Page 29 of Midnight Revelations

“I hope they’re very happy together,” I muttered through numb lips. Catarina had teased me about the photographs of me and Ash together at the jewellery show. Papa had silenced the conversation and sat in a sullen mood for hours afterward.

I wanted to creep away to my room and cry. I needed to hear Ash’s voice and know that he loved me. Instead, I sat in the living room and pretended that my world hadn’t just started to fall apart.

My phone pinged about an hour later, and I said a silent prayer that it was Ash.

Xavier:Hey, cuz. Need a favour – can you make a tiara for me?

What the freaking hell!

Me:Are you thinking of becoming a princess?

My phone rang a few seconds later. “Hello?”

“Hey, Lucy,” Xavier greeted me. “Sorry about being vague, but this is a top-secret mission. Can you keep a secret?”

More than he could ever know. “Sure.”

“Uncle Lucas said you’re coming with him to London.”

“Yeah, we’re heading out in a day or two,” I replied.

“I’m getting married on Friday, and I want a tiara to match Cas’ dress. I haven’t looked at it, but I can give you the number of the designer. I know she took photos.”

I stepped out of the room. “Should the bride not be organising this?” I asked.

He groaned. “Cas doesn’t know yet. It was supposed to be a surprise and now everything is going to hell around me.”

Even in my own misery, my lips tipped up in a smile. “Congratulations. Send me the details and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks. I’ll never be able to keep it a secret until the day, but she’s pregnant and the best way I can protect her is with my name.”

It was an option that Ash hadn’t offered me. Those little gremlins of doubt invaded my body again and made me feel sick.

“She’s a lucky girl that you’re going to all this trouble,” I said and a tiny sliver of envy infused into me.

“No, believe me, I’m the lucky one. Cas found a wanton sinner and made me into a believer of happy endings. I knew from the moment I saw her that she was my future wife. There’s no point in denying fate.”

“No, I guess not.” Every single word he spoke plunged a dagger deeper into my soul. Xavier was creating a future for his fiancée that Ash hadn’t even contemplated for me. Maybe he was having second thoughts and never realised I would see those photographs.

“Do Jay and Ash know about next Friday?” I asked. “How do they feel about you leaving them as a duo?”

“Poppy is keeping Ash on his toes at the moment. That woman is a nymphomaniac with an eye for expensive possessions. Jay has Megan staying at my apartment block to keep an eye on her. Maybe we’re all starting to settle down!” He paused. “What the fuck, man!”

There was muttering in the background that I couldn’t make out.

“Scratch everything I just said. Apparently I have been misinformed about what the fuck is going on around me. I’ll send you the details and you will be my favourite cousin if you can help me out.”

“No worries. I’ll see you soon!” One step at a time, I made my way up the staircase to my room. My world slowly started to crumble around me. The photographs may be staged, but Xavier was his closest friend. Who wouldn’t want a nymphomaniac with breasts that big? I knew for a fact that Ash was definitely a breast man from experience.

When the room door closed all my façades fell and I allowed the pain to impact me. There was a physical pain in my chest as my heart fractured into a million pieces. Why hadn’t he replied? Because he was with “Poppy”, that’s why…

I had been starting a new sketchpad for each project so that I could keep track of the designs. My feet slowly carried me across the room until I stared down at my desk. I lifted the pad and flicked through them one last time. All my old books from over the years were stored away in a safe where no one but me could ever see them. Inside were sketches I’d made of Ash when I was a teenager.

I locked those designs away, shame and embarrassment flooding me.

My phone pinged an alert from Xavier with the details of the designer. There wasn’t much time, and if I let my mind drift to Ash then I would be lost in grief. I phoned her and she promised to send me a photograph of the dress. It arrived a few minutes later.

This Cassandra was a very lucky woman, and after talking to the designer and Xavier, it was obvious that he loved her very much.

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