“Nice compromise, the wood warms up the room. The marble adds to the overall look. I know you cook a lot. It would make for easy cleanup.”
“Marble is a bitch to keep clean.”
“It’s not that bad and it’s perfect for making pasta, r
olling out the dough on the marble will keep it cool.”
A nod. “True.”
Upstairs we go through all the updates the bathrooms need, he wants to gut the master entirely. We talk through the changes and options, and I’m surprised how often Enzo agrees or considers my thoughts without ever dismissing them. As we walk the basement, we both sigh over the amount of work necessary. At some point I forget this isn’t my house, and I won’t be living here because Enzo doesn’t act as if it isn’t. For seconds we squabble over where to put the bathroom before he tells me I’m right.
In the foyer I lean against the piano. “So?”
He looks around as he sighs. “I don’t want it.”
I push away from the piano in shock. “What?”
The bastard is fighting a smile, his dimple peeking out at me. He shrugs. “I don’t want it unless you redo it. I told you I didn’t want to deal with a remodel. This will take eight to twelve weeks easy and at least a hundred grand, that doesn’t include the pool. You handle the remodel, you deal with the contractors, and I’ll buy it.”
Shaking my head, I can’t believe him. “I don’t—that’s not what I do. I’m a real estate agent, for fuck’s sake. I can’t be in charge of all this work.”
“You said it wasn’t a big deal. You’ve redone your own place, you grew up around your grandmother doing it. Pretty much everything you suggested, all your thoughts on this place and the other one, I agreed with, I liked. So...you do it and I’ll buy it. Or you can keep looking for something already finished.”
Longing tugs deep inside me. I would love to work to bring this home up to what it could be. I remember our time in the basement; walking the rooms was easy, effortless. “This would take up more time than I have. I already have a full-time job, hell, sometimes I run to sixty hours a week.”
Enzo laughs and I’m dazed at hearing the rich sound come from deep within his chest. “Only because you want to. Dante doesn’t work his people to overtime or even twelve-hour days. Che doesn’t either.” I’m biting my tongue, unable to think of a better argument, but agreeing is a bad, bad idea. His head tilts. “All right, your commission on this place, half of seven percent would run, what? Almost a hundred and forty thousand? What if I gave you your commission back? Call it an even two hundred and eighty thousand and eight weeks with an unlimited budget. I mean it, unlimited, I don’t want you cheaping out on something just because there’s a few dollars difference.”
He’s insane. Two hundred and eighty thousand, as if he’s offering me an extra ten bucks on a tip. It hits me: I could do it, with his money I could have enough to buy a multifamily property. I shake my head, his eyebrows go up. I swallow my smile. “Three fifty and twelve weeks.”
Another laugh and I’m smiling again. “Deal. Let’s go do some paperwork.”
Walking out of the house, I want to squeal with happiness. I get to work on the house I’ve been in love with for over a year, and I get paid to do it. And I get to spend the next three months with Enzo while I do it. I stumble a little as I realize what I’ve done, what I’ve agreed to. Enzo might say he wants me to deal with it, but he’ll be breathing down my neck, I have no doubt about it. What the hell have I agreed to?
***
Enzo
The purchase of the house takes all of twenty minutes. I offer full price for immediate occupancy and it’s accepted. As I sign the contract I see Chloe is pulling into herself, something she started doing only seconds after she agreed to handle the remodel. Swallowing a smile isn’t easy, I knew she’d get so wrapped up in bargaining with me she’d ignore her inner reservations about continuing to work with me.
My cell phone goes off, it’s Dante. “Yeah.”
“You picked? Which one did you go with?”
“The gray one.”
“Cool, I’ve shown Bethany the pictures of the other one, we’re going to look at it tomorrow. You and Alicia come over to celebrate. We have two lasagnas, Bethany went overboard with the sauce.”
I nod at Chloe. “Dante wants us over at his place to celebrate.” Her cheeks flush. Why the hell do I love when that happens? Into the phone. “Chloe would love to come. We’ll see you in fifteen minutes.”
“Why did you do that? What if I had plans or something?”
“You don’t have any plans, you would have cancelled them five minutes after I called you to tell you I would meet you. And if you didn’t, tough. Since you’re starting on the remodel tomorrow Dante needs to know I’ve made a claim on your time, best to tell him tonight. Besides, if you say no Bethany will end up crying.”
Her eyes go wide. “Fine.” She stomps around gathering her things, shutting off her computer. “But only because I don’t want to be the cause of Bethany crying.”
It isn’t until we’re in the car that she says something. “About this claim on my time. What do you mean?”
I shrug, avoiding her searching gray eyes. “I’m paying enough I want you on site every day even if all you’re doing is walking through it. Preferably you check the work for the day in the morning, then you go back at the end of the day to make sure what was agreed upon was done. In case it wasn’t done properly, it’s not weeks later it needs to be fixed. I do want approval of the contractors you use. While I won’t be there daily, I will check in at least weekly. Even though you are getting three months, I don’t think it will take that long. You’ll get the three fifty once it’s done, whether it takes three months or less.”