Page 35 of Midnight Revelations

“Do you think it will affect my business?” I asked. “After all, everyone knows that he is a partner in it.”

Papa stared at me with that look on his face that meant he was trying to peer inside my head to find the answers he sought. “I doubt it, little one. Only women are judged like that in business.”

Who was that woman to Ash? I wished I had the powers that Xavier did to find out everything about someone, including what they ate for breakfast. I wanted to drag every poppy I saw growing out of the ground and annihilate them under my heel until I could get my hands on her scrawny ass and fake breasts.

“Maybe you should have a word with Ash, Papa. This is bad publicity for my business and I’m only just starting. What was he thinking? I wish Jordan had helped me instead.” I used anger as my defence because I was angry. Hot waves of bubbling anger crested over me in waves so fierce that I thought I was going to explode.

“I’ll speak to him when we get to London,” Papa promised.

I nodded slowly. “Thank you, Papa. Perhaps you could look at our contract and see if there is a clause that covers this type of behaviour?”

His eyebrows shot up and that was a huge reaction for Papa. I stood slowly and glared down at him. “I spent years training to be the best I can be in jewellery crafting. I took online classes when I wanted to go to college, and that meant that everything I achieved was harder because I didn’t have someone teaching me. I will not have my future stolen from me by some wanton woman who likes to show her ass to the world.”

Papa’s mouth dropped open as I turned to storm out of the room. I would fucking strangle Ash for this. It was a step too far, considering that he hadn’t even bothered to reply to my message.

The tiara was packed securely and placed in the bottom of my suitcase. Now that I knew there was a wedding involved in my stay, I packed something appropriate to wear instead of business and casual attire. Catarina would murder me that she missed the wedding, but Xavier had sworn me to secrecy and this was his big day.

I left all my lacy underwear in my drawers and packed for comfort. It wasn’t as if anyone was going to see them but me, and the woman being banged against the window had a thong stuck up her ass. I really hoped that it had rubbed her raw while she was having sex with my man.

Ash had always loved my novelty underwear and frowned when I tried to wear lacy thongs. I threw the plushie mouse he bought me at the wall, too furious to even cry. She stared up at me as if I was the baddy since I’d assaulted her, so I picked her up and put her beside my bed again.

Why did life have to be complicated?

One message. All it would have taken was one message for Ash to tell me that it was all a mistake and that he hadn’t been having an affair with some blonde bimbo behind my back. Hanging on his arm at art galleries was one thing, but hanging on his cock was another entirely. The only person who was supposed to be using that cock was me. I licked it, so technically it was mine.

It’s what we did to cupcakes as children.

I flung clothes toward my case on the bed.

“Need a hand?” Catarina stood watching me.

“I…” All my words dried up.

Catarina moved further into my room, a sad smile tipping her lips up. “I saw the pictures earlier. I was hoping you hadn’t seen them.”

“Papa made sure I saw them,” I replied, staring at my suitcase as if it was my enemy.

“You’ve been in love with him since forever,” she said in a low voice. “Ash just never noticed until you walked into that restaurant in London and he couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

I sat heavily on the side of the bed. “Was I that obvious?”

“I’m afraid so, but then I’m your sister. If it makes you feel any better, you covered your emotions well the other day when you saw the photos of him in the gossip pages.”

I gave her a shaky smile. “Ash is his own man, what he does has nothing to do with me.”

Catarina sat down beside me. “This is me you’re talking to,” she said. “I remember you always asking if he would be there in the summer holidays. Then one day you starting hiding when they arrived. Did you throw yourself at him and he rebuffed you?”

“Worse. I saw him with another woman in Rome and realised that he had zero interest in me.”

She groaned. “You were a teenager and they were pretending to be men of the world. He would never have looked at you back then, even if you were a stunning goddess. They were more interested in their street credibility.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“No!” She grabbed my face between her hands. “You are not going to walk away from what you’ve always wanted. He may be banging some woman, but there is a difference between the woman you marry and the woman you have a mindless affair with.”

“I don’t want a man who would have a mindless affair. All these years, and Papa still sleeps with a picture of Mama beside his bed as a reminder of who he wants to be there.”

She released my face and stared off toward the window as if delving into her thoughts. “Lucy, Papa is driven every day by his demons. He hides all of us in this house to try and keep us safe, when in reality he is desperate to try and keep Mama alive. The only man you’ve ever noticed is Ash, and if you want him, you need to let him know.”

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