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“As Lawrence’s sole blood relative, you will share the property with Shane Justice, his son.”
Her head snapped up, and Shane came to a stop behind her chair. Blood relative? Wouldn’t his son be a blood relative?
He swung her chair out. Kendall gripped the arms as it tilted, then slammed her down to face him.
“Who the fuck are you?” Hazel eyes bore into her. The gold seemed to glow with all the seething anger that was boiling inside him.
Her skin buzzed as if energy were roiling out of him in its purest form. “I’m Lawrence Justice’s daughter,” she whispered.
He hovered over her. “He doesn’t have a kid. He only has me.”
“You’re my brother?” She recoiled to the back of the chair. No. No, he couldn’t be her half-brother.
He reared back as if she’d slapped him. “No. I’m Larry’s stepson, but he raised me as his.”
Her father had left her but stayed for this man? She hadn’t thought she could feel any more pain when it came to Lawrence Justice, but she’d been wrong. God, so wrong.
Shane looked up at Mr. Murray. “She has no hold on anything of Dad’s. I didn’t even know about her.”
“That’s because he left us when I was five.” She pushed Shane out of her space and stood. He was too close, too big, too everything. She focused on Mr. Murray, his face emotionless, his eyes steady. “Lawrence bought that house for my mother.”
“Yes, he did. But Lily Proctor never signed the deed over into her name.”
Kendall dug her fingertips into her brow. “No,” she whispered. It would be just like her mother to pull a stunt like that. She’d loved Lawrence and having his name on something would be the ultimate way to keep him tethered to her.Crap. Crap. Crap.As with everything that had anything to do with her father, Kendall would be paying for it.
“It would be too much to hope for that he left us the Heron.”
“No, not too much to hope for,” Mr. Murray said kindly.
She fell back into her chair. “Thank God.”
“But it’s a shared property with Shane.”
“What?” Both of them shouted and stared at the lawyer.
“He can’t.” The Heron had been the one constant in her life. “I’ve run the bed-and-breakfast since I was sixteen. That’s my life!”
“Larry and I did everything we could to make sure the two of you would be taken care of. This is all he could do for you, Shane.”
And as usual, all Lawrence did was take from her. She crossed her arms over her churning gut. She wanted to curl into a ball. Even twenty-two years later her father managed to take everything away from her.
Again.
* * *
Shane Justice backed into the bookcases that lined his father’s meeting room. Justice Construction never had an official home base. His dad liked the informality of his house with a touch of the grandeur to show off how well they’d been doing. Except it was all smoke and mirrors.
Gerry sat heavily. The fight had drained out of him. Gerry had followed his father into every insane scheme and now had nothing to show for it. Shane had known they were in a little bit of trouble, but his father would’ve turned things around. He always did.
It was the way of things for Larry Justice. Gerry had believed in him, and Larry had never let him down. Until now. Shane listened with half an ear as Jonas listed all the properties that were sold and the debt that would be absorbed. The only thing left was the lakeside B and B in Winchester Falls, New York. And a woman he’d never heard of. He’d have happily killed to be his father’s flesh-and-blood son, but Larry had never made him feel less. And here she was staring back at him with rum-colored eyes and his father’s angel-white hair. As frustrating as Larry Justice could be, one thing was always apparent. Family was his focus.
The fact that he had a daughter he’d never spoken of was insane.
Some of what Jonas was saying finally sank in, dragging him from the mystery woman sitting at the table.
If the house was double mortgaged, there was no way to cover the expenses. He looked at his lawyer. Through every contract, Jonas had been there to keep his father on the straight and narrow. Larry with a wild idea was a dangerous thing. He could convince anyone to follow him.
All except Jonas.
