Read Victoria's Challenge for Free Online Page B

think Selfridge is intercepting, time is vital. Victoria bought him that time.”
    “How the he ll does she know this, dad? She’s eighteen.”
    “Lucas, she graduated top of her class . She has every medical facility on the planet bidding for her.”
    “What do you mean ? Yea she graduated early, but this…”
    “Lucas … she graduated from the Montreux’s Medical School.”
    “What ? No. That can’t be…”
    “She’s a doctor . She’s trying to decide if she wants to specialize in burn victims.”
    “I … how could I have not known this?” Lucas sounded like he was reeling.
    “Because you didn’t want too. Ever since the Challenge, you’ve made sure to keep your distance, to the point of cutting yourself off from anything that involved Victoria.”
    “You know why.”
    “Yes, but you went to the extreme,” William admonishes.
    “I had too . I couldn’t stand it any other way. Could you have stood being involved in Cassie’s life but not involved !”
    “So instead , you’ve made yourself strangers. Has it helped?”
    “No. ” He takes a deep breath. “She’s beautiful, dad.”
    “Yes she is . Inside and out and she doesn’t deserve your bad temper hammering at her. She knows what she’s doing, son. Let her, trust her.”
    “She’s eighteen . How do I trust that?”
    William realizes they just reached the core of the problem . Lucas trusting Victoria’s feelings for him .
    “You’ll have to figure that out for yourself . Lucas…” William hesitates, wondering if he should interfere, but damn it, she’s his daughter!
    “What?”
    “I don’t know what’s going on out there and to a point, it’s none of my business…”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “You said something to Victoria, I don't know what, but whatever it was, it has her doubting everyone, including Cassandra, and that I won’t tolerate. If you’ve decided she’s not for you, that’s one thing, but she will always be part of our family.”
    “I never said that! ” Lucas exclaims.
    “Then fix whatever you did say because if you truly love her, you don’t want to lose her over a misunderstanding.”
     
    Taking a deep breath, Victoria opens the hatch to Lucas’ quarters. She can do this. It’s just Lucas. Lucas having a couple of really bad days. Entering, she finds him sleeping on the couch, his arms propped up in front of him, an untouched bowl of soup on the table. Sighing, she picks it up and dumps it down the sink. If it were anyone else, she’d pour it down his throat, but she can’t make herself to do that to Lucas, even now.
    Picking up the scanner, she runs it over his hands and frowns . The muscles are already starting to tighten. They need to get him started on rehab soon.
    She yawns, the lack of sleep finally catches up to her, and curls up in a chair . Before she knows it, she’s asleep.
     
    “What are you going to do?” Victoria opens her eyes to find herself in sitting around a campfire.
    “Grandpa?”
    “Hi squirt.” Jacob Chamberlain smiles at his granddaughter.
    “What’s going on?”
    “That’s my squirt, always questioning.”
    “How else am I supposed to learn if I don’t question?”
    “See what I mean. So what are you going to do?”
    “About what? ” Jacob gestures to her hands.
    Looking down she sees a Hawk in her hands. “Grandpa, he’s beautiful.” She looks into the bird’s amazing eyes.
    “Yes , he is, but he’s hurt.” Victoria notices the broken wing.
    “What happened?”
    “I don’t know you found him. So what are you going to do?” he patiently asks for the third time.
    “Do?”
    “Are you going to help him heal? You know you can.”
    “It will hurt him.”
    “True.”
    “He’ll fly away once he’s healed.”
    “Yes.”
    “I’ll never see him again.”
    “Possibly.”
    “Tell me what to do Grandpa.”
    “I can’t, squirt. For him to be what he’s meant to be, you have to heal him. To heal him, you have to hurt him. In hurting