Page 3 of Midnight Salvation

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Chapter Two

Lucrezia

The tip of my pencil tapped the pad in front of me as I sat in the conservatory of my cousin Xavier’s home. Harold had phoned this morning with a proposition. The next level of the goldsmith competition needed to incorporate more intricate designs, and he wanted us to join forces again. Xavier paced in the background on his phone, his tone bordering on hostile.

“I don’t give a fuck whose cage you need to rattle. I need answers, considering that the safety of my family is at risk.” He trailed his fingers through his hair as he spoke.

My eyebrows flew up. He was supposed to be the calm one of the group. Papa lowered his paper to watch Xavier over the top of it, his brow furrowing.

Cassandra and Megan chatted over beside the window as they overlooked the pond. Right now, my head thumped and my chest felt too tight. Ash had gone to a meeting with his dad, and every minute he was with that man was a minute that I worried because he tied Ash in knots and left him angry and withdrawn.

I desperately wanted to go and hide in my room, but I had to pretend to be normal so that no one knew the turmoil that lived inside me.

Ash was mine, but no one in this house knew that except Papa since he’d stood and watched us saying our vows to each other. We walked past each other like strangers who barely knew each other, and it broke my heart a little more every single day that I couldn’t tell the world he belonged to me.

“Lucy?” Catarina wandered into the conservatory. “I need your help with my nails. Since we’re under house arrest, I can’t go and get a proper manicure.” Xavier glared at her before he walked out of the room with his phone to his ear.

“Why don’t you bring your stuff down here where the light is better and I’ll give you a manicure?” I replied.

Cassandra and Megan automatically joined in since we were all starting to suffer from cabin fever. My life had been spent behind closed doors and a high fence, but something had snapped inside me now that I had started to live. I didn’t want to hide anymore, I wanted to live my life to the fullest with my husband by my side.

Catarina arrived back in the conservatory with her case filled with nail accessories. For someone who spent her entire life having professional manicures and pedicures, she had an alarming collection that she brought with her.

The task of shaping nails took my mind of what was bothering me and allowed me a respite for a while. I tended to use fine brushes when I added paint to my sketches, so in the end, the girls had designer nails with colourful patterns. Cassandra now had nails with tiny sunflowers, Megan asked for black and white zigzags, and Catarina opted for black nails with the moon cycle on them. I painted my own nails red with white polka dots.

Ash would understand the reference even if no one else did.

Xavier stalked back into the room. “We need to talk,” he said, staring down at Papa who was still hiding behind his daily paper.

Papa calmly folded the paper. “This doesn’t sound good.”

“It isn’t,” Xavier replied. “The files on the pen drives Ash and Jordan brought back from Thailand have been decrypted, as well as some of the other files. Jordan is on his way here now with all the latest data and we’ll need your help piecing it all together.”

“And you need to speak to me now because…?”

Xavier’s eyes moved to me and Catarina. “It’s Council business,” he said evasively.

In other words, there was bad news about either me or Catarina. Papa nodded and followed him from the room. We all stared at each other for several moments before I cautiously followed. The women in this household had made a pact over a week ago that at least one of us would be ears so that we would know what was happening.

I left my shoes beside the table and tiptoed out behind Papa. There was a saferoom built off the kitchen, the door disguised as a kitchen unit. It was slightly ajar, so I craned my upper torso forward to listen into the conversation.

“You’ve pissed off the wrong person this time, Uncle Lucas,” Xavier said. “As security officer on the Council, Jordan has received a request that your three daughters be followed. If necessary, one should be brought in so you understand the meaning of obedience.”

“They wouldn’t fucking dare,” Papa hissed. “I will cut their throats as they sleep.”

Xavier sighed. “The problem is that you operate in the shadows, Uncle Lucas. No one sees you for the formidable force you are anymore. They believe you live a sleepy life in Tuscany making wines and terrorising suitors who are sniffing around your daughters.”

The frustrated growl had to have come from Papa.

I jumped when a hand slipped over my mouth and I was lifted against a hard chest. Lips so soft that they felt like velvet on my skin kissed my neck. Ash stopped when he heard the voices, joining me in my surveillance.

“No one will put a fucking finger on any of my daughters, I don’t care what order the Council has decreed. Maybe I should send them a message to remind them who I am.”

Ash set me back on the floor, slowing turning me to face him. He arched a single eyebrow and indicated that I leave with a nod of his head toward the door. I pouted and he pressed a quick, hard kiss to my lips before pushing me in the direction of the hallway, slapping my ass and winking at me.

“Gentlemen, what’s going on?” He strode into the saferoom as if he had been sent a personal invitation. He deliberately closed the door so I couldn’t eavesdrop anymore.

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