All Chapters of Billion Dollar Man: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Ben“Don’t look so down,” Uncle Dean said. We were at the airport. I had already checked my bags, and my flight was leaving in less than an hour.“I feel like I’m letting him down,” I said.Uncle Dean shook his head. “You’re not. It’s not a crime to live your own dream. Even if that dream looks different than what your father would have wanted for you. He would have been proud of what you’ve done for the company.”I nodded. My dad would have been proud. And it wasn’t like I hadn’t given it my all for the past six years. I had done everything my late father would have wanted me to do. But I hadn’t been happy. I hadn’t grown up dreaming I would be the CEO of a billion-dollar company.“And he would have been even prouder of you for taking your life into your own hands and deciding where you want to go with it.”I looked at Uncle Dean. He had been my dad’s business partner, owner of half of the company I had inherited when my dad and my stepmom had died in a plane crash. He had been there

MilaSaturday evening, I sat with Skylar at the bar at my parents’ restaurant, drinking cocktails. We had been friends since she moved to Portland when we were fourteen. She had wild red hair and blue eyes and freckles like the constellations that shifted when she smiled.“You know, we can literally go anywhere in town,” I said to Skylar.“Yeah, I know, but cocktails are free here because of your dad. And we’re not out hunting for guys, so there’s no reason to go somewhere else.”I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling. There had been a time when I had hated sitting at my parents’ restaurant. I’d felt they were pressuring me to take over the place with Jerrod, so I avoided it. I had wanted to be a nurse, and my parents had been disappointed with the path I was choosing. Since then, they had come to accept my direction in life, and I was okay sitting at The Cottage again.“So, Ben is back in town,” I said before taking another sip of my cocktail. I looked at Skylar.“Really?” Skylar grinne

BenMonday was my first day at the Station. I had waited for this day for years, and I was as ready as I would ever be. I had all my tests and refresher courses, and thanks to a fitness regime back in New York to get my mind off the stress of work, I was in perfect shape too. Captain Kelly couldn’t do anything but hire me to work with the men.When I arrived at the Station, Mike Kelly met me with a grin.“You’ve worked hard for this. Congratulations.”I shook his hand. “Thanks.”“Come with me. I’ll introduce you to the guys, and they’ll do the rest.”We walked up the stairs that led to the living area above the fire station. The smell of something burning greeted us.“It smells like Sam is trying to cook again,” Mike said, pushing the door open with a sour face. Three men sat around a Formica kitchen table. One man stood before the stove, and it was smoking like it was nobody’s business.“If you carry on like this, we’ll have to ring the bell and dispatch the truck to put out our own

MilaOn Thursday, I was on rotation at the ICU. Both the ICU and the Emergency Room were chaotic at best. It was also where I felt I could do the most. When patients were in mortal danger and we managed to pull them through, I felt like my choice to become a nurse was the right one.“Morning, Mrs. Norton,” I said, walking into an ICU room. Mrs. Norton looked up from her seat next to the bed. Her eyes were swollen from crying and lack of sleep, her hair was a mess after spending one night after the other tossing and turning, and she wore no makeup. It made her look even younger. She was only twenty-one, but with the worry etched on her face, the fading hope, she looked like she was barely out of school.“How are you doing today?” I knew small talk wasn’t going to do much, but I didn’t want to ignore her. She was suffering more than the patient at this point.“I’m all right,” she said with a thick voice. “How is Charlie?”I looked at the patient. He was in a medically induced coma. He h

BenI drove to Mila’s apartment just before noon. She had texted me her address this morning, and I wanted to pick her up instead of meeting her at a restaurant. I was only being a gentleman. I knew I couldn’t pursue Mila the way I would have liked. With Jerrod being as protective as he was and with him as my best friend, Mila wasn’t exactly available for me to go after.But we were friends. We had spent a lot of time together before I had left for New York. She was my best friend’s little sister, after all. We’d had lunch together plenty of times.Sure, it had never just been the two of us, and it had usually been at the Castle residence where Mila had still lived back then. But for us to hang out as friends wasn’t strange, and I wasn’t stepping on anyone’s toes by taking Mila out to lunch. We were just going to hang out together like we used to.The moment Mila stepped out of her apartment building door after I buzzed up to let her know I was waiting for her, I knew I was wrong. Thi