They stopped at a door at the end of the hall. Victoria followed Li inside of the dimly lit room with a stage curtain with a few wooden chairs in front of it.
“Li, this seems a strange place to see a show and where are all the other people?” Victoria inquired. Her tongue was inexplicably thick as she sat down on one of the chairs.
She felt strange and unlike herself and the world began to move out of focus taking on a dream-like quality.
“Good show,” Li answered, pulling the heavy, gold cord that opened the curtain.
Turning back just as she left the room, Li smiled and added. “You feel good soon. William like you to feel good, you do what William like.”
The world continued to fade into a colorful warm fog.
Victoria felt so odd, disconnected and confused. Yet, at the same time, she felt so good, like she was floating on air, without a care in the world.
Maybe it was just nerves because of her immanent meeting with William. Yet upon further consideration she realized she wasn’t feeling nervous any more. In fact, she was beginning to feel very at ease with herself and the world.
She looked up then, remembering the show.
There was a giant, glass window behind the curtain and on the other side of the glass was an elegantly decorated bedroom. A large four-poster bed adorned with red, silky sheets sat in the center of the room.
A Chinese woman, wearing a robe similar to Li’s, sat on a chair.
How odd that a play would take place in a bedroom, Victoria thought through a rosy haze. Everything had become more and more like a strange, foggy dream. Perhaps it had not been wise to follow William here. Perhaps she should go home and just see William tomorrow.
Yet, she could not move. At the moment her brain was numb. To her fogged mind, at first nothing seemed out of the ordinary about the girl sitting behind the glass, except she was dressed in only a silky robe. Yet, her reasoning skills told Victoria that something was terribly amiss. This was no church play like she had seen from time to time in Ft. Worth. Women in those plays were not dressed in silky robes and obviously naked underneath.
She had come looking for William in a brothel.
The delayed comprehension was startlingly obvious to her now. She just wasn’t worldly enough to see it at first.
Shock and outrage should be driving her right out the door, but for some inexplicable reason normal reservation and offense had fled her. She was surrounded by a warm cocoon of indifference and was inclined to stay seated and contemplate the scene with curiosity more than disgust.
She had always harbored a morbid curiosity about brothels. There was a much less opulent version of a bordello in Fort Worth that everyone was acutely aware of, but never discussed.
Before her sluggish mind could sort out the best course of action, a tall handsome blonde man, dressed in a black brocade tailcoat and lively multi-colored vest, entered the room behind the glass and captured her attention.
The willowy girl immediately left her chair and went to the man. She pulled his head down to her and kissed him long and hard, as if she was going to take his whole face right into her small mouth.
Transfixed, Victoria didn’t turn away when the girl stood back, opened her robe and allowed it to fall into a pool around her feet leaving her completely naked.
Somewhere in the recesses of her numbed mind her conscious was screaming that she should leave immediately, but she was falling deeper and deeper into an awake-slumber where even such a disturbing scene was nothing to get flustered about.
Was William somewhere in this house, doing the same thing? Now that was a disconcerting thought.
The girl began removing the man’s clothing with slow deliberate fingers while he ran his hands over her naked flesh. Victoria’s trembled and her heart pounded through the fog of indifference.
Were these the things William wanted her to do for him too? Her breathing quickened over the notion.
Soon, the man was naked and the woman was touching and kissing his naked flesh. It was stunningly easy to imagine she and William in such a way…and worse….she would enjoy touching William in such a fashion.
Victoria gasped in disbelief when the woman went to her knees and took the man into her little rosebud mouth.
Oh my gracious! Even her befuddled mind registered the utter obscenity of the scene unfolding right in front of her eyes. She should turn away. Instead, however, she sat immobilized by shameful curiosity.
The man’s handsome face contorted in pure pleasure while his hands tangled and pulled on the girl’s silky, black locks.
After a few agonizing moments, the man’s body went into spasms and his face twisted in immeasurable ecstasy. When his face and body relaxed again, he gently pushed the girl away.
Moving to the bed they fell into the silky sheets touching and kissing.
The astonishing things they did cut through Victoria’s sluggish, unresponsive mind.
She must leave.
With extreme effort, she pushed herself up from the chair and walked to the door on slow unsteady limbs. The world around her was tilted and skewed.
She tried to hold onto fragments of sensible thought clamoring in her head. Without a doubt, something was terribly wrong with her.
Maybe she was ill – yet, she felt no pain. She must talk to Li and find out what kind of tea she had given her. Maybe she was dying from poison or some bad reaction to the tea.
Reaching the door she clung to the door jam for support and turned the knob allowing the door to swing out. Her thoughts continued to run together without a pattern or coherency.
“Victoria? Victoria?” It was William. He was calling her from somewhere nearby.
Or had she imagined it? Desperately wishing she could move forward and respond to his calls, her feet clung to the floor like a heavy anchor and her thick tongue glued the words in her mouth.
“Victoria!” William called her again. “Damn.”
She clung to the doorjamb for support, unable to respond to him.
***
William’s heart thudded in his chest as he strode toward the “show” room. How had Victoria found him here?
As usual, Lotus had been prone and auspicious to serve him when he arrived.
And as usual, he had allowed a relaxing massage to start his pleasurable journey from tedious day. Normally her touching and caressing would build up the pleasure they would later share and he had believed that Lotus’ hands would banish the stubborn thoughts of Victoria from his mind.
Instead of seeing and desiring Lotus it was a bold, daring, blue-eyed girl with the ability to see down to his soul that assaulted him. It wasn’t Lotus he craved. It was Victoria Riley who fired his blood and no one else would do.
What had been due course in the past with Lotus was suddenly sordid and immoral. This unexpected ridiculous sense of righteousness caused by Ms. Riley cooled his libido so significantly that he finally had abandoned his quest.
Disappointed from his lack of interest, Lotus murmured to him, “You are ready, let me help ease you.” Indeed, he was more than ready….ready for Victoria Riley.
“No, Lotus, another time.” He rose, dressed with haste and prepared to leave.
When he got out to the parlor, Li had immediately descended upon him.
“You have a friend waiting for you.”
“What friend….someone came here?”
“Dark hair, dark blue eyes, very beautiful.”
The earth crumbled under him.
Victoria.
How the hell had she found him? Here of all places!
“Where is she?” Fury enveloped him.
How dare she come here!
“She watch show in red room,” Li answered, smiling broadly. “Will do not like shows, but Li knew the tea and show would prepare his friend for him. Will would be pleased.”
“Show?” His heart lurched inside of his chest. Turning from Li with an oath, he sprinted down the hall toward the room where the lewd
shows were performed.
Victoria would be horrified and repulsed beyond words…she was just an innocent country girl who knew nothing of such things...let alone seen them!
He wanted to introduce her to pleasure with loving hands, not lewd images.
Before he even reached the door it swung open.
Trembling with agitated breathing, Victoria stood there grasping the door jamb and stared blankly at him, her eyes wide and unnaturally bright and her cheeks flushed.
He was too late.
Why didn’t he tell Little to stay on her every moment she was outside of the hotel? He should have known Victoria would not stay out of trouble. Damn!
“Victoria,” he said reaching out to take her arm. It took all his self-control to speak quietly rather than give her a good tongue lashing – little good that it would do because the woman did exactly as she pleased with little regard to her safety and well being.
Her eyes found his, but they were dark, glazed and blank as if she didn’t recognize him. Her trembling was visible and induced by something other than a chill.
Fear clawed through him. Something was terribly wrong with her. She was not in a normal state of mind.
Firmly taking her shoulders he looked at her closely.
“Look at me Victoria sweet, what is wrong?”
Her mouth opened, but no sound emerged.
“Li! What has happened to my friend?” He pulled Victoria’s shaking body against his feeling his control slipping.
“I help make her relax,” Li explained, anxiously twisting her hands together and standing a few feet down the hall. “Did I do bad thing?”
No matter how tightly he held her, Victoria’s trembling didn’t cease.
Cold fear engulfed him. And he was angrier than he could ever remember being.
“What did you give her, Li?” he asked, as rage pulsed through him.
Li started to cry.
“I sorry, Will, she your friend, I just give her powder to relax, feel good, make her not scared….I… I help your friend.” Li was hiccupping her answers. “I never see Will angry before.”
Lotus, now dressed, came rushing down the hall brushing past Li to investigate the commotion.
“What is wrong?” she asked looking at Will cradling Victoria.
Li was sobbing into her hands at the end of the hall.
“I sorry, I sorry.” Li kept sobbing in repetition before running up the stairs and escaping behind a slammed door.
“Li gave my friend some powder. What was it?” The swelling rage almost consumed William. God only knew what Li would think would make his sweet Victoria “feel good.”
“Do not worry, Will, it is okay. Li would only give her something mild. There are many drugs to make people feel good, you know that. Most of the time they are harmless.”
“Damn it, Lotus, they are not harmless…never, ever are they harmless!” Losing his tenuous grip on control, William sent her a raging glare. To think that Victoria could be harmed pushed him to a blind fury.
“I have told you the drugs are bad, they make people very sick. People want them again and again and take them until the drugs destroy their minds and bodies.” William’s voice dropped low. “You know this Lotus.”
Lotus paused then said; “Now I know why you not let me service your needs. You love this American girl. I can see it. Soon I not see you anymore.”
“Lotus, you go too far,” William said harshly. “And you presume too much.”
“I would give anything to have love from such a man,” Lotus whispered, then fell silent.
“Do you know anything about this drug?” William asked.
“When she has a rest she will feel normal again, as long as she doesn’t have the drug again. She will have the craving, but it will pass. I will speak with Li. Do you wish for me to punish her?”
“No more drugs in this house, Lotus. The next time you will all be punished because I will see this place closed down.”
“I understand.” Lotus bowed her head slightly. “I will not disappoint you again.”
“Come on sweet, let me take you home,” William said to Victoria in a low gentle voice.
Victoria looked up at him with silent vacant eyes. He had never been frightened in his life, but he was right now.
It was well known that people frequently perished from drug use. As soon as the thought occurred to him, it was extinguished. It was unlikely that Li had given Victoria anything that would kill her.
The first order of business would be to summon his doctor.
“Go get my driver and assistant,” he barked to Lotus.
Lotus hurried outside to the waiting carriage. A minute later Chester, his driver, and Mac, his personal assistant, were inside. Mac had been his friend since childhood. They had grown up together. His father, Chester, had started driving for William’s father many years ago. Now, Mac took care of personal business for William and acted as a personal bodyguard when necessary.
“We saw her come in sir, but I didn’t know she was your...friend...thought she was new to Lotus’ business, so we didn’t give her much mind when she came past us.”
“Mac, go get Dr. Stevens and send him to my house,” William commanded, without further explanation.
“Yes sir,” Mac answered, moving swiftly out of the door.
“Get me a blanket.” William threw the command to Lotus, who hurried away to fulfill the request.
When Lotus returned with the blanket and handed it to him, William let Victoria go long enough to wrap her in the blanket, before picking up her shivering body. Her ashen face peeked bleakly out of the top, causing William’s heart to thud faster and harder.
She was so fragile and so innocent. He should never have left her to her own devices. Not in this town. Not in his jaded kingdom.
Chester opened the door allowing William to pass then followed him to the waiting carriage. When they got to the carriage, Chester hastily opened the carriage door and William ducked inside holding tight his precious bundle.
When he had settled himself into the carriage with Victoria on his lap, William hastily pulled the curtains together. The last thing he needed was the newspaper people to see this scene unfolding. They were constantly looking for tidbits on the wealthy families in San Francisco and his own family was often the prime target. If seen in a situation like this, Victoria’s presence in his life would be cause for great speculation and gossip. They would hound Victoria wherever she went, not to mention the scandal to his family and Faith.
As soon as William settled into the carriage holding Victoria close, Chester jumped up into the seat and started the horses moving.
Lotus hovered in the doorway for a moment, but William never looked back at her. As she watched the Worthington carriage roll down the street, Lotus knew it would be a very long time before she saw William again. If ever.
Lotus shivered. She fervently hoped the young woman would be all right because if the girl came to harm, William would be furious. She would certainly pray very hard for the young woman to return to good health.
Even with six fine mahogany and black Morgan horses to pull it, William’s carriage still struggled frustratingly slow up the steep Nob Hill to William’s house.
“Victoria, can you say something?” He was cradling her in his lap like a baby. Her beautiful sapphire eyes were now glazed over with thoughts trapped in a private world. Tonight her eyes didn’t flash at him in anger, nor did she blush.
He touched her face and her eyes moved slowly to his. Her soft lips parted.
“I will do those things that you want,” she said, her voice a husky whisper. To his utter horror and despite the crises at hand, her words were enough to arouse him.
“Is that why you came to see me?” he asked calmly.
Although he had never tried the drug himself, he knew it could do dramatic things to a person’s mind. Probably somewhere in her fogged, befuddled brain, she knew something was wrong. She could very well be quite fri
ghtened even though she looked at peace.
“I wanted to find you. I had to tell you,” she said with slow, soft words, her glazed eyes looking but not quite focusing on him.
“I will give you what you want,” she repeated.
“Yes, I am so happy to hear this news, but darling but why didn’t you wait to see me? Why did you follow me when you could have come to my office?” he asked in a gentle voice, smoothing back a loose tendril of hair that had curled about her face with a loving finger.
“I had to see you, I need to give things to Mandy, I must do this thing, I must do this thing . . .” Her hesitant words, calmly spoken, tore into William like a jagged knife pulled through his flesh.
All his life he had taken what he wanted. And all his life so many people had tried to take advantage of him and of his wealth. Somewhere during his cloyed life he had stopped feeling compassion for those he manipulated. He had stopped caring.
Victoria would give him what he wanted because she had to and because he had forced her by eliminating all her options…just as he had done many times in his life. It had never bothered him before, but now the notion was deeply troubling.
Why did it matter to him if she was willing, or what her reasons were for giving into him? He should not and would not be disappointed that she didn’t care for him. After all, what did he expect of her? She was desperate, which had been his precise goal. How could he imagine she might care for him when he would tempt her and take advantage of her dire circumstances?
Perhaps his discomfort was because his opponents had always been equals in business. But not this time. This time it was personal and she was an innocent, sweet, country girl.
With a firm, mental push he discarded his absurd sentimental musings by taking up his pragmatic, comfortable and familiar business approach. He truly wanted her and he truly cared for her. She was still better off with him than some cowpoke in Fort Worth! He would make sure of that…. therefore, he was doing her a favor.
“You will do this because of Mandy, because you want the store,” he reasoned. “I know it is too much to expect that you would do what I want for any other reason than out of financial need.”
She was silent.
The Letter Page 9
