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Italy? Leaving tonight?

The room seemed to tilt on its axis as Theodore continued, his tone chillingly calm, as though he were merely discussing the most mundane of matters.

"You needn’t worry, Victoria," he said, with that infuriating smile on his lips. "All the arrangements have been made. Come dawn, we shall be far, far from here."

Her breath caught in her throat as her heart thundered in her chest.

"You… you are mad," she whispered as she stepped away from him, shaking her head in denial. "You must be! Italy? What on earth are you talking about? Theodore, what is wrong with you?!"

He raised a brow, as though her objection was the one irrational thing in the room.

"Madness?" His voice lowered, growing dangerously calm, the hint of that predatory gleam returning to his gaze. "No, my dear, this is the only sensible course of action. Dint you see? I’ve done this for you… for us. You will see, in time, that it is the right thing. Once you are free from that brute… free from the life you’re trapped in… you will understand."

"For us?" she asked in a trembling voice filled with outrage, her. "There is no us, Theodore, I am not some object to be taken at your whim. What you are proposing is not an escape… it’s… it’s a kidnapping!"

His smile faltered for a moment, as if he couldn't understand why she was reacting like that but then it was quickly replaced by a stern, almost patronizing look.

"Victoria," he said slowly, as though speaking to a child, "you don’t understand. I am saving you. Anthony is not the man you think he is. He cannot love you, not as I do. This is for your own good."

"My own good?" She took another step back, the tremor in her hands betraying the fury that was rising within her. "How can you say that? This… this is wrong! I never asked for this, never wanted this! You have no right!"

He took a deliberate step toward her, his calm mask cracking slightly as his impatience bled into his voice. "Victoria, I’ve made the arrangements. We are leaving tonight, and I will not allow your blind obsession to ruin this."

"You… will not allow me?!" she repeated, her voice was low and trembling with barely suppressed rage. "You speak as though I am yours, as though I was a prisoner and therefore have no say in my own life!"

"Don't you see Victoria? You are too precious to me to leave you in the hands of that monster. You do not know what is best for you. But I do."

Her breath quickened as she realized how deep his obsession ran, how utterly warped his sense of righteousness had become.

She could feel the walls closing in around her, the air thick with the weight of his insanity.

"No," she said firmly, backing away until she felt the edge of the desk press against her spine. "I will not go with you, Theodore. I am not moving anywhere with you. I will be going home. And you have no right to make these decisions for me. If you think I will allow myself to be carted off to Italy like a possession, you are gravely mistaken."

His eyes flickered with frustration, a muscle in his jaw twitching as he tried to rein in his temper. "I will do what is necessary, Victoria," he said, his voice darkening, "whether you understand that now or not. You will thank me in time."

"No," she repeated, her voice trembling with both fear and defiance. "I will not. Theodore, I will not be going anywhere with you."

ChapterTwenty-Three

Her Grace, Helen, Dowager Duchess of Devlin entered the grand Devlin estate with a fire of frustration bubbling just beneath her composed smile.

She was angry.

No.

She was more than angry.

She was enraged.

The talks had started before she had been gone to bed.

A brute.

No courtesy.

What do you expect from someone so scared?

On and on it went and it was even worse with the morning light.