Chapter 83
“Adam was staying here?” I ask. This cottage is a nice place, but nothing like his home in Chicago or Declan’s lake house. It’s quaint. Nothing about Adam Harris is quaint.
“Adam was going for a low-key vibe last summer,” Dani says, turning off the SUV.
“How did you break in?”
“Let me show you,” she says with a cute, mischievous look.
We get out of the SUV and walk to the back of the house. “It’s very secure,” she jokes, grabbing a key that’s hanging in plain sight. Then I follow her to the side of the house and up the steps. She unlocks it and looks back at me. “And this is how I met Adam.”
We walk into a small kitchen, and there’s a folder on the counter. She looks surprised to see it and opens it.
“It’s the closing documents,” I say, peeking.
“Can I look?” When I review the documents, everything looks normal.
“He paid cash. It’s in your name now. You’re going to have to talk to your money people about the taxes.
” I keep reading through the documents. “He already prepaid for the year, but for next year, you will have to pay the taxes.”
“So, I actually own this house?” she asks in disbelief.
“You would have had to sign a few things to get the deed in your name,” I inform her.
“Fuck him,” Dani mutters.
“What?”
“I signed a lot of documents while we were together. It started with an NDA?—”
“He had you sign an NDA? What a prick.” I scoff, shaking my head.
She raises her eyebrows. “How come you didn’t have me sign an NDA?”
“Because I don’t have anything to hide, and I’m not an asshole. What else did you sign?”
“A lot—my lease, a few contracts for companies Harris Ventures was involved in…” She pauses, her brow furrowing. “Looking back, it was endless.”
“You can’t blindly sign things, Dani,” I chide.
“I’m not the best at details!”
“He would have needed a notary for this. Do you remember there being a notary when you signed any of it?” She shakes her head. “Most assistants are. Like Jess is. Do you know if his is?”
“I don’t know if Allison is one. Let me text her.”
Dani Sommer
Are you a notary?
Assistant Alison
Yes. Why? Do you need something notarized?
“Fuck! She is.”
“He must have snuck it in with whatever else you were signing.”
“I hope I didn’t sign anything else I shouldn’t have. Fuck!”
“Take a breath. I’m sure this house is the only thing he snuck past you. He wanted to surprise you.”
“I need to sell it.”
“I think you should cash out and finance it.”
“What do you mean?” She tilts her head.
“Take out a loan on it, use the bank’s money, and put the cash you get from the financing into an investment. That way, your money grows while you’re covering the mortgage.”
“Why not just keep this house paid off?” she asks.
“Leverage is how you build wealth. While you’re paying the mortgage, your money will be making you more elsewhere.”
“It’s not my money though.”
“The house is in your name. It’s your money.”
“How can I decline this?”
“You can’t decline it now. And I think that’s what Adam is hoping for. For you to call him or see him because of this. Take the money and run. Either sell it or get a mortgage.”
“There’s nothing that ties him to this place?”
“I can have my real estate attorneys review everything, but at face value, no.”
“I’d appreciate that,” she softly says, wrapping her arms around my waist for a hug.
I squeeze her, reassuring her. “You have money people, right?” I ask.
“I have an accountant. Adam introduced me to him.”
“You need a wealth manager and a tax strategist too. Let me introduce you to my people, and I would stop working with your accountant. He’s probably not respecting client confidentiality.”
“I’m not worth anything,” she says with her cheek still pressed into my chest. “That seems overkill.”
“You have a million dollars from this house. That’s not nothing. You would be considered an accredited investor and a high-net-worth individual at Real-ity.” She huffs, clearly stressed, and pulls away. “I won’t say anything else.”
“Right now …” She begins, opening cabinets in the kitchen. “All of this feels like a burden.”
“What are you looking for?”
“I’m hoping there is still a bottle of something here from last summer.”
Dani opens one and looks at me with a big grin. “Bingo. Let’s take this out on the patio.”