Page 4 of Tainted Reasoning

I roll my eyes.

“Stockholm Syndrome,” I tell her, but she shakes her head.

“No, true love. A ‘til death do us part kind of love…because I couldn’t survive without him kind of love.”

A laugh comes from the top of the stairs, and we all turn our heads to look up. A handsome man stands there. My breath catches at the sharp cut of his jaw, which is littered with stubble. He’s not dressed as formally as Nicholas but wears a forest green polo shirt and black jeans. His strong thighs are accentuated by the style of pants he’s wearing. I lick my lips. He has a similar look to Nicholas, and I guess this must be his brother, William. He’s the one who saved Victoria when the evil Scotsman tried to rape and murder her. I push past Nicholas and Victoria and run up the stairs to meet him. Throwing my arms around him, I pull him to me and give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you, thank you,” I tell him. “I can never repay you for saving my best friend. You’re a good man.”

Turning back around again, I scowl at Nicholas who in turn looks at Victoria as if to ask ‘why do I get the crap kicked out of me, and my brother gets affection? Women are nuts’. He’s the reason my friend suffered as she did, and it’ll be a cold day in hell before I trust him.

“Enough, Tamara.” Victoria takes her husband’s arm and leads him into the side room I’d just come from. William links his arm through mine and assists me down the stairs, so we can follow them.

“He’s really not that bad. My father was an evil man. It took Nicholas a little while to step out from under his control. He loves Victoria intensely and will do anything for her–he worships the ground she walks on. You really don’t have to worry about her safety.”

“Really?” I roll my eyes again. I was well known for doing it at university when people annoyed me. It’s a habit I picked up from my mother–she was always doing it when I was younger. My mother is a placid person, most of the time, but get her onto a subject that irritates her, and her eyes start rolling around like a merry-go-round. “So why is her shirt all ripped?…and he was putting himself back in his trousers when I first saw him.”

“Sex,” William replies bluntly.

“I’m sorry?” I quiz in confusion.

“They were about to have sex. They do it most days…numerous times. I’ve bought a pair of headphones to escape the noise. They’re like rabbits.” Letting go of my arm as we walk into the room, he makes a circle with the index finger and thumb of his right hand and then sticks the index finger of his left hand through the middle of the circle. “All the time…like bunnies. Nicholas puts his dick in Victoria’s pussy a lot.”

My mouth falls open.

“William!” Nicholas and Victoria both chastise him at the same time.

“Inappropriate conversation in public,” Nicholas reminds him.

William shrugs. “But it’s true!”

Nicholas is sitting in an old leather arm chair while Victoria having collected ice out of a bucket in the corner of the room is now walking back toward her husband, clearly, he needs something to reduce the swelling I caused earlier with my knee.

“I know, but we don’t say things like that in front of guests,” Nicholas informs him.

“But she’s not a guest. She’s Victoria’s best friend, and girls are always gossiping. I’m sure she knows all about the size of your dick, and what you can do with it.”

“William, please!” My friend’s shocked response comes as she unceremoniously drops the ice, now wrapped in a towel, into her husband’s lap. When I look at her, a rosy tint spreads across her cheeks.

I suppress a little giggle at how embarrassed my best friend looks. We’ve not spoken a great deal since she was given by her father to the Cavendish family. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been so worried. But now, taking the time to look at her, and the way she’s interacting with Nicholas, it would be impossible not to see the love she has for him. Having removed the ice from her husband’s lap, she’s now tenderly stroking his face while he tries to get comfortable in the chair. My temper and worry for my friend got the better of me, and I didn’t allow her to explain.

“I’m sorry,” I admit with a wave of my hand toward Nicholas. I lower my head to look down guiltily at the ground. “Having been told by Victoria about everything that happened, I couldn’t get past the bad stuff to see you two are happy together. I hope I’ve not permanently damaged anything…down there?”

I bite my lip and gesture toward his male parts. Nicholas stands and comes over to me, limping slightly, and formally holds his hand out to me, which I take and shake.

“Victoria wasn’t always my first priority, and what you just did to me was a well-deserved punishment. But I can assure you Victoria’s my world, now. I’ll do anything to protect her.” He shuffles from side to side as if to test out the discomfort he’s still experiencing. “I think I’ll be alright in a few hours. As William so eloquently commented earlier, my wife and I are in the honeymoon stage, and I can’t disappoint her.” He winks at me before pushing his brother along toward the door. “We’ll go and arrange some food and drink. Leave you girls alone to catch up.”

“Thank you.” Victoria nods her head at him before coming up to me and pulling me into an embrace again.

“I really am sorry,” I tell her.

“Like he said, he deserved it.” She laughs. It’s beautiful to hear and looking closely at her, for the first time, I can see how happy she truly is. She looks alive and free. I sniff and take in her rose scented perfume.

“Some things never change. Your favorite flower. I hope he buys you plenty.”

“Everyday.” She sniffs the air around me. “I see you haven’t changed either… is that lily?”

“Of course.”

Victoria leads me to take a seat on a chaise longue, overlooking the grounds of the house.

“Are you truly happy?” I ask her, just to confirm one final time.

“I’ve never been happier.” Her reply blows away any lingering doubts I have, and we settle in for an afternoon of gossip and catching up on how very different her life has become.

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