The number doesn’t feel real.
Callum uncrosses his arms and rests his hands on the table. “You’d have your own room. Your own space. A credit card with no limit. A car, if you need one. You keep interning. Keep your life. We just need you there.”
I need clarification. “There?”
“At the house,” Silas answers. “In the city. With us.”
I look at Ben. He meets my eyes, and his jaw is tight, but he’s not angry. He’s watching me the way he always does when I have to make a decision he can’t make for me.
“You’re okay with this?” I ask him.
“I trust them.” He pushes his plate back slightly. “And I think you’d be set for life. But only if you want to do it. No pressure.”
I process that. Then the reality settles in. “What will Mom think?”
“I’ll talk to her.” Ben rubs the back of his neck. “Explain the whole thing. She trusts me, and she trusts them. She won’t freak out.”
I look at Silas again. “What does ‘appear together’ mean?”
“Events,” he clarifies. “Dinners. Fundraisers. Anywhere we’d be seen. The executor needs proof we’re serious.”
“Proof how?”
Callum grins. “We’d have to look like we’re together. Like it’s real.”
My pulse kicks up. “Define ‘real’.”
Evan’s mouth curves. “We need to be convincing. Photos. Public affection, like holding hands. Nothing you’re not comfortable with.”
“But enough that people believe it,” Silas adds.
I pick up my wine glass and take a slow drink.
Callum tilts his head. “If you say yes, I will make it fun. It wouldn’t all be boring fundraisers.”
Well, that’s intriguing. “How would you make it fun, Callum?”
His grin widens. “If we have to spend time together, we don’t have to do the boring shit. We can do things like skydiving and bungee jumping.”
Ben’s fork clatters against his plate. “Absolutely not.”
Evan shakes his head, but he’s smiling. “What Callum means is that this doesn’t have to feel like work. You’d be spending timewith us. We’ve known each other forever. It’s not like you’d be stuck with strangers.”
I look at each of them. Silas, controlled and unreadable. Callum, reckless and chaotic. Evan, easy and warm.
I do know them; they’re not strangers. But I knew them as boys, not as men.
I need to understand more. “Why me?”
Silas answers without hesitation. “Because we trust you. And because you’re not going to take advantage of us.”
“You’re also believable,” Evan adds. “Smart. Beautiful. No one is going to question it.”
Callum drains his wine glass. “And you’re practical. You won’t make this harder than it needs to be. You won’t expect any real commitment from us.”
I set my glass down and press my palms flat against the table. The wood is smooth and cool under my hands, and that feeling is grounding me in this surreal moment.
Ten million dollars.
