Page 77 of Lillian

The man extends his hand to her, too, with a friendly smile on his face.

“Becca,” she corrects him. To my horror, she fuckingblushes,nods, and shakes his hand. I clear my throat.

Not for him, but for my moony-eyed sister. I suppose the man does look sort of young, but still too old for my eighteen-year-old sister.Newlyeighteen years old, too.

She shoots me a glare, and I shoot her one right back.

Get a grip,I say with my eyes.

Bite me, assholeis what her glower says right back.

“Trouble in paradise already?” a mocking, feminine voice remarks to our right.

Lilith and Lucifer stand just feet from us, and I curse myself for not hearing them approach or being aware enough of our surroundings to avoid this confrontation.

William is already a step ahead, though. “Let’s go inside, Becca.” He extends a hand as he opens the door, and I hear him whisper to her to ignore them.

Good man.

The phone in my pocket starts to buzz just as my dad looks like he’s going to say something to me. I give him the finger, something I’ve never done before but for some reason feels right in this situation, then walk away and answer the incoming call.

I enjoy seeing the purple color of his face before my mom drags him into the room after Becca and William.

“Hello?” I say without looking at the caller ID.

“Linc, it’s Vince.” My private investigator.

“Hey, man. I’m about to go into court; I already got your fax. It’s going to make a huge difference. Thank you.” I make the words as sincere as I can, about to hang up.

“Hold up, man. That’s great, but not what I’m calling about.” I pause.

“Oh. Did you find something else?” I frown. There wasn’t anything else I asked him to look for.

“Yeah, but not about Becca.”

“Okay, suspense fucking built. Spit it out,” I grit out, completely on edge.

He sighs. “I was looking into your parents’ finances, that’s how I found out what I faxed you earlier about that pay-off. Butthen I kept looking and saw another large sum of money that was taken out.” That could be for anything, but I play along.

“Did you find where it went?”

“Yeah,” he pauses like he doesn’t want to tell me but says, “to one of Judge Whittington’s personal accounts.”

When I walk into the courtroom, William and Becca are already sitting behind one of the desks upfront. My dad, mom, and their lawyer, who looks old as fucking dirt, is sitting in the other. After hanging up with Vince—listening to him tell me what he found-–every molecule of my being wants to bum rush my parents and beat the shit out of both of them for interfering in Lillian and Grace’s life like this.

I can only hope it doesn’t work and everyone I love leaves here today with good news, despite my parents’ attempts at sabotaging our chances.

There’s not a seat next to Becca, so I grab the first bench behind their table. It’s just the six of us in here right now, waiting for the judge, court reporter, and bailiff to arrive.

The latter two arrive first a few minutes later and take up their posts. Minutes after that, the door to the judge’s chamber opens, and we all stand. A woman in her early fifties or maybe late forties with shoulder-length red hair barges out in what seems like a terrible mood. The robe she’s wearing billows out behind her as she stomps up to the bench, slaps down a file, and then sits in her seat.

The court reporter reads the docket for the record, and the judge barely lets her finish before starting a tirade. “Does anyone here know where I’m supposed to be right now?”

All six of us stare in a shocked silence up at her. Nobody speaks.

Her laugh is anything but amused. “I’m supposed to be on a plane to Greece with the rest of my family. Care to guess why I’m not? Or why I had to fire a clerk in my office this morning?”

Silence, but I swear her eyes linger on my mom and dad, almost like she knows who is responsible for ruining her vacation.

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