Page 12 of Midnight Torment

“Nope.” Another kiss on his lips and I pushed him onto his back. “Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.” I punctuated each word with a kiss.

“I’m not that big of a prize,” he protested.

I stilled to peer down at him. “But you are.” My heart pounded in my ears. “You’re the family I’ve been waiting for my entire life.”

I sat back with my hips still connected to his and pursed my lips for a moment. “When I was little, I prayed for a dark prince to come and rescue me. As a teenager, I imagined a knight who would claim me. I walked into the Twilight Rooms searching for a lover who would show me what the fuss over sex was really about. Every step along the way, I needed you in my life, Jordan. I don’t see you as a prize, I see you as the missing part of me. I’ve never wanted anything but you, it’s that simple.”

His hand reached out to cup my face. “I’m not good enough for you.”

My hand covered his. “Everything you are is enough because you make me happy.”

It was true. I spent my entire life craving something that I saw in the faces of others. It was only when I found it that I realised what I had been searching for. Happiness. Jordan made me happy and that was all I needed.

He pushed himself up into a seated position so that the tips of our noses touched. “I don’t deserve you, but that doesn’t mean that I will ever let you go. That fucker Mark is lucky not to be buried in a shallow grave somewhere for touching you. I’ve tried to be noble and let you have a safe life, but now that you’ve walked back into my lair, I don’t care who I have to kill to protect you.”

His dark and dangerous declaration made my panties combust in passion.

He wasn’t the dark prince I had imagined as I lay awake at night, he was the king of the damned and I had willingly become his queen.

***

Chapter Five

Jordan

Shannon Doherty’s warehouse had been filled with priceless treasures until a few weeks ago. She had been Matteus’ lover who also happened to be an international thief. Her downfall had been stealing from Nicklas Stewart, because that guy was a little bit crazy with control issues.

She’d stolen from a lot of people, but the items taken for Matteus intrigued me. There were relics mentioned in one of the old manuscripts held in the archives of the Council from when it formed several centuries ago. Each founding member chose an object, or piece of art and left a message on it. Only when you had all of them could you access the true power of the Council.

Considering that I knew every sordid secret they possessed, I needed to know what this was since Matteus had been hunting it down object at a time. The artwork Shannon had stolen from Nicklas had a clue, which was written in my book. I recognised some of the pieces when I broke in to steal the painting back for Nicklas, and started to systematically search them to find what I needed before I would destroy the trail of breadcrumbs for anyone else. That’s what Matteus should have done, but his arrogance had always been his downfall.

His demise proved that when he tried to harm Lucrezia. She had always been the quietest of all Lucas’ children, but her kitchen skills came in useful when she turned Matteus into sushi not long after we brought Shannon in. My guess was that she’d been his last lover and part of his downfall.

I stood staring at the relevant artifacts all in place in one of our storage units. The only piece missing had been the Van Gogh since Nicklas had to hand it over to his buyer. Since I had been unable to keep it, I had an exact replica in its place with the symbol that had been left on it for future Council members to find.

Over my time as security officer, I had read many of the journals held in the archives. This treasure map had been mentioned many times over the years, and most people thought it would lead them to priceless treasures that would mean they could be a king among men. I wasn’t sure what it held, but instinct told me that it was something more than gold and precious gemstones. The Council had been formed by men with ideals who wanted to make the world a better place for their ancestors.

They all had plenty of wealth at the time, which was why this little mystery intrigued me. I could destroy all these artifacts and no one would ever know or be able to follow the clues they left.

“Need any help?” Xavier wandered into the room. “What did you do with everything else that Shannon had stolen?”

“It’s in a secure lockup. Most of it is stolen, but some of the other pieces I’m not sure about. I think they should anonymously be donated to a charity when we’re finished.” I didn’t want to get rid of them just yet in case one of them was a clue and I hadn’t recognised it.

“Okay, so I was reading through the images you took of the journals and most of them make reference to twelve pieces,” Ash said. “We have nine, ten if you include the Van Gogh.”

No mobile phones were allowed in the archives, so no one could steal the information down there. Since I had created my own way in and out of the house, no one ever knew when I was down there searching for information. It also meant that I was able to find out most of their dirty little secrets, ready to expose them if I needed to.

Grampa taught me that knowledge was power and the key to that was always to have more information than the person you wanted to control. It was the reason I knew who Frank Jenkins was when Xavier mentioned Cassandra’s real name all those months ago. The Council who sat today refused to acknowledge that he had ever existed.

“Is there any reference to the other two?” I asked, turning to give Ash my attention.

He sighed. “I’m still searching through all the documents. This shit is seriously twisted, and the worst part is that my family has been involved in it since the year of dot.”

“I try to think that they were good guys trying to make a difference,” Xavier said.

Both Ash and I stared at him.

He shrugged. “I try to see the glass as being half full.”

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