His Dirty Bargain (Dirty Billionaires 3)

“Family. Sometimes they’re a good thing, sometimes they’re a pain in the ass. Your mother passed from cancer.”

“Yeah, cervical cancer. It happened fast, from the time she was diagnosed to when she passed was barely a year. My grandmother tried taking her to Switzerland to some of the best clinics there, but it was too far along.” I remember the last hectic year, wondering if I should be there, my mother assuring me she was fine to stay in Chicago during our weekly phone calls. Nonna never said a word of how bad it was until the very end. The rush from Chicago to Milan, and only three days later my mother was gone. How all the funeral arrangements were made already, how the next few days passed in a blur until I got on the plane to come home, then cried the whole way.

“I’m sorry.”

The sincerity in his eyes is almost painful. I remember how young he was when he lost his mother, only sixteen. I want to ask him about it but don’t dare. “I’m just grateful we had those last two years. Before them we weren’t close. She was still bitter about a lot of things. I guess her knowing what was coming, she could finally let it all go.”

“It isn’t easy to let go of the past.” Enzo smiles, and a dimple flashes at me in his left cheek. My knees go weak and holy shit, a beehive gets kicked over in my tummy as my skin goes tight and hot. “Did you learn to swing a hammer from your Nonna?”

My tongue isn’t easily unglued from the roof of my mouth. “No, by the time I arrived in Milan Nonna had a team of men working for her who fixed up the properties she purchased. She would take me with her when she checked on the progress, joking I was going to be their next boss. While I was there the men would show me what they were doing and how to do it.”

“Are you really never going back? You don’t want to take over from your Nonna?”

“I’ve now lived in Chicago longer than I lived in Milan. Like I said, I loved it, but it was never home. Nonna sold all but two small properties to pay for my mother’s medical care. From what was left she made a payment to my school loans as a way of giving me some of my inheritance early, and saying sorry she never helped me pay for school like she promised when I was young. It was great, I was able to pay off the rest in only a year, which enabled me to save toward...” I feel silly admitting my small goal to Enzo. “My goals.”

“What are you working toward? What’s your brass ring?” It’s an invitation, the question solemn.

“I want to own my own multifamily property. At least eight units, but as many as fifteen would be nice. Enough for me to manage all on my own, with the help of a maintenance man, of course. A property that enables me to be my own boss. Hopefully, in time, a second property.”

“Real estate runs in your blood, hmm? It could be worse, it could be alcoholism.”

Both of us laughing. our eyes meet. All at once the moment is too intimate, too close. He’s not telling me my dreams are stupid, that they aren’t achievable. Pushing away from the counter, I shrug as I tear my eyes off him. “Through here is the mudroom. One door leads to the garage, another to the backyard.”

Enzo follows me outside onto the wide deck. “There’s no room for a pool.”

“No, the place next door isn’t for sale but the owner is open to an offer. As you can see you have a wide corner lot. If you bought the place next door you would still spend less than ten million easily.”

His answer is to go back inside. He likes the house. Behind him on the stairs, I’m in perfect line with his insanely hot ass. Stop it. It’s one day—all I have is today, tomorrow this will all be a dream. Would it really be so bad to savor the moment? Through the three bedrooms, he’s quiet as his eyes roam around each room. Once we get to the master bedroom, he leans against the open door to the bathroom.

He’s quiet for so long I feel the need to fill the silence. “The bathtub is definitely a soaker tub. If a bit odd to have it in the center of the room.” An eyebrow goes up. “You would want to gut this, wouldn’t you?”

A small smile sends heat up my tummy. I could easily become addicted to those smiles, to that dimple. “Yes. The whole layout doesn’t work. The bathroom and the kitchen, those guest bathrooms are barely passable. Redoing all the bathrooms and the kitchen, are why this place is below market. It’s going to get expensive and time-consuming. What does the lower level basement look like? “Inwardly I groan as I remember how much work it needs. It’s huge, but it could easily run twenty to thirty grand to do it right. We go through the basement at a quicker clip, he isn’t happy.

Once we’re out of the house I keep walking past my car. “Where are you going?”

“Walk with me, it’s not far to the next house.” I continue walking, not concerned in the slightest he won’t follow. It’s only a block away, within a few feet, he’s by my side.

“Smug doesn’t suit you,” he mutters, his hands in his pockets.

I don’t try to hide my smile. “Petulance doesn’t suit you.”

His bark of laughter stops me dead in my tracks. Oh god, he’s stunning. It doesn’t matter the laughter sounds rusty. The air has been stolen from my entire body in a gasp of shock at the transformation in him. As huge as he is, wide, tall, a wall of muscle, he’s suddenly no longer as imposing, intimidating. The laughter dies as his eyes meet mine and hold. Then he blinks and looks away. “How much farther?”

I hate it takes me longer to shake off what happened. What did happen? Catching up takes another minute, his long legs eat up the sidewalk. “At the end of the next block. Do you see the gray house on the corner?” He nods. We continue in silence until we’re at the gate.

“It’s the same architect.”

Even though it’s not a question, I nod. “Maher. This is on six lots. Here there is only ten thousand square feet, but you won’t miss it. The backyard has room for a pool and a yard. This isn’t priced to sell, but it’s completely reasonable at three nine nine five. There are five bedrooms, four on one floor, seven bathrooms. A master suite was created from the servants’ quarters, as none of the other rooms have a bathroom connected. Built in 1902 although it’s updated many original details remain as you can see in features like this door and the stained glass. The fireplace surrounds, wood around the doors, the hardwood in all but a few of the rooms are all original.” I run my hand over the grand piano in the foyer. “Another piano, it comes with the house if you want. Everything in the house stays. Those doors leading to the library are also original. They had to replace the inlaid glass, but the stained glass at the top was salvaged from another door here in the home.”

We step out onto the sunroom, and he frowns. “This floor is awful, I would want it gone. It ruins the

whole room.”

“While you’re doing it you could put in radiant heated floors so you can use the room even in the winter.”

I’m rewarded with a half smile. “You have all the answers.”

I shrug. “The bones of this house are stunning. It’s not bad now, but maybe the owners didn’t have the money needed to make the changes that would take it from good to stunning. You have the money, you even have the knowledge from past flips you did with Cesare and Dante. Done right, this could go on the cover of Architecture Digest.”