The Billionaire's Legacy

by Reese Ryan

  “What do you mean?”

  “If your plan is still to take the twins and walk away after their first birthday, it’d be a huge mistake that none of you will likely ever recover from.”

  “You’re being a little melodramatic, Gramps.” Sloane’s gaze dropped to the cup of cooled coffee in her hands.

  “Benji’s a good man, Sloane. And he’s one hell of a father. Regardless of what brought you two together, you’ve been blessed with each other and the twins. Don’t take that gift for granted.” His voice was tender.

  In that moment, the dam she’d spent her entire life building around her heart, brick by brick, cracked.

  It was jarring to see Atticus Ames in a new light. Yet, it relieved a little of the constant pressure that she’d felt in her chest for as long as she could remember.

  Not trusting herself to speak, Sloane nodded to acknowledge that she’d heard her grandfather’s wise words. She stayed silent and pretended she didn’t feel the wetness that fell from the edges of her eyelashes and stained her cheeks.

  But as for what would happen between her and Benji...that wasn’t only up to her.

  Thirteen

  Benji whistled as he entered the Magnolia Lake Bakery on Main Street in town. The twins were nine months old and had both learned to pull themselves into a standing position on the furniture during their recent two-week visit to his place in Seattle.

  He’d run through the house excitedly to tell Sloane, who’d been soaking in the tub, about Bailey’s latest feat. By the time Sloane had gotten out of the tub and padded with damp feet into the family room, Beau, who refused to be outshone by his younger twin, had also pulled himself up on the couch.

  They’d both been so excited and Sloane, a videographer and editor by profession, had grabbed her ever-present camera to record the twins’ latest development.

  It was a week later, and while he and the twins were back at the cabin, he’d treated Sloane and her mother to a few days at a luxury spa resort in the mountains, about forty minutes outside of town.

  Benji still couldn’t stop grinning like a fool. Because all was right in his world. Granted, neither he nor Sloane had said those three little words. Nor had they formalized their relationship. But they were closer to it every day. He could feel it, knew it as certainly as if they’d signed their names to a contract written in blood.

  They were a family. He and Sloane recognized that the twins needed them both. And that they needed and wanted each other.

  He was ready to take the plunge, to lay his heart on the line and ask Sloane to marry him again. Only this time he’d do it right. Let her know that the reason he wanted to marry her had everything to do with her being a beautiful, intelligent woman who made him laugh and with whom he enjoyed spending time. She was the person he felt closest to in the world, and he could no longer imagine his life without her.

  He’d already purchased the perfect engagement ring. He just hadn’t decided when and how he’d ask Sloane to be his wife.

  “Hey, Park.” Benji slipped into his seat and turned over his coffee cup, indicating to Paige, the waitress, that he’d like a cup of coffee.

  “You look happier than a pig in slop,” Parker remarked bluntly. “I would’ve preferred it if you weren’t so happy this morning.”

  Benji frowned. He was used to his cousin’s odd comments that sometimes bordered on rude, but it seemed harsh even for Parker to say he wished he wasn’t so happy.

  Shit. This can’t be good.

  Benji suddenly wondered if he should ask the waitress to top his coffee off with a little bourbon to make whatever hell Parker was about to rain down on him go down a little smoother.

  Taking a sip, Benji waited for the strong, piping-hot coffee to hit his system before he asked the next logical question.

  “What the hell are you talking about, Parker?”

  “I have two things to tell you, and I don’t think you’re going to like either of them,” his cousin said matter-of-factly.

  Benji’s heart crumbled in his chest. Parker wasn’t given to histrionics. If he indicated that the news was bad, it was. Unequivocally.

  “All right, Park,” he said after another hit of coffee. He set his mug on the table and met his cousin’s eyes. “What is it?”

  “Yesterday I stopped into Kayleigh’s shop to look for something for my mother’s birthday.”

  “Why would you go to Kayleigh’s shop? You don’t even like her, and she’s certainly no fan of yours.” Benji chuckled. Parker and Kayleigh Jemison’s love-hate relationship dated back to when they were all kids. Once close friends, he’d chosen the popular kids over her during a very un-Parker-like time in his young life. Kayleigh had never forgiven him and wasn’t very fond of the Abbotts in general.

  “My mother and sister like her jewelry pieces. They’ve been requesting them as gifts for the past couple of years,” Parker informed him, clearly agitated by the subject. “But that’s not the point. The point is that she does like you. Always has. So she felt the need to make me aware of a few things.”

  “Such as?” Benji’s gut churned. He was already growing weary of this little song and dance.

  “Did you know that Sloane’s family’s farm was this close to being repossessed?” Parker peered through a tiny space between his forefinger and thumb.

  “Yes.”

  “And did you know her condo in Nashville was in jeopardy of being repossessed, as well?”

  He nodded once, sipping his coffee. “I did. The question is how does Kayleigh know all this? Sloane and her family’s finances are their business. Not fodder for this town’s gossip mill.”

  Suddenly he understood Sloane’s reluctance to return to Magnolia Lake. The low crime rate and quiet, relaxing pace of life left folks with an awful lot of free time on their hands. Not all of them used that time well.

  “Why does any of this matter?”

  “Because Sloane gets pregnant by you—a very wealthy man who she just happens to know has always had a crush on her. She hasn’t attended a funeral or wedding in this town for years, but she’s there at Blake’s wedding, knowing you’ll be there, and suddenly you two tumble into bed? Does any of this really seem like a coincidence to you, Benj?”

  “Why can’t it be?” Benji wanted to believe it with all his heart. He could forgive a lot of things, but he wouldn’t be able to countenance having been Sloane’s “mark.” He shook the thought from his head. Sloane wasn’t the type. He knew that as well as he knew himself.

  “You know my philosophy on coincidences, Benj.” Parker drank some of the espresso that kept his intricate mind fueled all day, since the man subsisted on three or four hours of sleep.

  Benji did know Parker’s theory on coincidences. He also knew how skeptical Parker was about the fact that he and Sloane had gotten together than night and conceived twins, despite using preventive measures.

  But he didn’t want to hear any of Parker’s theoretical bullshit this morning. Benji was only a few steps up the ladder of maturity from plugging his fingers in his ears and singing “la-la-la-la” until Parker got the hint and shut the fuck up.

  “You’re a smart, sensible guy, Benj. So I know that at the very least, you took a paternity test.”

  His nostrils flared, and his pulse quickened, as anger filtered through his bloodstream.

  He glared at his cousin. “Beau and Bailey are nine months old. Why are you bringing this up now?”

  “It’s not like I haven’t brought it up before,” Parker reminded him. “You just weren’t receptive. Probably because it was your mother who insisted on the paternity test. But in light of this new information, the question seems valid. I don’t suppose I need to ask if you’re the reason Sloane and her family are no longer in debt.”

  “How I choose to distribute my finances is my own damn business.” Benji’s muscles tense
d as he gripped the mug. “You’re the chief financial officer at King’s Finest, not mine.”

  “I can’t understand why you’d be willing to lay out that kind of cash without irrefutable proof that...” Parker’s eyes widened and he pointed a finger at Benji. “You’re afraid they’re not yours. That this entire world you’ve built with Sloane is going to come crashing down at your feet like a house of cards.”

  “Back off, Parker. This is a road you don’t want to go down. Trust me.”

  Parker, who, for all of his intelligence, wasn’t the best at reading people, had chosen today to exhibit insight. If he hadn’t been the subject of Parker’s scrutiny, Benji might’ve actually been proud of his cousin.

  It wasn’t that he had any real doubts about the paternity of the twins. Besides his gut feeling, both Beau and Bailey possessed plenty of his physical features. But perhaps there was a tiny, dark part of his heart that entertained the accusations his mother had made against Sloane.

  “And despite her joking with your sister about needing a sugar daddy to dig herself out of her family’s financial mess, you choose to believe this was all just a serendipitous coincidence?”

  “Yes.”

  “Even though Sloane told Kayleigh at the reception that she had a plan to get out of debt?” Parker stared at him incredulously and pushed his expensive designer glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Seems to me like that plan was you.”

  “Dammit, Parker.” Benji slammed his fist on the table and the dishes and silverware clattered. “I’m only going to say this once, so listen up. Sloane has already admitted that she and Delia joked about the sugar daddy thing, well before I sold my company. She was kidding, Parker. I know that’s a concept you aren’t very familiar with—” he shouldn’t have taken that jab at his cousin, but he was more than a little pissed at Parker’s determination to “save” him from himself when it came to Sloane “—but she was no more serious about it than Delia was. It was a joke. Would you want people taking everything you’ve ever said literally, even things you said in jest?”

  “I don’t generally have time for jesting, so yes.” There was zero humor in Parker’s response.

  Great. Benji had forgotten for a second exactly who he was dealing with. Parker was literal and stone-cold serious about everything. Not that the guy never laughed, but his cousin wouldn’t have to worry about laugh lines anytime soon. Parker had little use for humor or sarcasm, which often went over his head.

  “Okay, for once in your life, don’t apply that question to yourself. Think in terms of the broader population of...you know, human beings.” He was usually Parker’s biggest defender, but right now he was furious with his cousin.

  “And her grand plan for getting out of debt?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I only know it had nothing to do with me.”

  When Parker didn’t respond, Benji asked, “We done here?”

  “No. There’s one more thing. Aunt Connie asked me to relay a message. She wants you to bring the twins for a visit. Whether they’re biologically yours or not, you’ve chosen to raise them. That makes Beau and Bailey her grandchildren, and she wants to get to know them.”

  “My number hasn’t changed.” Benji stared out the front window of the bakery onto Main Street. “If she has something to say to me she could always call. Better yet, she could come here and talk to me face-to-face. Show me the same courtesy I showed them. And I’m not bringing the twins to visit her if their mother’s not welcome, too.”

  “Fair enough.” Parker drank more of his espresso. “If your family wanted to talk, maybe even apologize, you’d welcome that conversation, right?”

  Hurt and anger roiled in Benji’s gut. The same anger and frustration he felt when he recalled his family’s reaction to his announcement about Sloane and the twins.

  He ordered a King’s Finest Coffee—one part bourbon, one part cream liqueur, a splash of hazelnut liquor and a whole lot of strong coffee, dressed up with a flourish of whipped cream.

  “Well?” Parker was clearly impatient with Benji’s reluctance to give him a yes or no response. “Look, I may not be the most sociable guy in the world, but even I recognize the importance of family. As happy as you’ve been with Sloane and the twins these past months, you’re equally torn by how much you miss your own family.”

  “That was their choice, not mine.”

  “I know,” Parker said quietly. “But you’ve been at an impasse for months. If they’re humble enough to admit they bear some blame in this, would you be big enough to accept it?”

  In the beginning, it was a question he wouldn’t have needed to think on. The answer would have been a resounding yes. But the longer their stalemate had gone on, the more difficult the question had become to answer.

  “The twins will be one in a few months. They’ve never met their grandparents, their aunt or their first cousin.” There was a soft pleading in Parker’s voice that Benji had never heard before. “That’s not how we were raised, Benj. We’re family. Yeah, we do stupid things and sometimes we screw up. But we forgive each other, and we move on.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Benji shrugged as Paige set the steaming glass mug of King’s Finest Coffee in front of him.

  Parker’s eyes sparked with recognition before returning his attention to Benji. He nodded to something behind him. “You’d better think quick.”

  Benji turned and looked up as he took his first sip of the frothy, bourbon-laced coffee.

  “Hi, Benji.” Delia stood over him, her expression pained. “Do you think we could talk?”

  Fourteen

  Benji narrowed his eyes at his cousin and released a heavy sigh. He returned his spiked coffee to the table and indicated that Delia should take the seat Parker currently occupied.

  “Oh, right.” Parker jumped up from his seat and reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

  “Forget it, Parker.” Delia slid into her cousin’s recently vacated seat. “This one’s on me.”

  Parker thanked her and grinned. “Hey, Paige, would you mind adding a couple of sticky buns and another cup of coffee to my tab. Delia’s paying.”

  “Cheapskate.”

  Benji and Delia uttered the word simultaneously. Neither of them laughed, but their expressions softened and Benji saw a flash of one of his big sister’s dimples.

  “So, you asked for this meeting,” Benji said finally, sipping the hot coffee and enjoying the warmth of the bourbon that slowly spread through his chest.

  “I’ll have one of those, too, Paige.” Delia nodded toward Benji’s drink.

  “Coming right up.” The waitress nodded knowingly.

  Delia removed her coat before folding her hands on the table and looking up at him.

  “Benji, you’re my brother, and I love you. I’m sorry for how I handled things. Sloane is...was my oldest, dearest friend.” She unwrapped the napkin from the silverware and dabbed the corner of her eyes. “I was hurt that she’d sleep with my little brother and then not even tell me that you were the father of her twins.”

  He didn’t respond, and he resisted the urge to comfort his sister in any way. Delia had been cruel to Sloane, and she needed to feel the pain. To sit there and wallow in the enormity of her accusation against her friend.

  “I can’t speak for Mom, but I made this entire thing about my friendship with Sloane. That wasn’t fair to you or to my niece and nephew. And it wasn’t fair to Sloane. She’s always been there for me. I should’ve been able to get past my hurt feelings and do the same.” She dabbed her tears again. “Guess it’s obvious which one of us is the better person.”

  Paige set Delia’s coffee on the table and gave them both a worried glance before excusing herself.

  “I appreciate your apology, Delia, but I can only accept on my own behalf. You’ll need to talk to Sloane yourself. I’m sure she’d be
glad to hear from you.”

  A flash of something crossed his sister’s face as she shifted her gaze from his and rubbed her ear. There was something she wasn’t telling him.

  “I miss you, baby brother.” Delia’s big brown eyes met his again. “And Evie misses her uncle Benji.”

  “I miss you guys, too.” His estrangement from his family had caused many sleepless nights. “How are Mom and Dad doing?”

  “Honestly? Mom’s miserable and things haven’t been great between her and Dad. It was Dad who finally insisted that we all come here and talk to you. I think he might actually be growing a spine.”

  “Better late than never, I guess.” Benji shrugged. “So they’re in town, too?”

  “They will be in about an hour.” Delia checked her watch. “I arrived last night.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up,” he said. An awkward silence settled over them for a moment.

  “Fatherhood looks good on you, Benj. You were a good uncle, but you’re an incredible dad.” Delia’s voice broke and she dabbed at her eyes again.

  “How would you know?”

  Delia released a heavy sigh and bit her lip. “First, promise me you won’t get angry or go back on your word.”

  “To whom?” There was a sinking feeling in his gut.

  “Sloane.” Delia whispered her name.

  “You talked to Sloane?”

  “Not exactly. But she’s been talking to me through this private blog where she keeps kind of a video journal. It’s one of those mommy blogs where she shares cute little stories about your life together and posts pictures of you guys and the twins. It isn’t public, and she doesn’t use your real names. She refers to the twins as Little Dude and Buttercup. Sloane sends me the link whenever a new entry is posted.”

  “Let me see this blog.” He held out his open palm.

  Delia retrieved her phone, pulled up a website and handed it to him.