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Before she could open the door, his hand slapped down on her wrist with a grip that was so tight it made her wince in pain.

And with a swift, brutal movement, he yanked her back toward him, pulling her down into the seat beside him.

He had used so much force that the motion knocked the breath from her lungs, while she gasped and struggled against his hold. His hands were strong, painfully strong, and as much as she fought, he overpowered her with ease.

"I shall not sit still, Victoria, while I eat h you try and throw your life away" he hissed, his breath hot against her cheek as he rose over her. His voice was low, dangerous, as though a storm had been brewing beneath his calm façade, now breaking through in full force. "If I must use force to make you see reason, so be it. But mark my words, you will not leave this carriage. Not until we get to our destination"

Her response to that was to continue thrashing in his grip, her body twisting in vain to escape him, even though his strength was far greater than hers.

Annoyed with her behavior, he- swift motion- pinned her arms down, holding her in place, his body pressing her back against the plush cushions of the carriage seat.

The weight of him was suffocating, and for a moment, her chest tightened with panic.

"Let me go!" she spat, her voice strained with the effort of fighting him. She glared at him, eyes blazing, but her body betrayed her—it was too tired, too weak from the struggle.

And Theodore was relentless.

"Victoria, stop," he murmured, his tone softening into something dangerously gentle as his hands, still holding her down, shifted ever so slightly. His grip loosened, but only enough to allow him to brush his fingers against her skin, an attempt at tenderness. "I do not wish to hurt you."

She recoiled at the touch, disgust flooding her veins. How could he even dare to caress her after all this?

The intimacy of the gesture was revolting, a sham of the affection he claimed to feel for her. She thrashed again, but his hands only tightened once more, holding her firmly in place.

"You will understand in time," he whispered, his face inches from hers. His eyes bore into her with an intensity that sent a chill through her. "Everything I am doing is for you. You will thank me for it. One day."

"That day will never come, Theodore," she spat, her voice trembling with rage. "I will never thank you, Theodore. I will never forgive you for this."

ChapterTwenty-Five

Victoria had always believed that she was destined to live a boring life. A life that was neither too good or too bad, but was as mundane as possible. She had good reason to believe this too, having spent the better part of her life working everyday to pull her family together.

She had accepted that it was her fate to help beautify her sisters lives, rather than shine herself. She had made peace with it even. Ironically recent events has proved that, that belief was far from the truth.

First, she got into a love scandal with a man that was known as a recluse in polite society, then she got married by special license and now she was sitting in a carriage going God knows where, having been kidnapped by her former childhood friend, who she would have sworn was an angel at heart, but who was actually a raving maniac that for some reason was obsessed with her.

She wondered when his mental decline had started. Was it back in their childhood days?. Somehow, she didn't believe that, giving that the man who now sat beside her with a stoic expression, held no resemblance to the gentle child in here memory, who could not bear to hurt an ant, who bounded the broken wings of wounded birds.

The boy who tended to her wounds and consoled her when she got injured would never dream of tying her up and threatening to harm her.

Wriggling her bound hands to allow for some blood flow, she licked her dry lips, feeling the heat of perspiration at the back of her neck that reminded her that she have not had access to hot water for the past three days.

It was funny that in this moment, she had the silly thought of how much she would love to be at her chambers in Castle Devlin reclining in a bathtub filled with piping hot water that smelled good, scented with lilies, her favorite flower.

Perhaps her husband might even join her, helping her scrub her back while he placed sweet kisses along the sensitive skin of her neck.

With the way their relationship had been lately he might even bed her.

The thought that she would have been home at the castle in comfort and wrapped in the loving arms of her dashing husband were it not for the crazy man seated somewhere above her, filled her with anger.

For the hundredth time, she wondered what Anthony would think of her disappearance. Would he believe that she abandoned him? or was he was now in agony looking everywhere for her?. She had to know and the only way she could know was, if she could find something, anything that could help her escape.

Clearing her suddenly dry throat, she began.

" Theo, could you at least tell me where we are going?" She asked in the softest tone she could muster.

Her question was met with cold silence and she looked up to see his set determined expression. He was ignoring her.

" Theo," she tried again " I am severely patched, could we stop to get some water to drink?"