The Inheritance (Forever Bound #1) (20 page)

When the waitress came back with their drinks, they placed their orders. They both got the lasagna, and once the waitress was away from their table, Derek kept the conversation going. “So, how have things been going with the job so far?” he asked.

She didn’t answer right away, then she chuckled, and her eyes shone in that restaurant. “Truth?” she asked. His eyes widened. For a moment, he questioned whether he did want the truth. It could be a loaded question, but holding back his worries of what she’d say, he nodded. She scrunched up her nose. “I don’t think you want the truth.”

That worried him even more. He laughed. “Come on! I know your boss can be a bear, but I’m a big boy, and I can take the cold hard truth.””

She took a drink of her tea, then sighed, releasing the glass from her lips. “I suppose there are times when I’m a tad confused.”

“How so?” he asked.

“Well, it’s like you have an alter ego.”

He laughed. “What? Me?” He took a sip of his coffee.

She nodded. “Yep, it’s true. Last week I was seconds…okay, maybe minutes…from turning in my notice. You were the bear that you said you could be.” He took another sip, hoping to hide his embarrassment from her. “Then, today…you asked me to join you for lunch…the alter ego comes out.”

He held up his hand. “Wait a minute…an alter ego is a different personality that comes out from your normal personality, so perhaps today is my normal personality and last week was my alter-ego.” He smiled, intently staring at her. Even he was confused by his statement, but he hoped she understood the meaning.

She shrugged. “Maybe, but there’s definitely two of you.” She smiled and took a drink from her glass.

He laughed. “Which one do you prefer?” he asked.

She tilted her head. “Do you even have to ask? I’ll take calm and normal Derek over crazy and yelling Derek any day.”

The waitress brought them their food, causing him to pause and not reply to her comment. “Need anything else?” she asked.

“No, thanks!” They both said. He turned his attention back to Charity, whom already started eating her lasagna. The excitement on her face as she took her first bite was a delight to watch. She eagerly enjoyed it in the way a woman would enjoy more sexual things. He was fixated on that moment until he had to comment on her previous statement.

“I didn’t yell too badly, did I?”

She looked up from her food, and there was a slight smirk on her lips. “Let’s just say it wasn’t loud enough to make me run.”

He laughed. “Good. Besides, you did put me in my place, just as I told you to do. I’” He started eating his food, and they started a flow of easy conversation. He spent lunch, glad he invited her to eat with him. It wasn’t as difficult as he expected to get to know her.

Derek looked up from his desk, where he was writing up a planned itinerary he expected to do once he reached California. He had to plan for any obstacles that would get in his way. He smiled. “I’m getting ready to leave, and I just wanted to say have a nice business trip.”

He sighed, smiling her way. “Thank you, Charity. I hope it goes as planned.” He hadn’t told her what he planned on doing, but he did have to admit it was nice talking to her at the restaurant the previous day. He almost forgot that he didn’t want a relationship with a woman…especially Charity. “Have a nice weekend and I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

“I will. Thanks.” She turned away from him, and he watched her go to her desk, grab her purse and leave the office. He looked back down at his itinerary and made note that he would go to Jenna immediately so he didn’t lose his nerve. His hope was to get Jenna on board and then they both could talk to Victoria. He was about to make note that he would stay at her house until she agreed to talk to him. He reached in his desk and grabbed a contract for Victoria to sign once she agreed to sell the land. He had no doubt he would get her to agree.

His cell phone signaled a text message. He glanced down and found the name to read
anonymous.
He pulled up the message and sat staring at a picture of Jenna, as she looked now, and a guy. They were kissing in front of a water fountain. He frowned. Another message came through, and he opened it up.

Anonymous: She’s moved on. Why don’t you? LEAVE HER ALONE!

Derek didn’t usually stoop to someone else’s immature level, but at that moment, he needed to speak his mind.

Derek: I’m not going after her because I want her back. I have business that is between her and me.

He waited there, staring back at his message. He never received a response back. For all he knew, it could’ve been a message from her, but he had a feeling it wasn’t. He pulled the picture back up, and he wondered who the guy was. “What does it matter?” he asked himself. He put his cellphone down and tried to ignore it, but it was easier said than done. He couldn’t get the image out of his mind. It intermixed with years he spent with her. He snuck another peek. Their arms were all over one another and he expected to feel jealousy, but it wasn’t that kind of reaction. He felt anger that she had moved on, when he spent so much time wishing she would come back.

He picked up his phone and without looking back, he dialed up the airport. “Hello, this is Zack with US Air. How may I help you?”

“Hello Zack, this is Mayor Derek Worthington, and I have a flight for tonight to Los Angeles. I’m wondering if you have any seats left?”

“Sure…let me check.”

The guy put him on hold and Derek stood up and started straightening up his office. When he came back, he confirmed that there were a couple of seats left in First Class. “Great! Will you cancel out mine and order me two seats together.”

“Of course. Give me a second and I can get you a confirmation number.” Derek waited, and when he came back, he rattled off a number that Derek quickly jotted down on a scrap sheet of paper. He said goodbye and then called the hotel up. He placed a request for another room and was confirmed that there was only one room left. It was a level above his, but that didn’t matter to him. He hung up and hurried up finishing up what he was doing in his office. He had to get home and get his suitcase because he would have a lot of explaining to do to convince her to come with him, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

***

Charity carried a bag of groceries into her apartment and took it into her kitchen. She dropped the mail onto the table and unloaded the bag of groceries into the cabinets. When she walked back over to the table, she picked up the pile of mail and leafed through them. As she expected, it was bill after bill. She opened each one and placed them in a pile. She would have to pay what she could over the weekend.

She left the kitchen, and her cell phone rang. She grabbed it out of her pocket and saw Damian’s number on the phone. She quickly opened it up. “I’m going to jump in the shower, and I’ll head your way.”

“Before or after you put clothes on?” he teased.

“Well, it would be quicker if I came naked…save the time of undressing,” she replied with a chuckle.

He laughed. “Now, I won’t be able to get that image out of my head.”

“That’s the whole idea,” she joked. “I…” her words broke off when there was a knock at her door. “Someone’s at the door. I’ll let you go, but picture me all you want and I’ll be there soon to fulfill that fantasy.”

“Hmm…sounds good. See ya!”

She hung up the phone and went to her door, as another knock sounded. “Coming!”
Keep your pants on,
she thought. She opened the door to find Richard there. “Richard? What are you doing here? Didn’t you get my check?”

He snickered. “Yes, but you’re still short, and I came to get my payment.”

She backed up from him. “Well, good luck with that. I’m tapped out.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Charity. You have what I want, and right now…that’s not money.” He pushed his way in and started to go in for a kiss. She pressed her hands to his chest.

“Stop it, Richard!” she ordered. He didn’t stop. He grabbed her waist and pulled her to him. Her hips bumped against him, and his mouth went to hers. “Richard!” she squeaked. She felt him gaining more urgency by grabbing her shirt. She attempted to push him away, but his hold was too hard on her and she couldn’t. “Richard…stop!” she yelled, trying to use her strength to overcome him, but it was no use. She lifted her knee to hit him in the groin when she felt him being pulled away from her.

She stared in disbelief. “She told you to stop!” Derek lifted his fist and hit Richard in the face.

Charity covered her mouth, unable to move. Richard covered his nose. “You both will be sorry,” he replied between the fingers covering his face. He turned around and hurried out of the apartment.

Before Richard had even left the apartment, Derek had turned to her. “Are you alright?” He placed his hand on her arm, and she nodded. “He didn’t hurt you?” She slowly shook her head, still too stunned to believe what had happened in front of her. “Who is that?” he asked gently.

“My…my…my landlord,” she stuttered.

“You should consider looking for a new place to live.”

She laughed. “That, unfortunately, takes money up front…the money I don’t particularly have right now.” She straightened up. She’d already said too much, more than she’d ever told anyone that wasn’t her best friend. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I came to see you, of course.” His hand slowly fell away from her arm.

She stood there with more confusion building up. “You. Came. Here. To. See. Me?” she asked, trying to process the information.

He nodded. “You have two hours to pack and be ready for me to pick you up.”

She tilted her head. “Pack? What do you mean?”

“Turns out I need your help this weekend and for that…you’ll need to come with me.” He turned around to leave, but she laughed, still trying to calm her racing heart. He turned back around. “Why could you possibly need me to come with you to California?” she asked.

He didn’t come out and tell her the truth, or at least she could see it wasn’t the truth. “I have a lot of business that needs to be done and having you there will keep me on track. After all, that’s part of your job you know.”

She lifted an eyebrow up at him, slowly getting back to where her heart wasn’t racing as fast. “I think you’ll be just fine without me there.”

He rolled his eyes. “What’s keeping you here? This will get you away from that jackass you call landlord. Besides, I really could use you there.”

His words were genuine and even though she wanted to fight them, she realized that a weekend away from reality was exactly what she needed. “I don’t have the money to pay for a flight and hotel room.”

He laughed. “I don’t recall asking you for money. It’s a business trip, and I can write it off. Come on. I’m not taking no for an answer.” He smiled, and it hit her all at once. She didn’t want to say no. She wanted to spend the weekend away with him, even if it was just business.

“Two hours you say?” she asked.

He nodded. “Well, it’s more like an hour and forty-five minutes now.”

She laughed. “Alright. I’ll go.”

“Good. I’ll be back to get you soon.”

He walked out of her apartment, and she stared at the door opening. She slowly walked over to the door, and he walked down the stairs and disappeared. She closed her door, as a text message sounded on her phone. “Damian,” she muttered. She turned around and walked over to the floor, where she had dropped her phone when Robert walked towards her.

Damian: Are you almost on your way? The wait is killing me. 

She groaned, staring at his message. She couldn’t bring herself to reply back to him. She put the phone down on the coffee table and left the living room. She had packing to do, and his message just had to wait.

***

Derek stood in the parking lot and glanced around to see if he could figure out where her landlord went. He had never hit anyone before, but hitting him was the highlight of his year. He spotted a sign that read office and he headed towards the building. He went up to the door and tried it. It opened right away. When he got inside, it was empty.

“Hello?” he called out. After a minute or two of waiting there, the landlord walked out from a back room. He had an ice pack on his nose.

He pulled it away and Derek saw redness around the eyes, a bruise and it was evident if the nose wasn’t broken, it was severely wounded. Derek had to hide his exhilaration that he did that to the ass that was about to force himself on Charity. “Come to finish the job?” the landlord asked. A light of recognition shone on his face. “It’s amazing the right hook you had there, Mayor Worthington.” He put the ice back on his nose.

“I came to see what it will take to keep you away from her?”

“She has debt and lots of it,” the landlord stated.

Derek pulled his checkbook from his pocket and grabbed his pen. “Alright, then how much to square away her rent?”

“Hmm…” he stroked at the stubble on his chin. “Well, there’s her rent, the pain and suffering she’s caused from lack of payment and not to mention the mess you caused.” He pointed to his nose and Derek remained calm through it all. “I’d say a thousand dollars will cut it.”

“Who do I make it out to?” he asked, without batting an eye.

The landlord laughed. “Make it out to Richard Westlake,” he said with no remorse.

Derek scribbled out the details on the check, then tore it from the checkbook and looked up at Richard. “You lay a finger on her again, and you’ll have to answer me.” He tossed the check at Richard.

“Whoa…I’m scared,” the landlord snidely replied. “I wonder how the city would feel about the almighty Mayor Worthington laying a hand on one of the citizens.”

“I think they’d be just fine knowing I was protecting someone against another asshole. Mark my words…lay a hand on her, and you have to answer to me.”

Derek turned around and ignored Richard’s rudeness that followed him out the door. Once outside, Derek sighed and took in a breath of fresh air. He meant every word. He’d protect Charity again if he had to, but he’d protect any woman against a guy like that. He walked back towards Charity’s apartment building and slowly walked up the steps. He didn’t have an excuse for why he had to leave when he did, but vagueness was key.

He reached the top of the stairs and walked to her apartment door. He knocked on the door, and a moment later she opened the door. She was wearing a bathrobe, and her hair was wrapped up in a towel. He quickly looked away. “I should’ve taken longer,” he said, keeping his eyes away from her.

She shook her head. “No worries! I’ll be finished soon.” As she walked away, she continued to talk. “Where’d you go anyway?” His eyes went to her back, where his eyes slowly fell across her ass. He was slightly distracted. She disappeared into the bathroom, and he closed his eyes, falling back against the door. “Did you hear me?” she asked.

“Um…yeah, sorry. I had some business I had to deal with before I left.” He walked away from the door and took a seat in an overstuffed chair.

“Did you?” she asked.

His mind went back to her outfit. Momentarily he thought about what she was wearing underneath the robe. It completely caught him by surprise. He thought about her question, then quickly asked, “Did I what?”

“Did you get your business taken care of?”

“Yeah, I think I did.” He felt like a high school boy waiting for his date to arrive. He was nervous, and it didn’t make sense as to why. After a while, she walked out of the bathroom. She wore a pair of jeans and a yellow and red striped tank top. Her top hugged her curves nicely, and he took note. She looked amazing. Her hair was pulled back in a pony-tail, and several wisps of hair hung down around her neck. Their eyes met, and she smiled. “Are you ready?” he asked, nearly choking the words out.