Page 85 of Midnight Salvation

“You may kiss the bride.”

I grinned and Lucrezia raised an eyebrow. She squealed as I dipped her low toward the ground, her arms tight around my neck as I shared our first official married kiss. No one ever had to know that technically that happened a year ago in Tuscany.

Mum had turned into bridezilla and organised our reception in the ballroom, with an army of staff and caterers constantly filling plates and glasses. For the first time in my life, laughter rang out in this place that I believed cursed. Happiness flooded the corridors, and the evil that resided here was exorcised through love.

Lucrezia and I swayed on the dance floor, as others took to the floor around us.

“Happy?” I asked.

“You have no idea how much,” she replied. “Sofia and Nic have Theodore home, Catarina is finally happy, and Papa is holding court over there somewhere. All our families are together again, if only for a little while.”

That was my wife in one sentiment—she was content when others were happy.

We danced for a while longer when she suddenly leaned back to stare up at me. “At least I don’t have to work too much on changing my signature. I’m still Lucrezia Black, you just add a bit of wood to me.” She bounced her eyebrows at me playfully.

“I add wood to you?” I laughed.

“Nine inches,” she replied solemnly, which made me pull her against me tighter.

“Minx,” I whispered in her ear.

Over the past year, Lucrezia had become very interested in exploring different sexual genres, her appetite ferocious. She released her BDSM jewellery line and it was available exclusively in the Twilight Rooms. She had also become a full member of the Midnight Rooms since she was still shy about others watching her having sex. She didn’t care who heard her scream in the darkness as long as it was my cock lodged inside her.

“I want to show you something,” she said, taking my hand and leading me outside onto the lawn that stretched down toward the lake at the back of the house.

A full moon hung low in the sky.

Lucrezia stood with her back pressed into my chest and my arms wrapped around her waist. “I wanted to spend a moment here moongazing together, the way we had at the start of our relationship.”

She had been the only light in my life back in those days.

I kissed the top of her head. “I used to spend hours staring up at it and thinking of you,” I admitted.

“Ash?”

“Hmmm?”

Her hand gripped mine at her waist. “I have something to tell you.”

I rested my chin on top of her head, lost in my thoughts of the past.

“You’re going to be a dad.”

That certainly got my attention. “How?—” I stopped that question because we’d had a lot of sex in the past year and babies didn’t grow under the gooseberry bush as Mum used to tell me when I was little.

“In the middle of everything, my injections were erratic…” Her words trailed off and I could almost feel the apprehension pulsing off her.

I slowly spun her in the circle of my arms. “How long have you been worrying about this?” I asked.

“Just over three weeks,” she admitted.

I tucked a piece of hair that had come loose behind her ear. “You should have told me immediately, Angel. We’re in this together and how can I support you if I don’t know?” I gave her my sternest look.

“You never mentioned children. In fact, you actively avoid touching Theodore.”

“Other people’s children are not the same as our own,” I told her. “I might not like babies, but I’ll love ours.”

Her forehead landed on my chest. “I’ve been so worried.”

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