Free In Love with a Stranger by Rose Von Barnsley Page B

You'd think he'd know how important having a daddy is, and he just…"
    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