Page 35 of Midnight Salvation

Mum’s words had spooked me. “We’re planning all this, but Dad is planning something big with Dylan. They were hinting at something and we need to know what the fuck is going on.”

“I’ll do my best to get into their phones,” Jordan said. “But Matteus is a devious bastard who tends to keep his cards close to his chest.”

I nodded in agreement. “Bring me up to speed on what’s happening,” I said, trailing my fingers through my hair.

“The women from Matteus’ house are all out of the country. The last one was moved yesterday. They’ll be kept at a secret location until this is all over and they can safely return to their lives.” Xavier sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head as he spoke. We’d decided not to release any of the women in case Dad killed them.

Xavier eyeballed me. “Cassandra thinks you abducted Lucrezia, and we had to tell her that you had a business meeting in London and were just angry when you left.”

“I doubt your wife is that stupid,” I commented dryly.

Xavier grinned. “She has my fucking head turned with questions, as she hates being kept out of the loop.”

“And that makes you happy?” I queried.

“You better believe it,” Xavier replied. “She keeps me on my toes and there’s never a dull moment with Cassandra in my life.”

Jordan rolled his eyes and moved to one of the operational desks to fire up a computer. “Love seems to entail handing over possession of your testicles to an irrational woman who puts them in her handbag.”

“Is that where Megan keeps yours?” Xavier retaliated. “Or does she keep them warm in her pocket?”

“Fuck off,” Jordan muttered.

“Could we please focus, considering that I now have a wife and a fiancée?” I asked.

“What’s first on our agenda?” Xavier said.

“I’ve started to encrypt all the archives of the Council, but it’s a slow process, so I need eyes off me for a while,” Jordan replied. “Also, we need to deal with the issue of those diamond mines. I was digging around the archives and I think there is more there than just diamonds. One of us should take a trip over there and have a look around.”

“Agreed,” I responded. “Since Xavier and I have women problems, maybe it would be best if you head over there? Perhaps you could take Megan with you since she’d been a bit uptight lately?”

“She’s uptight because you two fuckers are settling down and rings are being flashed around everywhere. Do you have any fucking idea what that does to other women?” Jordan looked ready to tear his hair out as he trailed his fingers through it. “It makes them want a ring too and a commitment that could sign their death warrant.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” I teased.

“Says the man who has a secret wife.” Jordan glared at me before returning his attention to the computer.

Xavier winked at me in conspiracy. “In fairness, Ash wins the award for biggest balls here. He snatched one of the famous Black daughters from under Uncle Lucas’ nose by putting a gun to his head.”

Jordan snorted and chuckled. “I would have loved to have seen that.”

“Yeah, well, I had to live through it in my boxer shorts.” Our shared laughter blew away all the shadows that had formed between us the past few days. “I have to take Nicole to get an engagement ring tomorrow, so I need Lucrezia protected.”

After her reaction to Poppy, I knew Lucrezia would have a hard time with this and needed a support network around her.

“No worries, Ash, we’ll be there,” Xavier reassured me. “Cassandra will probably want to castrate you since in her head she has you two married off with four kids already.”

I shook my head at his nonsense. “Has Lucas given us the names of the rest of the zodiac brotherhood?”

“Not all of them, he’s got a bit cagey,” Xavier replied. “Uncle Lucas needs to speak to some of them first as they retired and are hiding around the world.”

“Who is on our list?”

Jordan pulled his wallet out and handed me a piece of paper. I scanned the list, my eyebrows hitting my hairline.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, that one made me a little twitchy as well,” Xavier said, knowing which name I had stopped at. Max had left the Council under a cloud a few years back. He was excommunicated and no one ever mentioned his name.

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