In Love with a Stranger (8 page)

She was furious and crying at the same time. I didn't know if she wanted me to hold her or not. I settled for taking her hand in mine, so she could tug me to her if she wanted. She threw herself into my arms sobbing. I was furious with the bastard for hurting my girls and keeping them from me, but I didn't know what to do about it. I didn't want to get deported, and I was afraid I would be if I went after him. No, I had to leave it to Hannah. I had a feeling she’d do more damage to him than I ever could.

Chapter 9 – Co-Crazy

HANNAH

When my daughter mentioned my father, all my anger came rushing back. He’d purposefully lied to me, to keep me away from William, to keep my daughter away from her father. I didn't give a damn that he didn't like William. He had no right to make that choice.

I climbed out of William's lap, where I’d been crying. I was so hurt by my dad. I couldn't believe he'd done that to me.  I snatched my cell phone off the counter and dialed his number, putting it on speaker phone. I wanted William to hear the bullshit my father was spewing. He had a right to hear the lies and dispute them to the best of his abilities.

"Hey, baby girl, how are you and my little Penny doing?" my dad answered his phone cheerfully.

"William Greyson," I said the name to see how he'd react.

He was silent for a moment, and then he asked, "Who's that, honey?"

"Who? You're asking me who? Why don't you tell me who the hell William Greyson is, Dad?" I shouted at him, and William pulled me into his arms, trying to calm me.

I heard my dad let out a sigh. "He's not someone you want to mix with, Hannah. He's not someone you really know."

"I know him well enough that you should've told me who he was!" I snapped.

"You don't need to know who he is. He's trouble, that's what. Stay away from him. Nothing but trouble follows them foreign folk, especially his hoity-toity kind."

"He's Penelope's father! How could you keep him from her? How could you keep them apart? You're a dad! How would you feel?" I shouted, furious.

"That's exactly what was planned, wasn't it? You running off with a stranger to some foreign country, where he could get away with murder, and I’d lose you forever. I’d never see you again! Nuh-uh, not gonna happen on my watch, you stay away from him, Hannah. You don't talk to him. It's not safe, not his kind."

"You’re being ridiculous and unreasonable, just like last time. I can't believe you! Your prejudice and irrational fear of foreigners warped your stupid mind into thinking your heinous crime was justifiable!"

"Who do you think hurt you in the first place? It was his people, Hannah. Just ask Earl Greyson. He all but admitted he had something to do with it."

"I don't know any Earl Greyson."

"That's because he hasn't told you, Hannah. You can't trust that bastard. You stay the hell away from him!"

"Earl isn’t William, they’re two totally different people, and I trust William. He'd never hurt me."

William kissed the hand he’d been holding, and I felt tears drip down on it, confusing me.

"You can't trust that man, or his family. They're a bunch of snotty self-important criminals, and I won't have them hurting you. It doesn't matter what William says, that Earl is out to get you."

"Well, Earl can go to hell! I'm not leaving William again."

"Hannah, please, think about what you're getting yourself into. His family won't let you be together. He's royalty."

"We're not royalty, nor will my family interfere," William made his presence known for the first time.

"That bastard's there with you? You stay the hell away from my daughter!"

"That's not going to happen, and you're wrong about the royalty," William frowned.

"Bullshit, you and your father were strutting around, preening like a pair of damn peacocks,
Lord Greyson
."

"There was no strutting, just panic. I was looking for Hannah, and you wouldn't help me, you wouldn't talk to me. You drove me out of the damn country!" William shouted at him. "I was scared out of my mind that I’d lost her, and all you could think about was coming after me! You knew I’d gone mental looking for her, and you didn't so much as send a postcard to tell me she was found alive! I've been mourning my love for seven years, thinking it was my fault for leaving her by herself. Seven years that I could've spent raising my daughter! Seven years I could've had with my family!" William sounded furious and broken at the same time. His cheeks glistened with tears.

"You couldn't claim her as your daughter. Not with your title."

"My title meant nothing to me then, and it means nothing to me now! I'm William Greyson, and that's it." William was on the verge of completely losing it.

"We'll see what your father has to say about that, Viscount Greyson. He was behind her attack. I just know it. I don't doubt he'll come after her again. If you care at all for my daughter, you'll leave her alone!"

I was done listening. William was a wreck and didn't need to hear my father's crazy accusations. "Enough, it's my choice, Dad, and I say William stays and you go. You've…God, Daddy, can't you see what you've done? I don't want to talk to you anymore, not now, not ever."

I hit the end button, and William pulled me over to the couch, holding me in his arms. I cried hard, losing myself in my tears. I felt that familiar pain of losing my father, like I had before, seven years ago. He didn't understand that William was mine. I couldn't give him up, even if I wanted to.

To hear William had been mourning me for seven years, thinking it was his fault, tore me apart. Carter's first complaint about Mr. William Greyson being an uptight hard-ass who didn't date or take an interest in any women made sense. He’d lost me and wanted no one else, just like with me. I had no interest in anyone else, because they weren't William, and I’d finally gotten him back. William, and our love, was worth fighting for. I brushed his tears away and kissed him, letting him know everything would be alright with us together again.

WILLIAM

Detective Madison brought up things I hadn’t thought about in years. The pain of losing Hannah had been unmanageable, and my dad had had to drag me away from Hannah's father and the officers, because I’d refused to leave. My dad had pointed out that Detective Madison was an officer of the law and would have more resources to search for her than I. He’d been sure her father wouldn't give up on his daughter. I would've had no way to get to her when she was found, if I’d been locked up in prison. The fact that Detective Madison thought my father had been involved in Hannah's attack had me worried. I had to be sure my girls had their passports. If her father tried to chase me out of the country again, I was taking them with me. I’d never leave them behind again.

My phone started to ring. Hannah picked it up from the coffee table and handed it to me, before she snuggled back down into my side. It was Duncan, and I knew exactly why he was calling. We had a meeting at Jackson enterprises in one hour, and I was missing.

"Greyson," I answered, while trying to think of a way to get out of the meeting. My chest was tightening in panic at the thought of leaving her alone again.

"Where are you? I met with Camille at the breakfast bar this morning, and she said you weren't in your room."

"No, I'm not." He waited for me to explain myself, but I had no intention of doing so.

"We need to go over our meeting notes, before we arrive at Jackson's. Where shall I send the car to fetch you?"

"I can't go to the meeting." My arm squeezed Hannah, needing her closer. I couldn't let her out of my sight. I couldn't risk losing her again. I had to find a way to work from her bookshop from now on.

"What do you mean you can't go?" Duncan wasn't pleased. Hannah pulled away from me, looking at me worried.

"Just what I said, Duncan, I won't be able to make the meeting."

"This was your idea! You're the one who pitched playing a larger part, and now you're backing down on it?" he shouted through the phone. My chest was squeezing with anxiety. I knew what Duncan was saying was true, but I couldn't leave Hannah.

"I can't leave, I can't," I begged, fighting tears, wishing he’d understand, but I knew he wouldn't.

"Are you alright? Is someone holding you hostage?"

I pulled Hannah back to me and kissed the top of her head. "No, I just need to not be away from someone."

Hannah's expression changed, and she sat up stiffly. "William, you have to go to work. I have to open the shop in an hour as well."

I shook my head no at her. "I can't risk it. I won't lose you again."

Her eyes watered. "Tell them you'll be there. We'll figure it out."

I refused to, so she grabbed the phone from my hand and read Duncan’s name on the caller ID. "Mr. Conner, this is Hannah Madison. I believe we've met before. I was introduced as Carter's sister, Mary Harper."

"Yes, I recall you."

"William is with me. I live above my bookshop. Do you have Camille with you?"

"No, but I can get her."

"Good. Have her bring you here to pick him up. He'll need a change of clothes as well."

She hung up the phone, and I yanked her into my lap. "No, I'm not going anywhere without you. If he's coming, you need to get ready to leave as well. We have to go together. I can’t lose you again." My eyes were blurry from fighting off tears. "Please, Hannah, don't make me lose you again. I can't do it. I can't."

HANNAH

William was near hysterical. His eyes were wide and panicked, and his grip on me had tightened. I hadn’t realized he’d thought I was dead for seven years, or that he’d blamed himself for it. I shouldn't have been surprised with his need to latch on to me once he had me back. Camille and Duncan came in, filling my little apartment. Camille had a change of clothes for William, and I offered him my shower. He asked me to sit on my bed and wait for him. It wasn't lost on me that he kept the door open a crack and would lean out of the shower to make sure I was still there. He dressed quickly and asked me if I was ready to go.

"William, I have to work. I have a shop I need to run."

"But you have to come with me. What if something happens again? I don't want you to get hurt. How am I supposed to keep you safe if you're here and I'm there?"

"I'll be fine, William. I've been fine for the past seven years. Nothing is going to happen to me."

"I'm sure you thought that the first time around. You need to come with me, Carter won't mind."

Camille poked her head in the door. "Hey, William, can she stay with me?"

"You?"

"Yes, I planned on hanging out with her, anyways."

He took a few deep breaths. "You have to stay with her. You can't go anywhere. You can't go out. You need to stay inside, where it's safe."

"William, she'll be with me, she'll be fine."

"No, she won't!" he yelled at her and started to hyperventilate. I pulled him over to the bed and told him to put his head between his legs. "What if something happens? I don't want anything to happen to you."

He finally sat up, when Ophelia came in with a worried expression. "What's going on?" she looked between the three of us.

"Stay with her, you all have to stay here, don't leave her alone. She has to stay safe."

"My brother is losing it," Camille whined.

"No, I'm not. You should just come with me to the meeting. It'd be better that way. I'm not letting you out of my sight to get hurt again. I should've protected you. I shouldn't have left before. I made that mistake once. I'm not taking any chances with you ever again."

I climbed into his lap, and he promptly hid his face in my hair, panting hard. "William, I'm going to be fine. I'll be with Ophelia and Camille. Ophelia carries pepper spray, we'll be fine. I need to open my shop and work for the first part of the day, before Shawna comes in. We can meet for lunch, and then you'll see that I'm fine."

"They can't leave you," he begged and then turned to Ophelia and his sister. "You can't leave her, please, you can't let her get hurt again."

"We won't," Camille promised. Duncan literally pulled him away from me and down the stairs. I flopped back on my bed, covering my eyes.

"Okay, I take back William not being a creeper. He's completely nuts," Ophelia complained.

"He thought I was dead." I sat up, so I could be sure she understood. "He went to London for work, and when I didn't answer my phone, he came rushing back to find me. He went to my dad to ask for help, and my insane asshole of a father wouldn't let William help look for me. He wanted to charge William with kidnapping and murder. He even brought other officers in to enforce it, and he chased him out of the country!”  I was still fuming about that.

“William thought I was dead, and he blamed himself for leaving me behind. No one ever told him they’d found me. My father knew who he was this whole time, and he kept it from me. He kept me and Penelope away from William! Of course William's nuts, I'm nuts, too. I'm on the verge of killing my damn father for creating this mess!"

I hadn’t realized I was yelling, until Ophelia and Camille stepped away from me and put their hands up, like they were trying to calm a crazy person. That was about right, though. I felt pretty crazy at the moment.

"Okay, I get it. He's not a creep, just traumatized. Just settle down. It's time to go open your shop," Ophelia coddled.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you guys." I noticed Camille had tears in her eyes.

"That was it, wasn't it? Why other women never held his interest. I feel so horrible for trying to push them on him. I thought if he could just meet the right one, he wouldn't be so miserable. That was never going to happen, though. He’d already met her, and she was gone."