Page 50 of Midnight Salvation

“Dare I ask?”

“I’ll fill you in later,” I replied.

“Okay. Give me a few minutes.” He hung up.

“What’s going on, Ash?” Mum asked, her face a genuine mask of concern.

“I need your help. The sharks are circling and I have no one left to trust.”

Her hand gripped my wrist as I sped through London. My heart sounded in my ears with every second that passed. We arrived at the hospital about twenty minutes later, and I strode in with Mum beside me, heading straight to Lucrezia’s room. A guard sat outside, another down the hall.

“Hey.” She smiled at me from the bed, but even I could see how unwell she was. Dark circles shadowed her eyes and she looked frail.

“How are you doing, Angel?” I leant down and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I brought someone to stay with you. Mum, this is my wife Lucrezia. Lucrezia, this is my Mum.”

Mum went still behind me, her entire focus on the woman in the bed. “Ash…”

“Yeah, I know,” I replied. “Lucrezia knows about Nicole and the fact that everything is fake until I can get this entire mess sorted.”

Mum’s shoulders relaxed and she moved forward. “This is a little unconventional, but I’m very pleased to meet you.”

Lucrezia gave Mum a small wave. “I’m supposed to be a secret.”

“Dad had her shot,” I said in explanation to why she was here.

Mum’s jaw tightened. “He suspects you care for her.”

I nodded. “I’ve been throwing up smoke and mirrors for months to try and keep her safe. She was attacked when I was in the Council meeting, and I had to pretend my car had been damaged.”

Mum slowly sat down. “That’s why they were questioning you on it.”

“Yeah. The doctor says Lucrezia has some sort of toxin in her system that they’re trying to identify.” I sat on the side of the bed and Lucrezia tucked herself in beside me. “They’re keeping her here until they know more.”

“Matteus used to paint his bullets with poison and shoot the local wildlife. He said if they didn’t die instantly, they would in a few days.”

Why the fuck had I not thought of that? I texted Jordan as he was a walking encyclopaedia of poisons and what the Council had used in the past for interrogations.

Jordan:Fucking seriously? Send me a list of her symptoms. I’ll access her notes online.

“Jay said hi,” I replied to Lucrezia’s raised eyebrow.

“I doubt that. He doesn’t even say it in real life.”

Mum studied us. “So how did you meet?”

“We met in Tuscany,” Lucrezia replied, smiling at Mum. “Ash didn’t notice me even though I fell head-over-heels for him.”

“Hey!” I interjected.

“It’s true.” She nudged me in the ribs and I pulled her closer.

“Then she wandered into a restaurant to meet us all for lunch a few months ago and completely knocked me off my feet.”

Lucrezia smiled up at me. “Ash came to my rescue and I fell even harder than the first time.”

I tucked her hair behind her ear and tried not to notice the swollen red skin around the bandage on her shoulder.

“Now this is what I wanted for my son!” Mum exclaimed. “I always wanted my boys to marry for love. Ash promised me he would, and then he agreed to marry Nicole.”

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