Page 26 of Midnight Secrets

Dad had eligible brides picked out for each of his sons, women who would help him climb the social ladder. Bland women who would be expected to open their legs and provide heirs and then run our home. None of the candidates he’d mentioned so far remotely interested me.

A rap at my door summoned me from my turbulent thoughts. I turned just as the door opened and Lucrezia slipped in. My eyebrows rose and my hand tightened around the box.

“This was the only way I was ever going to get my diamonds.” She nodded to the black box in my hand.

“I was on my way,” I defended. Technically, I’d been stalling, but with so much at stake, who could blame me?

She was dressed in long silk black trousers with red flowers on them and a red vest top. Her outfit was casual but accentuated every one of her assets at the same time. Her hair was in a long ponytail at the top of her head, the way the subs in the Twilight Rooms tended to wear it to allowed their Dom to use it as a tool during sex.

Lucrezia continued to stare at me wordlessly.

“I thought you were going to show me some of your designs,” I said, holding the box out toward her.

“I keep my designs in my work room.” Her head dipped and her reaction intrigued me.

I shrugged and put my hands in my pockets when she took the box and opened it. The diamonds inside were stunning, but they paled in comparison to the woman holding them.

“Catarina loves diamonds,” Lucrezia said idly. “She can tell a fake a mile away and takes great delight and telling everyone when someone is wearing fake stones to a party. Unfortunately, she has never taken the time to identify quality. You could have a single perfect diamond that is worth more than an entire tiara of low-grade stones. These are more beautiful than I remember.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. She summed up my thoughts perfectly.

“Why don’t you show me what’s about to happen to them.” I nodded to the diamond she held between her fingers up to the light. “It seems fitting since I was there at the beginning of their journey.”

Lucrezia studied me for several seconds and I felt stripped bare to her appraisal. She chewed the side of her mouth. “You need to be careful. The guards will be touring inside the house soon. If they catch you in our wing of the house, they’ll go mad.”

“I’ll take my chances.” My lips twitched at her virginal alarm at being caught with a man in her room. In my world, virgins were a rarity and her behaviour was a refreshing change to the women who were constantly trying to get in my pants.

I watched as Lucrezia stealthily opened the door and looked left and right before waving me forward. Her actions amused me, but I played along. She grabbed my hand, nearly running down the hallway in her bare feet, and dragged me into her bedroom.

“I thought we were going to your workroom,” I said, my brow furrowing.

“We are.” Lucrezia went to a panel beside her four-poster bed and slid it to the side to reveal a pad that she typed a passcode into. It opened to reveal a safe room. Was she seriously telling me that she created all that jewellery in this tiny room?

Inside was a bed along the back, but she’d converted the remainder of the space into a workspace.

“How do you work in here?” I asked. “There’s no natural light.”

“When Papa is away, Madison allows me to use the utility area, especially for any of the processes that creates smoke.”

This woman was trapped in a gilded cage, sneaking around to try and create a career for herself. I studied the table covered in metal tools and magnified eyeglasses. It must be horrendous for her in this cramped condition working on intricate details on her designs. A notebook rested beside where she obviously sat with her delicate sketches on it.

“Lucrezia.” She turned to peer up at me with those huge brown eyes. “You’re going to be working with diamonds and sapphires. You need a proper workspace to complete your designs for the IJS.”

Her bottom lip trembled before she bit into it. “I won’t let you down,” she said in a low, hurt tone.

That was just insulting. I didn’t do any of this for gratitude.

I reacted without thinking, tucking a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t have gotten you a place if I didn’t believe in you.” I cast another look around her working area. “But you need somewhere with enough light to be able to complete your work. Those artists you’re competing against have entire studios dedicated to their work.”

Her shoulders slumped in defeat.

“No!” I commanded and her head snapped up to search my face. “You don’t get to give up because I pointed out that you need to stop hiding. Sofia was allowed to go and study at university. All you’re asking for is a room with all the equipment in it that you need to complete your work.”

“Papa says he will find us husbands so that we don’t need to work.”

Fuck it all to hell and back. Now she’d gone and activated that jealous monster inside me. The thought of any man touching her made me burn with rage. I stepped forward and she retreated until her back was against the wall.

“You don’t need a husband to claim your place in this world, Lucrezia.”

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