“Yes…but...” she begins to protest to me. No doubt, she wants to tell me about how he’s a good man, now, but her words will fall on deaf ears. Any man who could do that to the woman he’s supposed to love will always be the devil to me, and my sister knows it. She stops all conversation and focuses on her daughter. There is little point in me staying here since it’s obvious I can’t save my sister today, and the guilt of that starts to twist in my stomach.
“If you ever need me, just call. You’ll always be my sister, no matter what.”
I leave Victoria in the room, and as I shut the door, I can hear her softly sobbing. Nicholas is standing in the hallway and on the phone as he told me he would be.
“I’ll call you back in a minute, John.” He hangs up. I’m done, though. I can’t be in this place anymore. The burden of the suffering, which has taken place within these four walls, weighs heavily on me. Without saying another word, I turn heel and stride straight out the front door leaving it open behind me.
It’s not until I’m home and getting ready for bed, later the same evening, that I feel remotely calm after the meeting. I want to be a part of my sister’s and my niece’s life, but while they’re under the thumb of Nicholas Cavendish, I’ve got no hope—I can’t have while imagining the cruel way he’s treating them. I might never get Victoria away from him. She’s too far under the evil Duke’s spell, but I have to save Rose. I can’t let her be raised in a household where her father treats women as sex slaves.
I wish my father was here. I’ve had some cryptic messages from him over the last few months, but I’ve not physically seen him since the day he went into hiding because he was going to be questioned for Elsie Bennett’s murder. He didn’t kill her. My father is a good man. Okay, my mother and him had an interesting relationship—they weren’t overly affectionate, and I think that’s why they live separately now. I barely see my mother. But that doesn’t make him the man Victoria and Tamara claim him to be. He gave Elsie a home when she became a single mother with no family who could support her, and she’d nowhere else to go. He even paid for Tamara’s education at Cambridge. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be a lawyer, now. Not that she seems to be rushing to go into practice. No, she’s exploiting everything he helped pay for by using it against him in her position as the Cavendish brother’s legal adviser. It’s ungrateful and disloyal. He’s never hurt Tamara, only helped her. Even more upsetting is the fact my father was always a loving and doting parent to Victoria. I remember them playing happily together in the gardens. I know he was strict with her and prevented her from going to university, which was sometimes a bone of contention between them, but it’s not a reason for her to turn against him as she has. I guess she blames him for what she had to endure at Nicholas’ hands.
“Ugh!” I exclaim and lash out at the wall closest to me. “Everything is a big mess.”
I’ve drank half a bottle of brandy to try and ease my worries since returning from Oakfield Hall. I’m tired, frustrated, and just need to shower and sleep. Decision made, I undress and drop all my clothes in a pile on the floor. I’ve my own personal butler now my father’s gone, and I know even though I should pick everything up he won’t mind doing it for me when I’m so exhausted.
My father told me I could move into his rooms during his absence, but I’ve chosen to stay in mine, preferring them to the grandeur of his decoration. I’ve always been more of a simple man. After school, I went to Oxford University and studied business. I really enjoyed my time there and made many friends who I’m certain will be associates for life, but I’ve always known I’m destined for the title of Viscount, so I’ve not tried to branch out on my own. My father has drilled it into me since birth that I’m his heir, and he wants me ready to take over his title when I’m called upon to do so, eventually. I wouldn’t be in a position to do that if I was knee-deep in running my own business. It’s a little sad, because I had a fabulous idea for a company: assisting children with learning difficulties to get better exposure to the art of the world. Victoria had always been in love with art of any kind, and I’d seen first-hand on a work experience trip at university how it inspires children. Sadly, my future wasn’t to travel down that path, though…maybe one day? Until then, I’m running the estate in my father’s absence.
I step in the steaming shower and allow it to wash my worries away. I’m full of tension. Moving my hand down to my dick, I give it a few strokes to bring it to life. It’s the easiest way to relieve my mood. It’s completely at odds with the worries I have for my sister, but damn, I’m a man, and the way to my heart is through my dick. It’s the only way to ensure I get some sleep tonight. I had a girlfriend for a short while at university, and I bring to mind the memory of her bouncing on my dick with her perfect tits rising and falling as she rode me like a cowgirl. My hand strokes faster and faster until my boys tighten, and my cum shoots off like a bullet into the shower wall. I feel all the tension ease from my taut body, and I yawn. Turning the water off, I reach for a towel and dry myself. I clean my teeth and do a final piss for the night before heading into my bedroom. Sliding between the luxurious sheets of my massive bed, my eyes instantly shut, and presumably I fall asleep because it feels like hours later when I’m awoken by a crash in the room.
“Theodore, it’s just me,” my father announces, and I rub my eyes still full of sleep.
“Father?”
He holds his finger to his lips while another man with him points a torch in my direction. Movement to my left captures my attention, and I look up just in time to see another man press a needle into my neck.
“What the fuck?” I exclaim. The world starts to spin as my head fogs with exhaustion again. “What’s going on?” I slur, fighting to keep my eyes open.
“It’s ok. It’s the quickest way,” my father reassures me, and before I can question him further…the world turns black.