Page 30 of Midnight Revelations

The best way I can protect her is with my name.

Ash’s suggestion to protect me had been to pretend I didn’t exist.

I examined the intricate patterns in the dress, the tip of my pencil skimming over the page. Xavier sent me a picture of the mysterious Cassandra. She had auburn hair and bright green eyes. The two of them laughed together for the picture the same way Ash and I had.

I could change some of the designs I had downstairs to create something different with them. My new workroom had all the pieces I was working on laid out. I’d planned to put some tiaras in an angel collection I had been thinking about, so I had some bands already bought in to work on in my spare time.

The radio played in the background to save me from silence. Every time Ash came into my head, I tried to banish the image of that woman hanging on his arm as if she belonged there. The soldering iron touched my finger and I flinched back, all the tears I’d suppressed springing free to trail down my cheeks.

He was just a man… Only I knew that wasn’t true. It was the curse of those with Black blood in their veins. Papa loved Mama from the moment he met her, Xavier knew from the moment he saw Cassandra. I’d always known Ash was different from the moment he wandered into our house a lifetime ago with ghosts of the past haunting his eyes and his shoulders slumped forward. Then I came home from school that summer and realised that all those strange butterflies meant that I liked him in a different way to the other two men.

I buried my head in my hands and sobbed until there were no tears left and my nose was blocked. I washed my face with cold water and met my own eyes in the mirror. Gone was the innocent girl with a lifetime of dreams in her head. Instead, there was a woman weighed down with fears and doubts, pain deep in her eyes.

Madison brought me a sandwich for dinner, setting it beside me. “Cat showed me the photographs.”

I tucked my hair behind my ear and refused to meet her gaze. “I promised Xavier I would make this tiara for him. Maybe you can help me choose the stones for it?”

Her fingers squeezed my shoulder and she set to work pulling out trays lined with velvet. We selected different stones to complement the dress Cassandra would be wearing on her big day. I set some emeralds to highlight her eyes and some diamonds because my cousin was paying and he was a billionaire, so she deserved the best.

Hours later, my fingers were sore and numb, but a beautiful tiara sat in front of me. It didn’t take as long as I suspected, because I had been able to steal some details off other designs to incorporate into it.

I took a quick picture and sent it to Xavier for his approval.

Xavier:Wow. It’s stunning. I’m sure Cas will love it.

Me:I’ll package it up and bring it with me.

Xavier:I’m sorry if I spoke out of turn earlier. J says I’m a dick and need to mind my own business.

I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to say because now that I had nothing to focus on, the darkness was starting to close in around me.

Me:As long as you like the design, we’re all good.

It was the equivalent of saying “I’m fine.”

My phone rang and I stared at it like a traitor. “What’s up, Zee?”

His sigh travelled across the ocean to me. “Look I know you like Ash, fuck we all knew except Ash…”

“Please, Zee, can we not have this conversation?” I stared out the window into the garden that was illuminated by lit torches since Papa preferred to be surrounded by fire.

“I know I said about Poppy earlier…”

“It’s fine, I’d already seen the photographs of them together.”

He sighed and again I imagined him trailing his fingers through his hair the way he tended to do. “Poppy isn’t marriage material. She’s someone we’ve all been involved with over the years. I don’t want to discuss my sex life with my little sister, but she isn’t who Ash would marry. His father has a list of those eligible candidates.”

“You do realise that you’re not making this any better?” I said.

“Yeah, it’s just he cares about you, Lucy. Ash would never have done all the things that he did for you if he didn’t care. I just wanted to let you know.”

“I appreciate that, Zee. Goodnight.”

“Night, Lucy. Thanks again.”

I hung up. I didn’t know what was worse—the implication that they all shared that woman or that Ash’s father had a list of suitable women to be his wife.

Papa sat outside watching the stars as he puffed on a cigar. I sat on one of the wooden seats beside the brazier. “Are you honestly going to teach me how to be a businesswoman?” I asked.

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