Page 65 of Midnight Revelations

“Matteus—”

Ash cut Papa off with a wave of his hand. “I am not my father.” Ash allowed me to share his strength and pulled me against him. “I have done some pretty horrendous things in my lifetime and most of them have been sanctioned by you, Lucas. None of us have the right to judge the other. Lucrezia is mine. You keep throwing men at her and you’ll have a line of corpses to deal with. This is your last warning.” Papa had always been the strongest man I knew, but tonight a new dynamic was forged. Ash possessed a formidable presence and the fact that he refused to back down made me hope for our future. He could have thrown me at Papa and walked away. It was definitely the easier option.

I almost shrank back when Papa turned his dark, penetrating stare to me. “He will break you until you are no longer the daughter I raised. None of us will be able to fix you by then. Please, Lucrezia, see sense before you turn into the shadow that his mother has become.”

Ash stiffened beside me, his hand fisting.

“Ash is the only one who has tried to help his mum. He bought her a home away from his dad and gave her independence. Ash is not his father, just as I am not you.” I pursed my lips and shook my head. “I think it’s best that you take me home, Ash.”

“This is your home,” Papa growled.

“Not anymore it isn’t,” I replied. “Ash has given more than he has ever taken, and when he’s beside me I’m strong. I don’t want anyone else. I never have.”

Ash’s arm enveloped me in a shield of protection to give me a quick, hard squeeze. “Get dressed, Angel. We’re leaving.” He grabbed his car keys and a hooded top.

There was no way I was leaving him, so I pulled his sweater over my pyjamas. No one would see me in my Snoopy bottoms in the car. “Ready.”

“This is ridiculous,” Papa grated out.

“I agree,” I replied. “I’m a grown up letting her father make her decisions for her.”

I grabbed Ash’s hand and tugged him toward the door. I’d lived with him too long to know that whoever backed down now would be the winner. My fingers curved around the handle.

“Stop!”

I didn’t turn around. “What is it you want, Papa?”

“I don’t want to lose the baby of our family.”

My back straightened and I slowly spun around. “Ash stays with me,” I said in a cold voice. “You have to respect him because he has been the only one to support and protect me.”

Papa opened his mouth, but I shook my head.

“This is not a negotiation, Papa. This is a declaration.”

“No one can know that you are together or Matteus will throw the full weight of his wrath at you,” Papa said. “That includes Xavier and Jordan.”

“Why do you think I’ve been throwing up smoke barriers everywhere?” Ash demanded. “I have Caleb breathing down the neck of Dad’s accounts ready to disable them in a heartbeat. It takes time to eliminate an organisation and all the risks associated with them, but I’m fucking trying.”

“Try harder,” Papa growled. “Lucrezia is my daughter.”

“Then fucking act like it.” Ash glared at him until Papa’s brow furrowed. “I’ll put my own protection details into place. If Lucrezia is going to reign as Queen of Hell beside me, then I will make sure that no one gets close to her.”

“Francis loves her like family.”

“I don’t give a single fuck,” Ash grated out. “As you pointed out, I’m a Blackwood and that comes with certain risks and privileges. Lucrezia is under my protection now. Step aside, Lucas, and let me do my job.”

Papa gave both of us his best scowl before nodding once and stepping past us. He paused briefly, his fist connecting to Ash’s jaw. “You hurt her and I will leave your rotting corpse for the crows to feast on.”

“I’ll give you that one for free, Lucas. You touch me or Lucrezia again and I will destroy you, international crime lord or not.”

Papa stormed out of the room without a backward glance.

My legs wobbled and I would have collapsed, only Ash held me. I stared up at him, my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

“Shit’s about to get real, Angel. You sure this is where you want to be?”

I nodded and wrapped my arms around his waist to rest my chin on his chest. “You’ve ruined me for all the men who can’t find my g-spot.”

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