Twenty-Nine.

(Lily's POV)

I wasn't mad at Alphonso. He had every right to be suspicious; he was the one getting played, but I needed to know exactly what it was that Gemma had up her sleeve.

I got the long-awaited message from Nine, giving me what I needed to know.

Gemma was right; the real Lily had sabotaged her undercover mission by revealing her identity to the people she was trying to infiltrate.

I was sure Gemma was not going to stop until she got the answer she needed.

Alphonso's birthday was in a few days. I had considered throwing him a huge party so we could have a little fun just the two of us later.

Hence, I was trying to act mad, but I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep up the charade.

The next morning, Alphonso was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

He saw me and smiled.

“I thought I'd make an ‘I’m sorry’ breakfast for you.”

I frowned when I saw his bruised hand. “What happened to you?”

He looked at his hand and said, “Just an accident.”

“It looks like you punched a rock; your