Page 41 of Loving Victoria

Alex nodded, relief settling on her face. “I’ll let you talk to her alone then.” She left the office.

Part of me wanted to ask her to come back to lend me moral support. The phone stopped buzzing, and another notification popped up with a second missed call. Immediately after, another incoming call showed on the screen. She was certainly persistent.

“Hello, Mother.” I tried for a carefree tone, but she was getting on my last nerves. With each conversation we had, the less I used my sweet and understanding side. She was calling almost every day now, and we had the same conversation every single time. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”

“Don’t play games with me, Victoria. I don’t have time. I’m being questioned every day about when you will make an appearance.”

“Let me guess, William is the one requesting it. Well, you can tell William he can kiss my—”

“Do not finish that sentence, young lady,” Mother snapped. “Or I swear I will fly to Texas and drag you here if I have to. We all understand you are helping the Kingstons, but your fathers and I need you to come home to placate the Donaldsons.” Her tone lightened near the end.

“I have meetings scheduled all this week. I can’t cancel any of them without massive repercussions.” Mother might not understand kindness, love, or respect, but she understood business.

“Can you try to come this weekend, or maybe next weekend? I hate to have to ruin your time with your friends, but we really need you to look for a dress.”

I rolled my eyes. That was a lie. She would love nothing more than to ruin my time here in Texas. She never understood why I loved visiting with Tommy and Dec.

“Fine.” I huffed. “I’ll make arrangements to try to be there this weekend. Will that make you happy?”

“Ecstatic, dear. See you soon.” She smooched into the phone and hung up. She’d gotten what she wanted. There was no reason for her to stay and talk more.It’s not like she was truly interested in the life I led unless it was to do her bidding.

Now I had to figure out a way to get out of the arrangement before I flew home, or I’d have to fall back on Plan B: fake a pregnancy. I had a lot to do this week and very little time.

CALEB

Ihurried from Tori’s office door as soon as Alex announced she was leaving. There was no way I wanted to be caught after what I’d heard. I knew it was wrong to listen to their conversation, but it was the most I’d heard Tori open up about her family and their expectations. Though I wished it had been us she’d confided in instead of Alex. Now that I knew what Tori was keeping secret, I didn’t know how to handle it.

Tori hadn’t mentioned she had an arranged marriage to another group of men. From what I gathered, it sounded like she was being forced into it, but I struggled to understand the logistics behind it or how her parents could force her.

It ripped my heart in two to know she hadn’t trusted us enough to tell us the truth. We could have helped—still could, if only she decided to come to us. We worked better as a team.I thought she understood that.

Then to hear that she’s scheming about being pregnant to get out of the situation? It was a knife in my gut. Why in the world she thought that would be a good idea was beyond me. Did she even want children? And would she go so far as to get pregnant if the fake pregnancy didn’t work in her favor? Andrew and I knew we absolutely wanted to grow a family.

Andrew and I had no secrets between the two of us, but it seemed Tori had more than her fair share. Now I wish I hadn’t missed the beginning of the conversation. The first thing I heard was Alex telling Tori it was a bad idea.

No shit, Sherlock. This had terrible stamped all over it. What was Tori thinking? And why hadn’t she come to us to help her? Could it be that she wasn’t as serious about us as we were about her? If she was ready to toy with the feelings of another group of men, what would make me think she wouldn’t do this to us too? What if when she got bored with us and needed an out, she’d create a lie to get away?

The questions swirling in my head kept getting louder until I ended on wondering if she ever really had feelings for us. If she did, how could she continue to look us in the face and lie repeatedly?

I walked away from Tori’s office and ran into Thomas in the foyer. He was just walking in as I was trying to leave. And unfortunately, there was no getting past him.

“Hey, Caleb. I’m glad I ran into you. I need you on the plane to Miami. The Longiness Global Champions Tour is there on Wednesday, and then the team travels to Mexico City the following week. You’ll stay here for that show, but I think we might need you to Madrid in May.”

Thomas was giving me the out I needed—work. I had no idea how to face Tori, but my job had to continue.

Not noticing my distraction, Thomas continued. “I want you to test out Miami and then return to finish setting up the office and getting the files transferred over from the old program. Hopefully Tori will have a contract for us by then, and we’ll have the new software ready for you.” Thomas smacked me on the shoulder and smiled. He was clearly excited about this turn of events.

“Of course, boss. Whatever you need. I’ll catch a plane in the morning.” I needed to get away before I lost it. Already my despair was an uncomfortable itch under my skin, and the urge to yell out in anger simmered below the surface of my calm façade.

“That’s the spirit. I’ll touch base with you later.” Thomas smiled and then continued on his way toward his office.

The Miami show was only a few days away. I would leave tomorrow since the others had left yesterday to trailer the horses. Instinct told me to chase after Thomas and request to leave today, but maybe leaving tomorrow would be good for me. I’d have time to think about everything I’d heard and maybe find a calm way to discuss it.

I strode out of the main house, not knowing where to go. I couldn’t go to the barn. I had too much negative energy inside me, battling to get out, to be around the horses. I didn’t want to have a damaging interaction with Celeste and Stardust. The filly was too innocent to have to witness a possible breakdown from me in her stall, so instead I paced in front of the big house. By the fifth pass, I heard the creak of the front door opening and turned to see who it was.

A smile lit up Tori’s face. It was like she hadn’t just concocted a plan that would tear us all apart. When she realized I hadn’t responded in kind, she froze on the top step and a frown stretched across her face.

My heart pounded an unsteady rhythm in my chest, demanding I get answers.

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