CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
VICTORIA
I’m thrown into a dimly lit room by the man who swept me off my feet from my father’s vault. The door shuts, and a key turns in the lock. I scramble to my feet and try the handle, but to no avail, I’m locked in.
“Where’s Nicholas?” I shout but get no response. “Let me out!”
Nothing.
I kick the door — however, given that it’s solid oak, it hurts my foot more than it makes any damage, which could be used as a means of escape.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I jump around holding my sore toe. “Nicholas,” I try again. What the hell is going on? I look around the room that I’m in and realize that it’s my bedroom at Oakfield hall. The secret passages! I run across the room at a hobbling pace but don’t make it to the door before it opens, and William appears. I fling myself into his arms.
“Oh, thank god. We have to go. You know these passages. We’ve got to get out of here. I need to find Nicholas.”
I pull back and look up at him. He’s pale, and he opens and shuts his mouth like a fish, looking for words.
“William. What is it?” My heart sinks.
“Words. They’re funny. Normally, I have loads of them.” He flicks his hand over his hair a few times. His other hand is against the wall and tapping repeatedly. “I can’t find them.”
“William. Is Nicholas alright?” He’s scaring me. I’m fearing the worst, and my legs feel like they’re sinking to the floor in defeat.
“He’s gone.”
“Dead?” I whisper, my voice breaking.
William shakes his head rapidly in the negative, and I suck in a breath of relief.
“Words, William, find them,” he chastises himself.
“It’s alright. I’m here.” I hold the hand that isn’t tapping.
“I wanted my brain to work properly, so I could be good enough to save him. He and you could run away. I’ll be what the Duke wants, but I was made wrong. Miswired and a freak.”
“Hush. There’s nothing wrong with you. I need you to calm down, though, and tell me what’s going on. Come sit on the bed.” I lead the man who’s almost the spitting image of his older brother, except for a bit paler, over to the bed. I settle him down, take hold of his hand, and allow him to tap his comforting rhythm onto my leg.
“Nicholas has gone.” William won’t make eye contact with me. It’s a sign of his condition but also a result of his agitation.
“You said he’s alive? Where’s he gone?”
“Scotland.”
“Scotland?” I question.
“To marry.”
“Marry,” I repeat with dumbfounded shock.
“He chose Elizabeth as his wife — she’s pregnant.”
The walls I’ve built around me, to stay sharp, tumble down. I stand up and pace. My head is suddenly all over the place, fearing the worst.
“Elizabeth’s pregnant.”
“The Duke wants them married as soon as possible.” William still can’t look at me. This time, though, I know it’s because of the shame that he’s feeling for his brother’s actions.
“Elizabeth’s pregnant,” I repeat, and tears start to fall from my eyes. I’ve been played by the society again. Now, I see it was all a game. Nicholas is no different than his father. He warned me he was the devil, and I chose not to listen. I allowed myself to fall in love with him. I’m the biggest idiot on the planet. He was after whomever he could get pregnant first. He never had any intention of changing.
I look at William. He’s tapping a rhythm on the bed. Is it all an act with him as well? The whole fucking family played me. They’ve no respect for women. It’s all one big game to them.
“Get out!” I shout at him. He looks up and shakes his head.
“No.”
“Get out.” I step toward him and slap him hard on the face. “I hate you all. I’m sick of being a pawn in your twisted games. Go!”
“Victoria?” he stammers.
“Get out,” I scream and cover my ears, so I can’t hear any more of his lies. I screw my eyes shut, not wanting the reminder of my mistakes and foolishness in front of me, anymore. “I just want to go home. This is over. Nicholas has made his choice. Just let me go.”
I open my eyes and see William is by the door to the secret passageway in my room. He shakes his head.
“William?” Something’s wrong — I can sense it.
“I’m sorry. When you’re told that ‘you’re nothing’, you believe it. I wish I could help you, but I’m not strong enough. I don’t know how to.” He turns quickly and disappears into the passageway. The door closes behind him, and I hear it lock. No. That door is always open. Why is he locking it? I pull on the handle, but it doesn’t budge.
“William,” I call with trepidation but receive no response.
“Argh!” I pull on the door, once more, then turn and run back to the main bedroom door. I tug on that, but it's still locked. I ball my fists up and hammer hard against the oak. It hurts like hell, but I don’t care. I want out of this room.
“I want to go home,” I shout. “I’ve failed your stupid tasks. Nicholas has chosen his Duchess. Let me go. Let me fucking go!”
A laugh, I would recognize anywhere, comes from the other side of the door. I stop hammering and step back.
The door opens, and two guards flank either side of the Duke of Oakfield as he enters.
“Miss Hamilton, I see you’ve learned of my son’s betrayal. Women are such weak creatures — easily convinced that they’re in love, and so they drop their knickers. Whores! The lot of you.” I step forward to slap him, but one of the guards grabs my wrist and pushes me against the wall. My face is slammed against the velvet lining of an ostentatious wallpaper that depicts the society’s crest. The guard moves to one side and allows the Duke to press himself, and an erection, against the seam of my ass. I try to fight, but I’m not able to move.
“My son’s made his decision. You're not under his protection anymore. If I want you strapped to the bed and to fuck you till you bleed all over my dick, then I can. But you’re tainted, and I’m bored of your mouth.”
“Fuck you.” I spit behind me, and it hits him square in the jaw. He thrusts harder against me.
“Mind you, I can always change my mind.” He lowers his hand over the clothed curves of my body until his fingers rest at the cleft between my thighs. I want to be sick. The cat suit is thin in texture, and I can feel his dirty nails digging into my sensitive flesh. He swirls a finger around my clit. I’m dry to his touch. I’ll never feel pleasure from a man’s touch again. “Alas,” he continues his speech, “I have a wedding to get to. The future of the Oakfield line is assured. You thought Amelia would be the last to die for our name, but you were wrong. Ultra Vires, we’re beyond their power. Nobody will ever stop us, and more will die for our pleasure. Women are nothing — they are weak and feeble. A womb to raise our sons. Not that, that will be your future.” He rubs himself harder against me.
“Enjoy your last few hours of life, Victoria Hamilton, for by sunrise you’ll be dead.”
“Let me go,” I whimper and plead on a sob.
“You know too much,” he snarls.
“I’ll never talk.”
“Never leave a loose end.”
He steps back and pulls me with him. I fly across the room and smack into the wall on the other side. My ribs hit a brass hanging, and I collapse with the pain.
“You really thought you’d beat me. I’m the fucking Duke of Oakfield. I’m the ruler of this goddamn society. My word is law.” The Duke stalks after me, shouting his diatribe. I’m on the verge of blacking out.
“One day, you'll be stopped. I might not have been strong enough, but there’ll be more women like me. One day, whether it be thirty years or three hundred years, a woman will be strong enough to stop this. Your name and legacy will be destroyed.
The Duke kicks me right in my ribs, and I can’t keep the shriek of agony inside me.
“I’ll be dead and buried, by then. I really don’t care. All I care about is now. Goodbye, Miss Hamilton. I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure knowing you. Actually, no, it has. I’ve enjoyed defeating someone who thought they could match me. You’ve made this whole process much more interesting. I’ll take that knowledge into my retirement and use it as fire when I fuck.”
He strides to the door. I try to crawl after him, but I’m in too much pain.
“Until we meet again, in hell.” He stops at the door and smiles. Then, he turns to one of his guards.
“Place the call to Laird McGuire — tell him I’ve got a pretty little toy for him to break.”
My stomach lurches, and I vomit on the floor.