Inheritance With a Catch: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Billionaire Inheritance Series Book 1)

by Denise Daye

  “Ava,” Benjamin said, shaking his head. “I was a child back then. I have grown a lot since then. And although at the time my reaction was awful and foolish, I can promise you that I would never let anyone talk to you like that ever again. I don’t care who it is, I won’t let it happen.”

  She looked at him, but he couldn’t make out if she was sad or felt comforted.

  “It’s okay, Benjamin. Really. As I said, it was a long time ago.”

  He pursed his lips. “Still… I know it is not much, but back then, I thought you were the prettiest creature I had ever seen.”

  “Oh please,” she folded her arms and muttered, “you don’t have to say that.”

  “But it’s the truth. I still think you are–”

  “Yeah right…” she interrupted him. “With all the supermodels you were dating.”

  Benjamin opened his mouth to tell her that it was the God and honest truth, when she laughed and added:

  “Besides, I got my revenge. Remember when your friends came back and the bees chased you?”

  He grinned. “Yeeeeees…” he said in great anticipation. “We all screamed, and I think the girl that made fun of you actually peed herself.”

  “I threw a rock at the hive,” Ava grinned.

  “No, you did not, not Ava Burns, savior of the world and the homeless.” Benjamin feigned shock.

  She lifted her chin. “Sometimes you gotta throw a crown on and remind them who they are dealing with.”

  They both laughed out loud. “Is that why you became a social worker? To make up for your past sins?”

  “Ha. If that were the case, shouldn’t you be the pope by now?” she joked back.

  They both grew silent again. Just looking at each other for a moment.

  “Still, I’m sorry for back then. I got your back now, I promise it.”

  “You did have my back with your mother and that drunk guy.”

  Ava smiled at him, that honest pretty smile again that robbed him of his senses. How was this even possible? To feel like this just because someone smiled. He walked around and opened the car door for her. “Have you ever wondered—” but he stopped mid-sentence.

  “Wondered what?”

  Wondered if my grandfather wasn’t so crazy after all?

  “Nothing…,” he said carefully closing the door. “I forgot what I wanted to say.”

  The car ride home was a little awkward. A shy laugh here, a weird joke there… The air was thickened with emotions that were hard to pinpoint. But whatever it was that filled the air, Ava couldn’t deny any longer that she had had a really enchanting evening with Benjamin. More than once her mind drifted off to the things he had said to her, how he was taken by her when they were children, and how he apologized for his childish behavior back then.

  As beautiful as it all sounded, there was also a rising fear boiling inside her. What if Benjamin Radcliff was not as bad as I thought he was? What if he was on his way to find his way back to the boy he used to be before his father was taken from him? Tonight, it almost seemed like it was possible… Would I fall for him again and get my heart broken once more?

  When they finally got home and drove into the compound, the headlights shone on a grinning Uncle Barney, standing arms akimbo in the driveway.

  Benjamin chuckled. “There’s the old man.”

  “Yeah, I knew that excuse about wanting to find the restroom sounded kinda fishy,” Ava said.

  She turned to Benjamin as he parked the car. “You know, we don’t have to be enemies.”

  “What…who says—we’re not enemies.” He paused and chuckled. “Well, we are married.”

  “Ha-Ha.”

  “That’s the fakest laugh ever,” he hissed.

  “Maybe, but I’m serious.”

  He caught sight of the already impatient Uncle Barney peering from where he stood.

  “We aren’t enemies. I never was yours, at least,” Benjamin said.

  “Well, pardon me if I’ve gotten the opposite vibe from you during all those charming dinners we had.”

  “Okay, okay, maybe there has been some hostility—”

  “Some?”

  “Are you this sassy with the people at work too?” he teased and reached for the door, stopping only to say, “…you’d act the way I did if you were in my shoes.”

  Her eyes went down to his handmade leather shoes and she shook her head. “Would love to be in those shoes. What are those, Italian?”

  “Haha.”

  She smiled. “Now that’s the fakest laugh ever.”

  “Meh,” he shrugged and got out of the car.

  “You should come around and check it out someday,” Ava said, as they walked to Uncle Barney.

  “Check what out?” Benjamin asked.

  “My work. The homeless shelter.”

  He tapped the car keys on his hand and shrugged. “You trying to save my soul?”

  “I was beginning to think you two were smooching in there,” Barney snickered.

  Benjamin rolled his eyes. “This house has fifty rooms. You think I have to smooch in the car?” Ava smiled as she listened to their voices, her eyes wandering around the compound as they walked in. She admired the lush greens popping out here and there; her father’s handiwork. But there was something more than just the warm feeling she got from seeing the fruits of her father’s labors; she felt happy and at peace, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Tomorrow she would go visit her father again. She did so almost daily. But this time, she could do so and really mean it when she told him that everything was going well.

  The front door opened, Lucy stepped out, her gaze hot and narrowed on Ava.

  “Where have you all been?” she demanded. Barney scratched his head.

  “Sorry, mom, I thought bed-time wasn’t until ten,” Barney teased her. Ava looked at her and made sure their eyes met, then she smiled at Barney’s joke and joined in the conversation with the others again. She didn’t have to turn around to know that Lucy was about to explode back there.

  Did you really think Barney would scare me away?

  On the one hand Ava felt empowered, as if she had defeated the dragon. But on the other, she worried about what this irrational woman would do next. There were plenty of nasty ideas in a mind of a person like Lucy Radcliff...

  A

  va glanced at herself in the mirror again. The dark blue shirt she was wearing had the words ‘GIVE THEM A CHANCE’ stamped across it, with a logo made up of two hands in a firm grip. It was a big day for her and the shelters in her church’s district. They had pulled together a neighborhood fundraiser at a local partner shelter and hoped to get enough money together to fix the church’s roof—little more than a band-aid on all the serious work that needed to be done, but better than nothing.

  I should be optimistic, yeah, she told herself, staring into the mirror as she got ready.

  Her relationship with Benjamin had changed from enemies to almost friends; if it weren’t for Lucy, this would be a walk in the park culminating in a nice retirement for her father. But that woman could not be trusted, constantly lurking around, analyzing every breath Ava took, her mind working full steam on how to get rid of her.

  She almost considered talking to Lucy, just asking her nicely to leave Ben and her be until the agreement would be fulfilled in two months. But then, this was Lucy she was talking about here. This woman would probably still stalk her, even after everything was done and over with. That is how much she seemed to hate her.

  Sometimes, Ava wondered if it was still about the money or if Lucy had taken all her past anger and frustration and focused it on a new target—Ava.

  But then, as bad as things stood with Lucy, things were also improving drastically in other ways—Benjamin was funny and charming, and Uncle Barney’s presence over the past month had been a breeze of fresh air.

  It was easier coming home in the evenings, and although the mandatory dinners
still had their fair share of awkward silences here and there, even those moments had a certain feeling of comfort, as if she and Benjamin could laugh together but just sit in together in silence.

  What thrilled her most was how no one seemed to pay any attention to Lucy’s sour attitude.

  Looking at herself in the mirror once more, Ave recalled an incident from last week and it cracked her up. She chuckled and slipped into a dark blue pair of sneakers.

  It had been on one of those mornings Lucy was irritable. That morning she’d gone on and on about Ava’s Converse sneakers, which she’d left out in the grand entrance way.

  “I mean,” she bawled, “there are places for stuff like that… like the bin or the trash!”

  Then Barney walked into the kitchen and did what Barney does. He instantly took the conversation over. “Come on, sis,” he said with a grin, “that’s not so bad.”

  Lucy looked at him with a blank face. “Not so bad?”

  “Yeah. We all make mistakes. Nobody is perfect. Not even Lucy Radcliff. Remember the Amusement park?”

  Lucy freaked. “Stop it!”

  Ava looked at Barney. “What are you talking about?” She ignored Lucy’s scowl, eagerly awaiting the story from Barney.

  “No one wants to hear that,” Lucy snapped.

  “I do,” Ava countered.

  Before Lucy could say another word, Barney had already drawn in a deep breath, pouring out the story. “Happened a long time ago, when we were kids,” he pulled out a chair.

  “Barney stop now please…”

  “We were off to an amusement park, woo, fun! I remember Dad asking us to, you know, go potty and stuff before leaving.”

  Lucy buried her face in her hands, her cheeks growing red. “Please don’t.”

  “Lucy here had a notorious bladder, so Dad made sure to tell her more than once.” Barney looked at his sister. “She said she’d already gone and off to park we went, except she didn’t actually go and so by the time we got there, standing in a line full of hundreds of people, little Lucy here started dancing and wincing. Of course, she didn’t say anything, and before our parents realized what was happening…the floodgates opened.”

  Ava giggled. “WHAT?”

  “Yeah, she wet herself right in front of everyone.”

  “No, she didn’t!”

  “Stop it, Barney!” Lucy wailed.

  “Ran down her legs like a river. I have never seen so much pee before.”

  Lucy grunted and angrily waved her finger at Barney.

  “That’s funny,” Ava laughed and looked at Lucy, hoping she saw the glee in her face.

  “Funny? It was crazy. The amount of pee was just—”

  “BARNEY, YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE!” Lucy yelled, storming out.

  Ava chuckled again replaying the story in her mind, even as she left the room.

  She grabbed a quick breakfast of toast and headed out. One of the things which hadn't changed was her car situation. Benjamin had offered to take her car shopping, but with Lucy accusing her every step of the way that she was just a gold-digger, it just didn’t feel right. So why not ride it out in her car for a few more months and then buy her own car with her own money?

  Still, the idea of Benjamin taking her to get a new car lingered. Probably due to the fact that her car had broken down for good this morning, and she found herself on her way to the shelter in a taxi.

  She was about halfway to the shelter when she her phone rang. Who would call her so early in the morning? She checked her display. Unknown number. She frowned, as she had this thing about taking calls from unknown numbers. The taxi slowed down at a red light, slotting perfectly alongside the yellow of other taxis and the various gleaming colors of the morning traffic.

  “Hello?” she finally answered timidly after a couple of rings.

  A frantic voice spoke from the other end, a voice she recognized immediately.

  “Oh good, it’s you,” Benjamin blurted through the phone. “For a moment I thought I’d dialed the wrong number.”

  “Benjamin?”

  “The one and only,” he confirmed. She picked up a hint of hesitation from the way his voice pitched low, as if in a whisper.

  “Why are you calling me? You’ve never called me before.”

  “Really? Never?”

  “I’d know if you had, sir,” she said sarcastically. He quickly agreed.

  “Fine, well I’m calling you now.”

  “Exactly, but why?”

  He paused, his quick breaths sifting out through the phone. A voice echoed from the other end, one distinct and loud.

  “I’m coming already,” Benjamin snapped at the voice and somehow the noisy chattering from the background seemed to pick up.

  “Where are you?”

  The taxi had started moving again. It was just a straight drive down a few minutes, and she’d be at the ‘GIVE THEM A CHANCE’ center, where a few of her colleagues would already be.

  Benjamin mumbled something into the phone, and she sat up straight.

  “Wait what? Say that again.” She shook her head, must have misheard that.

  “I am at the police station. District 9.”

  For a moment Ava grew silent.

  “Ava?’” he snapped her back out of it.

  “Yes…I’m still here.”

  “Well…I hate to ask you for this favor… but can you come get me? Quickly?”

  “I-I guess?”

  “Is that a yes or a no?”

  “Y-yes. Yes of course. I will be right there.”

  She tapped the driver on the shoulder. “Could you take the next turn down to district nine? I have to get someone pronto.”

  The driver grunted and looked at her in the mirror. “Sure thing.”

  The car swerved at the next turn and screeched down the street toward the police station.

  Benjamin rested his hand on the desk and tapped his fingers, eager to annoy the officer typing away on a computer.

  “Your name, sir?” the young officer politely asked, tugging on his badge.

  “I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again. I’m Benjamin Radcliff. I don’t know if you’re new here,” he looked at the name tag on the desk, “…Charles Mann… but while you’re pressing that keyboard do a quick search for my name and you’ll find out who I am.”

  The officer didn’t seem shaken by all his talk. He gave Benjamin a sluggish look when he wanted to ask a question. “Radcliff--is that with a double ‘f’ or-”

  “Double,” Benjamin snapped and looked around. “Where is she?”

  The officer resumed his typing and soon a printer hummed, slipping out a clean white sheet of paper with some faint words on it. The officer mumbled and cursed under his breath, scrutinizing the faint print before leaving his chair. “I’ll be right back.”

  Benjamin sighed and tried to amuse himself by watching the strangers around him. Surely someone here must know who I am, he mumbled to himself and continued looking around until his eyes met hers. His heart skipped a beat as pure relief rushed through him.

  “For a moment I wasn’t sure you’d show,” he said, looking up as she walked over to where he was made to sit. She looks smart in that outfit, he said to himself; but out loud he said with a smirk, “What’s with the outfit?”

  Her short sleeves were folded, and the side of the shirt drawn up a bit, partially tucked into her light blue jeans.

  “What are you doing in a police station?” she said, ignoring his comment. The officer came in right at that moment and his eyes lit up when he saw Ava.

  “Ava. It’s been a while,” the officer said and reached out for a handshake.

  "Charles! It sure has," Ava gave a pleasant smile and accepted the handshake.

  “I heard Maria is off the streets again?” Charles asked.

  “For now. She is back at the shelter. Hopefully for a bit longer this time.”

  “Gosh I hope
so too. I was called non-stop about her when she was on the loose.”

  Charles and Ava spoke for a minute, their tone friendly and relaxed.

  “So, you know this guy?” Charles asked her, nodding into Benjamin’s direction.

  “I do. He is….” Ava looked at Benjamin. Would she admit it, even now? “…He is my husband,” she finally said.

  “Husband?” Charles repeated.

  “I’m afraid so. Is he in a lot of trouble?”

  “Well… he wouldn’t be if not for his big mouth.” Charles frowned. Ava nodded.

  “Sounds like him.”

  "Uh, excuse me, but I can hear you," Benjamin chipped in arrogantly. Charles shot a sharp glance his way, then ignored him again.

  “So, he hasn’t done anything too crazy?”

  “Not really. If he would have just followed my requests, he wouldn’t be in any trouble at all.”

  Benjamin rolled his eyes but managed to bite his tongue.

  “In that case…” Ava looked at Charles with big eyes.

  “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “Come on Charles… it sounds like nobody got hurt. And you still sort of owe me one for talking Marie into leaving the grocery store peacefully when she was at her worst.”

  Charles let out a loud sigh. “Alright. This one time. For you. But next time he will get charged for refusing to identify himself as well as resisting arrest.”

  “Thank you, Charles!” Ava beamed. “There won’t be a next time, will there Benjamin.”

  Benjamin bit his lip and grunted something inaudible.

  “I take that as a no,” Charles commented before opening Benjamin’s handcuffs.

  From there things went pretty quickly. It took a couple of minutes for the paperwork to be finalized, and soon after they were walking down the steps of the precinct.

  "Resisting arrest," Benjamin spoke after they walked out of the police station. “He makes it sound like I’m some cartel boss.”

  Ava stopped and turned around, folding her arms and staring up at him.

  "...Right. Now what were you doing in a police station in the first place?"

  He shrugged, looking around as if searching for a ride. Ava sighed and started to flag down a cab when he reached out and held her hand. The touch was sudden, and she stiffened at the feel of his hand on her arm.