Page 78 of Midnight Legacy

“You are,” Jordan replied. “We both watched our parents be murdered and survived. Now I’m telling you to hold your head up and walk out there as the wife of Xavier Bartholomew.”

Jordan had said what I couldn’t because I didn’t want to hurt Cassandra. Our lives had been carefully choreographed so no one saw our real feelings. No matter what happened, the world saw three playboy billionaires who didn’t have a care.

Cassandra turned her huge eyes to me. I lifted her hand and kissed her wrist. “They can’t see they upset us in any way. We need to pretend that we don’t know about last night.”

“But—”

I shook my head to stop her. “This isn’t the first time a decoy has been killed. They knew the risks when they took the assignment.”

They should have had all the additional locks on but were too busy having sex in a bed I told them not to use. They would have been safe and the internal metal shutter would have given them time to get to the saferoom and activate the alarm.

If it was possible, Cassandra became paler before she bolted from the table, her hand covering her mouth.

“Did you have to tell her?” Jordan snapped.

“Give him a break,” Ash retaliated. “He watched himself and his wife being slaughtered last night. It shook all of us up about the decisions we’ve made.”

I wasn’t just tired, my soul was weary. “Just leave it, Jay. I never intended to tell her, but Cassandra has a way of knowing when I’m upset. She takes a burden from my soul and makes it easier to breathe.”

Pushing my plate to one side, I then slowly pushed myself to my feet to go in search of my wife. She sat on the floor of the bathroom behind the concealed door in the hallway, her head resting on her knees.

“Are we going to blame my penis on your sickness?” I queried, sliding down the wall to sit beside her. Blaming my penis on everything bad was something that normally amused her.

She leaned her head on my shoulder. “He is the villain in this story with his nefarious plans for world domination.”

“Do you need anything?”

“No, I just couldn’t face eating this morning. Maybe it was all the popcorn last night.”

“Or maybe it was because I didn’t keep my stupid mouth shut.” If I could go back in time, I should have just crawled into bed beside her and left her to sleep.

Her hand slipped through my arm to hold onto it. “We’re a partnership, Zee. That means we talk to each other. Secrets have a tendency to come out in the end. What’s the difference between now and six months’ time?”

“Six months from now, you’d have your hands full looking after our baby. Right now, you have lots of time to sit and worry.”

“Smartass.” She chuckled.

“You did ask.”

We sat side by side until her body relaxed. “How many decoys in the past?”

Of course she would pick up on that. “A few over the years. Our children will be safe, Cas. Why do you think I ensured this place was finished in record time? The security here would put Buckingham Palace to shame.”

“I want our children to have a life, not an existence.”

“I’m working on it, baby. We need to hit the road soon. You ready?”

I didn’t want to take her back to where Malcolm assaulted her, but my hands were tied. She was right, we needed her there in case anything else came up that she could explain.

“Yeah, just let me change into something more comfortable since helicopters are bumpy.”

She arrived to meet us in the conservatory about ten minutes later, her black clothes making her look paler. She wore no make-up which made her appear young and vulnerable. Instinctively, she moved into my arms when I opened them, her head resting under my chin.

“We are in and out in as little time as possible,” Uncle Lucas said. “Everyone understand?”

My phone pinged, followed by Ash’s. Both of us shot each other a look before grabbing our phones. “Fuck! We’ve just been summoned by our fathers,” I said. “Should we put it off?”

“No,” Uncle Lucas replied. “If it gives us more information, then you should go.”

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