Page 63 of Cold Hard Kisses (London Mafia Kings)

My mouth dropped open. “Dad!”

I could barely believe he was saying such a thing. Of course Tam had taken me in hand plenty of times, but I imagined the end outcome probably wasn’t what my father had in mind.

“I’m sure it won’t come to that, Mr Wynter.”

“No, I suppose it won’t. The Wynters always were tougher than the Cornells. It hasn’t missed my attention that no one has paid for Harvey’s death.”

Whenever anyone mentioned Harvey, Tam’s hackles rose. “My father doesn’t think we have enough proof to act.”

“Is that right? Someone murders one of your family and no one pays for it? I hope you’ll be a little more protective of my daughter.”

“I’ll protect Hallie with my life.”

“I hope you do a better job than you did protecting your brother.”

I wanted to crawl beneath the table and cry.

Tam glowered. Rage simmered beneath the surface, barely contained. “Sir, I invited you into my home, to sit and have a meal with your daughter, and all you’ve done since you arrived is snipe and insult us. Now, if you have something to say, I suggest you say it.”

My father threw down the cloth napkin. “Honestly, I find this whole thing to be a joke. Yes, the allegiance between our two families meant marriage, but to have you both here playing happy families is a little much. Everyone knows what sort of man Tam Cornell is, and it certainly isn’t one who pours wine and holds hands under the table.”

I gritted my teeth. “People can change, Dad.”

He scoffed. “Hallie, he hasn’t changed, and I honestly thought you were smarter than to allow someone like him to pull the wool over your eyes. I expected you to marry the man, yes, but not to fall in love with him.”

I sucked in a breath. Neither of us had mentioned the word love to one another yet, even though it had danced on the tip of my tongue many times. I didn’t even want to look at Tam now.

But Tam wasn’t going to take my father’s words lying down. He pushed back his chair and stood. “You handed your daughter over to me, believing me to be the kind of man no woman should marry, yet here you are now, more upset about the fact we might actually have found something together. Don’t you think that says more about your character than it does about mine?”

His voice grew more heated the longer he spoke.

My father’s face turned puce, and he shot to his feet as well. “The Wynters have more honour in their little toes than the Cornells have even sniffed at.”

“Please, stop it, both of you,” I begged.

How had this gone so wrong so quickly?

Tam narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “I was a fool to think a Wynter could ever change. I think it’s time you get the fuck out of my house.”

Maybe I should have fought for my dad then, defended the Wynter name, but honestly, Tam was right. I wasn’t going to allow my father to come into Tam’s house and speak to him like that.

“Tam is right, Dad. It’s time you went.”

“And we haven’t even got to the main course yet.”

“Dad, you got exactly what you wanted, and yet you still can’t be happy for me. Honestly, I’m not sure I have much more to say to you.”

He threw down his napkin. “In which case, I’ll leave.”

“Yes, I think that’s for the best,” Tam said.

We walked him out. His driver was still waiting for him outside, so at least we didn’t need to awkwardly wait around for his ride. My father left without saying another word to me, and Tam shut the front door.

He turned to me, shaking his head. “Hallie, it’s you that I want, more than anything. And I know the agreement between our fathers means that they can work together, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it, or that I’m ever going to like it. You’re my everything now, but you need to keep your fucking family away from me.”

I blinked back tears. “What about my brother?”

Jayden Wynter was a younger replica of our father. It was clear to see Marlon Wynter was raising his son to be just like him.

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