Page 481 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
It hurt to turn my back on her, and it hurt even more to walk away while I heard her fight to keep her sobs at bay. Nevertheless, I kept on walking. It stung that I’d been betrayed by the person I trusted most in this office—my best friend.
I retreated to the solitude of Chadwick’s office, where I could wait for him in peace and not have to hide my tears while I grappled with everything that felt like it was crumbling to pieces around me.
CHAPTER 30
CHADWICK
The gentlemen’s lounge my father liked so much was rather depressing on Monday mornings. Piano music played, and the whole place still swirled with cigar smoke, but it lacked the charming, somewhat quintessential atmosphere of a late afternoon or evening.
It didn’t matter. I wasn’t here for ambiance, cigars, whiskey, or good conversation.
I was here for the pompous jackass standing in front of the fire with his back to me.
Armie fucking Bishop.
My hands balled into fists at my sides. I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of being able to march over there and do what I really wanted to do deep down, which was beat the living shit out of him. I had an entire country watching my every move, not to mention a plethora of kids looking to me as Santa Claus. If I let myself fly off the handle?
Well, I’d be in hot water to say the least.
On top of that I’d be painting a very confusing image of what the good guy was supposed to look like to children, and I didn’t want to be that guy. I wanted to set Armie straight without having to lay a hand on him. Restraint and self-control would be difficult to maintain, but as I crossed the plush carpets of the lounge and made my way over to the fire, a steady voice in the back of my head assured me that I had everything I needed to handle this situation.
I closed my eyes briefly and pictured Tinsely sobbing on the side of the road, shivering from the cold.
The anger pulsed in the tips of my fingers.
I closed the gap between Armie and me and found that he was talking to a man his age sitting in the armchair beside the stone fireplace.
“What was I supposed to do?” Armie said, not realizing I was right behind him. “The girl might have legs worth drooling over, but she obviously doesn’t have much in that head of hers if she really expected me to drop her off without so much as a thank-you kiss.”
My blood boiled.
The young man in the chair saw me standing behind Armie and pointed. “You have a visitor, Bish.”
Bish? Was that what he wanted his friends to call him?
Armie turned away from the fire. We were about three feet or so apart, and when he saw me his cheeks stretched in a smile that made my skin crawl.
“Bamford! You don’t usually come around here this time of day. What’s wrong, got tired of the coffee at your swanky office?”
“I need to have a word with you.” My voice sounded far away, like someone else was speaking.
Armie waved me off. “There’s nothing I want to talk to you about, Bamford. Your daddy isn’t around to keep the peace either, so I suggest you piss off before I have you kicked out.”
“Fine. I’ll talk, you listen.”
Armie folded his arms over his chest, and his suit jacket strained at the shoulders. “This should be good. Let me guess, you’re all bent out of shape because your girl left your daddy’s party with me. Don’t sweat it, Chad old chum. You didn’t do anything wrong. She just wanted to leave the shallow end and try something a little deeper.”
Either there was an alarm going off in the kitchen, or I was so furious the ringing I could hear was in my head.
“You’re a despicable waste of space, Bishop,” I hissed. “Every word out of your mouth is a god damn fucking lie, and anyone worth their salt knows as much. Keep your bullshit away from Tinsely. She’s a good woman who didn’t deserve what you did to her on Saturday night.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Armie’s friend had pulled his phone out of his pocket and started filming.
Armie threw his head back and laughed. “Oh please. A good woman? Hardly. A good woman would have known how lucky she was to be in my car.”
I’m going to hit him. My fingernails bit painfully into my palms.
