Page 482 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
You can’t.
He watched me with a twisted smile, daring me to act rashly. Daring me to fuck up.
He deserves it. You know he does.
“What’s the matter, Chad? Do you need to call your daddy? He’d know just the thing to say to untwist your panties, wouldn’t he?”
One punch right in the nose would do it.
Armie turned to his friend, who laughed along with him. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him.” Armie chuckled. “Cat got your tongue?”
With every ounce of self-control I possessed, I relaxed my fists and forced the tension out of my shoulders. “There are a lot of things I’d like to say to you, and do to you,” I added, my voice dripping with acid, “but you’re a coward who hides behind camera phones and flashy bullshit. No wonder your father sent you to fucking boarding school. He knew how irredeemable you were. He knew he and your mother screwed up. Your sister? She’s the only good thing that ever came out of your family.”
“Don’t say a fucking word about my sister.”
“She’s a better person than the rest of you combined,” I spat. “She deserves better than the likes of you for a brother, and she knows it.” I turned to his friend with the camera phone and stared straight into the lens, pointing my finger at it as I addressed any potential audiences. “Go ahead. Film me. Laugh your heads off. I don’t give a damn. He hurt someone I care about, someone who wants nothing more than the best for people. He left her stranded on the side of the road in a cocktail dress at midnight in the middle of December. Because she wouldn’t kiss him. That’s the quality of man he is. Plain and simple.”
His friend scrambled to end the recording.
Armie moved in on me from the side and shoved me backward. “Get the hell out of here. Who do you think you are?”
I straightened my suit jacket. “Your father’s contracts with Bamford’s are done. No more handouts, no more shared marketing strategies, no more branded advertising, no more references of his name to our clients. We’re done.”
I turned and walked toward the exit.
Panicked and suddenly realizing he would be held accountable for this mess, Armie hurried after me. “Wait, hold on! You know it wasn’t that serious, right? Tinsely’s a nice girl but she’s obviously too hung up on you to have wanted anything to do with me. You’re lucky. You get that whenever you want and—”
I grabbed the front of his jacket and hauled him in close enough to smell stale coffee on his breath. “If you don’t stop talking right now, Armie, I swear to God I will rip you in half.”
He blinked, but he kept his mouth shut.
I held on for a few seconds longer for good measure, just to see if he would test me, but he realized how outmatched he would be if he decided to take things further.
“Good,” I growled before releasing him, brushing past him, and leaving the lounge.
Karma could handle the rest of Armie Bishop.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Bamford,” the doorman of the building said.
“Morning, Andrew,” I muttered.
“Rough start?”
“You could say that.” I pushed through the lobby, nodded hello to the security guard, and rode the elevator up to the top floor. It spat me out still in a prickling mood. Words got the job done, but more than anything, I wanted to drag Armie and his snivelling little snot-nosed friend out of the lounge and onto the sidewalk, where I could give them both a proper lesson.
It wouldn’t have changed a damn thing, of course. Sure, it might have helped dispel the anger still swirling around in my gut, but it also probably would have gotten me charged with assault.
My head spun with these thoughts as I walked through the office. People said hello, but I hardly noticed them as I shrugged out of my coat and moved into my office, promptly closing the door to lock out anyone who wanted to talk this afternoon.
I wasn’t in the mood for it.
“It’s about time you showed up.”
I turned to find Tinsely sitting at my desk. She was dressed for a shift at the office, back in her usual pantsuit, heels, and red lips. She looked beautiful.
And she looked concerned.
“Where have you been?” she asked. “I was hoping we could talk.”
