Chapter 276

Tessa’s POV

Mary Flanagan.

The real estate agent Joseph had hired to show us around different houses in the city of New York. She was a middle-aged woman with kind blue eyes with small wrinkles around the edges when she smiled. Her blonde hair was tied up in a neatly done ponytail and she wore a pink blouse and a tight black skirt that made her look professional.

The sun had just set when we met her at the small café just outside of the busy city. She already had her cappuccino in hand and was seated at an outdoor table, flipping through some pages of her binder when we showed up.

When we approached, she stood to shake our hands. Her hand was soft and wrinkled.

“It’s nice to finally meet you both,” Mary said with genuine sincerity before she took her seat. She motioned for the chairs across the table. “Take a seat,” she offered, but then she froze. “Unless you wanted a coffee or something first.”

“No, we are okay,” I answered for the both of us. My nerves were attacking my stomach, and I wasn’t sure I could handle anything at that point.

“Thank you for meeting with us at this time,” Joseph said as he pulled out my chair and waited for me to sit before he took his seat next to me.

It was just after 6 pm when the sun officially set for the day.

“I have to admit, I was a little surprised that you wanted to meet at this hour. But I try to be flexible for my clients and their needs,” she said, with zero hint of resentment in her tone. “Did you get a chance to look at the photos I sent via your email, Mr. Evergreen?”

“You can call me Joseph,” he said and then he nodded. “And yes, I looked at them. I have to admit, they are all very nice houses. I hadn’t had a chance to go over them with my fiancé yet though, but I’m sure she will love them too.”

When he said that last part, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I found myself leaning into him. I loved it when he called me his fiancé; I loved feeling as if we were a team. I guess we were a team; we were doing this together and I couldn’t be happier.

Mary smiled fondly at us both.

“Congratulations on your engagement,” she said sweetly.

“Thank you,” we both said at the same time.

“So, I got the keys for a few locations that I’m going to show you today. Whenever you are ready, we can get going to them,” Mary said as she took another sip of her coffee.

I looked at Joseph and he nodded. We got into Mary’s car which was parked near Joseph’s. Joseph sat with me in the backseat, holding my hand affectionately, while Mary drove to the first location.

My mouth nearly fell to the floor when she pulled up to a giant gate where she inputted a code and the gate automatically opened. We drove up a mile driveway until we reached a large roundabout with a big water fountain in the center. It drew my attention away, momentarily, from the giant manor that stood before us.

Once I realized the manor was indeed the house and not a resort, my entire stomach flipped inside out, and I thought I was going to pass out.

“Joseph this place is huge,” I whispered, my voice coming out in barely a whisper.

“8 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms,” Mary said as she put the car in park.

My eyes bugged out of my head as I glared up at Joseph who examined the outside of the house with his eyes.

“It is, but it’s too big,” I told him, furrowing my brows together. “We don’t need all of this space.”

“What if we have a family?” He asked, his eyes searching my face. “Kids and all?”

“How many kids do you want?” I gasped.

He opened his mouth to respond but Mary interrupted him when she asked, “Would you like to see the inside?”

“No,” I said at the same time as Joseph said, “Yes.”

I glared at him. It was too late though; Mary was already outside the car and walking toward the front door. I groaned as I slid out of the car and followed her inside. I didn’t bother looking over my shoulder to see if Joseph was following us; I knew he was.

When we got inside, I felt even more uncomfortable. Marble flooring and a grand staircase. We would be living like royalty, and we didn’t need all of that. This place looked even bigger on the inside than it did on the outside.

“Who would be cleaning this house?” I asked, looking up at Joseph with my arms crossed over my chest.

Joseph shrugged.

“We can hire a maid,” he answered as if it was the most obvious solution.

I raised my brows.

“A maid?” I asked, I wanted to laugh at the idea. My father would have a cow if he found out that I had a maid. I was raised to do my part, not have others do it for me.

Mary looked at us both with a frown; she could feel the tension, I was sure.

“There are other homes we can look at if you don’t find this one suitable,” she suggested, looking from me to Joseph and back again.

Joseph nodded.

“Yeah, can we look at the other houses?” He asked to my surprise.

“Really?” I asked.

He nodded.

“If the house doesn’t work for you, then it doesn’t work for me either,” he said, kissing the top of my head gently. “We are a team. We are in this together. I can tell you are uncomfortable here and the last thing I want is for you to be uncomfortable in your own home.”

I couldn’t help but smile at him. I stood on my toes and pressed my lips against his.

“I love you,” I whispered.

He grinned and looked back at Mary.

“Okay, next house.”

For the next several hours, we went from house to house. We had to have gone to at least 5 other locations before we reached the final and the most perfect house I had ever seen in my entire life. It was still big, but it was also simple at the same time. It had a large amount of land; we would probably need to hire a landscaper. The grass and the bushes surrounding the house were so green and beautiful.

There were 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms; a laundry room, a beautiful kitchen, two offices, which could be turned into bedrooms, and a gorgeous living room with a marble fireplace.

The best part was, from the largest bedroom balcony, there was the perfect view of the city. It was also within walking distance of the bus and train station. I doubted I would ever get on the train again, but I would definitely take the bus if needed. Most everything else was within walking distance, which was definitely convenient.

“This place is beautiful,” I breathed, turning to face Joseph with wide and hopeful eyes. “I love it here.”

“It is really nice,” Joseph said thoughtfully. “And there’s plenty of space. A lot of room for all those babies we are going to have,” he teased with a wink.

My cheeks flushed. We never really spoke about kids before; I’m not sure I could even have kids with a vampire. The thought hadn’t occurred to me until this moment and now I was curious as to if he wanted kids. I knew he had kids in his previous marriage, but they had died centuries ago.

Would Joseph want more? Would we be able to have them?

“Do you want to bring home some information and think about it?” Mary asked, looking between the two of us. “This is a lovely home and location. There are a couple of buyers interested and offered quite a bit for this house. You have a few days to decide if you want to put a bid in as well, or we can move on and look for other locations. It’s entirely up to you.”

I looked at Joseph again who reached into his pocket and pulled out a checkbook.

“Whatever the highest bidder is, I’ll double it,” he said casually, making my jaw drop.

Telling from Mary’s stunned expression, she was shocked too, if not more.

“They are bidding quite a lot for this house already,” Mary said, trying to compose herself.

“I assure you, money is not an issue,” Joseph told her. “Whatever it is, I’ll double it.”

“Are you serious?” She asked, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I feel like I’m being punked. That’s a ridiculous amount of money.”

“I can afford it,” Joseph assured her. “I’ve made a lot of investments throughout my life and it’s just going to waste. My fiancé likes this house and I’m determined to buy it for her. If you don’t like checks, I can get the money in cash with no problems. But I’d like to get this transaction out of the way as soon as possible.”

She blinked at him a few times before clearing her throat and squaring her shoulders.

“The highest bidder is 60 million,” she told me, making me audibly gasp.

Joseph put the checkbook back into his wallet and put it in his pocket. I thought we were going to walk away from such an insane price, but instead, he pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number.

He pressed the phone to his cheek and soon, I heard a familiar voice coming through the speaker.

“Hey, Nathan. I need a favor,” Joseph said without missing a beat. “I need you to wire 120 million dollars to a Mary Flanigan. I can send you the details over a text message.”

He paused for a moment and then he smiled.

“We are buying a house,” he told Nathan, who probably asked what the money was for. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

Without another word, Joseph hung up the phone. Then, he typed something on his phone before handing it off to Mary.

“Type in your company bank information. It’s secure, you can trust him,” Joseph told Mary who stared at him with her mouth hanging open.

She took the phone after a few minutes of staring at him and then typed in the information before handing it back to Joseph.

He sent the information to Nathan and for the next several minutes, we stood around and talked more about the house. She told us if the payment goes through, she will get us the paperwork to sign by tomorrow at the latest, and then the house will be officially ours.

It didn’t take long for Mary’s phone to start ringing and when she saw the caller, her face paled.

“Hello, this is Mary Flanigan,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “Hello, sir. Yes, I’m speaking with my client right now.”

She paused for a moment while the other person spoke.

“Yes, he was adamant about wanting this house,” she explained to whoever was on the other end. “I agree, it was a huge amount of money. So, I’m assuming it was processed?”

She paused again and her eyes widened.

“So, it’s all set then? I can proceed with the sale?” She asked, glancing up at Joseph who smirked. “Okay, sounds good. Thank you. Yes, we will definitely celebrate. I appreciate it.”

She hung open and cleared her throat while she put her phone back in her purse.

“I’m assuming we have a finalized deal?” Joseph asked after a moment of silence.

A smile spread across her lips as she held out her hand for Joseph to shake.

“We sure do; congratulations.”