Page 61 of Midnight Salvation

I whimpered and felt arms tighten around me.

“He’s the white knight in the story I used to read to you all when you were babies. The only one who can protect the princess. Love is rare, hold on to it, my precious baby.” She kissed my forehead as her hands landed on my chest to push me back.

I fell into the darkness, flashes of images flying past me. Just when I was about to hit the bottom of this cavern, strong arms held me securely and anchored me. His heat infused into me and made me feel safe.

I’d spent my entire life behind walls and barricades. No matter which of the two roads I found myself on, I had been allowed to love Ash, and I would walk either knowing what it was like to have truly been loved.

***

Chapter Nineteen

Ash

Dad sat between Uncle Eli and Uncle Bart on one side of the table. Each wore a similar expression on their faces. We were seated in the main conference room of Blackwood Manor.

A gift-wrapped box had arrived by courier this morning with Marlow’s head in it sealed in a clear bag to save the delivery man needing therapy.

“Have you heard anything from Aaron or Oliver?” I asked. “I haven’t been able to get in touch with them and neither were at their homes.”

“No,” Dad replied. “Their trackers are no longer active.”

My eyes widened because we all knew that that meant they could be dead. “When did they disappear off the grid?”

“Around the same time my two sons were slaughtered,” Uncle Eli snapped. “Where were you last night?”

“What the fuck are you implying?” My tone was hard and cold. Xavier had taken my tracker and visited both Aaron and Oliver’s houses so that if Dad was watching, he would see a hooded figure arrive. The tracker would confirm it was me. “I was searching for my missing brothers.”

Technically, I had been with Lucrezia the entire night. There were a few moments that we thought we were going to lose her, but she’d stayed with me. Her vitals were stronger this morning and she was more settled and cooler to the touch. Paul was giving me an update by text every fifteen minutes.

“That my sons are dead and you survived.” Uncle Eli stared hatred at me.

“Did you overlook the fact that my brothers are missing?” I queried. “They are my main concern because I cannot help the dead.”

I turned my attention to Uncle Bart. “Since we’re comparing family numbers, maybe we should ask Uncle Bart if his daughter is safe, because right now I have one brother who was murdered a few months ago and two that are missing without a trace.”

Dad slowly turned to face his brother. “Were any of your homes targeted last night?”

“No, but my family is not in London they are in Greece,” he replied.

“How convenient,” I drawled. “My brothers unfortunately were not overseas last night.”

The best way to deflect suspicion from yourself was to put it on someone else. I glanced at the antique clock on the wall. Jordan and Xavier would be here in a few minutes. The document Dad signed a while ago to make his asset problem disappear was about to reappear to bite him in the ass.

Jordan was a barrister and taught us how to write iron-clad contracts over the years. Some of the strongest contained the fewest words and were the simplest to write. The expression on his face told me I’d done the right thing when I composed it.

The Blackwood brothers had inherited the family business from my grandad and Dad held controlling shares. Each son had held twenty percent of the business, and on his death, Grandad had left his forty percent to Dad as eldest son. Therefore, he was in constant control of every aspect of the company. I now held those shares.

The contract had been lodged by Jordan first thing this morning and witnessed by a magistrate. The full control of the company had already passed to me without any man in this room knowing. He never thought that I would cash in his moment of weakness and even mentioned that since I hadn’t sorted his problem that it was invalid. There was nothing in the contract to say that I had to do anything to receive his shares in the company.

Caleb would have received full access to the company accounts in Switzerland and by now every single account would be locked and no funds available to withdraw without my permission.

Checkmate.

“I need all our people on locating Aaron and Oliver,” I said to Dad, ignoring my uncles. Since Uncle Eli hadn’t mentioned the text message, he was obviously playing the game and seeing if Dad would reveal anything. “Marlow is one of your best field agents. Has he turned up?”

Dad’s shoulders stiffened and his head lifted. “Unfortunately not.”

I knew that he had received my gift earlier. The other two didn’t react, so they had no idea that Marlow was dead.

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