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Is this marriage of your choosing?
What do your parents say about all this?
Lady Victoria. Do you have a comment about your failed relationship with the Kingstons?
Question after question was thrown at me as I descended the stairs along with the flashing cameras. Some I would have loved to answer, while others I wanted to shove their recorders down their throats.
I waved and did my best to not show a reaction.“No comment. I would just like to get home and settle in.” I paused on the last step to address the crowd.
If the questioning hadn’t been bad enough, the men who exited the newly arrived car on the other side of the group made it all worse.
Shit, shit, shit.I wasn’t ready to deal with them. Not when my torn, broken heart needed time to heal, and I had to find a way to accept this new pairing. To my utter dismay, the reporters split and created an aisle. William Donaldson approached first, and the rest of the group followed close behind.
“Welcome home, Lady Victoria.” William grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips. I fought a shiver of dread and kept smiling. There was no way I’d embarrass us in public, and Mother knew this. “I trust your flight was a pleasant one.”
“Yes, it was. Thank you.” I tried to extract my hand from William’s grasp as discreetly as possible, but he held fast. The reporters shouted more questions about my relationship with William and his brothers, but I ignored them the best I could.
“Let’s take you home.” It was easy for me to see the falseness in his smile. After knowing him for years, he couldn’t fool me like he could the public. He was pissed at me, and I knew why. I’d been dragging this whole thing out for far too long, even I knew it.
“Thank you,” I said, allowing him to help me down the last step. He wrapped his arm around my waist and hugged me against his side.
Adrian, Hector, and Malcolm surrounded us as we made our way to the car—the perfect example of how a loving group of gentlemen were supposed to care for their woman. It made me sick, knowing they were doing this all for show. They didn’t care for me. Once out of the public eye, they would be anything but gentlemen.
Once the door shut, their cold stares created a shiver I tried to brush off as a chill in the air-conditioned car. I waited for them to initiate the conversation. I might have come home willingly, but it didn’t mean I was looking forward to our marriage.
I glanced at each of them in turn. Adrian was the kindest of them all. Sympathy flashed in his eyes before it was covered by hurt. He was the youngest of the group and had hardened the least. Hector, on the other hand, clenched his jaw and stared daggers. Malcolm refused to meet my eyes. That was fine. He had been a nice guy once, but William had sunk his claws into him long ago, and that guy no longer existed. William was the last one I turned to, and I wish I hadn’t acknowledged him at all. The maniacal gleam in his eyes and sadistic smile on his face only told me I was in for a world of pain and hurt when I finally said I do.
I took a deep breath and turned my head toward the window. I wanted to avoid any and all conversation, if possible. The ride wouldn’t take very long, but the tension in the car was suffocating.
“We’ve had enough of your games, Victoria. We’re done waiting.” William’s harsh tone breached the uncomfortable silence.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” I continued to stare out the window, only to be grabbed around my jaw and forced to meet William’s gaze.My neck twinged with unexpected pain. He’d never grabbed me in anger before. Up until now, he’d only verbally dressed me down and embarrassed me.
“You will look at me when I am speaking to you.” His grip tightened, and I couldn’t help but wince. “You will not leave again before the wedding, or I will destroy your family’s business. Do you understand?”
I nodded the best I could in his tight grasp. There was no place left for me to go anyway. This was my life. There was no hope in delaying the inevitable any longer.
I narrowed my eyes and pulled from his grasp. Forget it. I had previously decided to go along with this marriage and deal with how they treated me, but this was not acceptable. I may be stuck in this horrible situation, but I was not going to be some weak wife for them to abuse. If they wanted to marry me, they were going to get a wife who fought back.
“Watch it, woman. That look will get you on the other end of my fist. You don’t want to make me angry. You would not like the consequences.” His knuckles cracked as he tightened his fists in his lap.
I turned to the window.
Out of the corner of my eye, William lurched forward, but was stopped by Malcolm. “Not yet.”
Whatever he had wanted to do, I had a feeling he was stockpiling for the day we were married.An icy chill seeped into me, and I cringed. These men weren’t just going to make my life hell if I didn’t give in to them, but they might actually take their anger out on me physically.
My heart leapt in my throat the moment my childhood house came into view. I had to refrain from opening the door and jumping out before the limo came to a full stop. The need to get out of here was overwhelming. I wanted to crawl out of my skin rather than be in the confinement of the limo with these assholes any longer.
The staff I’d grown up with came out front to greet me when we drove up the long drive. When the car door opened, I nearly tackled the driver as I got out and bolted. I knew the staff would grab my bags. Even though I might hate being waited on after my time at the ranch, I knew they’d do exactly what was expected of them.
Without a backward glance, I made my way into the house. My skin crawled at having been in the car with them for the last thirty minutes. If this one thing felt unbearable, how was I going to make it through the rest of my life with them? There were many loveless marriages out there. Perhaps what they needed was someone to look good on their arm and a society connection. If I was lucky, maybe I could lock myself in my room and only come out when I needed to.
I’d only made it up the stairs and around the corner before I stopped and leaned against the nearest wall. My heart beat frantically in my chest as I fought to catch my next breath. I knew from growing up this spot was one of the best for catching conversations that happened by the front door or in the entertainment room. I’d overheard many of my parents’ conversations from here.
“Now that she has returned, we will announce the engagement tomorrow and put our wedding plans into motion. We will work with the first available date the venue has and go from there. How does that sound?”
I heard my mother’s voice loud and clear from the foyer. She was pacifying the Donaldsons.
