him the flattest look I could muster and he laughed in return. We were currently seated in Henry's mini bar, scrolling through online ads for apartments. After explaining what had happened the night before, James had offered his help in finding a new place for me. He'd also brought out some non alcoholic wine and stolen a few of the best photos from Henry's albums so we could get copies. I smirked at my phone a little. There had been more than enough embarrassing photos to use as blackmail. Including one little, naked Henry face down and butt up.

"Dude, I don't even make two thousand a month," I sighed, pushing James's phone back at him. "Let's keep it under a thousand."

"You're not going to get anything good under a thousand."

"Should we clarify both our definitions of good?"

He appeared to be a little offended by my response and he flattened his lips. "I'm not saying to look for an elaborate multi-story place. I'm saying you shouldn't settle for a place solely based on the cheap price. Look at the apartment you have now. I'm not being rude when I say aim a little pricier; I'm being honest because anything that isn't completely run down is going to be close to a grand. Especially around here."

I knew he was right, but it was frustrating. A grand was about the average for a decent apartment. With the money from Henry, it wasn't unfeasible, but the idea was a little daunting. What if something went wrong and the contract ended? That was a lot of money every month.

"According to statistics, one third of your income should be the price you pay for a living space," James continued, sitting up straighter on his chair so that he could take off his suit vest. He then rolled the sleeves of his button-up to his elbows and I watched him distractedly. He was a very handsome man.

He caught me staring and I quickly averted my gaze. "T-that makes sense. The rest for food and gas or whatever. How do you know that? Do you rent?"

"I have a house."

Of course, he did.

"However, I've recently purchased some properties I'm planning to rent out," he continued, turning his attention back to his phone. "It's a great investment, but I'd like to keep them affordable to all classes so I have to know what they live like."

"How many places do you have?"

"I have ten."

My jaw almost dropped. Ten?! He was basically saying was that he owned ten houses? Plus his own? I let my head drop onto the cold table, suddenly weary. Oh, how different the ways of life were between classes.

James reached over and put a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry. It sounds like I'm gloating."

"It's okay," I muttered, muffled by the table.

"I've found a couple relatively nice houses around here that are below market value, though."

I wanted to bang my head against the table. "I can't buy a house."

"Not for you," he clarified. "I've been meaning to purchase a few places downtown and develop it"

"Well, I'm glad to be of help," I said, putting out a thumbs up.

He chuckled. "If they turn out to be profitable, I'll let you know. I wouldn't mind cutting a deal for you."

My ears perked up and I slowly raised my head. "Deal?"

"As long as you told everyone you knew about how amazing of a landlord I am."

"Do you really want to buy a place downtown?" I asked, a little more enthusiastic now. James seemed trustworthy enough. Unlike my last landlord. Maybe if he rented a place out to me it wouldn't be so bad.

He nodded. "I would still try to find a temporary place. Maybe a month-to-month lease."

"Okay," I agreed quickly. "What do you do, anyway? You know, to be able to afford this."

"I work for my family," he told me, his smile fading a little. "For now, at least. I plan to leave them when I have more of a steady income with my properties."

"Don't you make a lot of money with them though?"

"I do," he said slowly, "but not in a way I agree with. My father owns a law firm. He takes on the clients that offer him the most money— whether or not the client should be defended or not."

"What do you mean?"

"My father is a great lawyer," he started off. "He wins over a eighty percent of his cases. Two months ago he defended a man who killed his wife after abusing her. The case got discharged due to a lack of substantial evidence. I'm aware it's a lawyer's job to defend the client no matter if it's right or wrong, but he also has the right to refuse a case. He knows how influential he is. But he just wants money."

I wrinkled my face in disgust. "Gross."

James nodded. "I could never become the lawyer he wants me to become. He doesn't know that I don't plan on ever running his firm."

"What does your mother think about your plans?"

"She would have a panic attack if she knew." He let out a long sigh, leaning back in his chair a bit. "She has hopes that if I don't follow in my dad's steps, I'll follow in her own."

"What does she do?"

"She runs some resorts.? Kinda like Henry’s family. She only does resorts though. My mom and Henry's dad went to high school together and both ended up running hotels although Henry's dad branched into other things too. She thinks one day Henry and I will be the next generation."

I smiled a bit at this. "Is that how you two became friends?"

"That and our mutual annoyance of our families," James joked, grinning. "We somehow managed to schedule all our classes together in college too. Sometimes we cheated off each other's tests."

"Where did you two go to college?"

"Harvard."

I processed the information slowly. That was an Ivy League school. So along with being rich and handsome, Henry was also smart? What the heck was he? The protagonist of a romance novel? Somehow it irritated me. "I see." .

"Henry's a good man," James said, his voice warm. "I know it's hard to see—given the way he's spoken to you— but he's got a good heart. I'm not excusing him of his ignorance, but I think he needs some time to learn about different things in the world. He's been pretty sheltered."

"I don't think he's a bad person," I responded. I didn't think he was a pristine little angel either, but recently I was starting to see the good side of him. Sort of. "Why are you talking him up, anyway?"

James paused a bit, looking a little sheepish. "Well, Henry only has one real friend in this world and that's me and if possible, I'd like to make that number into two. I feel like you might have the patience needed to befriend him, ha ha." He started laughing.

"Does Henry really not have other friends?" I asked. I was slowly realizing I didn't know anything about Henry. Not that I expected to know everything about him after only knowing each other for a little over a week, but I knew basically nothing about his life. I knew he had a father and maybe a dead or missing brother and he would inherit Davies Industries. That was pretty much it though.

"If you consider people that like to use him for his money as friends, then he's got many," James commented offhandedly.

"Yikes."

"Henry doesn’t fall for it anymore and it kinda made him weary. I think that's why he doesn't understand you. You're not begging him to spend money on you."

I scrunched up my face. "I mean. Are a lot of people really like that? That would be embarrassing to do."

"You would be surprised," he told me solemnly. "I'm sure everyone has been in a relationship where they spend way too much money on their partner and their partner just keeps taking. Usually, you finally realize how much money you're wasting on someone so ungrateful. Henry's completely sick of it at this point. But he likes the attention."

"Huh. I wouldn't have guessed."

"You're pretty sarcastic, aren't you?"

I gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry. It's kind of natural. My brother was the same way."

"I didn't say it's a bad thing."

I propped my elbow up onto the table and placed my chin on my hand, staring at James quizzically. "Has Henry dated a lot of girls?"

He smiles again, thinking. "Not really. Henry's really horrible at talking to girls honestly. Usually, they just cling to him until they get bored because he won't make a move on them. There's only one person he's ever dated seriously."

"Really? What was she like?"

James leaned forward a little, a grin on his face. "You want to know?"

I nodded. Just what kind of girl could put up with Henry for more than a few hours?

"You'll have to ask him."

I groaned, falling back. "Why can't you just tell me?"

"Why do you want to know? Do you like him?"

"No!" I denied immediately. Me? Like Henry? What a laughable thought. Sure, he could be kind of cute, but— no! He wasn't even cute. "I don't like him. I mean I do like him, as a friend. Kind of. As a friend, " I said again firmly.

James raised his eyebrows. "I see." Smirking a bit.

I didn't like the expression on his face. I narrowed my eyes. "What? What's that look for?"

"Nothing." Still looking at me sheepishly.

"That's not a nothing look."

He held up his hands. "It's really nothing. Why do you think it's something?"

"Are you trying to use some kind of weird lawyer trick on me right now?"

This caused him to chuckle. "No. I'm just—"

He was caught off by the sound of a door slamming shut. I jumped, turning my head up to the hallway leading to the living room door Was Henry home already? Did he normally slam the doors in his house? I heard the sound of work shoes hitting the marble floor loudly and froze because as far as I was aware, Henry did not wear work shoes, he wore sneakers to work. James and I exchanged bewildered looks before I turned back to the door where an older man appeared, hands crossed over his chest, staring down at us. It only took me three seconds to figure out it was Henry's father just by his demeanour.

"Victoria, play along with me," James murmured.

"We're so screwed," I whispered back at him, completely frozen. Why was Henry's mother here? Why didn't Henry call to warn us? What was I supposed to do?