Page 22 of Midnight Salvation

Jordan was beside me in a heartbeat to peel my hand from Xavier’s throat. Both of us glared down at Xavier.

Right now I wanted to kick his ass until he couldn’t stand. He was the closest thing I had to a real family and he’d let us walk into this without a fucking clue.

“I didn’t recognise the symbols on the round table in Rome since we were barely in the room before the meeting started. It was only when Lucrezia phoned me and started to talk about zodiac symbols and planets that it all started to fall into place.” My eyes never left Xavier’s. “You never said a word even when you saw those symbols in the book and we tried to work out their significance.”

“I had a hunch,” Xavier rasped. “But I didn’t know. Uncle Lucas never said a word about it, so I never probed.”

I took a step forward but Jordan hauled me back.

“Lucrezia and I are leaving tonight,” I spat out. “Whatever the fuck you are sinking in, my wife is going to be nowhere fucking near it.”

“Look, Ash, I’ll show you everything,” Xavier said. “I was trying to keep everyone safe.”

“Bullshit,” I snapped. “Bull. Shit.”

This was the side of me anyone rarely saw unless I was in a fight. Lucrezia tended to fry all my circuits and leave me a territorial beast who wanted to kill every threat.

Xavier pushed himself up. “I get it, I have a wife that I’m trying to protect as well. We’re both on the same side for fuck’s sake.”

“Do you sit on the zodiac brotherhood?” I demanded.

“No.” He shook his head. “We’d all heard of it, but I only started to piece bits together after we’d been to Cassandra’s house. I recognised the sign for Taurus, as it’s my star sign. It made me wonder, but there is no information on them apart from rumours and suspicions, and these documents were from a long time ago.”

“I know this is going to sound ridiculous coming from me, but we all need to calm down,” Jordan grated out. “Let’s start this from the beginning.”

“Maybe Xavier would like to let us in on what he hid away because we weren’t trustworthy enough to know.” I folded my arms over my chest and glared at the man who I’d considered my real brother.

Xavier rubbed his throat and tried to gauge my temper. Considering that I still wanted to rip his head off, he should really get a move on. The buzzer sounded on the other side of the door and we all glanced up at the monitor to see we had a crowd outside.

“Fucking great,” Xavier muttered.

“Well, I don’t have anything to hide,” I said, turning to Jordan. “You?”

“Do you have to be an asshole?” Xavier demanded.

“No, I don’t have to be, but considering that you’ve treated me like one I thought I’d try it on for size.”

“Fine!” Xavier threw his hands out. “Since Lucrezia has already started to work it all out, you may as well let the rest in. If this all goes to hell, then you only have yourself to blame.”

“Let me explain something,” I said in a low, dangerous tone. “No matter what happens, I will always put my wife first.”

Xavier stared at me and nodded once. “I know the feeling, so I can’t say a damned thing.”

Jordan keyed in the code to open the door.

Lucas strode in first, assessing the situation. “Should I even ask?” His eyes narrowed when he saw the marks at Xavier’s throat.

“If you’ve been holding out on us, let me assure you that I have no problem pulling a trigger right now,” I said.

Lucrezia and Cassandra entered the room, both women looking terrified. Right now I needed Lucrezia close to me, so I grabbed her wrist and put her in the seat in front of me. Cassandra watched wordlessly, moving to Xavier and sitting down as well. Sasha watched from the doorway for a moment before returning to the kitchen. She tended to stay away from this room and all the secrets contained inside it.

Lucky bitch.

“Xavier was just about to show us what he’d hidden from us,” I said. “Then Lucas can tell us all about the zodiac brotherhood and what the fuck is going on.”

All eyes fell on me and I felt my self-control unravel further.

“Maybe I should take a seat as well,” Lucas muttered. He obviously hadn’t expected me to work out his dirty little secret today.

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