Page 55 of Midnight Secrets

“Do you live behind a high wall?”

He reverted to his normal stony silence when he didn’t want to concede an argument. It gave me hope because he agreed with me, he just wouldn’t admit it.

The kettle started to boil in the background, breaking us out of our silent war of eyeballing each other. Ash stood with his hip braced against the counter and watched me moving around his kitchen. We’d gone shopping earlier and filled the cupboards with supplies that Ash didn’t have since he was rarely here.

I hadn’t made friends with his oven yet, so we’d bought cookies and cupcakes from a local bakery. It was only when Jordan spoke that I realised he’d joined us.

“This scene of domesticity would send Lucas hunting for his shotgun,” Jordan drawled.

My back straightened and I searched for the right words to rebuke him.

“Fuck off, Jay. She’s making tea unless you’d like to do it.”

I swallowed my comment since Ash had stepped in. A chair scraped across the tiled floor and Jordan sank into it.

“So what’s really going on?” he asked.

“Lucrezia is here to sort out arrangements for the jewellery show,” Ash replied dryly.

“Why is she staying here and why did none of the rest of us know she was coming?” Jordan continued to probe.

I slowly spun until I faced him, making eye contact. “There were three of you in the restaurant that day when I asked for help. Three of you came to Papa’s house and listened to my problem. Only one of you took the time to help.”

Jordan sat and stared at me in silence for several moments, assessing the situation. He eventually moved his attention to Ash. “Maybe I’ve misjudged you.”

I folded my arms. “Maybe you and Zee should apologise for being dicks,” I replied. “Ash has been there for me every step of the way, helping me.”

Jordan never looked anything other than confident, but right now he was uncomfortable. His jaw was tight and his brow furrowed. “You’re right, Lucy. You needed us and we weren’t there.”

I shrugged and returned to making tea. It was nothing new. Sofia was the brains of the family and Catarina was the looks. I was merely the obedient one who sat when she was told and smiled on instruction. That obedience was beginning to ebb away as a rebellion mounted inside me.

“Just leave it, Jay. Everything is sorted,” Ash said.

“Which brings me to the contract,” Jay replied, pushing his fingers through his hair. “Why do you really want one?”

“I told you. If I’m going to do this, then I want to do it right. Ash has put a lot of capital on the table and he needs reimbursed for that. Maybe it’ll take a year or so or sooner for him to be repaid, but I refuse to be a charity case.”

“Our contracts bind you to that person in business until a mutual agreement is reached to buy the other person out or they can close the entire thing down.” Jordan continued to watch me with that eerie calm that saw everything.

I turned to Ash with a sigh. “Are you planning on ripping me off or closing my business?”

His lips twitched. “If I closed it down then I wouldn’t get a return on my investment. I didn’t want this contract, you did.”

I put my hands on my hips and glared at Jordan. “So as an independent officer of the law, what do you suggest?”

A wicked grin appeared on his face. “I can’t represent you since I’m already in business with him.” He nodded at Ash.

“Is that what you’re going to tell Papa?”

The grin disappeared off his face. “We’re businessmen, Lucy. Our contracts are designed to protect us from unscrupulous people. If you both want, I’ll make a more flexible contract.”

I shrugged, tired of the conversation. “I don’t care. Considering that he helped me of his own free will and has never asked for anything back in compensation, I’d say I can trust Ash.”

“Are you making coffee?” Jordan asked.

“Nope, I prefer tea.” Normally his question would have pre-empted me to put the kettle on again to make coffee. I could almost feel his eyes boring into me, so I faced him with a fake smile on my lips. “Cookie?”

Jordan narrowed his eyes at Ash. “What have you done to Lucrezia?”

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