Page 65 of Midnight Danger

Her lips twitched. “Maybe.”

Linking my arm through hers, I turned back toward the gathering, scanning the crowd. Jordan arrived beside us a few minutes later. I twisted the cufflink on my left wrist to activate the microphone for Ash to listen.

“Baby, can you fix this for me?” I asked, holding out the other one. Cassandra already knew what she needed to do and flipped the top on to let the earpiece fall on her hand. She kept it hidden behind her thumb until she’d finished fussing with my cufflink and settled beside me again. A few seconds later, I could hear Ash in my ear.

“Shit, was that Annabelle?” he asked. Discreet cameras were hidden in the buttons of our suits.

Jordan grinned beside me. “Looks like Zee’s past is haunting him tonight,” he replied.

“Fuck off,” I muttered. It was only when I saw the two of them beside each other that I realised I’d been picking women who looked like my stepmothers. Cassandra was right, when I’d chosen a wife, I’d selected someone like my mother, someone I could love and protect.

We mingled for a few moments, passing pleasantries with some business associates before Jordan disappeared to discreetly begin to search for our missing jewels. It pissed me off that the Council was bringing in shipments we knew nothing about. If we’d been involved, a tracker would have been in the shipping container or inside one of the stones. How many other shipments had come in without our knowledge? And where was all the money from them disappearing to?

“If it isn’t the mysterious woman who never answered my texts.” A man stopped in front of us, his lecherous gaze roaming over my wife’s breasts. Cassandra’s body swayed slightly behind mine.

She had eventually told me all about why she needed to change her phone number since Megan gave it to some random man at a bar. My back straightened. “And you must be the pervert who kept texting and ringing, even when she refused to answer,” I deadpanned.

His eyes moved to me. “Who the fuck are you?” he demanded, his words slurred slightly.

“I’m her husband, the man she does answer her phone to.”

“Some women are just fucking cock teases…” My fist hit his chin to send him stumbling back a few paces before he landed on his ass on the floor.

One of the organisers came scurrying over, his scorn falling on his employee who had acted outside his remit. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Bartholomew. What appears to be the problem?”

“This man dared to insult my wife.” I wanted to drag him outside and pummel him until he was nothing more than a whimpering mass on the ground. The memory of her scared eyes flitted through my mind. At the time, I didn’t know about her past. She probably thought he was one of the men trying to find her.

“I’m so sorry, he won’t bother you again.” He dragged the man away as he wiped blood from his mouth and shot me a murderous look. It certainly looked like I made an enemy.

Cassandra’s fingers gripped my arm, her body pressed to mine. She’d spent most of her adult life living in fear. It was my job to make sure that stopped and she felt safe in our home.

“You okay?” I whispered for her alone to hear.

“Yeah, he just startled me when he appeared suddenly.” Her fingers trembled on my arm. My hand landed on top of hers to lend her my strength.

“Heads up, shoulders straight, no one ever sees what we’re feeling.” I repeated the mantra to her that I had heard so many times in the past. The more I felt, the less I showed. My father had made sure that no one ever saw through our exterior.

Fake smiles in place, I listened to Ash chatting in my ear. “Jordan is currently skirting through the basement while Megan is hiding in the toilet.” We’d deliberately worn black suits and shirts, a thin balaclava in our top pockets disguised as handkerchiefs.

“Megan is in the toilets,” I informed Cassandra. “You might have to go and rescue her.” We changed course, and I waited while she nipped down to the ladies’ facilities.

“Xavier.” Annabelle appeared as Cassandra disappeared. “You always said you weren’t the marrying type.”

“I wasn’t until I found the right woman.”

Her expression froze.

“What is it you want, Annabelle?”

She pouted the way she always had in the past. Why did I think it was cute?

“I miss you,” she whined, her finger tracing along my arm.

“I’m married.”

“So?” She flashed that million-dollar smile that made men give her what she wanted. “She’d never know.”

“I’d know. When I said my vows, I meant them.”

---