Page 119 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

“You can’t; she is promised to someone else. You are honestly willing to put yourself in danger for her!”

“Verity will marry whoever she wants to marry, and anyone who tries to tell her differently will have to answer to us,” Ryan says behind me. I reach around and take his hand, needing to feel them all as they give me the strength to stand up for myself. Linda sees this, though and bursts out laughing.

“You think you can stand together with this little slut and stop someone like Nicholson? He will kill you all and take what’s promised to him. You must see that this is a short-term thing, and you will lose eventually.”

“And let me guess, when she marries him, you and Henry will skip off into the sunset with your stashed millions, not giving a shit what happens to her?” I can hear the anger in Travis’s voice. Looking up at him, I can see the muscles around his jaw bulging each time he clenches them.

“It’s not as much as you think?” Even I can see she is trying to downplay what she knows, Travis was right.

“Well, it’s down from twenty to four now, and no where you can find it as it’s all been transferred to its rightful owner.” Travis places an arm around me as I watch Linda's face turn purple. “If you want any of the other sixteen, I hear Nicholson’s son is back to looking for a bride after gaining the money that was promised to him. Maybe he wants an old, spent alcoholic who spends more time drunk than coherent,” Travis laughs.

“You fucking bitch!” Linda launches towards me, but Ryan pulls me out of the way whilst Travis grabs their mother, holding her back. “Do you have any idea what you have done to your poor father?”

“Poor father? More like a poor excuse for one. There again, he’s not even my real dad, is he Linda? He only kept me around to use my money!” I growl at her, my eyes and throat burning as all the emotions I’ve been holding back since that evening come flooding in at once.

“I cleaned up after you, kept your house clean like you wanted. Made sure everything was pristine and all without complaint. You left me alone in that big house for months on end, and I said nothing. What did I do to deserve you both treating me like you did? What did I do that was so wrong that you couldn’t even spend a few days with me over the holidays? Am I that horrible to be around?”

“Yes! You whine and talk nonstop. You act like you are little Miss Perfect, but look at you, sleeping with three guys at the same time; it’s disgusting; you should all be ashamed of yourselves.”

“Enough!” Travis roars as he starts dragging his mum towards the front door. “I’ve heard enough. Get out of our house and our lives and never come back.”

“Where is my husband?” she screams as Ethan opens the door so Travis can throw her out.

“Hopefully dead! If you do actually want to know, go and ask Nicholson; last I heard, he was still locked in a holding room with a broken jaw and nose! Now, stay the hell away from any of us. If I see you again or you try to approach Verity, I will make sure you are handed over to the authorities for stealing her inheritance. Now fuck off!”

Travis slams the door closed and looks around to where Ryan and I are standing. Ryan has his arms around my shoulders as I shake with rage.

“Do not let one thing that fucking woman said upset you. Do you hear me, Sweetheart? She is a special kind of evil and as toxic as they come. Why do you think we hardly have anything to do with her? That!” he points to the door for emphasis. “That is the evil bitch we grew up with, not the one who smiled and laughed around you. Ever wonder why we took Dad's side in the divorce? That is why.”

I look up at Travis, and for the first time, I see that I’m not the only one who suffered due to a toxic parent. The three guys who have stood by my side have also had to deal with one.

Stepping out of Ryan’s arms, I walk up to Travis and wrap my arms around his waist, holding him like he has me so many times. For a moment, he freezes before letting out a deep sigh and holding me whilst burying his face into my hair.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper into his chest.

“What in the world have you got to be sorry for?” Ryan asks as he steps closer to us.

“For the fact you just had to throw your own mother out. For the pain she has caused you over the years. And for not slapping her when I had the chance.”

All three of the guys laugh as I look up to Travis.

“Do you think my dad is dead?” I ask. The question has been on my lips since Ethan and Ryan brought me back that night.

“I honestly don’t know. Nicholson asked if I wanted to know his fate, and I said no. You asked me not to kill him, and I accept that. I didn’t want to know anything about what happened to him.” Travis cups my face as I take a deep breath, desperate not to cry.

“Can you find out?” I ask. “I need to know.”

Travis nods before pressing a kiss to my forehead.

“Go and sit in the lounge with Ryan; I’ll get my phone. Do you want to hear the conversation?”

I think about it for a moment and nod.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Travis walks away from me as Ryan places an arm around me.

“Come on, Kitten, let’s get you sat down.”

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