Semua Bab MARKED BY DECEPTION : Bab 81 - Bab 90

Lila’s POVRowan was hiding something from me.It wasn't obvious at first. He still worked in the living room sometimes, still answered calls while I was around, still left his coffee on the kitchen counter and forgot about it until it went cold. But whenever I walked into his office, the screen was suddenly locked, and if someone called him, he usually stepped away before answering his call I noticed because I had started noticing things about him, which was probably a terrible habit but that's besides the point. Three days after the patrol incident, I found Reid in the study with two files spread across the desk. He looked up when I walked in, then immediately started gathering them.I stopped.“What?”“Nothing.”“then why are you rushing out? you are doing that thing.”“What thing?”“Acting like I'm going to explode if I see a piece of paper.”He gave me a look that made me want to laugh, but i didn't.“It's about your father.”That wiped the amusement from my face.“What about hi

Lila’s POVBy the time we found the old storage room, I had already decided we weren't going to find anything. Not because Rowan had said so, or because the investigation had hit another dead end, but because we'd spent the better part of the afternoon going through old records, locked cabinets and boxes that looked like they'd been sitting untouched since before I was born, and my patience had officially run out.“This is pointless,” I muttered, crouching beside another box.Rowan glanced at me from across the room. “You said that twenty minutes ago.”“And I was right twenty minutes ago.”“Probably.”I smiled despite myself and went back to the box. There was something different about working with him lately. Things weren't completely normal after our argument, but we'd stopped walking around each other like we were about to explode, and sometimes that was enough.I pulled out a stack of old papers and flipped through them without much interest. Then I stopped, there was something in

Rowan's POVThere are some conversations a man can spend years avoiding, convincing himself that silence is better than the truth, that keeping certain things buried will protect everyone involved. I have always been good at that. I learned young that there were things better left unsaid, especially when saying them could put a target on someone's back.Lila is standing across from me now, watching me with an expression I have seen too many times since she came into my life.She wants answers and I definitely owe her some."Your father and mine were never friends," I begin, and even saying it feels strange because Leo Moretti was many things to me, but friend was never one of them. "They were rivals."Her eyebrows draw together."Everyone knows that and I know it was not just because of the business, it was because of the packs, some rivalry or something"I nod."Partly. Their businesses were connected to things humans knew nothing about, and both of them wanted control over the same

☆☆LILA’S POV☆☆The first thing I notice when Rowan tells me we’re going to Italy is that he says it like he’s telling me the weather. Well, he was going to Italy I just decide to tag along “I have a meeting in Milan tomorrow.” I look up from my phone. “Can I come..” He keeps reading whatever is on the tablet in front of him. I wait. He doesn’t look up. “Are you going to answer me?” His eyes finally lift. “Fine, you’re coming with me.” I stare at him. “yesss wait but why?” “Because you’ll be more safe and would stop complainin,so you can come,” he says. “If you want.” Of course I want. Twenty minutes later, I’m throwing clothes into a suitcase. The private jet is probably the nicest thing I’ve ever been on, which feels ridiculous considering the circumstances that brought me into Rowan’s life. I’m still trying to decide whether I should be impressed or offended by how normal he seems about the whole thing. He sits across from me with his laptop open, completely focused.

The moment we entered the party everywhere was already bubbling with life.People were scattered across the room with drinks in their hands, laughing in little groups and talking like they had known each other for years. Everyone seemed completely settled into their own conversations, and honestly, standing there beside Rowan made me realize just how much respect, and importance he commanded in a room like this.We couldn't take more than a few steps without someone calling his name."Rowan.""Mr. Blackwood.""Good to see you."And every single time, there was another conversation waiting for him. Meanwhile, I was just there.standing there awkwardly, one thing I made sure of, though, was that I followed him everywhere.I wasn't about to stand around by myself and accidentally get adopted into a conversation about stocks or something and Rowan seemed to understand that without me having to say anything because, at almost every point, his arm would find its way around my waist, pulling