Love Is A Battlefield [2] (T. Shelby/OC) BWWM✅

Chapter 16 - The Drug

"So you're living with the man now, are you?" Harold Dashwood asks his granddaughter as she sat across from him at his desk.

"Grandfather-" Anna starts but he cuts her off.

"I'm just trying to understand why you would do this" Harold says with a sigh, "the ink from your divorce isn't even dry yet and you've already moved in with the man" he adds.

Anna doesn't point out that the ink from her divorce must be more than dry by now considering how much time had passed since she'd signed the papers.

"I haven't come to fight, grandfather" Anna informs him, "I've only come to tell you that I'm moving in with him" she adds, "and I'm taking Nancy with me" she adds.

"Is it not enough that you divorced Charles because of this man? Now you want him to play daddy to Nancy too?!" he asks angrily.

"He is her father" Anna points out coolly.

"Yes" Harold agrees, "but a poor excuse for one" he adds, "what kind of man places the lives of the woman he cares about and their child at risk in such a manner?" he asks her, "do you know that Sabini's men have sworn vengeance after what Shelby did to them? Not to mention the fact that it was probably them that killed the inspector from Belfast!" he adds.

Anna knows exactly which inspector it was that had been killed and why and frankly she feels that Campbell deserved what he got after what he put Polly through. Ada had told her about what he did and she wished that she could have killed inspector Campbell herself for what he did to Polly.

She doesn't say a thing however as she listened to her grandfather venting about how much he hated Tommy and at this point it's become far too much of a broken record for Anna to care.

"So the fact that Tommy wants to be in his daughter's life means nothing to you, grandfather?"

"What good is his presence in Nancy's life if he is placing her at risk because of it?" Harold asks as he takes a drag of his cigar.

"For what it's worth - I am sorry" Anna says as she rises from her seat, "I'm sorry that I've disappointed you by falling in love with a gangster. I'm sorry that like my mother, I'm choosing my own happiness above anyone else's" she says as her grandfather sighs at this.

"And I'm sorry that you hate Tommy's presence in mine and Nancy's lives but the fact of the matter is that he is her father and he's in her life now and he's not going anywhere" Anna informs him firmly.

She slides the invitation to Nancy's birthday across the table as she rises from her seat.

"Regardless of whether or you like or hate Tommy one person should be more important to you than that, your great-granddaughter" she adds, "Nancy would be happy to see you there" she adds as she walked out his office as Harold picked up the invitation and read it over.

⚜️Love Is A Battlefield⚜️

When Tommy returned to Arrow House he was pleasantly surprised when he heard Nancy's elated peals of laughter followed by the rich, melodic and wholesome sound of Anna's own laughter as he made his way toward the backyard where the laughter was coming from.

"Welcome back Mr. Shelby" Mary greets him. She already has an idea of where he was headed. The man might seem cold and closed-off to the rest of the world but Mary always sees a part of him that not many people get to see whenever he's with Anna and Nancy.

The arrival of Anna and Nancy in Arrow House had brought a change in Tommy's life and breathed life into Arrow House. Mary prayed that no harm came to them, especially since she knows what kind of business Tommy is involved in.