Page 60 of Holiday Home 3
“My daughter is also capable of bias, especially toward you.”
“Maybe because we were friends before we started dating, which is something you know she couldneversay about Trent,” Liam said, scowling at the stubborn, horrible, unloving man. How could someone like this have reared a woman as kind and considerate as Anna? He didn’t deserve such a daughter, especially because here he was, trying to ruin Anna’s happinessby ensuring she ended up saddled with a jackass like Trent Alden.
“You’re welcome to return to being friends,” Arnold said. “But you will never have my blessing to date Annabelle.”
“Then I won’t ever ask for it,” Liam said, lifting his chin with an air of finality. “But so long as Anna wants to be my girlfriend, that’s all I care about. I won’t be run off, bought, or intimidated into breaking up with her.”
He suffered Arnold’s derisive stare for several seconds, holding steady against it. Neither of them would find any joy from this conversation, and Arnold seemed to realize that. However, Liam didn’t dare to hope this would be the end of things. Arnold Royce would be a painful knot in his lower back for as long as he and Anna dated, which, as he’d meant what he said, might be for a very long time.
I hope it is,Liam thought, almost saying as much but deciding not to egg her father on any more than he already had.
“Have a good day, Liam,” Arnold suddenly said. “But know that you’re unwelcome to appear atmyhome, whether Annabelle invites you over or not.”
The man swung around, showing no wish to hear Liam’s rebuttal. He strode from the room, yet then he suddenly stopped. Liam spotted only one of his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder at him.
“And enjoy this one and only gift thatmymoney has granted you.”
He departed. Not just the room but the whole store, allowing even the pretense that he’d come here to get a fitting of his own to disintegrate into the lie it’d always been. Liam remained where he was, grimacing with a mix of loathing and, unfortunately, understanding.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
Liam didn’t wait for Claude to reappear. Instead, he sought him out, locating him almost immediately when he stepped into the store’s central area. Unsurprisingly, he had already completed Liam’s final adjustments; they’d been folded and placed in sealed, see-through clothing bags at the checkout area, probably long before Arnold had arrived.
Bastard,Liam thought.
Swallowing his utter vehemence toward the sycophantic man, Liam marched over and said, “I want to pay for my clothes.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but they’ve already been paid for,” Claude said, looking through him as though he were transparent. “But here they are.”
“Then undo the payment and let me pay,” he growled.
“I’m sorry, sir, but the payment has been made. It is not something I can undo.”
Feet rooted to the ground as frustration scalded him, he wavered between accepting the clothes or storming out while leaving them behind. But what good would that do? Arnold Royce had already ruined his day. Would he let him ruin New Year’s Eve for him too? Not to mention Avril and…
Anna.
Liam winced, swore under his breath, and snatched the clothes from where they rested. Stomping out of Mercer’s Clothing Shoppe, hoping never to see it again, he knew he needed to inform Anna about what had transpired in it. He knew her father might someday weaponize their unpleasant first encounter against him if he didn't. They also needed to spread the word to Tess and Avril about the story they’d concocted about how they’d met, which he’d been forced to use sooner than either of them would have anticipated.
Standing outside his car, he reached for his phone, knowing he was also about to ruin her day. He winced as Anna picked up in a cheery voice after he called her.
“Hey,” he said. “Could I come over and talk to you about something that just happened?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Opposite Effect
There wasn’t much to be done about Arnold’s ambush other than maybe preparing for other forms of foul play. Avril was the one to point that out. Following his unpleasant encounter with Royce Railroad’s CEO, he’d headed straight for her and Anna’s apartment, where he’d then explained everything that had happened, barring mentioning the final knife Anna’s father had perforated him with on his exit. Hearing about all the rest provided Anna with enough distress already.
The three of them discussed things for an hour, but Avril’s declaration ultimately rang true. Arnold Royce had made it clear that he wasn’t planning to give up on trying to pressure his daughter into a relationship with Trent. In his eyes, Liam was just a speedbump he needed to drive over. A nuisance thatwould be easily removed once hundreds of miles separated them following the close of winter break. Avril noted that fact, too, though she presented them with a seed of good news among the manure.
“You’ve still got your mother as a card to play,” she announced as he and Anna sat in dismal silence. “And now, seeing as how Liam is persona non grata at the Royce estate, you don’t have to have your shitty father around when you introduce him to her. It can just be the three of you, and you can try and win her over without your father around.”
Liam knew little about Anna’s mother, but Anna seemed to respond positively to Avril’s suggestion. Even if it was a slim hope, it was still hope, and it rejuvenated some of the color she’d lost in her complexion when he’d told her about meeting her father. Hopefully, they could accomplish what Avril had suggested.
To do that, they made plans for the thirtieth.
“We can have lunch together,” Anna declared. “I’m sure she’ll come.”