Lily’s hold on the folder trembled, she looked at her father’s lifeless body, blood everywhere. It was faint but she could see it still.“W-when did this happen?” Lily stuttered, her voice barely steady as she looked up at Mikhail.“Eight months ago,” he replied matter-of-factly, flipping through a stack of papers.“And not just him. Cases like this have been piling up. Journalists. Investigators. Anyone sniffing too close to certain networks. He was one of the first.”Eight months ago.Lily’s stomach twisted violently. Eight months ago was exactly when she’d met Dmitri. Exactly when she had agreed to his twisted bargain to get married to him in exchange for her protection and the promise he would help her find her father.Her fingers clenched tight around the folder. All that time. All those nights she had tortured herself with hope. He had been dead.She blinked back the sting in her eyes.Mikhail tapped the folder, drawing her attention back to him. “Are you okay, Miss Hills?”She n
Two Months Later..Lily’s palms were sweaty, she adjusted her shirt for the fifth time looking at her reflection in the mirror.It had been a long hard two months of adjusting and trying to get over Dmitri. She hadn’t completely forgotten about him, it’d take more than two months to do that but one thing she was ready to finally do was move on.Today, she finally restarted her career as a journalist. She didn’t know how good she’d be. It was a different country, different culture and she hadn’t worked into an office in over a year.“Don’t sweat it Lily, you’ll do great. You’re the best journalist I know. “ Gio flashed a smile.Lily rolled an eye in response. “I am the only journalist you know.”She was about to start a debate when a stain of icing fell from her hand onto Lily’s shirt as she attempted to pull her for a prep talk.“Oops.” Gio robbed it off awkwardly then cleared her throat. “I think I’ll go.”She pulled the cupcakes she’d just baked into a box and rushed out of the door
Lily woke up to the stream of sunlight against her face. Her eyes fluttered open to adjust to the light when the felt the ache.Her body was sore in places she hadn’t felt ache in years. The dull throb between her thighs was proof of last night, and despite herself, a small smile curved her lips.It had felt like forever since she’d been touched, really touched and for one fragile second she allowed herself the indulgence of believing she wasn’t alone anymore.But her smile was soon robbed off when she turned to face Dmitri and the side of the bed he had slept was now empty.Lily pushed up from the bed, scanning the entire room from his presence or scent even but the bed was cold.Her heart raced.“Dmitri?” She called scanning the spacious bedroom.She pushed herself up, tugging the thin silk gown around her shoulders, scanning the room for a sign of him, his scent, anything.Heart pounding, she hurried into the penthouse living room.Her mother sat behind the kitchen counter with Gio
The kiss was nothing Lily had prepared for.Dmitri’s lips met hers in a hungry desperate rush like he’d been waiting for this moment and was terrified of letting it go.His hands locked behind her neck, dragging her impossibly close. Lily gasped but didn’t pull away, fingers clawing into his needing something to hold on to.His kiss deepened, rougher, hungrier, and when he lifted her off the ground, she let out a startled cry that melted into another moan as her body straddled against him.He carried her up the staircase, lips never left hers, only breaking long enough to trail across her jaw, down the column of her throat. By the time they reached the room, Dmitri pinned her against the door with a heavy thud, slamming it closed behind them. His gaze burned into hers on the edge of losing every ounce of control he had."Dmitri-" her voice cracked on his name, breaking into a moan when his lips traveled lower, searing across her collarbone. He shoved her shirt aside with ruthless impa
Earlier…Dmitri received another file from Dante.This time it wasn’t on Christian, but Damien.A new death record had just surfaced in Manchester, the third “death” linked to Damien in the last few months. It was supposedly a mere mistake he’d started to consider but now he was sure something was off. Every breadcrumb was leading Dmitri toward one inescapable truth: Damien wasn’t finished.And Manchester… It wasn't a coincidence. After his meeting with Christian he reviewed Christian’s background tracing his place of birth back to Manchester city in the United Kingdom.His “Italian vendetta” act was sharp enough to fool the untrained eye, but not Dmitri’s. The accents, the papers, the family backstory, it was a skin that fit too neatly over something much messier.Dmitri wasn’t a hundred percent sure but if there was a possibility the two were connected then he needed to explore it.And the sudden obsession with Lily was another thing Dmitri couldn’t quite wrap his head around. In o
Lily scanned the room, the only exit was the door she entered from and at the moment Sebastian now stood stationed there. He clearly wasn’t going to just let them off.“Well, we’ll.” He drawled, like his brother, the British accent didn’t waver. “It seems like my brother might have let a little lady like you slip from his watch.”Lily’s pulse thundered in her ears. Instinctively, she shifted, tugging Gio behind her as if her body alone could shield her.“Stay back,” she snapped, raising her hands in offense. “Or I swear I’ll—““You’ll what?” Sebastian taunted her. “Do you plan to scratch me with those little nails? You should’ve stayed put, Mrs. Kalanshivo. Would’ve saved us all the trouble.”Her half baked confidence attempt wasn’t fooling anyone. His hands traveled his pocket, pulling out a pistol.She tugged at Gio’s wrist again, this time Sebastian had wandered a little away from the door. If one of them ran fast enough it could be possible they’d actually make it out.Lily gave G