“A princess I met from far, far away,” Lex said.
Jillian watched as he charmed her niece.Just before he walked through the door, he glanced back and gave her a reassuring smile.Knowing he’d be around if she needed him was enough.She nodded.Her glance went to the duffel bag with the money when the door closed behind them.Refusing to second-guess herself, she grabbed it and headed toward the back of the house.
Her heart pounded louder as she got closer to her father’s bedroom, and so did the raised voices.She hesitated one last time, but mentally slapped herself, blew out a breath, and knocked.
Silence followed from behind the door.Then it was jerked open.
“Sophia, I told you…” Ginger’s voice faded when she realized her daughter wasn’t the one knocking.“Jillian?”
“Hey.”Jillian stepped forward, but Ginger didn’t move aside.Instead she glanced behind her.“Uh, excuse me?I’d like to come inside.”
She blinked nervously, then stepped back.She’d always been skittish and scared of her father-in-law.Jillian glanced around.The entire gang was there, including Elena, Cian’s wife.Aunt Molly, Uncle Rowan’s wife, was the only one missing, but then again, she wasn’t part of the business.She was a librarian at a local elementary school.
“Hi, guys,” Jillian said, eyes staying on her father who managed to look in charge despite being bedridden.He must hate that.She went to his side.“You’re looking better, Dad.”
“What are you doing here?”he asked coldly before she reached him.A different person would have stopped.He had a gruff voice and a presence that could be intimidating, but Jillian had learned to ignore both.
“Visiting.”Jillian planted a kiss on his cheek.“This is still my home.”She glanced at the others who watched her with varied expressions.Ricky looked worried, Ginger relieved, Cian pissed, while Elena smiled smugly.Her cousins, Des and Aiden, stared at their hands.
Uncle Rowan looked more tired than usual.He murmured, “Hey, kiddo.”
“No, it’s not!”Her father’s voice whipped out and cut across the room.
Jillian turned to face him.“What is not?”
“This is not your home.Not anymore.You should not be here, Jillian.”
Jillian flinched and glanced around, but no one was looking at her now.She couldn’t remember the last time her father had called her Jillian.It was always Jilly.She wasn’t even sure why that mattered now after what he’d just said.
“Okay.I do have my own place, Dad, but—”
“There’s nobut, young lady,” he barked.“We’re having a family meeting about a family business, and you cannot be involved.You’re no longer part of the Fearless Finnegan Troupe.You have your life away from this.Go back to it.”
It was obvious the others hadn’t told him.“I want back in, Dad.These years in Hollywood haven’t been easy.I belong here with you and the rest of the family.Finnegans stay together, you always say.I’m older, smarter, and I don’t take chances anymore.”
He shook his head.“Damn it, Jillian.Only a Finnegan can be in the troupe, and you are not a Finnegan.”
If he’d reached out and punched her, the pain would not have been as swift or piercing.Her throat tightened, but she refused to back down.“That doesn’t even make sense, Dad.If you’re talking about blood, Elena and Ginger are Finnegans by marriage, yet they’re part of the act.I’m your daughter.If the business is in trouble, I should be told about it.If people are chipping in, I want to help too.”
“We don’t need your help.”He looked at Ricky and ground out, “Get her out of here.”
Ricky moved to Jillian’s side and reached for her arm.She stepped back.“Fine.I’ll leave, but here’s three hundred and fifty thousand you can use to keep things going.”She placed the duffel bag on the bed.“If you need more…”
“We don’t need your money, Jillian,” her father said and nudged the bag with his knee.
“Dad, please,” Ricky protested.
“Stay out of this, Ricky.You shouldn’t have called her.She didn’t need to know about this.”
“I haven’t told her anything, except that you want to sell the business,” Ricky yelled back.“And she does have a right to know.She’s our sister.If we all helped, maybe we could get enough money to pay the Armenians enough to back off.”
Silence followed, but her father was not looking at Ricky.His eyes were narrowed on Jillian.She swallowed.
“You’re not my daughter,” her father said, cutting her off.“I never officially adopted you.You mother was a sweet woman, but very naïve.I wanted her to be part of the troupe, so I married her.I wanted her to stop asking me to adopt you, so I printed some papers off the Internet and filled them out.Wendell showed me how to forge things.Half of the Bay Area employees don’t have real papers.”
This time the silence was spooky.Jillian tried to speak, but her throat muscles had seized up.“Why are you…?You’re lying,” she whispered.
“No, I’m not,” her father said.“You’re no more my daughter than a child I’d picked up off the street and offered room and board while she worked for her upkeep in my troupe.”Someone made a mewling noise behind me.Probably Ginger.“I did right by your mother and raised you, but enough is enough.Why do you think I sent you away when you turned eighteen, huh?I’d hoped you’d never know the truth.You’re forcing my hand by insisting on being here.You’re not a Finnegan, Jillian.You never were.”
