Forever and Always

Chapter 44 - Old Money

Levi sat down on the foot of his bed and I pulled his hoodie from my backpack, sliding it on in front of him. There was a hunger in his eyes as he watched me put his clothing on, but he contained himself well. 

"I have told you that we're old money," he began. "But here's what I've kept from you. We are the third wealthiest family in America. Not me specifically, though technically, I'd never have to work a day in my life from here on out if I didn't want to. I could easily buy you your house in San Marino in cash and support you and Poppy for the rest of our lives while we drove a different Bentley for every day of the week. And Poppy would still have several millions to inherit from me."

My eyes widened. "Babe, you just said millions. Plural."

"We have never talked about the specifics of my money before, Eren, but it's time I show you what you're marrying into." He pulled his phone out and opened his banking app. He handed the phone to me and I nearly passed out when I saw his account balance. Not millions, hundreds of millions. I gasped, and handed him his phone back, pressing it into his chest.

"No way."

"That's just me, Eren. That's all the money I inherited from my mother and the money that I made when I started working for Kenny." Levi sighed. "And being Kenny's sole beneficiary, money won't be an issue for anybody in our family. Ever."

"Shit," I muttered, having no idea that that was even possible for a boy his age. I felt no emotion about it. I was more shocked than anything else. I wasn't upset about it, but I also didn't feel a happy emotion either.

"Yeah. That's one of the reasons they have a lot of respect for my family. Apart from some interviews as I got older, Kenny mostly kept me out of the spotlight, which was nice for me, the antisocial asswipe that I am. But big names have no privacy, I swear I was dodging cameras like I was a Kardashian or something. Especially when my grandfather died."

"Jesus."

"I'm not famous, though, Jaeger. No need to worry about nosy paparazzi," he chuckled. "Just nosy rich people. Now that people know you're an Ackerman, there's going to be a lot of talk. Especially with the fucking Kennedy's, ugh. Fucking hate them. My uncle was named after Robert." He rolled his eyes. "My grandfather was close with him and John."

"As in the President, John Kennedy?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wow! Holy shit! I had no idea."

"Well, you should also know why we're generally feared."

"Right."

"Well, I've already demonstrated how we can snap our fingers and make people disappear." I shuddered, remembering our ex-therapist. "That is common knowledge. Then, actually we partner with the Rothschilds in our banking endeavors, and have screwed a lot of people that way. Ruined lots of lives. That's why my mother left and we started selling drugs on the side. Our morals caught up to us. The third reason that people are afraid of us is actually more of a superstition."

"What's the superstition?" I asked, begging for more information on the mysterious Ackerman family.

"Well, people say that blood members of our family tend to pick one person to cling to for the rest of their lives. It sounds like falling in love, and it is, but the catch is that if that person dies before the Ackerman, the Ackerman loses their mind. Society's elite are really the only people that still think that, but they call it "Ackerbonding." It's stupid. People like to say that Kenny Ackerbonded to my mother. Lots of people are afraid of the sociopathic tendencies that Ackermans tend to carry with them, and Ackerbonding is a myth that they like to use to describe it. If you smiled at a single person that thought you were an Ackerman, they would probably have been really confused. They would wonder what your motive was, what you wanted from them."

"Jesus. People are so judgy," I muttered.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Levi sighed in agreement, a sad cloud hovering over his head. "It's been a lonely life."

"I can only imagine," I murmured, taking my fiancee's hand. "But I'm here, now," I inserted, hoping that I could keep him from dwelling on sad subjects. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to see him smile. "And I'll never leave you. I promise."

"Thanks, Eren. That means the world," Levi whispered emotionally, his voice soft, but worn out from crying. I wrapped my arms tightly around his body, leaning my face into the crook of his neck. He smelled strongly of Grey Goose and tobacco smoke.

"You've grown your hair out, Jaeger," Levi noted quietly after a long silence as we held each other.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I have," I nodded, running my fingers through my hair. I kept forgetting to cut it over the summer, and come fall, it reached just past my chin. "I need a hair cut," I chuckled, blushing at his observation.

"No you don't. Don't cut it unless you want to, but I like it, Eren. It suits you. Watch this," Levi began, rifling through his backpack for something. He pulled out a black hair tie.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked.

"I used to wear it around my wrist and snap my wrist with it whenever I thought about cutting. It worked, for the most part. I would say that meeting you was probably the biggest reason, though. Here, come in close. I don't bite."

"That's a lie," I chuckled as I leaned in towards Levi and he reached his hands behind my head. He ran his fingers through my hair a couple of times, working through the knots before gathering it all back behind my head. Removing the hair tie from his wrist, he wound it around my hair a couple of times, twisting the ponytail back and wrapping the band around it a final time. "What are you doing?"

"Putting your hair up," Levi smirked, kissing me gently as he brushed his fingers across my hairline playfully. "There. All done." He pulled back to get a better look at me and his eyes widened. 

"What?" I asked, my ears heating up "Is it bad?"

"Eren, you are the single most beautiful person I have ever had the gift of meeting. You look fantastic. And older." He rolled his tongue, making a trilling 'r' sound while I rolled my eyes.

"Oh shut up!" I giggled, shoving his shoulders playfully with both of my hands.

"Your blush makes it ten thousand times better. Hope you know," Levi snapped, flicking his eyebrow up and shoving me back with only one hand. "Wait. Eren."

"Yeah?" I replied, tilting my head to the side.

"Have you been working out?" He asked quietly, eyeing me with narrowed gunmetal eyes. His pupils blew wide as I nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, I've been surfing every day, if that counts," I smiled happily at him. "I have a decent tan going, too," I grinned proudly, spending the majority of my weekends in my second home: the pacific ocean.

Levi let out a nervous half-chuckle that sounded more like he was just choking on air. "I can tell. It's done you well."

"Thanks," I blushed, looking down at his alabaster hands, carved perfectly out of marble. "My mom used to call me a fish growing up. I swear she never got me out of the water. We had one rule about the ocean. I had to get out when my lips were blue," he chuckled. "I could get back in again when they were back to normal."

"That is precious," Levi cooed, the corners of his mouth turning ever so slightly up, cracking the tiniest smile. Gently touching my jawbone with his fingertips he dragged me to him, kissing me again. "Ya got a lot of kissing to make up for, Jaeger," he chuckled darkly against my lips. "But how about some coffee for now?"

"Sounds great!"