“They’re all so much. And as much as they are…none of them really have all that we want.”
“Which, if we are paying a lot, there is no point in paying a premium price for something that doesn’t even give us what we want,” Severo drawled as he sat down on the stool beside him, holding Skya in his lap like a stuffed animal. She looked content, and sleepy.
“Severo…are you sure it’s the right time for us to find a place? I mean…we just started dating, and…it’s just so much and so soon…”
“If you are feeling overwhelmed, and think it’s too soon, then we can wait. But if you are saying this now because the cost is scaring you, then I think you should see something.” He stood back up, switched Skya to one arm, and walked over to the coffee table. Skya was clearly asleep now.
Seri’s brow rose when Severo slipped a panel back revealing a thumb scanner. The man pressed his thumb to it. There was a beep, and the top of the coffee table floated up. Severo snagged something from the compartment revealed, walking back and holding whatever it was out.
He stared, blinking at what looked like a small booklet that he quickly realized was a bank book. Frowning, Seri cautiously took it and flipped it open. His eyes widened as he began to count the zeros on the thin screen. “H-how—” He choked on his own spit. After coughing a bit, he managed to ask, “How?! I… How do you…have so much?”
“Spoiled rich kid kind of explains it? I mean, in part, that is it. My parents gave me five million at eighteen…and I've just invested it since then. I didn’t blow it, and more importantly, I hired smarter people than me to invest and manage it all.
“I mean, this is what I have in the bank, but this doesn’t even include my investments… Despite how free I seem with my money, I have never really been a big spender. Maybe my parents overwhelming me with things made me have no urge to collect stuff. My first job was bounty hunting at twenty-three, after I finished college… And once I was making my own money, I stopped using it. And well, I’m over two-hundred now.”
“How rich are your parents?!” Seri squeaked, a whole new set of worries flaring up.
“Okay, don’t freak out. Maybe you should sit down.”
“Iamsitting down!”
“Right…maybeIshould sit down…”
“Severo…”
“Well…small fib… Well, it's not really a fib, as I did change my last name. But Ambrose isn’t my original surname…”
That was not what he thought the man had been going to say at all. “What do you mean, it’s not your last name?”
“Well, Ambrose is my middle name… I changed it to my last when I was like a hundred.”
“Severo, what is your last name?!”
“I mean, Ambrose technically is my last name now…but my original last name was…Voli.”
Seri frowned. There was this nagging feeling that he had heard that name before. “Voli…why does that sound familiar?” His eyes widened when it clicked. “Voli?! As in,theVoli Group. The Volis that literally invented elevation stones?! Thus, they get money every single time they are used in something?! The same group that probably owns, or has some sort of connection, to all the major pharmaceuticals on Earth and beyond. The Voli that was LITERALLY funding the research grant that I was part of?! THAT VOLI?!”
“Umm…” Severo cleared his throat. “Not sure about that last part…but yes to the rest?”
“Oh, my Goddess,” Seri rasped. “OH, MY GODDESS! YOUR FAMILY IS GOING TO THINK I’M A GOLD DIGGER!”
Skya jerked awake at Seri yelling. Instead of crying, she glared. Ugh, she was so like him. He glared back. She glared harder. He blinked. “What am I even doing, oh my…”
“I think…you were having a stare down with Skya.”
“SHH!” He hopped off the stool and walked aimlessly.
“Aww, Seri! I promise my parents aren’t scary at all. They are sweet as can be! They will love you!” He heard Severo cry out behind him as he pushed into the room they shared.
Seri, of course, ignored the big, dumb, dumb, dumby head, and flopped face first onto the bed with a groan.
He didn’t move, even when he heard Severo walk in. Not even when the bed dipped as the man sat down next to him.
“Seri…it doesn’t change anything. I’m still me… I’m not my parents. Like I said…once I got a job, I didn’t touch the money they gave me. I even had my paychecks go into a separate account, so I’d only be using that and not risk over spending.
“It…felt like…if I kept using it, they would own me… Not that they weren’t or aren’t amazing parents. But all that money was a weight. Which I know is awful to say to someone who dealt with all you did. It's just… Growing up…I didn’t feel like an individual. I was just Emiliano and Annabella Voli’s son.
“Every move I made, every mistake, it was always put out for the world to see. So, I changed it…about twelve years after I joined the CEB. Even before that…I had issues job-wise because of it. For one, any time I went after a criminal, the minute they figured out who I was, they tried to capture me instead. Not fun, but also it was just really odd to go from trying to track someone down, to them just showing up.
