87 Our New Home
Mara
I couldn’t shake the image of Martha-her voice cracking, her mask slipping, desperation pouring out of her like a leak she couldn’t stop. I never thought I’d see the day. Martha was many things: manipulative, cold, cunning. But vulnerable?
Never.
And yet there she was, begging Lucian. Twenty-three years under someone’s thumb. That wasn’t a casual mistake. That was a lifetime of fear. Whatever she’d done… it had to be severe. Something dark enough to warrant theft, secrecy, and
now… collapse.
Lucian didn’t care. I understood. He’d carried too much of Martha’s damage on his back already. But this wasn’t about sympathy. It was about threats. If someone had that kind of leverage over her, we couldn’t ignore it-not if it could ripple back and touch the rest of us. We needed to know what she was hiding. For our sake.
When we stepped into the master bedroom of our new home, he gently laid me down on the bed. I winced slightly. My body still ached from our wild moment in the kitchen earlier. I wasn’t sure I had the strength for more, but Lucian looked at me with that same hungry intensity-and I knew it was only a matter of time before I melted again.
He lay beside me, inhaling deeply, his chest finally rising and falling in something close to peace.
“Finally,” he said.
“No more breakfast lounge meetings,” I added with a grin.
That sent him into laughter-the deep, relieved kind. Breakfast at Nighthorn had always been an emotional minefield. Everyone hated it except Martha and Vander. Now, Tiffany would have to carry that torch, and with Martha’s money supply cut off from Northwood, she’d be breathing fire again in no time.
“Mara,” Lucian said, suddenly serious.
I turned to him, and his eyes locked on mine. Whatever he was about to say-it mattered.
I sat up, and he followed suit, reaching for my hand and pressing a kiss to my knuckles.
“I don’t want to keep anything from you,” he said. “I’ll always tell you what’s happening. Even if it’s ugly. Even if it’s painful.”
My heart clenched.
“I’m telling you this so you know-if I ever keep something from you, it’s because I didn’t know yet or I wasn’t sure. Not because I don’t trust you.”
I nodded slowly, feeling a shadow of unease.
“There are people who don’t want us happy,” he continued. “Even though we’ve chosen each other, even though we’ve ear ned this, they’ll still try to destroy it. And I need you to know-I see it. I’m not blind to the threat.”
He pulled me close, and I rested my forehead against his shoulder, exhaling.
I appreciated his honesty, but my gut told me there was more. And I wasn’t sure if he was bracing me for what came next
or buying time.
Either way, I would stay alert.
Because the truth was… we weren’t just starting a new life.
We were walking into a battlefield.
1/3
87 Our New Home
Don’t be like Martha, Mara,” Lucian said softly. His tone was calm, but there was a weight behind his words. “No matter how bad something is, tell me. We’ll get through it together.”
He sighed. “Don’t ever let fear give someone power over you. That’s what Martha did. Whatever she’s hiding-it’s probably something that could destroy her relationship with my father. That’s why she’d rather keep paying than confess.”
He paused, then looked me straight in the eye.
“Even if you… cheated on me by mistake-tell me. I’m not saying it’s okay. I’m just saying we face it. Together. Always.”
I blinked, surprised by how far he was willing to go in his trust. I reached out and took his hand.
“I won’t cheat on you, even by mistake,” I said firmly. “But thank you for saying that. And the same goes for you, Lucian. I’ve already proven you can tell me anything. I’m here.”
He leaned in and kissed me-slow, grateful. A promise sealed between us.
Then he pulled back, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Austin’s been snooping around. For you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Lucian chuckled and stood, beginning to pace slowly, the amusement bubbling in his voice.
“You’ve got a secret supporter in the Nighthorn mansion. When I asked him why he decided to investigate Tina, he said you’re a good woman-and he hasn’t seen me this happy since I was twelve.”
That warmed me more than I expected. But it was what he said next that truly caught my attention.
“So?” I asked, eyes lighting up with interest.
He looked over at me and smiled. He could feel my eagerness.
“You were right about Tina,” he said. “She’s too selfish to poison herself. She researched how to slow her heart rate and induce spotting. The two emergencies she had-they were both staged.”
A grin broke across my face before I could stop it.
“Mara!” Lucian said, laughing. “You can’t even pretend to be shocked?”
“Why should I?” I fired back, not hiding a thing. “I hate that woman. Do you have any idea what she did to me when we got
married?”
He stopped laughing, and I saw the change in his expression-the guilt, the stillness.
“She sent me videos, Lucian. Pictures. Voice notes of you two together. Every. Single. Day. Like clockwork. I was miserable. I thought you went to her every night and left me alone. I felt like a fool. I felt like I was your placeholder.”
I paused, trying to steady my breath.
“She crushed every hope I had of trying with you. And the worst part? I believed it. I believed her. There were days I couldn’t even open my messages. I’d see her on top of you in some video, and I’d curl up in bed wondering why you family dragged me into your life.”
Lucian sat down next to me, silent, pained.
“If it weren’t for your father’s pressure,” I whispered, “I would’ve run, Lucian. I was ready to give up before we even began.”
He reached for my hand again, but I could see it now-the smile gone, the weight of it all hitting him.
“So yes,” I said, voice quiet but sure. “I am happy she got caught.”
Lucian didn’t argue.
2/3
