The Inheritance (Happy Endings Resort Book 1)

by Benson, Jennifer

  “Like you could.”

  “I have nothing to lose!” I stepped forward looked him right in the eye and kneed him right in the nuts.

  “You fucking bitch. You’re lucky I let you live as long as I did. Killing your father was the easiest thing in the world. He never turned down an offer of free drugs. And that quote unquote former whore of a mother of yours needed money so badly she was willing to accept one last job for a shitload of money, shame it was her last breath, too. She was a great fuck. Before she got in that car accident.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled up at him. His face went from gleaming pride and satisfaction to sheer horror.

  “Mr. Bennett you now have the right to remain silent…”

  “You fucking bitch!”

  “I’m sorry I can’t hear you.” I turned my back to him and walked to the door. I held it open and waited till the officer moved him to the door. “I’ll be seeing you.” I waved to him with a smile as he was pushed out the door and down the steps of the deck to the awaiting police car.

  “Ms. London, if you wouldn’t mind coming down to the station tomorrow”—Detective McDonald reached a hand out to me—“we’ll give you tonight to get over the shock of everything Mr. Parker has told you.”

  “You knew?” I looked at him.

  “We were informed, yes.” He smiled at me.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow.” Detective Hall nodded at me and the two strolled out the door with a hand from Jason and a nod to Drew.

  “I’m going to leave the two of you as well. This has been a long and intriguing night and I’m sure you are both exhausted.” Drew shook Jason’s hand. “We’ll talk, Darlin’.” He whispered in my ear as he leaned down and pecked a kiss on my cheek

  Chapter Twelve

  I KNOCKED ON the door of the trailer. I heard a slew of expletives and I felt badly, but couldn’t help but giggle. I tried to sleep. Jason laid down with me on the bed and tried brushing my hair back from my face, placing small kisses on my temple and neck. He got me a glass of milk and a couple of cookies, he even offered to finish what we had started the other night on the deck.

  I just couldn’t relax. I paced the trailer, stood on the deck looking across the lake at Betty’s house, then my eyes drifted to where Drew had faked his death. Where his body had been in the police photographs. Why had he gone to the trouble if he had all of the evidence in the journals? Why put so much effort into catching Bennett Sloane and his father?

  Jason had fallen asleep after my third trip to the living room to pace. Have to give him props for trying to get me to relax and sleep, but my mind just wouldn’t stop spinning. Now I was standing outside in the dark listening to Drew stumble his way to the door of his trailer.

  “How did I know it would be you?” Drew swung the door open, he was dressed only in a pair of pajama bottoms, a bare muscular stomach and yup, bare feet. “Where’s Jason?” he sounded almost concerned.

  “Sleeping.”

  “Oh, well come on in.” The smile that spread across his face was handsome and almost eager.

  “I’m here to talk and get some answers.” I stepped inside of this trailer and spun around to face him when the door clicked behind me. “Nothing else.”

  “So you and Jason are like an item now? You’re together?” Drew stepped closer to me, almost too close.

  “We haven’t discussed it, but I’m sure as hell not getting involved with you. I’m too confused right now to be involving anyone else in my life or confusion. Jason has been a great friend and help to me, and I like him very much for someone I just met a few days ago.” I met his eyes as I moved around the living room.

  “Have a seat,” he said, moving to what I guessed was his bedroom to retrieve a t-shirt which he pulled over his head as he walked back toward me. I took a seat on the couch at the far end of. He took a seat in the recliner across from me and turned it so we were face to face.

  “Why have you been so invested in all of this? Was it just because Betty was paying you to investigate me?”

  “No.” He sighed. “And she wasn’t paying me to investigate you.” He looked at me like he was making sure I was understanding him, but I wasn’t.

  “She wasn’t paying you, yet you continued to watch me and followed Bennett following me?” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry if I am bothering you, but I’m just not understanding what is going on.”

  “The short and quick answer is I promised my mother I would watch over you and get you here and keep an eye on you until I knew you were safe.” He responded almost through gritted teeth.

  “Why do you say it like you are angry with me? What did I ever do to you? Was Betty your mother and she left this place to me instead of you? If so, take it. Keep it. I’d rather go back to the life I didn’t have, then to be dragged into all of this nonsense and dramatic game of lies and bullshit.” I slammed my hands to my thighs and moved to get up, but Drew held his hand up to stop me.

  “No, Betty was not my mother.” He must have known if I was going to ask if Goldie was. “No, neither was Goldie.” He waved his hand up and down motioning for me to sit back down. I felt a relief about this, but I’m not really sure why I was suddenly afraid we were related.

  “Then why?”

  “My mother worked for Goldie. She was one of her women. She became Goldie’s confidant. Goldie told her everything. My mother knew the truth about Betty and her breakdown. She knew Reynolds Sloane killed Goldie, but could never actually prove it. Sloane was Goldie’s one mistake. She fell in love with him. She allowed herself to get pregnant with Bennett, but then Sloane took him away from her and told him terrible things about his mother so he would hate her, too.”

  “And when Betty would assume Goldie’s life?”

  “My mother would be there. My mother would call her Goldie. She would keep her safe. She would care for her. Bruce had their child to take care of. Then you came along and Bruce hoped you would help bring Betty back, but she would only fall deeper into Goldie. She took care of you as if you were her own, but she wasn’t stable enough to raise you and take you back here or the spell of Goldie would be broken. That picture you saw of you and Bruce was the last time Bruce saw you. He brought you here to show Betty that you were not hers when she was Goldie and she lost it. She disappeared into Goldie for weeks.”

  “That’s when we started moving around?”

  “Yes.”

  “So Betty carried on as a whore?”

  “No. No, Bruce had convinced Betty that Goldie had retired and was solely the madam in charge. Other than my mother, no one was ever actually there, so they didn’t know the difference. My mother took care of the office stuff.”

  “You know this is all insane.”

  “This is what people who love each other do for one another.”

  “But if they loved Goldie, why did they let her do this in the first place?” I was disappointed that they left Goldie to sell herself to men. To let them have her body for money. “Didn’t she ever want to be with a man she loved or get married and have children she could raise and . . .”

  “No. She saw what love did to her sister. She saw what marriage did her to her parents. She wanted her life to be hers to control.”

  “Did she love Sloane?”

  “She thought she did.”

  “And he killed her.”

  “She threatened to go to his wife.”

  “Well, how did he explain Bennett just showing up?”

  “He told her that he had adopted him.” He saw my reaction. “Sloane had money. His wife knew to keep her mouth shut if she wanted to continue living the life she was accustomed to or he would divorce her, keep the kid, and she would be penniless.”

  I sat staring at him for a moment. This was all insanity. Betty’s will stated that if I didn’t take ownership of the resort, I could appoint a new owner and walk away with fifty thousand dollars in cash. Maybe I should just do that. This place has been nothing short of a long, slow, painful walk through the
nut house of Happy Endings Resort.

  “I can see the wheels spinning in that head of yours. You are debating on whether or not to stay or run.” I opened my mouth to speak and ask him how he knew. “Did you know your face tells everything you are thinking? I know people, it is my job to read them, but you are very easy to read.” He laughed. “Give it a day or two. Hell, give it a week.” He paused. “We both know you really have nothing waiting for you back home, and you have a chance to break the chain of the Moss women and make this place a continued success. You aren’t alone here.” He moved to sit next to me on the couch.

  “I guess I could give it a bit of time to all sink in.” I sighed falling back against the couch.

  “Yeah, a week. Give it a week and see what happens.” I felt his hand on my thigh.

  “Seriously, you are hitting on me right now?”

  “Hey, a guy can try.” He laughed. “Come on I’ll walk you back to Jason’s.” He stood up. “Maybe you can wake him up and you both can finish what you started on his deck the other night.”

  “What?!” My whole body froze and heated at the same time.

  “What?” He just looked at me like he didn’t just say he saw Jason . . . well, Jason . . . oh, for Christ sakes. He saw Jason going down on me. Oh my God!

  “You watched us?”

  “I swear I didn’t mean to.” He laughed. I wanted to punch him right in the face. “I was going over to talk to Jason and happened upon . . . I could have said something or cleared my throat, but would that really have been any better than me standing there watching a beautiful woman get off?” He was trying to make it sound like he didn’t do anything wrong. “I mean, do I wish it had been me rather than Jason, hell yeah, but Jason is a great guy.”

  “Are you standing there trying to justify wanting Jason and I . . . I mean . . . really, you are trying to say . . .”

  “I stood there and watched Jason go down on you, yes . . .yes, I did.” He reached his hand out to me as he headed for the door.

  “You are an asshole!” I smacked his hand away. “I’ll walk myself back to Jason’s.” I opened the door and turned to Drew. “And I’ll make sure the blinds are closed if I decide to wake him up and fuck him. Never know who might be lurking around.” I stormed down the steps.

  “Make sure the doors locked, too. Wouldn’t want anyone walking in on you either, unless you’d like to recreate the scene you walked in on at Stixx’s place the other day.” He shrugged. “Travels like two people in a paper bag.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  “Goodnight, Rory.” He laughed.

  “Asshole.” I grumbled and stomped my away from Drew trailer kicking the dirt at my feet.

  ***

  “You were really going back to my cabin to fuck me were you?” Jason called out from the dark of the corner of Drew’s trailer.

  “What the fuck is it with you people around here spying on each other?” I jumped with a fright at his voice and gripped my chest to stop my heart from breaking through my rib cage. “No wonder new travels so fucking fast! You are all up each other’s asses lurking around corners.” I continued to stomp away.

  “Hold up,” Jason grabbed my arm and pulled me back pushing my back up against a tree. “I wasn’t spying on you. I woke and you were gone. I knew you were thinking about what Drew had said and the information he had on your family, so I came looking for you. I just happened to hear the last part about me as I was coming around the corner.” He let go of my arm and looked around. “You said it kind of loud. I’m sure if it wasn’t the middle of the night, I wouldn’t have been the only one to have heard you.”

  “Sorry, he just pissed me off.” I blew out a breath as my back slid down the tree and my ass landed on the ground.

  “He pissed you off because he likes you and you are attracted to him.” Jason took a seat next to me.

  “Haha, are you serious?” I was suddenly understanding why I was relieved when Drew told me he wasn’t related to me. I was attracted to him. I had been since the bar. I remember being nervous at the way he was watching me. At the time I didn’t know why, then I found out who he was. I think if I was honest with myself, I was more mad that he knew so much about me and I knew nothing about him.

  “Yeah, actually I’m very serious. I’ve never seen Drew look at anyone the way he looks at you.” Jason picked up a stick and broke it in half with a snap.

  “The way he looks at me. I’m sure Drew has women going in and out of his trailer like a rotating door.” I looked back over in the direction of his trailer. The light in the living room was still on and a shadow moved back and forth in front of the window.

  “Actually, that would be my place.” Jason bowed his head.

  “What?” My head snapped back to look at him, but his head was still down.

  “Drew is the good guy here.” He sighed and threw the broken stick pieces to the ground. “I’m the bad guy. You are the first woman I’ve had here at my cabin.” My jaw was hanging open. “Well, not had, but that I had brought here and spent the night.” He blew out a breath. “I saw how messed up you were at my office and the dickhead in my brain said easy lay. The attorney in me said not to cross business with pleasure. The small part of the good guy knows that Drew is in love with you.”

  “You fucking used me.” I leaped up and when he stood up before me I punched him in the stomach.

  “Nice punch.” He choked out holding his stomach. “I was hoping the good guy in me would win out and I’d finally get the girl.” He shook his head.

  “So the other night on your deck?”

  “Was friggin’ awesome! You are a beautiful woman and you taste . . .” I held up my hand. “Sorry. I just meant I could totally see us being great in bed together, but . . .”

  “But when you saw Drew’s file you saw that I was already a fuckbuddy to an asshole and didn’t want to see me repeating that?” I could see the corner of his mouth turn up.

  “No, no I didn’t. This place is a brand new start for you and you deserve to start over fresh. Start over new with a blank slate.”

  “And the good guy speaks.” I couldn’t help but laugh. This whole situation is so fucked up that if I didn’t laugh at it I’d be crying my eyes out at the insanity of my life. I wiped my hand down my face.

  “You knew Drew was there at your cabin that night, didn’t you? You knew he would show up looking for me after I left the bar.”

  “Yeah, I may or may not have sent him on a slight wild goose chase to get a bit more time with you.”

  “You mean so you could take advantage of me?”

  “I seem to recall you being quite a willing participant in our . . . exchange.”

  “That’s why you didn’t want me to reciprocate. You knew Drew was watching and . . .”

  “Enjoying everything he saw and couldn’t have.” Jason chuckled.

  “And the dickhead takes over.”

  “Hey, I didn’t try anything else after that did I?”

  “No, because Drew faked his own death to put an end to all of this so I’d know the truth.” I said, realizing what I had just said. “He set this all up for me. He wanted me to know the truth.”

  “Because he is the good guy.” Jason said on a sigh. “Want me to walk you back to his place?”

  “What? You think since you have tossed me aside that I’m just going to hop into the bed of the next guy in line?” I stared daggers at him.

  “I was simply offering to walk you back to Drew’s so you can tell him that we aren’t together and that . . .”

  “That I am not with anyone. I need to be alone and on my own for a while. If I’m going to make this place work I need to focus on this place.”

  “Wow! I love your fire. Want to go finish what we started? That fire in your eyes is really turning me on.” He moved closer to me.

  “No, I want you to have all of the papers together and ready to go at your office tomorrow so I can sign them.” I took a step away from him. “Right no
w, you are going to give me the keys to your cabin and I’m going to bed. You are going to go back to your apartment in town to your own bed.”

  “But we were both so cozy in my bed together.” He stepped in front of me.

  “Well, that time has passed. Tomorrow I want the keys to Betty’s house and I would appreciate it if you had the phone number of a contractor that I could speak to about redoing the whole house.” I continued to walk away from him.

  “Anything else Ms. London?” he caught up to my side and smirked at me.

  “What happened between us will never happen again, so please don’t hit on me.” I elbowed him in the ribs.

  “Yeah, Drew wouldn’t like it.” He laughed.

  “I wouldn’t like it.”

  “Are you saying you are not going to see where things might go with Drew?” We kept in step with each other.

  “I’m saying that I don’t want you hitting on me. You are now not only the estate’s attorney, but my business attorney. It is unprofessional of you to be hitting on your clients. My grandmother may have been a whore, hell my mother was probably a whore. I, however, am not.” I stopped and turned to face him. “If you’d like to be friendly as in friends only, then fine, but anything other than friendship is not going to happen between us.”

  “You didn’t answer me about Drew.”

  “No, I didn’t, did I?” I turned and continued toward the cabin.

  ***

  “Is there anything inside that you need before I close the door and lock it?” I held out my hand to him.

  “What?”

  “Keys, please.” I looked him right in the eye.

  “I have a set at my office and my apartment.”