Se connecterI lied to Nero so I could meet Lily. I said I wanted to go shopping to take my mind off things, and I convinced the attendant to help me sneak out the back. I took a train from there and then hired a car to take me to where we were meeting.It was in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of New York. I knew I should have been wary of the location with all the accusations surrounding Lily, but part of me believed I could trust her.I trusted that it was a misunderstanding and she was being framed. There was no way she had been a good actress for almost twenty years. Her family moved to New York when she was barely a teenager, and we had been inseparable since.There was no way she was that young and scheming with her parents. Someone had to have erased her parents from the system or something like that to make sure the frame job was perfect.I should have told Nero that I was meeting with her, but I knew no one would believe me when I said she had been framed. He had already decided sh
As Luca looked for information regarding Lily, I was spiraling. She had disappeared after I left her car. Dominic couldn’t get in touch with her, and she had lost Nero’s guards. She was seemingly very good at doing that, considering Nero’s guards were very good, and she had lost them twice.Nero wasn’t happy. He made sure to punish all of them. I didn’t ask what he did to all those bodyguards because I was scared he would say he murdered them, and I didn’t know how to feel about that.No one knew where she was. I tried to get in touch with her parents, and even went by to their house, hoping I would find Lily there. But they weren’t answering any of my calls, and their family home was empty.The house was listed for sale. It made Lily look worse, and I couldn’t comprehend anything that was taking place. It felt like my soul was being ripped from my body. I raked my brain for signs that Lily was never the person she claimed she was, but I couldn’t find any.She hated Lorenzo because sh
In the car with Nero, I wondered if I had made the right decision in leaving Lily alone. Maybe I should have gotten in the car with her and followed her wherever she was going. The fear that she was never going to speak to me again was greater than ever.“Don’t worry about her. I’m sure she’ll get home safe. I left her some bodyguards so she wouldn’t get into any trouble.”“I’m afraid our friendship is as good as done. I can’t pinpoint when everything started going wrong. I don’t know why things are like this.”Nero was driving, which meant he couldn’t hold me in his arms and reassure me that everything would make sense soon.“This is hard for you, I know. But she’s the one who threw your phone out of the window of her car and made sure the two of you had no bodyguards protecting you. Do you believe me now when I say something’s off?”“Nero—”“She went to the same places Dominic went. She must have been really good at hiding because Dom didn’t realize it. She was in all the places he
I told myself that I was overreacting. There is no way a girl I had known for years would do anything to me. But she was asking me to go with her wherever she wanted to prove I wasn’t mad at her.I should have said no, but the urge not to burn any bridges was high. I kept telling myself that Lily was my best friend and whatever Nero and Tally thought of her didn’t matter to me. I could go out with her as usual, and everything would be okay.“Okay. I’ll go out with you, but you have to stay with me until late to make sure I’m done with the work I was supposed to do. I can’t fall behind, especially with all I’m planning.”She squealed in joy and started dragging me out. I yelled out for someone to get Emily some water and followed her out. She had driven her own car there. While we were leaving, I told Nero I was leaving and demanded that I bring bodyguards.He warned me not to go anywhere with Lily, but I didn’t listen. Until he proved my best friend was suspicious, she was innocent in
Ever since Nero expressed his concerns regarding Lily’s behavior, I had been avoiding her. I didn’t have it in me to lie to her face or pretend my husband wasn’t looking into her. I felt guilty that she was helping plan my wedding.Now that my fashion line was taking off, Nero was thriving, Viktor was getting cornered, and everything was in place, I wanted to marry the man of my dreams. While Lily and I didn’t meet in person, we still talked on the phone.She helped me pick out flowers, a venue, and hire a DJ. I knew I was taking advantage of her when I already suspected her, but suddenly telling her not to help me would only make everything look suspicious.“Do you think she’s suspicious?” I asked Luca for the fifth time since Nero told me his concerns. He and I started making sure we spoke at least once every two days. Sometimes we spoke every day over the phone."No, and your fiancé is paranoid. Lily acts weird from time to time, but she was your age when our parents died. Her only
At first, we thought the Sovereign justice was giving us an allowance of hours, but then days passed, and Nero’s whole world didn’t implode. The suspense of knowing why people who specialized in taking down unholy, powerful men—all of them—didn’t seize the opportunity to do it to Nero was greater than ever.Nero thought they were waiting to get his hopes up and then crush them when he thought he was safe. However, according to everything Luca has said about them, they didn’t seem like the kind to go back on their word.It was on the third day that they sent a text to Nero telling him that he was in the clear at the moment, and that they still had evidence against him, and they were going to come and collect their debt one day.They also said they would make him pay for not following their orders and surrendering when they had asked him to.Nero was, of course, mad at this because he didn’t like something like that hanging over his head for the foreseeable future. But he was happy the
Once we got to my office, I put the peonies in a vase and added some water. I had planned to buy flowers for it anyway.“I don’t appreciate that you did that, and you didn’t at least talk to me first,” I said to him as I crossed my arms against my chest.“I know you wouldn’t have agreed.”“It would
“I have to go, but I’ll see you tonight,” he said as he gently pulled me off his lap and stood. He put his hand around my waist and pulled me into him. He kissed me hard and released me.I watched him walk out, knowing people were going to want to know what we talked about in the conference room. A
They all looked like they wanted to be there, but I didn’t buy their act. Some of them had sadness in their eyes. Viktor was drunk and also high, judging from the redness in his eyes.“You'd better have come to New York with good intentions. Otherwise, I will send your ass back to Russia in a body
“Zio,” I greeted as I walked into his mansion.He was there to greet me along with Matteo. They each hugged me and welcomed me into the house. The dinner table was already set when I got there, and none other than Viktor was in one of the seats.I looked at Zio, but he had an innocent look on his f






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