Forbidden

Chapter Three

"Then I'll be sure to visit her table there."

Cody bowed his head. "Thank you. Mum will be very pleased to show you her best work."

Alicia brushed past William on her way back to her cutting board, murmuring not-so-subtly as she went. "I like this one, Will. About time you found a polite, courteous boy to befriend."

"Yes, Mum." William shot a sneaky eye roll over to Cody, who ducked his head in a smirk of amusement. "I'm going to take Cody 'round on the tour, then."

Alicia waved them off dismissively, busy arranging her bouquet in a vase. "Make sure you pop into the study and introduce him to your father." She glanced up, her brows lifted in warning. "But don't bother him. He's working."

"He's always working," William muttered under his breath.

"Manners, William."

"Yes, Mum."

William took Cody around the house, showing him everything. "Gods, Will!" Cody exclaimed when they came back inside from the wide terrace that overlooked the manicured gardens. "Your family doesn't do anything by halves, does it? This place is over the top!"

William rolled his eyes. "Yes, we Hannigans are an ostentatious lot."

Cody whispered into his ear, "You're not."

With a bashful smile, William gestured to a closed door. "And that brings us to the study." He took a deep breath to quell his nerves, lifted his hand, and knocked firmly.

"Come in," came the terse response several seconds later.

William led the way into the darkly masculine room where a hard-looking man with streaks of grey shot through his impeccably groomed blond hair sat scowling down at various papers arranged neatly across his positively enormous desk. All the Hannigans were blond, and all but Kyrah had various shades of the same green eyes. But where William, his mother, and his sister were approachable and welcoming, the general impression that William's father gave was an aura of cold, aloof distance. He was business to his core, and it showed.

Even William's demeanor changed as soon as he came into his father's presence. He approached the desk and stood stiffly with his hands behind his back and his chin raised, a stern expression on his typically smiling face. His jaw was clenched in a hard line and he said nothing, instead waiting to be addressed, like a peasant before a king.

And the infuriating man made William wait. When he was finally ready to acknowledge his son, the sharp smack of his pen on the desk made the boys jump before the thick tension in the room weighed them down again. "William."

He didn't move. Just stared at a point slightly above his father's head as he dutifully responded. "Father. I'd like to introduce Cody Hughes. He's a new friend of mine."

Cody stepped forward, intimidation glinting in his eyes but with determination in his polite smile. He extended his hand. "Thank you for inviting me into your very impressive home, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The elder Hannigan scowled down at Cody's hand as if the boy was giving him a rude gesture and then, finally, clasped it in the briefest, most perfunctory handshake that it was possible to bestow. "Christopher Hannigan." He didn't even stand up.

William's eyes narrowed with barely concealed disgust at his father's arrogant behavior but, even though a muscle jumped in his rigidly set jaw, he said nothing.

"Hughes." Christopher stroked his thumb and forefinger over his clean-shaven chin in thought. "I don't recall hearing of your family previously."

"We're new in town, sir."