The Inheritance

by Ali Vali

  “We’re not sure, but he’s a carbon copy of Tucker, so he’s somehow a Delacroix. I’m sure you’ve got a better idea than I do,” Mann said.

  This was the first time Ivy had been to Mann’s office, but it was a little over the top when it came to showing who was in charge, with all the wood and leather. “There’s no way he could’ve kept that from me. I would’ve known.” The last ten years had been an exercise in learning to hate Jim Bob, and this kicked those feelings into hyperdrive. “What’s so funny?” Mann’s laughter was making her forget her urge to drink.

  “Ivy, sweetheart, he could’ve raised buffalo in the house, and you would’ve missed it. Don’t try to delude—”

  Mann didn’t get to finish as his head snapped back from Bubba’s fist to the side of his mouth. “Fuck you, asshole. You don’t talk to my mother like that,” Bubba screamed and seemed poised to deliver another punch.

  “You’re going to pay for that.” Mann pressed his hand to his face, but the blood seeped through his fingers.

  “No, you and laughable Big Earl here are going to pay for every one of your mistakes in hard cash. My son only mentioned he wanted the project finished in his father’s honor, and that’s what he’s going to testify to.” She stood and glared at him and Big Earl. “That you took liberties with that statement isn’t our problem. Bubba had no authority to give you permission to do shit, and that’s exactly what he’s going to tell Tucker’s attorneys.”

  “You’re not smart enough to pull this off,” Big Earl said menacingly. “Tucker’s going to eat you alive and leave you two idiots to fend for yourselves. I’ve seen her when she’s pissed, which means you’re fucked.”

  “Tucker’s going to be too busy trying to keep what she really wants to bother us over this.” She walked out, snapping her fingers to get Bubba to follow her.

  “What are you talking about?” Bubba asked in a whisper as he waited for the elevator.

  “Do you think your loving aunt is more worried about suing us over your fuckup, or keeping your father’s little bastard?”

  “The kid in those pictures is Dad’s?”

  She loved her children, but she wished they were a little faster mentally. “Do you think your lesbian aunt hid a pregnancy from you?” Bubba shook his head. “Then the little son of a bitch belongs to your father, and he’s going to eventually want to share what belongs to you and your sister. Are you willing to give up part of what your father left you?”

  “Fuck that.”

  “Exactly.”

  She had Bubba drive her to the office her father still kept downtown even though he’d retired years before. Louis Duplantis had been an unlucky criminal defense attorney who’d done a great job of filling both the local and state penitentiary with his clients. Since that was the complete opposite of what he was supposed to be doing, most if not all but the most desperate defendants took their chances with the fresh-faced indigent defenders rather than her father. He still kept an office that Ivy paid for so he’d have a quiet place away from her mother.

  Her father stood and poured her a drink when they walked in and she didn’t have it in her to turn it down. “Hello, beautiful girl,” he said, kissing her cheek and leaving it a little wet. “What brings you down here?” He made himself another drink before dropping next to her on the sofa.

  “I need you to find me the best family attorney in the city who’ll take me on as a client.”

  “For what? Jim Bob’s dead, God rest his rotten soul, and both your kids are over eighteen.”

  “I want Jim Bob’s bastard.” She wiped her face when he spit vodka all over her.

  “What the hell?”

  “Daddy, we found out today Jim Bob had a baby with one of his sluts, and because it’s his, it belongs to me. I want to do the right thing and raise the poor little thing and save him from Tucker’s unnatural lifestyle. Right now, Tucker is raising it with some woman, which means my loving husband left her that baby along with everything else.” She jiggled her glass in Bubba’s direction, making the ice clink along the sides. “The bastard’s lucky he’s already dead, or I’d put him down with my car.”

  “What’s this really about?” Her father gazed at her as if he didn’t believe a word.

  “We’re going to get back what rightfully belongs to me and my children because I know Tucker as well as I knew Jim Bob. That idiot idolizes Jim Bob, and there’s no way she’ll let me anywhere near that kid.”

  “Good thinking, honey.”

  It took them the rest of the day to meet with the guy her father recommended and have him draw up the papers. He promised he’d personally deliver them to Tucker’s office before the end of business.

  “You’re going to be sorry you didn’t listen to me, Tucker, and I’m going to completely trash the reputation of your piece of shit brother as I take everything from you.” Ivy lifted her glass to an empty room before draining it and falling onto the bed. She needed a nap to be alert enough to enjoy Tucker’s reaction. “You deserve to be wiped out for not telling me about this.” Now the pending divorce Jim Bob never got the chance to follow through with made sense.

  She was going to get it all, and no one was going to stop her.

  * * *

  “Did you hear what I said?” Willow gripped Tucker’s forearm and shook it. “I don’t understand.”

  “While we were fishing today, Syd made an executive decision and waited to report the new legal action being taken against us. She wanted to give us at least a little bit of peace.” The shocked expression Willow gave her was humorous, but she winced when Willow clenched her fingers tighter.

  “Sorry.” Willow let up and sighed. “What now? If it’s Mann, he’s got to know I’m not going to testify against you, and after meeting you, I feel like I need to put an attorney on retainer.”

  “You’ll have plenty of attorneys at your disposal, and I’m sure your old boss might have something to do with this, but that’s not it exactly.” Tucker moved to lie down and took Willow with her.

  “Are you trying to seduce me or prepare me for the worst?”

  “We might need to lie down when I tell you what it is, so I thought I’d give us a head start.” It was a relief when Willow laughed and put her head on her shoulder.

  “Okay, hit me.” Willow placed her hand on Tucker’s stomach and slid her leg over hers, as if keeping her pinned to the bed.

  “Ivy wants custody of Grady.” She let out a painful breath when Willow used the hand on her stomach to sit up.

  “Over my dead body.” Willow appeared ready to attack someone, and she was the only one handy, so she tried to finish before getting a firsthand demonstration as to whether Willow knew any kind of martial arts.

  “Believe me, Ivy wants Grady as much as I want to pull a Henry VIII and marry my brother’s widow. It’s a play to angle for something, and she’s going to use Grady as a bargaining chip.” She didn’t move, waiting to see if Willow would come back to the spot she’d been in.

  “We can’t lose him, Tuck. We can’t.”

  The tears did Tucker in and she put her arms around Willow and held her.

  “He’s all I have left.”

  “Not really, darlin’. You’ve got a lifetime of good memories of Monique, like I have of Jimbo, and you have me. They wanted Grady to be with us, and I’m not going to allow anyone to change that.”

  “Swear to me you’ll do that.” Willow was practically lying on top of her so she could look her in the eye.

  “I swear. Grady’s ours, and I’ll do whatever to protect you both. Ivy will regret she ever thought of this because I’m going to bury her in the truth of who she is, as well as expose all her secrets.” She cupped Willow’s cheek and caressed it with her thumb.

  “I’m glad Grady has you.”

  “He has both of us, and it’s all he’ll ever need.”

  Willow finally slumped against her, but she was still crying. “Stella and Bart might disagree with you.”

  “Once
I tell my mom about this, we won’t have to worry about Ivy, but we’ll have to tote Grady to the women’s prison to visit his grandmother when she’s serving twenty to life for murder.”

  “Only you could make me laugh now, but I think you’re right.”

  “About what?” She stroked Willow’s back in a repetitive motion to soothe her. It also felt damn nice to have her there.

  “Your mother would scare the hell out of Satan.” Willow moved her hand and her leg back and yawned.

  “My mom is someone you’ll be glad to have in your corner. I like to think of her as an attack dog, and I’m thrilled it’s never going to be me she’s after.” She glanced at the clock and noticed it was only ten after nine, but she was exhausted.

  “I doubt even you would be safe from her if you screwed up.” Willow yawned again and lifted her head. “You want me to go?”

  “There’s no rule against sleepovers if we don’t set any in stone.” That made Willow really slump against her and relax. “Good night.”

  “Thanks, and thank you for keeping me in the loop as well as sane.”

  “We’re partners, right? All we need to do is trust each other and we’ll be fine.” Willow nodded against her shoulder and it was the last thing she remembered before the sound of Grady talking away to himself woke her up.

  The kid sounded happy, and she listened a moment before realizing her hand was on Willow’s naked abdomen, and Willow’s ass was pressed tightly against her crotch.

  They’d obviously shifted during the night but not far from each other. Willow was so warm and soft against her that she thought about sex for the first time since Jimbo’s death, and now was not the time to fantasize. Besides, once Willow woke up, she’d probably break all her fingers, so she mentally took a cold shower.

  “Good morning,” Willow said, sounding like she could manage another ten hours of sleep, but she wasn’t moving. If anything, she pressed harder into her. “You want me to get Grady?”

  The domesticity of the phrase made her stop, and she couldn’t believe she wasn’t running for the door. “How about I bring him back here? You can keep up your end of the conversation while I get a bottle ready.”

  “You’re a saint, because I’m not ready to get up.”

  Tucker slowly removed her hand and swung over to her side of the bed. After six years of this, either her clit would crack off or she’d have to start visiting the Red Door in the Quarter to keep her sanity. Brandi Parrish’s famous brothel had to have a cute blondish redhead who could take the edge off.

  “Be right back.” She smiled when she saw Grady holding his feet and babbling to his mobile like it would answer him. “Good morning, buddy. How about a fresh diaper and a date with your aunt Willow? You know her as Mama, and she can’t wait to see you.”

  The baby rolled over when he saw her and crawled to the bumper on the side of the bed, his talking going into hyperdrive. “You’re a cute kid,” Tucker picked him up and kissed him. “Do you know that?”

  Willow faced Tucker’s side of the bed and listened to the conversation going on next door, and it made her happy. Considering what she’d been through the last couple of days, happiness was a foreign but welcome concept. Tucker had turned out to be a good bet, and she wondered if Monique had seen in Jim Bob what she did in Tucker. This was someone you wanted to have children with because she understood the importance of family. “He’s cute because he looks just like you,” she whispered. “And it’s also awesome that he’s part of me.”

  She rolled over when she heard Tucker finish up, and she held her hands up when she saw Grady. “Good morning, little man. Thanks for letting us sleep in.”

  “Ma,” Grady screamed right into Tucker’s ear, making her wince.

  “That’s your cue,” Tucker said, handing him over. “How about some coffee to go with the formula?”

  “It’s almost like you’re buttering me up for something,” she teased and winked.

  “I’m trying to make up for bringing you home early to deal with the delinquents in my family. My plan was to stay until Monday, but would you mind leaving after breakfast? I need to get to the office to deal with some stuff.”

  “If you promise to bring us back, sure.”

  “Thanks, and I’ll be right back.”

  Tucker walked away but her phone started buzzing after she was out of sight. Willow answered once again. “Hello, Syd.”

  “Good morning, Ms. Vernon. Are you limiting Tucker’s phone usage, or are you screening her calls?”

  “No, she’s making coffee and formula. Do I need to go get her?” The sexy voice didn’t bother her as much today, since hopefully Syd and all her sexiness were miles away.

  “It actually concerns both of you, so you might want to get her on the phone. I wouldn’t have bothered you if it wasn’t important, but it is.”

  She walked with Grady to the kitchen and placed the phone on the island between her and Tucker. “Go ahead, Syd.”

  “You guys received another court order and you have to be in court at one this afternoon for a custody hearing. Ivy’s attorney is stating the baby is being brought up in an improper environment and needs to be removed as soon as possible.” There was a ding from Syd’s end like she was getting in the elevator. “He also deserves to be brought up to know his family.”

  Tucker quickly moved to her side and held Willow and Grady up. “What? She can’t do that, can she?” Willow stared at Tucker, praying she’d say this wasn’t happening and there was an easy fix.

  “It gets worse,” Syd said. “I don’t know how they did it or if this sleaze attorney paid someone off, but the hearing is in Gene Cummings’s court.”

  “Fuck,” Tucker said.

  “Baby, remember? What does that mean?” she asked.

  “Gene Cummings is as far right as you can get before falling off the edge of the flat earth he probably believes in, and he’s against everything that isn’t what he considers the normal kind of person or situation. He’s the kind of judge who’s going to fall for Ivy’s bull when he hears I’m gay. Once they figure out you are too, he’ll probably jail us to keep us away from Grady.”

  “There’s no way we can get there by one and be prepared.” Willow held Grady tightly against her, panic turning her blood cold.

  “Syd, get in touch with the attorney Jefferson hired and bring him up to speed, and take care of the ride.”

  “You got it.”

  Tucker dialed Jefferson next and told him what Ivy was up to. “What in the hell is this about, because we both know it’s not custody of Grady.”

  “I’ve had the clerk at the courthouse scoping things out for me. After the arrest at your place, Jonathan Mann freaked out and demanded Bubba pay for his mistakes and was about to sue to get some leverage, I guess. The Suntrust attorney was in the middle of filing that when Mann called him back and halted the proceedings, but the guy didn’t say why.”

  “I can guess,” Tucker said, gripping the coffeepot like she wanted to break the handle. “If those guys were watching and got a good picture of Grady, Mann showed it to Ivy.”

  “So what? The prenup forgives adultery,” Jefferson said, and Willow stiffened at the term.

  “It does, so Grady’s existence and how he got here won’t change the outcome of Jim Bob’s will,” Tucker said, then paused like they should guess the rest.

  “She wants the company,” Willow said, and she almost didn’t care if Tucker lost her business if it meant they kept Grady.

  “She does, but that’s something that will one day go to Grady. You know that’s what Monique as well as Jim Bob wanted. He’s ours, Willow, which means he’s our heir, and that’s what our heir will get. The company’s his.” Tucker’s argument was sound, but they couldn’t gamble with Grady.

  “Monique told me about Ivy. There’s nothing in this world that’ll make me chance Grady ending up with that crazy bitch.”

  “You think I want that?” Tucker’s voice rose and Grady started cryin
g.

  “Syd’s here with the papers,” Jefferson said. “Willow, do you know a Lawrence Vernon?”

  “He’s my father, why?”

  “He’s listed here as someone who’ll help Ivy provide Grady with a strong Christian family environment, since Grady’s his grandson.”

  “Larry wasn’t interested in giving me a strong Christian family environment when it was his job to do so. He’s stepping up now?” This was totally fuckass-backward, and she had the urge to run and take Grady someplace they’d never be found.

  “I’m sure Ivy thinks he’ll back up her pervert case with him and his three sons sitting behind her in the courtroom.”

  “Christ, I think I’m going to throw up.” Willow needed to sit down, think, and take a few deep breaths before all this overwhelmed her. It seemed fate was determined to screw her out of everything she cared about.

  “Jeff, listen carefully,” Tucker said, walking her back to the bedroom. “Go ahead and deploy the napalm scenario, and I mean all of it. If it takes an army to blow that bitch out of our lives and onto the street, then do it.”

  “Don’t you want to go to court first?” Jefferson asked, as if he was trying to guide Tucker in the right direction.

  “Now, Jeff, and be ready with what I’ll need. Tell your colleague I’m counting on him. We need to delay this, and the best way is to put Grady first and demand home studies or whatever they’re called.” She returned to Willow’s side.

  “We need to do whatever it’ll take to win,” Willow said, fisting Tucker’s shirt in her hand.

  “That’s what I’m trying to do, darlin’.” Tucker took the baby from her and bounced him but didn’t let go of her. “Jeff, I don’t care how he does it, but I’m not stepping into Ivy’s trap today or any day.”

  “Okay, but think about what I said.”

  “Tucker, please tell me what you’re planning,” she said, not letting go of Tucker’s shirt. Grady was still crying, but he was starting to slow. “You promised me last night.”

  “I’ll do whatever we think is best. Even if I have to give you full custody to keep Ivy away from you two, I won’t let this happen.”