Page 36 of Midnight Secrets

“Miss me?” I cocked an eyebrow when she finally pulled away, leaving us both struggling for air.

She shrugged. “Minnie Mouse missed you more. She’s divorcing Mickey, as she’s pregnant and he’s suspicious.”

And just like that, she demolished any awkwardness.

“Poor old Mickey.” I laughed.

She peeked around behind me. “Do you live here?”

“No, this is one of our business addresses. I was using an extra layer of protection to ensure no one followed you. I have a car for Francis out in the parking lot and my Range Rover to put all your stuff in.”

“Pity, I never lived in a derelict warehouse before.” She nudged me with her hip as she sauntered past.

This woman had the ability to crawl inside me and make me want a life I never thought was possible. She was smart and sassy and everything I never knew I wanted in a woman. Normally, I preferred my women on their knees in front of me or hanging from a St. Andrew’s cross. Lucrezia had an inner fire that drew me to it until she could burn me.

I watched from the doorway with my hands in my pockets as she wandered around being nosy. We rarely used this place, it was merely an address to use on correspondence. She activated a protective gene in me, along with a jealous gene, and the unnamed one that allowed her to drive me batshitcrazy.

Now that she was here, the beast inside me stilled in her presence.

“If you’ve finished being nosy, I can take you home and you can sort out your stuff and have a look at the stand for your display area. They delivered it yesterday.”

She screamed and launched herself at me, her legs wrapping around my waist. I turned to find a bemused expression on Francis.

“Is she always this excitable?” I asked.

“Not normally. But then, no one has ever helped her with her business before,” he replied. “I take it you have transport since the driver dumped our stuff and left?”

I tried not to laugh at his grumpy face. Max was one of our drivers and I trusted him, but he was abrupt and tended to always be late for his next job.

“There’s a ghost fleet BMW for you to use while you’re in London. I brought my Range Rover as I didn’t know how much stuff Lucrezia would be bringing with her.” At the mention of her name, her arms tightened around me and she rested her head on my shoulder.

Francis nodded to her. “This one travels light, unlike her sister.”

All the cases fitted in my boot with ease and I gave Francis the coordinates of my home in Chelsea. “Anywhere you need to go before we go home?” I asked.

Lucrezia gave me a strange look that I couldn’t decipher and shook her head. “I’m good.” She chatted during the drive and all the tension slowly melted from my body. She could never know how much I looked forward to hearing her voice. My reserve tended to melt away and alcohol lowered my resistance to her, and then I couldn’t stop myself hitting that green dial button just to hear her voice.

“I’m going to tell Papa about my business,” she said, her face sad in the window as she peered out. “It means he’ll understand when I have to travel for business.”

Lucas Black would never allow his daughter to get the attention she deserved as a designer. He would want to control her to keep her safe. A crazed gunman hadn’t taken his wife, cancer had. It was something that he couldn’t fight with a gun or pay to have taken away. He had to watch helpless while she was taken from him. That was why he was the control freak he was today with his daughters.

“He’ll try to take over,” I replied.

“I know, but I was thinking about that…” The way she turned to stare at me sent cold shivers rippling down my spine. I wasn’t going to like the results of her thoughts. “Technically, you’re my business partner, so he would have to run all his issues through you.”

My eyebrows hit my hairline. “Are you trying to have me killed?”

That fucking smile that played on her lips made me want to put something between them to show her who was in charge. “No, but I doubt he could ground you or put you over his knee.”

The only one putting her sexy ass over their knee would be me. She definitely deserved a spanking after this. “Your father is a control freak who doesn’t care who he shoots to get his own way.”

“Papa is a teddy bear.”

“Yeah, a feral one with teeth that bites you when no one is looking,” I muttered.

Her small hand grabbed my hand on the gearstick. “Please, Ash. This means the world to me.”

Batshitcrazy gene activated.

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