Page 42 of Midnight Revelations

“We don’t,” Jordan replied. “None of these are our people who can be tracked to us. It will look like a drug feud, add in the house back there and the police will be chasing their tails for weeks, if not months. Let’s get out of here.”

Our car wasn’t too badly damaged since it was a mini tank. We all climbed back inside and Jordan skidded off, leaving a trail of death in our wake.

***

Chapter Fifteen

Lucrezia

Papa’s townhouse was beautiful in London, but it no longer felt like home. That place was a few miles away and had my jewellery studio in it. Would anyone notice if I just went over there and pretended to work?

The image of that woman wrapped around Ash came back into my head. I wanted to gouge her eyes out with my nails that Catarina had manicured for me.

“I have an appointment tonight that I need you to attend with me,” Papa said while reading his newspaper.

“What’s it for?” I asked. He gave me a sharp look as if to scold me. “I need to know what to wear, Papa. Men tend to always wear suits, but women don’t have that pleasure.”

He stared at me for a heartbeat. “It is a charity event that I sit on the committee for. They had invited me, but I didn’t realise I would be in London for it. I emailed the organiser this morning, and he is delighted that I am here.”

“I need to organise some supplies while I’m in town and Catarina has given me a cosmetics list as long as my arm,” I said. “Did you want to come with me or will I take Francis?”

He grimaced at the thought of shopping, as I knew he hated it. “Take Francis. I’m sure he will enjoy it more than I would.”

I laughed at his expression. “Oh, Papa, you are silly. I’ll be gone most of the morning.”

He nodded and returned to his paper.

Ash tended to organise all the stones, but I needed to drop off some designs to the goldsmiths, pick up Catarina’s order, and get another birth control shot while I was out. Francis ferried me about.

Harold smiled when I entered his building. “There she is: the belle of the ball. Everyone is talking about your pieces from the jewellery show. It’s good for business!” He winked at me. “What can I do for you today?”

“I have a few new designs for you, and since I was in London, I thought I’d drop them off in person.” I handed him a zip drive containing all my designs and a few documents explaining what I wanted.

“Leave it with me.” He indicated the back of the store. “Come and see what I have been working on.”

Francis and I followed him through. In his studio there was a full-size coat of armour made in gold and highlighted in platinum. It was beautiful and worth a small fortune.

“Since you’re here, I could do with some advice on stones for it,” he confessed.

I grinned at his pleading expression and set my handbag on the counter. “Tell me what I have to work with and we’ll see what we can do.”

Over an hour later, we had taken several of the sections off and I had used a wax pencil to mark where stones would have the most impact on the design. I sketched the armour on a sheet and labelled what type of stones would be suitable. Even though my current collection used diamonds and other precious stones, my initial love had always been the array of jewellery that the earth grew in the form of crystals and other gemstones.

By the time we were finished, Harold was smiling and scribbling notes. He was in his forties with black hair that was grey at the sides. His facial hair was something between not shaving for a few days and a beard, and his dark brown eyes missed nothing as he watched me at work.

“You’re very talented,” he commented.

“I had a lot of time on my hands to study crystals when I was at boarding school,” I replied. “I collected them everywhere I went and wrote my own notes on them. It comes as second nature now.”

“Lucrezia has always been talented,” Francis interjected. “She has worked harder than anyone else I know to make herself independent and a success.”

Harold sat down at the work counter and studied his masterpiece and smiled. “I’m entering it in a competition, so I wanted it to be right. It was a godsend, you arriving today.”

“If it’s for a competition,” I replied. “Can I suggest that you do some engraving around the stones to make them really pop?”

“I make the designs that others create.” Harold sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m not very artistic.”

“When’s it for?” I nodded to the golden artwork.

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