Page 13 of Midnight Secrets

That heralded the end of business talk, and the other two demanded muffins. We were in the living room watching the latest vampire movie on Netflix when Papa arrived back.

“Is this a welcoming committee?” he asked from the doorway.

“Lucrezia was making muffins,” Xavier said. “We smelt them on the other side of London.”

That was one of my cousin’s talents, he was able to deflect by using the truth. He was a master of hiding what he didn’t want the rest of the world to know. The man sitting here now was not the man who was portrayed as a playboy billionaire.

Papa smiled. “She’s always conspiring with Madison in the kitchen. What flavour?”

“Double chocolate,” Jordan answered without looking away from the woman having her neck ripped open by the vampire.

I shuddered and glanced away from the huge screen on the wall to find Ash watching me. The angel on my right shoulder screamed for me to look away, but that demon who lived on my left shoulder demanded I sit my ass where it was and be brave. His eyes reminded me of bright blue lapis lazuli with flecks of green in them. They darkened when he was angry and the green turned to gold.

He was the only man who made my heart beat faster and tingles to appear on my skin. Right now my panties felt too tight and damp. What the hell was wrong with me?

Papa wandered into the room with a muffin and a glass of milk. He was the leader of an international crime organisation and he still had a glass of milk every night. Since he was home, my role as hostess had thankfully come to an end. I slowly stood and moved across the room, stopping to kiss his cheek.

“Goodnight, everyone.” I waved at the door, refusing to look around because if my eyes locked with Ash’s again I would want to crawl into his lap and sleep there.

Even lying in bed, I couldn’t get Ash out of my mind. I had put all my teenage feelings about him down to adolescent hormones about one of the few men I had regular interaction with. Over the years, I avoided him because I felt awkward and tongue-tied in his presence. Tonight, he was the only one who understood me. He saw through the mask I wore and found a vulnerability I kept cloaked from the world.

That terrified me more than anything ever had before.

For years, I had hidden behind my façade. If I spent too much time around Ash, he would see more than I wanted him to. Under the calm exterior I had polished was someone who was terrified of everything. As a girl, I adored him. As a woman, he excited me in a way I hadn’t experienced before. Ash didn’t have the power to hurt me, he had the potential to destroy me.

***

Chapter Six

Ash

What the fuck was I doing?

I never should have gone anywhere near Lucrezia after my reaction to her yesterday at lunch. Instead, I actually volunteered to be here this morning to take her to this meeting. Lucrezia sat in the kitchen sipping a cup of coffee and watching me over its rim. Her eyes were huge and she looked pale as if she hadn’t slept last night.

Her security detail Francis came into the kitchen at nine-thirty. “Ready?”

“I’ll take Lucrezia in my car,” I said. “Walking in with a security detail makes them think she’s playing at being a businesswoman who isn’t strong enough to look after herself.”

His eyes moved to Lucrezia, who continued to stare at me as if I was going to bite her. If she kept watching me like that, I might be tempted to.

I set my cup down and checked my watch. “Grab your stuff and we’ll leave in ten.”

Every twitching muscle of Francis said he wanted to say something to me but he knew his place in the household. Lucas Black adopted Jordan and me alongside his nephew as surrogate nephews. He relied on us to sort out problems that no one else could fix for him, since hired guns tended to talk at some stage.

Lucrezia went through her routine of collecting the cups and putting them in the sink before silently leaving the room.

“Spit it out,” I said to Francis when she was gone.

He turned to face me. “She’s an innocent soul who needs protecting. I thought Xavier could have discreetly gone and spoken to the suppliers without her knowing when I suggested she ask for help. Now this is becoming complicated.”

My eyebrow arched. “Do you think I would let anyone hurt her?”

“I think men like you swallow women like Lucrezia whole without caring about the consequences.”

I casually moved my attention away from the doorway Lucrezia had moved through. “I’m going to let that comment slide once because you care about her. If Lucas ever found out that you let one of his daughters anywhere near blood diamonds and the men involved in dealing them, he would use your intestines to hang you. She asked for help, she’ll get it.”

The sound of footsteps echoed down the hall, followed by Lucrezia. She was dressed in a black suit and a deep maroon silk blouse. A design that had to have been created by her adorned her throat, an accompanying bracelet at her wrist.

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