Page 80 of Midnight Legacy

Matteus gave that polished smile. “All those details are of no concern to my position on the Council.”

In other words, I’m too important to bother myself with the dirty work.

“Can we keep these to look over them for a few days?” Dad asked and the way Matteus gave him a sharp look told me he’d kicked him under the table. Dad knew the three of us weren’t stupid considering how many issues we’d resolved for them over the years.

The only thing original in that box was the blank pieces of paper. Everything else had been carefully forged by Uncle Lucas. His penmanship was impeccable, and he’d spent a lifetime perfecting his ability to copy documents.

“Yeah, that’s why I came to you, Dad. We have no idea what’s going on, especially since that Dante guy turned up at Michael’s funeral. He’s Cas’ uncle who was supposed to be dead.”

Dad spun to stare at Matteus, who was diligently studying something from the box. “You didn’t tell me Dante was at the funeral.”

Matteus produced the polished smile again. “I remember little from that black day.”

For some reason, Matteus didn’t want Dad to know that Dante had been at his house. “Cas said her dad told her that her uncle was dead, then he turned up at Michael’s funeral. What the hell is going on, Dad?” I deliberately excluded Matteus from the question,

“I’ve no idea, Xavier, but if you leave this paperwork with me, I’ll try and get answers for you.”

I nodded and agreed, watching the men flicking through the useless information in front of them. Pushing myself to my feet, I then stopped and held onto the side of the table.

“Dad?” He glanced up. “Cassandra is my wife and she’s carrying my child, your first grandchild. I love you, but I will take any threat against her as an act of war. I’ve already eliminated several hazards because of her father’s ridiculous will, please ensure I don’t have to do the same to someone I know.”

He studied me for several seconds. “You have my word, Xavier. I will protect her and my grandchild.”

It was the closest I was going to get to what I wanted, so I left with my friends since we’d come to an understanding. A weight lifted from my shoulders, because I knew that once my dad gave his word, he wouldn’t renege on it. I was his only child and no matter what, he’d moved heaven and earth to protect me in the past. We were family, and in this crazy, fucked up world, that was everything.

Ash had been quiet throughout our meeting, his expression contemplative. His pain sat heavily on my shoulders because I’d been the one to cause it with Michael’s death. He rarely showed any emotion, but when provoked, his temper was hotter than the depths of hell. If Lucrezia got under his skin, he would destroy everything in his path to reach her. She just hadn’t worked out what pressed that self-destruct button yet.

Jordan’s phone pinged again when we were outside. In the middle of this mess, I was beginning to see that he’d been operating at several levels at once for years, creating his own kingdom far from the reach of the Council.

“We’ve got an old media system to read the cassettes and tapes. We can collect it while we’re in town,” Jordan said, his fingers skimming over the screen to reply to whoever was contacting him.

“Thoughts?” I asked as we got back into my favourite Jaguar. I’d left it in London as it was recognisable, but since we were meeting with Dad and Matteus I brought it along for the trip.

“They’re both full of shit,” Jordan quipped.

Ash rubbed the back of his neck. “I used to trust Dad explicitly. What disturbs me is that he can look into my eyes and lie to me.” He sighed. “I’ve just had enough of the whole damn thing. Do you know he’s taken my silence on the matter to mean consent and organised a wife for me?”

“What the fuck?” I nearly swerved into the oncoming traffic when I spun around to look at Ash in the back seat. “Dylan’s daughter Nicole?”

“Apparently she’s lovely and her sisters have been very fertile.”

“I hope you told him to fuck off?” Jordan snapped. “What century are we in again?”

Ash shook his head and trailed his fingers through his hair. “My life has always been mapped out for me. This is just another part of that bullshit.”

We lapsed into silence, Jordan and I shooting each other a disbelieving look. Something needed to be done with Ash and fast before he was married to a woman he didn’t know and didn’t care about. Cassandra was just waiting for the word to activate Operation Lovebug since she liked my cousin Lucrezia.

Jordan’s contact was waiting for us in an old carpark, handing him a black holdall before saluting and returning to his car.

“You okay?” I asked.

Ash rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands while we waited for Jordan. His face was tight, and he looked ready to kill someone or have a breakdown. “I’m so sick of all this shit. From looking at most of the files from the safety deposit boxes, they’re financial in nature, so the next part of this puzzle will involve me trawling through old files until I find a match. I’ve no idea how long this will take. Unless either of you two want to help.”

Jordan slid into the car with the holdall. “Not a fucking chance. I’m good at hacking and killing. I avoid numbers. Hell, I don’t even look at my credit card bill when it comes in.”

Ash glared at him. “Why do I always have to be the responsible one of the group?”

I grinned. “Because someone has to save our asses.”

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