Page 22 of Midnight Revelations

“Amber isn’t your fault,” he said in a low tone.

“We both know that’s not true. Dad has eyes and ears everywhere. She was my sub and my role was to protect her. I don’t know what’s worse—the fact that he had her tortured and murdered, or that I never even looked for her. What does that say about me as a person?”

Xavier rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re different men when we visit either of the rooms. Doms don’t get involved in emotions, it was the reason we trained. Amber wasn’t part of your life, she was free to visit or not, or to find another Dom. We all thought she’d moved on like some of our other subs…” His voice trailed off. “Jay, I think you better check in case some of our other wayward subs appear on there.”

Jordan sat back and laced his hands behind his head. “Why do you think I let Megan go free?” He blew a breath out from between his teeth. “I stopped trusting people and the only way to protect her was to walk away.”

The only way to protect her was to walk away.

My heart started to fracture down the middle as I realised the truth of those words. “I’ll phone you later,” I said and headed to the door.

“Ash, you need to stop blaming yourself,” Xavier called out.

Never. I would never stop blaming myself. I’d been pissed at her, but never thought to check she was okay.

At home, I stood under the pounding water until I cleansed myself of as many sins as possible. Two drinks later, a plan formed in my head. My thumb hovered over the tiny icon of Minnie Mouse in my phone and I swallowed the temptation to phone the only woman I wanted to be with. Instead, I dialled another number.

“Ash,” a female voice purred from the other side. “Long time, no sex.”

“Hey, Poppy. Got any free slots in your schedule?”

“For you, sure. What do you need?” Her laugh made me feel sick.

“I have a problem I need your help with.”

“Colour me intrigued. Give me a day or two to free my schedule and I’m all yours.”

“Thanks, chat later.” I hung up before I lost my nerve.

The images on my phone tempted me with one last look. I looked at every single one of the two of us together, smiling as if we didn’t have a care in the world. It felt like a lifetime ago. I stored the images to my personal cloud and deleted them from my phone. Then I wandered through my house and removed every single trace of Lucrezia. Tomorrow, I would have all her jewellery making equipment put into storage.

No one would ever know what she meant to me. To keep her safe, I would do what Jordan did. I made a vow to myself that I would free her from the evil that surrounded me.

No angel deserved to be dragged into Hell.

***

Chapter Nine

Lucrezia

My back ached and my head throbbed from leaning over the desk and setting all the latest stones that had arrived. Ash had warned me that we had to be careful before leaving Paris, but two weeks without a word from him and I was starting to crawl the walls.

“There you are,” Catarina said, striding into the room. “I’m bored and you look like you need a break. Papa said we could go to Rome for the weekend and let our hair down.”

“What’s up?” I asked, sitting back.

Catarina had looked pale lately and was quieter than normal. She shot a look over her shoulder before closing the door. “Can you keep a secret?”

Considered the secrets I was currently hoarding, the answer was yes. “Sure. What’s up?”

Catarina slumped into the chair beside the window and stared out of it. “Tom has become very insistent lately. It was supposed to be light-hearted flirting, but now he wants me to speak to Papa.”

“Oh.” Both of us knew that would never go down well. Papa would happily dig a shallow grave if he even suspected something was going on between Catarina and her security patrol.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I don’t like some of the things he makes me do and there are nights he slips in before the locks are activated.”

I stood and went to her, holding my arms out. “Do you want me to speak to Francis?”

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