Page 60 of Midnight Revelations

“No more sending me away?” I asked.

“If I do, it’s for your own safety. Those walls in Tuscany are impenetrable and at least Francis seems to be able to keep you safe there.”

I wanted to protest, but I knew it was true. Francis was family, but Michael could have killed me twice in one day.

The timer on the oven pinged, heralding breakfast. I tried to bend over and pull up my panties and jeans and nearly fell over. Ash bent down, tugging my panties up.

“I missed your weird knickers,” he said. “Who knew that My Little Ponies were sexy?”

“Hey!” I protested. “My Little Pony porn is a real thing.”

His eyes widened. “Don’t be silly…” His voice trailed off when he saw my reaction. “Seriously?” Ash laughed and shook his head. “I can’t comment since they turned me on.”

My jeans were tugged into place and he swatted my ass. “I need to make a few calls. You can make breakfast.” I was going to protest when he winked and kissed the end of my nose.

This morning I had reached the pits of despair, but now I was walking on air. Life was filled with curious turns of fate. I watched Ash chatting on his phone and couldn’t shake the last tendrils of fear from his warning earlier. Both he and Papa had talked about the evil lurking in the Blackwood men. I prayed Ash and I would survive it to find happiness together.

***

Chapter Twenty

Ash

Dad was in deep shit if the information Jordan had was true. There were a few women who had been picked off the streets, but two of them were heiresses whose fathers were scary bastards. One of them owned a diamond mine, and the other was the head of a lucrative financial institution. He was either involved in breaking those women or had planned to ransom them. The information was sketchy at the moment, but neither option was great.

Lucrezia moved around the kitchen, humming to herself. My heart squeezed at the sight of her, because I had lost count of the number of times I had imagined her there or wished that she had appeared when I needed her. I watched her open cupboards to locate items I didn’t even know I had, and knew without a shadow of a doubt that she belonged here.

She belonged to me.

“What are we going to do, Jay?” I asked, trailing my fingers through my hair.

“No idea, man. I really wish I didn’t know any of this. It is a shit heap that none of us will be able to avoid stepping in and you know how I hate bodily fluids on my boots.”

“Dad wanted them dead,” I said. “And I want to know why. There was fear in his eyes the other night.”

“Maybe that’s because you just beat the crap out of Michael and Matteus thought he was next,” Jordan joked.

“He deserves to have his ass handed to him over this,” I replied.

“When I find out more, I’ll let you know. The doc says some of them are really badly affected by what happened to them and aren’t speaking. We have counsellors who specialise in this area going in later today.”

“Okay, keep me posted. I have a few things to sort today and then I’ll have time to give this mess my full attention.”

“Tell Lucy ‘hi’ from me,” the asshole replied.

“Tell her yourself since we’re all living in the same building.” I refused to admit I was with her and allow him to be smug.

He was chuckling when I hung up on him. “This is very domesticated,” I said from the doorway into the dining area. She sat at the table with our breakfast set out.

“You could have emptied the dishwasher while I was gone,” she replied and rolled her eyes.

When did I get a dishwasher?

My stomach almost tried to crawl up my throat and out my mouth at the smell of the warm croissants. I took my seat and sipped the coffee she had left for me, and closed my eyes for a moment. Lucrezia had a talent in the kitchen other than bending over the countertop.

“Is there a reason my studio isn’t here anymore?” she asked in a low, hurt voice.

I sighed, all my bad decisions coming back to bite me in the ass. “I knew I was being followed, so I did what I do best. I limited the collateral damage. No one would be able to find any trace of you here, and that would keep you safe.”

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