Page 64 of Midnight Revelations

“I can’t do that, Lucas, especially since you’re pointing a gun in her direction.” Ash moved his body to shield me even more, pushing me toward the bathroom.

My head rested on his back. He’d told me to stay away when Papa was close by until he sorted it and I wouldn’t listen. Tears escaped to cascade down my cheeks. How had everything gone so wrong?

Papa took a step forward. “My girls mean everything to me. I like you, Ash, but I will never let a Blackwood near one of them.”

I felt his muscles bunching in his shoulders a second before Ash surged forward, his hands wrapping around the gun to point it in the air. The moonlight gave me a perfect view. Ash was a lethal predator, but more than that, he was a protective mate who had pushed me behind the wooden bathroom door and faced the risk himself.

Papa was strong and fuelled by rage, but Ash was a cold and calculated fighter. His elbow came up under Papa’s chin to jolt his head back before Ash wrapped his leg around the back of Papa’s to bring him to his knees. Never once did Ash let go of the hand holding the gun. He twisted Papa’s wrist to wrestle the gun free, grabbing it and pushing Papa back as he trained the gun on him and took a step back.

No one ever took on Papa and won. It was an unwritten law. “You are dead to me,” Papa hissed at Ash.

“Join the fucking club,” Ash retaliated. “I seem to be pissing everyone off lately. Dad has a price on my head as well.”

My back stiffened. What?

“Lucrezia get over here,” Papa snapped. “Xavier will sort this and throw this bastard out.”

I silently shook my head while coming to stand beside Ash. “No, Papa. I choose Ash, I will always choose Ash. If he goes then I go, too.”

Papa glared at me as if I’d lost my mind, his jaw tightening. “I forbid it.”

“It’s a bit late for that since I already love him.”

“He has already taken a lover and disrespected you. I showed you the photographs.” Ash’s spine straightening was his only reaction to Papa’s words.

“He perpetuated the ruse to protect me. His brother Aaron is with Poppy.”

Papa’s top lip lifted in a sneer. “You don’t know what they do to the women who enter their family.”

I leaned into Ash. “Did Cassandra know all about Xavier when they first started dating?” I asked. “Was she aware that he was the nephew of one of the biggest crime lords in the world?”

Pappa glared at Ash accusingly.

“He didn’t need to tell me, Papa. The girls at school already did that. We’ve all known for years.”

He grimaced and pushed himself to his feet. “I will not tolerate this.” His tone was absolute.

“Papa, this is not your decision to make. All you need to decide is if you want me in your life, because Ash is going nowhere.” I set my hand on top of the gun to lower it. “I love both of you, but Ash is my future, Papa.”

Ash’s arm snaked around my waist to tug me closer, his lips skimming the top of my head.

“I crawled into his bed because I was cold, lonely, and afraid,” I continued. “Please don’t force me to choose between you because I need both of you in different ways.”

A sly smile crept over Papa’s face. “And Ivan?”

“Tell him if he comes within arm’s length of Lucrezia again, that I’ll rip those arms off and beat him senseless with them.” Ash’s tone brooked no argument. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t come barging into my room again.”

“This is my house,” Papa barked.

“And my home, too, Papa. We do not treat our guests like this.”

“Your mama would be ashamed,” he said, and pain blossomed in my chest, making me flinch and take a step back.

“That’s enough!” Ash snapped. “Lucrezia, get changed. We’re leaving.”

That definitely got Papa’s attention. “It’s the middle of the night.”

Ash stabbed his legs into his jeans and put the gun in the back of them. “Lucas, I’ve respected you my entire life, but you crossed a line tonight. You can call me whatever the fuck you want, but no one will ever hurt Lucrezia when I’m here. You may be her father, but you have no fucking right to emotionally blackmail her.”

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