Inherited: Baby

Not that the stuff had stayed white for long when Chas started cruising the furniture. Maya had done a little internal happy dance every time he’d placed a grubby fingerprint on the frigid environment.

‘I’ll get my lawyer on to you!’ she said, the men ignoring her empty threat as they moved around the lounge room, pointing at various pieces of furniture, sticking numbers on them and ticking off their list.

At that moment Chas let out a bellow from his high chair. ‘Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma!’

‘Hang on, sweetie,’ she said, rushing into the kitchen in time to be on the receiving end of a rather accurate throw as her angelic son lobbed a glob of cereal at her forehead.

‘Damn it,’ she said, running a wash-cloth under the tap and dabbing at the mess while Chas sent her a wide toothy grin, echoing, ‘Dam-dam-dam-dam.’

‘Cheeky boy.’

She swung him up in her arms and nuzzled him, blocking out the sounds of furniture being dragged in the other room and not caring when his sticky fingers clamped on to her neck.

So Joe hadn’t owned any of his awful furniture? Big deal. She’d grown up in a house with a saggy old sofa and a few crates for tables, with a bed sporting rusty springs that dug into her back every night for ten years. As long as they had a roof over their heads, she and Chas could make do.

‘Miss Edison?’

Her head snapped up as another man stuck his head around the door, a slick type in an ill-fitting suit who seemed at odds with the other two. ‘Who are you?’

She wasn’t usually so rude but with the Dodgy brothers emptying her house in the next room, her patience was at an all-time low.

‘I’m here on behalf of Drake Sams. They own this apartment and would like it vacated. You have a week to comply.’

If she’d gaped at the burly guy repossessing her furniture, her jaw fairly dropped this time around.

‘It’s all set out here. Have a good day.’

With that, the slime-ball scuttled out the door, leaving her with a whimpering baby—Chas always tuned in to her moods—and an eviction notice.

She stared at the piece of paper lying on the bench top, the tiny typed words floating in front of her eyes and not making an ounce of sense.

She should’ve known.

Her life with Joe had been a sham.

His love hadn’t been real, his promise to marry her hadn’t been real, and now it looked as if the very walls which had housed their false life would vanish like the rest of her dreams.

Suddenly her knees shook and she plopped into the nearest chair before Steptoe and Son pulled it out from under her. Chas chose that moment to set up a hearty wail which pierced her heart as well as her eardrums and she cuddled him close, biting on her bottom lip so hard that she drew blood, determined not to blubber.

Of course, Riley chose that moment to stride into her kitchen, looking like a GQ model in his designer pinstripe suit and slightly ruffled hair. The faintest shadow of stubble on his jaw lent the perfect picture a minor flaw and served more to accentuate his appeal than diminish it.

‘What’s going on here?’

He crossed the kitchen in three short strides and squatted down next to her, reaching out as if to touch her before thinking better of it and resting his hand on the back of the chair.

At least Chas instantly quietened, hiding his head in the crook of her neck where he could take regular peeps at his uncle from a safe distance.

‘What does it look like?’ She lifted her head to look him straight in the eye, determined not to let him see her cowering and defeated.

After their confrontation last night, she didn’t need whatever he was here to offer, no matter how desperate her situation. ‘All our stuff is being taken away.’ She clicked her fingers under his nose. ‘Oh, and we’re being evicted for good measure.’

Rather than expressing shock as she’d expected, Riley shook his head. ‘I’d hoped to be the one to break it to you,’ he said, sending a pitying glance at Chas that had her palm itching to slap him.

‘You knew about this?’

‘I just found out and came straight here.’

‘Oh.’

Her anger deflated quickly. No use taking her fury out on Riley. He wasn’t the one who’d built a life of false promises around her only to tear it all down.

‘Is there anything else I should know?’ she asked, needing to hear all of it before marshalling her thoughts into some semblance of a plan.

The tiny furrow between Riley’s brows deepened. ‘Apart from the car, which is yours, Joe didn’t own a thing. He had no money, no portfolio and no real estate holdings.’

‘Figures,’ she said, rueing the day she ever set eyes on Joe Bourke.

Ironically, she’d seen Riley first on that fateful night, drawn to the tall, imposing guy in a tux standing near the band, away from the hullabaloo, watching the rowdy crowd get rowdier. He was impossibly good looking with his dark hair, blue eyes, strong cheekbones and chiselled jaw. However, the thing that had captured her attention was the glass in his hand, containing the same non-alcoholic lemon, lime and bitters drink as hers.

In a crowd of beer-swilling, Scotch-loaded men, he’d stood out like a prize-winning stallion among a bunch of second-string geldings, though she’d quickly banished that imagery from her mind as his gaze had un-erringly locked on hers, setting her heart thumping.

She’d looked away quickly, embarrassed to be caught staring, only to find her attention drawn back to him, her cheeks flushing as he’d inclined his head slightly to acknowledge her, a smile playing about his mouth.

And then Joe had appeared, shattering the strangely intimate moment, saying something to Riley before turning to look in her direction.

The rest had been history.

Joe had dazzled her with sexy smiles, fancy words and smooth compliments, stoking her ego, feeding her every bit of affection she’d ever craved and she’d fallen. Hard.

The loaded moment with Riley had faded into oblivion under the onslaught of Joe’s seduction and she fell in love for the first time.

For the last time, thanks to the bitter experience. The only guy she would ever truly love in this lifetime was Chas. As if sensing her emotion, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and rubbed it over his face, murmuring to himself contentedly.

‘I love you too, sweetie,’ she said, kissing his soft, plump cheek before returning her focus to Riley.

‘What are you going to do?’

‘Darned if I know,’ she muttered, wishing she could bury her face in Chas’s chubby arms and block out the world till it became a better place to live in.

Riley hesitated, as if searching for the right words and after the way she’d told him to stick his offer of financial support the night before, she wasn’t surprised.

‘Thankfully, I didn’t wear a jumper today. At the risk of being told where to put my offer, I’d like to say that I’m willing to help out in whatever capacity you want,’he said, his wry smile having the strangest effect on her stomach.

It flip-flopped, though that probably had more to do with the fact she hadn’t had any breakfast yet in all the confusion. It certainly wasn’t a bizarre reaction to the power punch packed by his smile.

She could’ve apologised for her outburst last night but she didn’t want him getting the wrong idea. His idea that he could only offer financial support appalled her—still did. However, she had no idea how long she could live off her measly wage and continue to pay her mum’s bills at the home so she swallowed her pride and aimed for polite.

‘I should be right for now, but thanks. If I need anything, I’ll let you know.’