Page 3 of Midnight Secrets

Chapter Two

Lucrezia (Five years ago)

I sat opposite my two sisters in the private jet that was taking us home for the summer break from school. Sofia had her nose buried in a book, while Catarina flicked through a fashion magazine.

My stomach was in knots, my heart trying to escape from my chest with every mile closer we got to home. It had become a tradition that my cousin Xavier and his two friends stayed at our home in Tuscany every summer. They were the sons Papa never had, but last year, one of them stopped being my big brother.

Ash.

For the past year, he had been front and centre to every fantasy I created. For the first time in the past five years, I realised that Ash was a man and that left me shy and tongue-tied. Catarina thought my reaction was hilarious since she was beautiful and confident. She had her bodyguards wrapped around her little finger and they allowed her to do whatever her heart desired. Sofia had always been quiet, sitting sketching on one of her art pads. She loved architecture and planned to create buildings in the future. She’d just completed all her A-levels and her results would be released in August. It would take a miracle for Papa to let her go to university.

The jet landed on a private airfield a half hour drive from Papa’s villa. My stomach lurched as the wheels hit the tarmac and the pilot applied the brakes to bring us to a halt near the huge metal warehouse that housed our two jets.

Papa stood waiting for us, an indulgent smile on his face and his arms outstretched. He was both Mama and Papa to us since we lost our mother around twelve years ago. Vague memories of her remained, but Sofia remembered her most, telling stories and singing songs that she’d sung to us. Sofia thought it helped, but it merely replaced the fragmented memories with images and sounds of Sofia.

“My girls!” Papa dragged us all into a group hug, kissing the tops of our heads and swinging from side to side until my head spun. His scent washed over me and sent pulses of security through me. Nothing bad could ever happen to us when Papa was here.

“You’re wrecking my hair!” Catarina complained and wiggled against the group hug.

Papa ruffled her hair and smiled down at us. “You have all gotten taller again. I told all of you to stop growing up. My babies are to remain little forever.”

Sofia linked her arm through his. “You’re being silly, Papa.”

She was the only person I knew who could calm him from one of his temper tantrums. I sometimes wondered if it was because Sofia looked so much like Mama. She was a quiet bookworm in school until anyone picked on me or Catarina and then Sofia showed she had claws—sharp ones that could cut deeply and leave scars.

In the car, I wanted to ask if Ash and the others were coming, but I knew Papa would disapprove. He’d made his views on us having boyfriends very clear.

We weren’t allowed them.

Catarina chatted in the background while Papa nodded and indulged her in her idle gossip about the different families we attended school with. She was the socialite of us, invited to every ball or soiree that was available. Nothing happened at our school that Catarina didn’t know about or had her fingers in. I even caught her kissing her security detail last year.

Our home was empty except for Madison, our housekeeper. She was the mother figure that stuck plasters on knees and mended broken hearts. There was nothing that happened in this house that Madison didn’t see or know about. Two days after I told her about catching Catarina kissing her security patrol, he disappeared and an older, sterner man appeared who glared at us with a tight jaw and a disapproving air.

“Girls!” Madison gathered us one at a time for a hug, before holding us at arm’s length to fuss over how tall we’d grown or the style of our hair. Catarina showed her the new manicure she’d gotten before flying home and Sofia had brought a box of chocolates home for her. My present for her was in my bag, but I’d wait until there was no one else around to give it to her.

My room was exactly the way I left it, including my Converse trainers sitting under my dressing table. I flung myself on my bed and closed my eyes, savouring the scent and the ambience of Tuscany.

The design of my room was white and pink. The main feature wall behind my bed had an elaborate design of interlinked deep pink roses that was echoed on my bed covering. White shelves filled with books and crystals were along the wall opposite the windows that overlooked the gardens at the front of the house.

My walk-in wardrobe and en suite were on either side of the door into my room, so it had the illusion of a corridor walking into my bedroom. The carpet was deep and fluffy for my toes to sink into and in a deep pink that brought warmth to the room that made it home to me.

There was little privacy at school as the matron regularly did room checks to ensure we didn’t have any banned items in our rooms. This was the only place in the world that I could be myself, the only place where I could indulge my creative side. Far from the prying eyes of the rest of the world, I had been studying gemstones, their properties, and the art of jewellery making. It started with me buying a few tumble stones on holiday and putting them in a silver cage to wear around my neck, and had evolved into something entirely different. My laptop was filled with spreadsheets crammed with all the different gemstones and crystals, their different formations, and the properties they imbued the wearer.

Madison had always given me a black tourmaline when I had nightmares and said that it absorbed the bad spirits before they got to me in my sleep. To this day, I slept with one under my pillow.

Catarina joked that I took art because it allowed me to sit and do nothing in class. Sofia encouraged me and helped with some of my projects for class, but I was terrified to show her my jewellery designs because she was so talented when it came to drawing.

We’d been on a school trip to New York and I saw the perfect fire opal for Madison. She loved opals and wore a teardrop pendant with an opal in it. I bought it as soon as I saw it, along with a few other beautiful stones in the Natural History Museum.

There was a safe room behind the wooden panel beside my bed. My last visit home, Madison had helped me create a small studio in the corner. I spent my days watching online tutorials about crafting jewellery and my nights sketching designs. Her opal would be set as the central point in a silver ring with a Celtic knot that symbolised friendship and loyalty. It didn’t need any other stones to enhance or adorn it, as the opal should be celebrated for its beauty.

“Hey, pumpkin.” Madison opened the door and came in with a tray containing a glass of milk and a cookie. She never did it for my sisters, just me, and it always made me feel special.

I sat up on the bed cross-legged to watch her. “How’s Papa been while we were away?”

She gave me that look that only a mother could master that said I was pushing my limits. “Your father is a busy man with lots of important meetings about his breweries.”

The girls at boarding school had told us years ago that Papa was the boss of an international crime organisation. Mafia. That word still sent shockwaves rippling down my spine. He was the kindest man I knew—there was no way he would even own a gun.

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