Chapter 2

Lilith's POV

My heartbeat quickened as I slipped away unseen.

When the set time came, the ballroom glowed twice as much.

I assumed by position beside Lucian, my arm linked into his own, my smile as flawless as a diamond on my neck.

Close to us, was a man by the name…. Dons from Naples, arms dealers from Berlin, and Russian ex-royalty.

They all gathered around him, laughing at his stupid jokes, and eagerly shaking his hand at every chance they got.

I stood there, like a silent ornament, beautiful and untouchable.

Enzo walked up and whispered something in Lucian's ear.

And whatever he told him made him withdraw from me sharply without even a glance at my way.

And for the first time since the evening started, I was able to breathe again.

I stepped away and took a glass of wine from a passing server.

It was cold, crisp, and tasted like nothing.

I was just at the point of turning when I was greeted by the unexpected sight of a man walking in.

He was remarkably tall, in a dark suit, with no tie, and an attitude of careless elegance.

When his eyes met mine, something stirred within me, not recognition, exactly, but a strange, old ache.

Maybe it was the way he looked; unafraid to really see me.

Most men averted their eyes, but this one didn’t.

Something in his gaze felt too steady… too certain. Like he already knew who I was long before I looked at him.

Like remembering a promise someone once made and never kept.

He continued to walk past without stopping.

However, my skin felt pricked and my chest tightened.

I moved over to the garden balcony seconds later. The gentle breeze brushed my bare shoulders. The scent of the sea rose in the air.

I inhaled deeply. I had taken a break from Lucian's perfect world, and for once today, I felt almost human again.

Then, out of nowhere…. I heard a deep voice behind me.

My first instinct was to turn away, but something in me stayed still this time.

“This is where the Don keeps his prettiest collection?”

I turned sharply and almost gasped.

It was him. The same man from the ballroom.

He leaned against the rail, casual, like he belonged here. He didn’t smile. Didn’t try to charm, he just watched me.

“You are not like them,” He remarked.

I blinked twice, “What?”

“You don’t blink like the rest of them. You look like a woman who’s been polished so long no one remembers what she looked like before,”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

His words didn't just settle over my skin; they slipped beneath it, hooking into a part of me I kept locked away. It was heavy, strange, and unnervingly true.

My heart beat, not with fluttering anxiety, but with the hard, sudden thump of a door being unlocked.

In my silence, he stepped closer, stopping at a dangerously intimate distance.

He only tilted his head at me—a tall, broad-shouldered man in a sharp suit making a childish gesture.

It should’ve been funny. But the moment my gaze caught his face, any trace of a smile drained away. His expression… how could it be the same as his?

“Nice to finally meet you,” he cut in, then strode away.

“Wait”No one answered me. Only the faint scent of green moss drifted through the air, identical to the smell I remembered from that little boy long ago.

I had to ask. I had to know. But I couldn’t.

Lucian’s presence was already closing in around me again. I stared at the place where the man had vanished, as if he had never stood there at all.