Page 105 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

“Let me guess why you are knocking on my door instead of booking an appointment like a normal person. You are in love with the sweet Miss Stevenson and want me to cancel the arranged marriage? Am I right?”

“Yes, Sir,” I answer. “I don’t want to cause any trouble; I have no qualms with you. My anger is purely towards that bastard there,” I answer, pointing to Henry.

“And what if I say no? My son is fond of Miss Stevenson and looks forward to taking her as his bride.”

I force my toes to curl instead of my fists as I try to keep my calm.

“Does Verity have no say in the matter?” I ask, trying desperately to keep my tone relaxed.

“Of course she does. In fact, we could always ask her if only we knew where she was.” He sounds cocky, and I don’t like it one bit. Fuck I should have told my brothers to run instead of waiting for three days. Have they found them? With the length of time I’ve been here, they could have tracked them down, retrieved Verity and returned. Is that why I was kept in that room for so long?

I watch Nicholson as he stands from his seat and walks over to the office door, smirking at the guys standing by Henry.

“You might want to watch him.”

Before I can even get to my feet, a hand lands on my shoulder, pushing me down as a warning to behave.

Nicholson watches me for a moment before opening the door, and my world comes to a crashing standstill.

54

Verity

Thomas Nicholson holds out his hand for me to enter the office. I hear Travis before I’ve even laid eyes on him.

“No! Get away from her!”

I turn just in time to see two guys tackle him to the floor. Travis fights against them, sending one flying as he turns to punch the other. I’ve never seen him violent before, but as he fights to get to me, he’s like a madman.

The two guys from before take him down again, and two others rush into the room and help them pin him to the floor. He continues to fight against them, but they handcuff him whilst digging their knees into his back.

“Stop, you said you wouldn’t hurt him!” I cry out, looking at Mr Nicholson as he smirks at Travis.

“Please stop fighting them,” I beg him as his eyes land on me. “Please, Daddy,” I mouth as a tear rolls down my cheek.

Travis stops instantly, but his eyes never leave mine.

“What are you doing here?” he demands. “They were meant to look after you.”

“I snuck away,” I begin. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t leave you to get hurt because of me.” The tears continue to fall. I start playing with the ring on my left hand. When he sees it, his eyes close as he takes a deep breath. Hopefully, he will calm himself down.

“Pumpkin?”

I spin around to my father’s voice. I hadn’t even noticed he was in the room. He was the last person I expected to see here.

“Why are you here?” I ask, taking a step back as he walks towards me. There is blood on his face and top, and his hands are cuffed behind his back.

“Pumpkin, I’ve been so worried.”

For a moment, I want to believe him. Why wouldn’t he have been worried about me? He wouldn’t have known where I was.

“Why aren’t you in Hawaii?” I ask, as it dawns on me that he isn’t meant to be in the country. There again, it’s not the first time he has lied to me about his whereabouts.

“I was going to surprise you, but you weren’t home,” he starts.

“You lying, son of a bitch!” Travis roars. I turn my attention back to him as he snarls at my father. “Tell her the truth. You wanted to make sure she was delivered here!”

“Stay out of this,” my father shouts back, causing me to flinch away from him. I remember how he spoke to me on the phone and screamed at me for ruining everything.

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