Page 108 of The Devil's Torment

ChapterThirty-Six

NICHOLAS

The last four weeks since Victoria was released from the hospital have been a rollercoaster of emotions that I’m not used to letting myself feel. It’s been a ride, that’s for sure.

A few days ago, I sat down with Phillip and Laura, and we cleared the air. I still think they favor Elizabeth far too much, but then again, I’m biased. Victoria is my everything, my heart, my soul, my reason for living.

As for her sister, it’s a work in progress. Mostly, we avoid each other, passing only pleasantries whenever our paths cross. I know Victoria would love it if I could move past what Elizabeth did, as she seems to have done, but like I said to her weeks ago, she’s a far more forgiving, compassionate person than me.

I’ll always see Elizabeth as a selfish, manipulative bitch, and I don’t feel a shred of guilt for feeling that way. I shudder every time I think that I could have ended up married to her.

Maybe that should mean I’m more forgiving of what she did, but I’m not. I will never forgive her for what she put Victoria through, or her parents. I watched my father mourn the loss of a child, and it isn’t pretty. Laura and Phillip might not be my favorite people, but, Jesus, no parent deserves to bury their kid only to find out she faked it when all she had to do was find her fucking balls and tell her parents she’d met someone else and refuse to marry me.

My family may have a great deal of power, but the last time I checked, we’d never forcibly marched anyone down the aisle with a fucking gun to their heads.

Not for a century or two, at least.

Then again, Phillip needed my father’s cash injection to keep his business afloat, so maybe they wouldn’t have listened. Still, it’s all moot now.

The weather hasn’t been kind during February, with heavy snow and ice almost every day. I’ve been too worried about Victoria slipping and falling to let her leave the house all that much, but March has started off better, and today, it almost feels like spring, with fluffy white clouds and a mild, southerly breeze.

A perfect day for sailing.

“Feel like going out?”

Victoria is curled up on the couch reading, with Penny tucked into the backs of her knees. The puppy has rarely left her side since she returned home, leaving me thoroughly demoted to second place.

Her eyes sparkle like the brightest star in the galaxy. She puts down the book. “God, yes. I’m going stir crazy cooped up in the house. Where are you thinking?”

“I thought we might go sailing.”

“Can Penny come?”

At hearing her name, Penny’s head lifts, her ears pricked, almost as though she senses an upcoming adventure.

“I don’t see why not. Here’s hoping she’s got sea legs.”

An hour later, I steerThe Devil’s Tormentorout of the marina and into open waters. I may have to change the name of the boat, as well as the one I keep in Croatia, too. It doesn’t fit me like it used to. I haven’t felt this centered and at peace with myself in a long time, and I know who I have to thank for that.

My gaze travels to my wife, her cheeks pinking up nicely in the sea air, with Penny snuggled against her chest. I smile, and the smile she gives me in return fills my heart with adoration. After everything we’ve been through, I don’t take for granted how lucky I am. A few short months ago I would have said, with vigorous determination, that I was incapable of loving a woman as much as I love my wife.

But here we are.

“Put Penny down, Half-pint. It’s about time we began your sailing lessons.”

She bites her lip and grimaces, the expression crinkling the skin around her eyes. “What if I crash?”

Amusement lifts my lips. “There’s nothing to crash into. Besides, I’ll be right behind you.”

She doesn’t look convinced, but she sets Penny on the deck and makes her way over to me anyway. Penny toddles after her, plunking her bottom on the deck no more than two inches from Victoria’s feet, staking her claim. If she could talk, I swear she’d shout, “Mine!”

Too bad, pups. She was mine long before you came into the world, and she’ll be mine long after you’re gone.

I maneuver Victoria in front of me and place her hands on the wheel. I talk her through the basics of sailing, like understanding wind direction, steering, and the importance of sail control. She takes it all in, nodding to show her understanding, even asking me a question or two I wouldn’t have expected from a novice.

“This isn’t so bad,” she says, after she’s been at the controls for five minutes.

“We’ll make a sailor out of you yet.”

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