Page 104 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

“But you will need to find her first, and my brothers will make sure that never happens. You may have hidden all her ID but I have already ensured she can travel.”

“Your brothers won’t protect her forever; they will get bored.”

“They will never get bored of protecting what’s theirs.” I take great pleasure in watching his smirk drop. “That’s right, the three of us are with her. She finally knows what true love is and knows that the three of us will do anything to ensure she is protected from the abuse you have dealt her over the years.”

“I never hit her!”

“No, you belittled her until she believed she wasn’t good enough to be loved!” I roar, advancing forward. “You made her feel so small and insignificant that she doesn’t even know who she truly is! So yes, you never hit her, what you did was a fucking worse!” I lift my fist, ready to punch him, when the door opens. I spin around as Phil strolls in with two guys behind him.

“Nice to see you two getting along so well.” He looks smug, which makes me dislike him more. Snarling at Henry, letting him know I’m not finished with him, I turn to Phil.

“What do you want?”

“Now, now, no need to be so aggressive. I’ve only come to tell you the boss will see you both now.” The guys behind him walk forward, and I see handcuffs hanging from their hands. I had expected it and sigh as I hold out my hands. I’m no threat; I don’t plan on causing trouble; for Nicholson anyway. Henry, however, sees the cuffs and freaks out. He immediately starts to back away from them, cursing.

“What do you think you’re doing? You’re not putting them on me.

I could tell him to shut up, but instead, I take great pleasure in the way they take him down, cuffing his hands behind his back roughly. He tries to buck them off, and I roar laughing when one grabs the hair on the back of his head and slams it into the floor, hopefully breaking his nose.

“Enjoying the show?” Phil asks. I shrug as I follow him to the door.

“If it causes that arsehole pain, I’m all for it. Just gutted, it’s not me making him bleed,” I admit, grinning.

“No love lost between father and son then?” he smiles, quickly throwing his hands up as I snarl at him.

“That prick is not my father. Just because my bitch of a mother married him does not make him family, got it?” I warn through gritted teeth.

“Loud and clear,” Phil smirks as I follow him out of the room, not bothering to check if Henry is following us.

He leads us down a flight of stairs and along a corridor, stopping in front of a door. He knocks twice before a deep voice calls for us to enter.

The door opens into a dark red office. There’s a large desk to one side, and a short guy with a bald head sits behind it with his feet up on the desk as he puffs on a joint from the smell in the air.

“Ahh, Travis, is it? You got some balls, I’ll give you that,” he laughs, pushing himself away from the desk as I walk over to greet him.

“I’d shake your hand, but,” I hold up my cuffed wrists, and he laughs.

“Phil, uncuff the man. I don’t think he’s going to be any trouble, are you, son?” Thomas Nicholson says, smiling.

“No, Sir. I just want to talk,” I answer, flashing him my friendliest smile. Nicholson looks behind me and frowns.

“What happened to you, Stevenson? You look like you took quite a blow to the face.”

I don’t even try to hide the smirk that spreads across my face when I turn to see Henry with a nosebleed.

“These thugs did it when they put these cuffs on me.” Henry turns around to show Nicholson like he wouldn’t know about them. But he just shrugs and goes back to smoking his spliff. I have to stop myself from waving my hand in front of my face. I hate the smell of weed or any drug. I never understood the attraction myself. But the last thing I want to do right now is disrespect the guy in front of me. Not if I’m hoping to win him over and save Verity.

“Why are you here again, Stevenson?” Nicholason asks, looking at Henry, who clamps his mouth shut, not knowing whether to remind him. “Oh yes, I remember you lost my son's bride.” He turns to me and smiles. “I think you know something about that, don’t you?”

“I sure do; that’s why I’m here now,” I answer, looking around. “Mind if I take a seat?” I ask, wanting to keep the mood as casual as possible. Nicholson waves towards a few comfortable-looking chairs on the other side of the room. The two of us sit whilst Henry is luckily kept out of the way. I make sure I can see him and Nicholson, wanting to see his face when I make my proposal.

“So, tell me, where is the lovely Miss Stevenson?” Nicholson asks, sitting back in his chair. Looking a little too relaxed, but I try not to show how uncomfortable that makes me.

“I swear I had nothing to do with this. He took her!” Henry starts shouting, but one look from the boss, and he shuts up quickly.

“She is safe; that’s all you need to know for the time being,” I answer as I put on my business face. I know the more confident I seem, the higher my chances of being heard are.

Nicholson watches me for a moment.

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