Page 33 of Midnight Secrets

He sighed and I wished I could see his face. “Life isn’t that easy.”

“Why?”

“I…” he paused. “I don’t know.”

“Can you see the moon?” I asked.

“Not from where I’m standing.”

“Then move until you can see it,” I instructed.

“Lucrezia…” He gave me one of those dramatic elongating my name things that Papa often did.

“Just do it.”

There was just silence from the other side of the call and the odd mumbled curse. “Fine. I’m standing on the roof and can see the moon. Happy?”

“Ecstatic. What colour is it?”

“Now you’re taking the piss. I don’t have time for this.”

“Ash. Seriously look at the moon and tell me what colour it is.”

I could feel his eye roll over here in Tuscany. “It’s the fucking moon. It’s…” I counted the seconds of silence until it reached twelve. “It’s silver with darker patches on it.”

“When I feel lost in my designs, I sit watching the moon for hours. It is my greatest inspiration that guides me. At different phases, you can see shadowing that allows you to depict the features. Right now, we’re both looking at the same moon. We’re connected by one simple gesture.”

“I saw my mom today,” he finally replied. “I had to look her in the eye and know that my father has sanctioned an unspeakable act against our family without telling her.”

Papa had always tried to hide his world from us, but the girls at boarding school were more than happy to spread their bitchy gossip. I should be shocked, but the world of the mafioso was a dark and dangerous place.

“I assume someone broke the rules.”

“More than you know. What are we doing, Lucrezia?”

“Talking.”

“I’m still not good enough for you,” he said, but he sounded weary.

“Technically, that’s my decision to make. What did you think about my spider’s web?”

“You need to think outside your conservative box,” he replied. “All your designs are understated, which is great, but you need a bold exclamation to the world to announce yourself.”

“I’m scared, Ash.”

“You don’t need to be. I’ll be there to intimidate people into buying them.”

I laughed and it felt odd, as I rarely had anything to laugh at. “Nothing says ‘buy me’ like a gun in the face.”

“Don’t be crude. I’m an accountant, we don’t use guns.”

We fell into an easy conversation as we chatted about his trip to Krakow and my designs. His deep laugh washed over me and made me yearn for him to be here with me.

“Thanks for this,” he said in a low tone when he heard Madison calling me in the background. “I was having a bad day.”

“You have my number to call me any time you want,” I replied. “I’m like the moon, always there to connect with.”

“You need to stop or I’ll want to steal you and hide you away.”

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