Chapter 12 #2
Someday, he hoped to be enough for her too.
Jordan didn’t even have the energy to glare at his siblings. “Or maybe she’s on edge because someone has been breaking glasses for an hour and ‘accidentally’ threw one at us.”
“It was an accident. I said I was sorry! Twice!”
“Or maybe it’s because someone made fun of her clothes.”
She had a lifetime’s supply of those cardigans. When he finally asked her why she chose them specifically, she’d said, “I want my mom to see them when she watches the show. So it’ll feel like she’s kind of here with me.”
His wife was almost too much for him.
Lulie looked offended. “I said it was chic. She’s the one who dresses like she has five-year-olds hanging on her every word. You said she loves kids. I put two and two together and made a compliment. Hello?”
Jordan’s head was going to explode. He rubbed his temples, trying to slow the pulsating feeling down. “All I wanted was one nice afternoon with my wife and you two. But noooo, that’s just never going to be possible.”
“How were we supposed to know she’s so fucking sensitive?” Wylie demanded. “That’s on you for not telling us anything about her before she got here. You probably kept us a secret too, huh?”
Wylie hated never being allowed to visit.
Jordan didn’t take having a family who cared about him and his well-being, who wanted to see him succeed and celebrate his successes, for granted.
They were the force that kept his heart beating, each of them woven directly into his soul.
The life they’d chosen just wasn’t compatible with the life he’d wanted to live.
But what they’d done to Zinnia was unforgivable. He’d spared them from the consequences of their actions for long enough.
“I told her about you the first day we met. She had no idea the show even existed.” He paused to let the gravity of what he’d said sink in.
“Bullshit,” Lulie said. “You never tell anyone about us.”
“Not only did I tell her, but she also had no idea who any of you were.” He sighed, shoulders slumping. “Her friends knew, but not Zinnia. She really didn’t know about the pranks, and I didn’t warn her.”
Wylie was their resident wild child, but he was really fucking smart with a deeply sensitive side that almost no one got to see. Jordan watched him silently process the reveal as close as the camera undoubtedly was.
“She probably thinks we hate her.” Wylie sounded as if he hoped he was wrong.
“She does.”
“But she’s Capitol, right?” Lulie asked.
They had a few emergency phrases to help them keep secrets on air. Capitol was code to ask if something wasn’t real.
“Who told you that?” Jordan paused to consider his options. Keep them in the dark? Tell them the truth? He eyed the camera pushing in for a close-up. “Bea was Capitol. Zinnia is my wife. I really need you both to give her a chance because she’s not going anywhere. She’s one of us now.”
The twins looked identically horrified. Wylie shouted, “Could you have fucked up any worse?” at the same time Lulie said, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
They continued shouting at him, but Jordan’s attention shifted to Julio, his current cameraman, who cleared his throat, nodded to the door, and raised his eyebrows. That was code for Mabel radioed in and wants you somewhere.
“Call Sadie and yell at her too. She knew everything.”
On their way out, Julio hush-whispered, “Front door. Staircase.”
This better not take long. He wanted to get back to the den before Zinnia. Leaving her alone with his family felt like being held underwater—his chest burned and he couldn’t come up for air until he was sure she was okay. He hated that he couldn’t trust them with her.
No doubt she’d found plenty of new hiding spots during her wander breaks. They weren’t “allowed” in the bungalow during business hours.
As if that could stop him. If he wanted to go, they were going. If she wanted to go, they were already there. All she needed to do was ask him.
Part of him knew she never would because it was her job to keep trying—the newly branded Zaffre Sweetheart to his formerly Estranged Son.
Another part of him wished she would. That she’d turn to him and say, “I can’t do this.
Can we go?” He’d take her hand without questioning it.
They’d spend the day regrouping, just the two of them, and try again the next day.
He wanted her to confide in him. About everything.
Too bad he’d royally fucked up the chances of that ever happening.
The staircase came into view and Jordan felt the wind get knocked clean out of him. He clutched the nearest wall to stay upright as a startled gasp rattled out his lungs.
How did she keep doing that to him?
Because Zinnia was sitting on the staircase with his dad. He was far enough away that he couldn’t hear more than soft mumbling until the enchanting sound of her giggles carried across the room.
When someone truly had her attention, she focused on them with her entire being—all of her engaged and actively listening, beaming like a spotlight. That was how she was looking at his dad. And his dad didn’t smile like that for any old reason.
Jordan understood why Mabel had radioed this in. He wouldn’t have believed it otherwise. His dream come to life, right in front of him? Impossible.
Mabel crept up beside him, silent as a shadow. “We need more of that.”
He reluctantly moved farther behind the wall so they wouldn’t have to whisper. “I know.”
“Then act like it! It’s been two weeks! We need more of her, especially with you.
” Mabel massaged the space between her eyebrows with a shaking hand.
Her temper was shorter in the afternoon because she’d recently quit vaping.
“I’ve seen the footage. Whatever you’re doing in that bungalow, which you won’t even let us fucking film, must be incredible because every morning she looks like she’s had the best night of her life.
At most, we get an hour of her being a damn Disney Princess in that garden before she clams up faster than a chastity belt.
Where is the hugging? Where is the kissing?
The people demand cuddling and sweet nothings, Alfie! ”
Jordan suppressed a laugh. “She’s just having a hard time. It’s not exactly easy being here.”
“I don’t care, okay? She promised us Sweetheart. I need her to love you out loud, out here, and charm everyone in this damn house the way she just has with Damon. She’s gotta give me something to work with.”
“We will.”
“If your boring-ass performance is the reason this season tanks, that makes you directly responsible for putting Sadie at risk. If you give the people what they want, we get what we want. Understand?”
“Sadie will be fine,” he assured her, refusing to relinquish his newly acquired good mood. “I’ll talk to Zinnia.”
“You said she was a star.” Mabel leveled him with a doubtful glare. “You didn’t hear this from me, but you’re running out of storyline time to prove it.”