Page 87 of Midnight Legacy

“He spends all his days in that study going over numbers and spreadsheets, muttering to himself,” Lucrezia said. “Maybe I should turn myself into a spreadsheet, or send him my numbers for him to analyse?”

A grin spread over my lips. My guess was that Ash knew exactly what her figures were. He spent enough time studying them.

“He was getting very excited yesterday over a discovery. I heard him phoning Zee to tell him that he traced some account from the book in your father’s safety deposit box. It all sounded very dramatic, considering that he was booking flights after their conversation. It looks like they finally have a breakthrough to work from.”

I rubbed my back that had been aching on and off all day. Late-stage pregnancy was no fun. “Why don’t you volunteer to go with him?” I suggested.

Lucrezia released a laugh. “Yeah, I can see him taking me on a trip when he can barely look at me in the corridor.”

“Maybe I could enlist Xavier to help since he made me the size of an elephant!”

“My father would kill him.”

“Your father wants grandbabies. He can’t have them if all his daughters remain virgins,” I pointed out. “He should cut Ash some slack, instead of demanding he provides an engagement ring he should insist on a date to the cinema. No man wants to be backed into a corner. You won’t know if you like someone unless you get to know them.”

“I heard Zee saying that his father had organised a wife for Ash,” Lucrezia finally admitted.

I met her eyes. “He has, so if he’s the one you really want, then you need to throw all your fears aside and claim him before anyone else does.”

Her gaze lowered. “I just don’t know how anymore. I’m starting to lose hope.”

Lucas Black was a scary man, but my husband could give him a run for his money.

“Think about it,” I coaxed. “Megan and I will escalate Operation Lovebug.”

“Thanks.” She squeezed my hand and wandered back into the house.

I stood in the fresh air, watching the world go by, lost in my own thoughts.

“There’s my girls.” Xavier gave me that smile that still made me weak in the knees. He wrapped his arms around my waist, his hands resting over my stomach while he nuzzled my neck.

He’d been at a Council meeting, the sound of his bike on the drive heralding his arrival a few minutes ago. The summer was nearly over, and the cooler days of autumn were beginning to arrive. My life was so different to this time last year that I no longer recognised it. Xavier had recreated my world with him at the centre of it.

My last visit to the obstetrician confirmed we were having a daughter, much to Xavier’s shock and dismay. He left the office muttering about castrating anyone who came sniffing around her. Considering that her father had been a player for so many years and owner of a chain of worldwide sex clubs, he was probably thinking of someone like him finding our daughter when she grew up. Karma was about to bite him in the ass.

“What’s the news?” I leaned back into his arms and allowed him to take my weight.

“Clive Brown has disappeared, and the Council is searching for him.”

“No!” I replied in mock shock. “I wonder where he could be?”

Since Xavier and Jordan had been involved, there was no doubt in my mind that no trace of him would ever be found. My father’s business partner was long gone from my life and Xavier had sent a strong message to anyone who tried to harm me. He’d killed to protect me in the past and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again in the future.

“No idea.” he chuckled. “They’ve got a special unit trying to decipher the wild goose chase that Uncle Lucas has created. He’s greatly amused watching them chasing their tails. They have officially recognised that your father was assassinated and have launched an inquiry into what happened.”

I tried not to think about the past. As far as I was concerned, Mum, Dad, and Kimberley still lived in my childhood home. It was the way I’d coped with their loss for years and I refused to change that now. It was one of the reasons that the house remained completely unchanged—so that their ghosts could live there without fear of disturbance.

Our new decoys were out there living our lives, diverting most of the unwanted attention away from us. I knew that the men were engaged in an elaborate game of life and death, but I refused to ask because I didn’t want my baby polluted by death and misery. There would be enough for her to contend with when she finally arrived in a week or so.

The sky contained streaks of burnt orange as the sun descended below the horizon. Xavier sat with me between his legs on the wooden chaise lounge he had built for me to sit and read in the garden, both of us silently watching the world go by. He tended to massage my tummy, waiting for those moments that he felt a kick and then he would hold his hand there as if he was taking our daughter’s hand.

I’d been experiencing strange cramps on and off most of the day, my back constantly aching. It was only when the gush of water left me soaking that I realised what was happening.

“Zee?”

“Hmmm?”

“I think you need to get the car while I change my clothes.”

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