Tainted Reasoning (Dark Sovereignty Book 2) Read online

I lean forward in my seat to speak to the driver, “Any chance we can go a little bit quicker. I really need to get to Oakfield Hall. It’s very important.”

  “Sorry, Miss.” The middle-aged cabbie, with grey flecks all over his hair,

  waves his hand in the air. “The roads are icy after the ’eavy frost this morning. It’s making ’em difficult to pass through because nobody salts ’em. Too many private lanes, you see. If you ask me, the Duke needs to look at gettin’ some of his staff to make sure the roads are safe. It’s dangerous. If you weren’t a lass on ’er own, I’d ’ave made you walk the last bit. I don’t know what’s down the side of ‘em ditches. One wrong turn of my wheel, and we’d be down one. You a friend of the Duke? You need to tell ’im. Make it safer for us all out ’ere.”

  “I know the Duke, well sort of. My best friend is married to him.” I manage to get out from between gritted teeth. If we don’t get to Oakfield Hall soon, then woman alone or not, I’m going to get out of this cab and walk. The roads are barely icy because the sun’s been on them, and the frost melted ages ago.

  “Lady Victoria?” The cabbie slows down even further, so he can continue our conversation.

  I don’t want to reply to him because I know he'll increase his speed if I don’t engage in conversation, but I’ve been brought up to have good manners, and I know it’s rude not to respond. “Yes.” I keep my answer short, though, in the hope he’ll go faster.

  “Lovely lady she is. I live around these parts, so I’ve seen ’er a few times in the village. That ’usband of ’ers is never far behind, though. I’m not sure about the Cavendish family.” The driver indicates left while speaking and turns off the lane up what appears to be a long driveway. I hold my breath, hoping we may have finally arrived. “The father dying so young then the other brother showing up out of nowhere like that. You ’ave to wonder where ’e’s been all these years. It’s a mystery. Your friend say anything to you about it?”

  A massive mansion looms up ahead, and I’ve never been so grateful to see a place, even knowing what’s happened behind its walls.

  “I’m afraid not.” I pull my wallet out as the driver pulls his cab to a halt. He presses the buttons to stop the clock and to give me the total for our ride. I can tell by the way he’s huffing he’s not happy and wanted some gossip from me to spread around the black cab network in London. Anything remotely associated with aristocracy is the ‘bread and butter’ of his industry. I’m sure by the time the tale of my journey has been spun a few times, he will’ve had the Duke himself instead of me in the back of the cab.

  “That’ll be forty-five pounds and twenty pence,” he tells me, and I try not to let my stomach turn at the exorbitant cost. I could have caught a train closer to Oakfield and then taken a taxi the last few miles, but it would’ve taken so much longer. I just want to see my friend and check she’s alright. I bring out two twenty-pound notes and a ten and hand them to him.

  “Keep the change.” I smile, grabbing my small suitcase from the cab floor and jumping out of the vehicle.

  “Thanks, love,” the cabbie calls behind me, but I’m already making my way up the steps of the imposing mansion. Although I grew up with Victoria in a large house, there’s something about this one that sends chills down my spine, and I can’t help wondering if it’s because of the horrifying historical events that have occurred behind its closed front door.

  Using the ornate iron knocker, I bang loudly to gain entrance. A butler appears immediately and ushers me into a side room off the main entrance. He takes my name and tells me he will inform the Duke and Duchess of my arrival before leaving me alone. My hands are shaking so badly I have to clasp them together to stop. I need to see my friend I have to know she’s ok. I hear a scream from somewhere in the house, and I know it’s Victoria. I’m out of the room and following the sound when I hear my name called.

  “Tamara.” The shout comes as my friend flies down the grand staircase and straight into my arms. She’s half dressed with her crisp white shirt ripped at the front. Then a man appears behind her, fumbling with the flies of his trousers clearly trying to fasten them as he descends the stairs. I see red. Was he raping my friend? Pushing Victoria aside, I go to meet him. I pull my fist back and slam it directly into his face.

  “How dare you? You disgust me. You’re a sick, sick pervert. If I had a knife, I would remove your balls and dick before feeding them to you.” Bringing my knee up this time, I send it straight into his groin area, and he curls up in agony.

  “Tamara, what the fuck are you doing?” Victoria screams out behind me and comes to the side of the man who’s hunched over and rubbing his groin.

  I grab her hand and pull her away, but she digs her feet into the carpeted flooring.

  “We are leaving now,” I snap, but my best friend tries to squirm from my hold.

  “Tamara, have you gone insane?”

  “No, but I’m beginning to think that whatever he’s done to you has left you seriously in need of a doctor.”

  “He’s not done anything to me.”

  “He forced you into a marriage. He branded you!” I hold my hand out as if to say, ‘are you really that blind’.

  “He did nothing of the sort,” she replies in irritation.

  I raise a knowing eyebrow at her.

  “Alright, yes he branded me, but that was under his father’s orders.”

  “Didn’t he have a mind of his own?” I place my hands on my hips while Victoria goes back to her husband and starts to rub his groin area, but he pushes her hand away with a shake of his head. I secretly hope he gets himself hard, so that the bruised flesh stretches, and it hurts him even more. He looks up at me, and I glare at him with such a venomous look, I suspect it could kill if I possessed magical powers.

  “It was different. Tamara, please. Listen to me. I love him.”

  I roll my eyes.

  “Stockholm Syndrome,” I tell her, but she shakes her head.

  “No, true love. A ‘til death do us part kind of love…because I couldn’t survive without him kind of love.”

  A laugh comes from the top of the stairs, and we all turn our heads to look up. A handsome man stands there. My breath catches at the sharp cut of his jaw, which is littered with stubble. He’s not dressed as formally as Nicholas but wears a forest green polo shirt and black jeans. His strong thighs are accentuated by the style of pants he’s wearing. I lick my lips. He has a similar look to Nicholas, and I guess this must be his brother, William. He’s the one who saved Victoria when the evil Scotsman tried to rape and murder her. I push past Nicholas and Victoria and run up the stairs to meet him. Throwing my arms around him, I pull him to me and give him a kiss on the cheek.

  “Thank you, thank you,” I tell him. “I can never repay you for saving my best friend. You’re a good man.”

  Turning back around again, I scowl at Nicholas who in turn looks at Victoria as if to ask ‘why do I get the crap kicked out of me, and my brother gets affection? Women are nuts’. He’s the reason my friend suffered as she did, and it’ll be a cold day in hell before I trust him.

  “Enough, Tamara.” Victoria takes her husband’s arm and leads him into the side room I’d just come from. William links his arm through mine and assists me down the stairs, so we can follow them.

  “He’s really not that bad. My father was an evil man. It took Nicholas a little while to step out from under his control. He loves Victoria intensely and will do anything for her–he worships the ground she walks on. You really don’t have to worry about her safety.”

  “Really?” I roll my eyes again. I was well known for doing it at university when people annoyed me. It’s a habit I picked up from my mother–she was always doing it when I was younger. My mother is a placid person, most of the time, but get her onto a subject that irritates her, and her eyes start rolling around like a merry-go-round. “So why is her shirt all ripped?…and he was putting himself back in his trousers when I first saw him.”

  “Se
x,” William replies bluntly.

  “I’m sorry?” I quiz in confusion.

  “They were about to have sex. They do it most days…numerous times. I’ve bought a pair of headphones to escape the noise. They’re like rabbits.” Letting go of my arm as we walk into the room, he makes a circle with the index finger and thumb of his right hand and then sticks the index finger of his left hand through the middle of the circle. “All the time…like bunnies. Nicholas puts his dick in Victoria’s pussy a lot.”

  My mouth falls open.

  “William!” Nicholas and Victoria both chastise him at the same time.

  “Inappropriate conversation in public,” Nicholas reminds him.

  William shrugs. “But it’s true!”

  Nicholas is sitting in an old leather arm chair while Victoria having collected ice out of a bucket in the corner of the room is now walking back toward her husband, clearly, he needs something to reduce the swelling I caused earlier with my knee.

  “I know, but we don’t say things like that in front of guests,” Nicholas informs him.

  “But she’s not a guest. She’s Victoria’s best friend, and girls are always gossiping. I’m sure she knows all about the size of your dick, and what you can do with it.”

  “William, please!” My friend’s shocked response comes as she unceremoniously drops the ice, now wrapped in a towel, into her husband’s lap. When I look at her, a rosy tint spreads across her cheeks.

  I suppress a little giggle at how embarrassed my best friend looks. We’ve not spoken a great deal since she was given by her father to the Cavendish family. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been so worried. But now, taking the time to look at her, and the way she’s interacting with Nicholas, it would be impossible not to see the love she has for him. Having removed the ice from her husband’s lap, she’s now tenderly stroking his face while he tries to get comfortable in the chair. My temper and worry for my friend got the better of me, and I didn’t allow her to explain.

  “I’m sorry,” I admit with a wave of my hand toward Nicholas. I lower my head to look down guiltily at the ground. “Having been told by Victoria about everything that happened, I couldn’t get past the bad stuff to see you two are happy together. I hope I’ve not permanently damaged anything…down there?”

  I bite my lip and gesture toward his male parts. Nicholas stands and comes over to me, limping slightly, and formally holds his hand out to me, which I take and shake.

  “Victoria wasn’t always my first priority, and what you just did to me was a well-deserved punishment. But I can assure you Victoria’s my world, now. I’ll do anything to protect her.” He shuffles from side to side as if to test out the discomfort he’s still experiencing. “I think I’ll be alright in a few hours. As William so eloquently commented earlier, my wife and I are in the honeymoon stage, and I can’t disappoint her.” He winks at me before pushing his brother along toward the door. “We’ll go and arrange some food and drink. Leave you girls alone to catch up.”

  “Thank you.” Victoria nods her head at him before coming up to me and pulling me into an embrace again.

  “I really am sorry,” I tell her.

  “Like he said, he deserved it.” She laughs. It’s beautiful to hear and looking closely at her, for the first time, I can see how happy she truly is. She looks alive and free. I sniff and take in her rose scented perfume.

  “Some things never change. Your favorite flower. I hope he buys you plenty.”

  “Everyday.” She sniffs the air around me. “I see you haven’t changed either… is that lily?”

  “Of course.”

  Victoria leads me to take a seat on a chaise longue, overlooking the grounds of the house.

  “Are you truly happy?” I ask her, just to confirm one final time.

  “I’ve never been happier.” Her reply blows away any lingering doubts I have, and we settle in for an afternoon of gossip and catching up on how very different her life has become.

  Chapter Three

  William

  “Dinner is served,” my brother’s new butler, Alfred, announces, and I take Tamara’s arm to escort her into the dining hall. We don’t always eat like this. I normally sit in the kitchen with the chef and talk to him. He’s lived an interesting life and cooked for a variety of people all over the world. Nicholas and Victoria usually eat at a smaller table in the cozy dining room, but Victoria wants to show her friend that she’s truly happy, and so we’re going all out with the grand gesture for our guest. Victoria is dressed in a flowing gown, and Nicholas is dressed in full evening attire. I’ve even dressed up, a bit, for the occasion. Instead of my usual green t-shirt, I’ve put on a formal shirt with a green tie and a black suit. It feels strange to wear something so restrictive. When my father was alive, I’d had to dress up for special occasions, but they were few and far between and never in polite society. I was too much of an embarrassment to him with my silly movements and inability to filter what I said. I swipe at my ear and then continue with my tapping routine. Tamara looks up at me.

  “Are you alright?” she asks as a loose tendril of her long, jet-black hair falls out from the elaborate hairstyle she has pulled her locks into. I know Tamara’s mother is of mixed heritage with African and Saxon ancestry, and these origins have combined in Tamara to give her an exotic beauty she shares with many a famous movie star or even a royal wife. She’s dressed in a bright teal dress, stopping just above the knee, and black heels that make her legs seem like they go on forever.

  “It feels a bit strange, wearing a formal outfit. I’m not used to it.”

  “I thought you would’ve been dressed like this for most of your life?”

  “No. I didn’t really eat dinner with my father and brother.” I can feel my need to tic getting more urgent, and I swipe over my face and tap a few times. Tamara looks up at me, and then holds her hand out for me to take her arm. I do so and lead her into the dining room behind Nicholas and Victoria.

  “I had a friend at university who struggled with formal occasions and preferred his own company. My university was a prestigious one, and we frequently had to dine in formal attire. He hated it, so I told him to imagine he was at home in his PJs and having a microwave meal. Those around him were doing just the same, and he didn’t need to worry about the formality.”

  I can’t stop the ‘hmm’ that escapes my mouth. It’s the beginning of a thought I probably shouldn’t voice, but one I know is going to spill from my lips anyway.

  “I don’t wear PJs.”

  Tamara laughs.

  “Is this one of those pretend pair of PJs occasions?” I ask. My brain is wired differently to everyone else, and sometimes it takes throwaway comments far too literally.

  “It is, but don’t worry, I don’t wear anything to bed either.”

  My thoughts go down a whole different route at that comment. Quickly pulling out her seat, I help Tamara to sit at the table before my dick manages to find its way out of my pants. I take my own place next to my brother who’s at the head of the table with Victoria seated on his other side, and Tamara’s next to her. The dining table is of carved, vintage oak and can seat many more people than just the four of us. We probably look a bit silly eating at this massive table when there are so few of us, but I can sense the anxiety emanating from Victoria with the need to please her friend and to reassure Tamara she has a happy life with Nicholas.

  The butler and a maid appear and start to serve us the first course. It’s a fiddly dish involving scallops and cauliflower purée. I’m aware of this because I was in the kitchen earlier when the chef was preparing everything, following Victoria’s request for something fancy. I would’ve preferred baked beans on toast with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese, but that isn’t considered the height of gastronomy, apparently.

  Picking up my fork, I dig into the scallop and pop it in my mouth. It actually tastes good– I’m getting a little hint of curry flavor from it, but it doesn’t overpower the taste of the mollusk. It’s r
eally tasty. I look over to Tamara and see her pushing it to the side of the plate.

  “Don’t you like it?” I ask, and Victoria looks over from her conversation with Nicholas to her friend.

  “Tamara?” She frowns.

  “I’m not the biggest scallop fan. We had some once, and they left me sick for a few days afterward. I’ve been put off eating them ever since.”

  Victoria lets out a heavy sigh.

  “I knew it would go wrong”–tears pool in her eyes– “I told you.” She turns back to my brother who’s already getting out of his chair and coming to wrap his arms around his emotional wife.

  “It’s only the first course. It doesn’t matter,” Nicholas reassures Victoria and at the same time waves the butler over. “Can you ask chef for something different for Miss Bennett, please?”

  “At once, sir.” He picks up Tamara’s plate, but she tries to stop him.

  “Please, don’t worry. Everyone has nearly finished. I’ll just wait for the next course.”

  The butler hovers with the plate, waiting for Nicholas to instruct him on how to proceed.

  “It’s alright, Alfred. Take all the plates and bring the main course. It’s lamb. Is that alright?” Nicholas smiles reassuringly at Tamara.

  “My favorite,” she responds, and the butler clears the table. “Victoria, please don’t worry. I’m over my temper tantrum with Nicholas. I can see you love him, and he loves you. You don’t have to impress me or get yourself stressed. I would’ve been just as happy with our childhood dinner of pizza and cupcakes in front of the TV.”

  “I’m sorry.” Victoria leans over and brings her friend into an embrace. “I do love Nicholas… I promise you. He’s doing so much to correct the past wrongs of his family. Only today, he prevented a really nasty man from ever hurting anyone again.”

  Nicholas clears his throat with a deep cough. “Possibly not a conversation we should have at the dinner table.”

  I can’t help but laugh. “I don’t know…in some countries, the organs we played around with today are considered to be delicacies.”