Page 183 of The Grand Duel

I can see him doing the mental calculations.

“Do you want to see it or not, Charles?”

He watches me, his eyes warm and his lips slightly curling. “It’s Charlie.” He smiles fully at me and my heart flips. “But yeah, I do.”

Charlie

“Are you fucking joking with me?”

I look from the house to Lissie, finding her with her eyes closed.

“Lissie.”

She opens her eyes and steps back. “I’m going to give you a couple more minutes to let out all of this”—she motions towards my chest—“and go get the dogs.”

I flip the keys she just gave me over in my hand and then look back up at the house.

Or cottage.

It’s entirely too big to be a cottage.

“Jesus Christ.” I run my hands through my hair and turn, finding her walking towards me with Luna held in her arms. Daisy stays at her feet.

“Isn’t it beautiful? You should see it in daylight. It’s a doer-upper and not habitable just yet, but?—”

“Lissie, what the fuck?” I cut in. “What world are you living in? Did you buy this?”

“No!” she says, as if the idea is ridiculous, and I let out a sigh of relief. “You bought it.”

“What?”

“Or, Ellis and Frey Real Estate did. Elliot, per Mason’s orders, wasn’t allowed to be a part of it but, technically…”

Her meeting with an old friend was with Mason. My old friend. “What have you done?”

She sighs and takes the keys from me. “Come with me.”

I stand with my hands on my hips and watch as she walks to the front porch and fights to unlock the door with Luna held on her hip like a child.

“Charles,” she sings.

Reluctantly, I walk over and take the keys, unlocking the door.

She steps in first and reaches for the lights. “Ta-da.”

My gaze follows her as she steps to the side to let me get a better look. When her head tilts, pleading with me, I loosen my jaw and glance around the living room we’ve walked into.

And once my eyes catch on one thing, they don’t stop, jumping from the exposed staircase to the wooden beams and open fire.

“There’s five bedrooms and one bathroom but I’d make it three or four bedrooms and make the main bedroom an en suite with a walk-in wardrobe.” My eyes flick to where she stands, but she’s too busy looking around the house to notice. “There’s so much potential.”

“How much was it?”

She twists her neck, her face growing guilty before she hides it in Luna’s fur.

“Lis?”

“Mason said you could afford it.”