Chapter 24

**Lily**

Monday morning will always remain a Monday morning I guess, no matter how the weekend has been. And my weekend has been a-fucking-mazing. So, this Monday morning brings me back to my reality, way down the corporate food chain.

I waved to Will as I walked into my office and did my best to start my day with the most motivation that I could gather. Looking at my agenda for the day, I saw that I had a meeting with Esposito SRL. It made my heart skip a beat, just because of the possibility of Matteo joining me in the office. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, let alone to him, but butterflies started to flutter in my belly when I thought of him.

Unfortunately, my day had to start with a meeting with Zara and Noah on MarBruno SRL. I knew that these were Noah’s favorite clients and that they had been with the bank for a long time, but I had a dislike for them. I couldn’t pinpoint where it exactly came from, but it grew over time. And meeting Nero Bruno, the head of the company, at the gala a couple of weeks ago didn’t help either.

“So, what do they want this time?”, Zara asks when we sat down. I pulled up my laptop to get ready for their demands this time.

“They have given me a list of accounts that they need to get unflagged. They have provided me with proof that the transactions we flagged them for are not in any way criminal.”, Noah said. “I guess we are actually lucky that they are so patient with us, because there is nothing criminal about their entire company.”, he added.

“Noah, you know we cannot do that. It goes against any of the regulations of the government, and it is one of the improvements that the auditors have given us.”, I said. I felt like I was whining, I had already told him this countless times before.

“Yet you did it before!”, Noah tried to keep his voice low, but I could see that he was getting angry. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zara being shocked at the reaction from Noah. I was happy that I was not alone in this room, and that there was someone who could help me if Noah flipped out again.

“Technically we can, but if we want to adhere to regulations, we should not do it.”, I explained to him once again.

“You did it before, and you will do it again!”, Noah was screaming by now. Something was off with this guy. We had been working together for years, but he had never once screamed at me. I mean, would Noah really be this pettish for me rejecting him? Would he let that get in between of our work relationship?

“Lily, let’s review those accounts together to understand why they have been flagged. If there has been a misunderstanding, we can put them back together.”, Zara tried to appease the argument we were having.

“I didn’t make a mistake with those accounts.”, I muttered under my breath, pissed at the idea of making a mistake.

“Sorry, what did you say?”, Noah asked belligerently, with his eyes narrowed to slits.

“I will check with Zara.”, I conceded in an exhale. Noah nodded looking pleased, while I was everything but.

The rest of the meeting only agitated me more, so far for an easy Monday morning. Noah almost seemed to be a lap dog to Nero Bruno! He seemed to forget that he is working at the bank, not with Nero. By the end of the meeting, I was absolutely sure: I was number one on Noah’s hitlist. I still have no idea why, or what I did wrong, but he was out to kill me. At least professionally.

“I guess this is it?”, Noah said at the end of the meeting. I had refrained from saying anything unless I really didn’t have a choice. Zara nodded. “Good, now be a good girl Lily, and obey my orders.”, Noah said to me. The way he said it, and the way he looked at me when he did, made me sick to my stomach. I stomped back to my office and fell back in my chair.

“Rough meeting?”, I heard Will from across the hallway. I nodded.

“I have no idea what has gotten into Noah, but the guy is out for my blood.”, I said. Will nodded.

“Yep, not sure what you did, but you made an enemy.”, he agreed. I just groaned. That was so not what I wanted to hear.

“He doesn’t do that to you?”, I asked, not wanting to believe him. He shook his head.

“Does either of you know what crawled up Noah’s ass?”, Zara asked as she flew into my office. “He is not himself today.”

“Today?”, I asked. “He nearly killed me over a few accounts a few weeks ago!”, I exclaimed. Both Will and Zara looked up in horror.

“He did what?”, Zara asked.

“He crushed me into the wall and held his hand on my throat. He nearly crushed my windpipe when he did so. It was like some alien possessed him.”, I told them.

“Why didn’t you say something? I could have talked to him.”, Zara asked empathically.

“Like you would believe me? I mean Noah has been okay for years, but all of a sudden something happened. And it’s only towards me.”, I explained.

“I will talk to him.”, Zara said seriously as she got up from her seat. Did I mention before that she is the best?

“Hi you! Are you ready?”, I heard a cheerful voice say. I was so focused on my work; I had not heard anything. But somehow Vita and Guilia had entered my office without me hearing them. I smiled at them, happy to see some friendly faces.

“Come in, please!”, I got up to welcome them in. I pulled out some chairs and took their coats. “If you’d rather we can find a proper meeting room.”, I asked them, but they waved that option away.

“Don’t worry about that Lily, we are only here for a check up and some questions we still have. Guilia and I dove into all the regulations that you sent over, but it makes no sense to us.”, Vita smiled friendly.

We spent the next hour or so going through all the questions that Vita and Guilia had. As I’ve come to get used to, they were prepared to the T. And they were completely professional, because not at one point did either of them make any insinuations to me and Matteo. That made me wonder as well, whether they were even aware of the fact that we had spent time together.

When they needed to leave because of another appointment, I decided to see them out. So together we walked to the doors of the department. Still, no word about Matteo, but the completely professional façade was gone as well. They were woman made of flesh and blood after all.

“Did you ever go to Golden?”, Guilia asked me. Golden was a club that just opened in town, but I had not gone there before, simply because I, Emma and Norah, we stuck to our routine. And Golden was not part of our routine. I tried to explain this to Guilia, but she only looked at me like I had grown a third head. Vita just laughed at the two of us.

“Come there, it is ours.”, Vita said. Only then did I realize who I was talking to. Of course, they owned it. “I promise that the next time I go out, we will go to Golden.”, I promised them.

“Call us when you do, okay? At least give us the chance to change your routine and make you being adventurous worthwhile!”, Guilia grinned.

Just as we were saying our goodbyes, we were disrupted by the slamming of a door. I looked around, and I saw Tommaso coming out of Noah’s office looking livid. The moment his eyes met mine, his expression changed, and he walked over to me. But then he suddenly paused halfway. I saw him looking to Vita and Guilia, and his face turned to a snarl. It was a blink and you missed it moment, but I didn’t blink.

“Ciao Bella, good to see you again.”, he said as he kissed my hand. “Ladies.”, he said to acknowledge Vita and Guilia, who nodded back coldly.

“I would love to finish what we started last Friday.”, he whispered and with a lingering peck on my cheek he left the building, leaving me standing dumbfounded. It took me a while to even remember what happened on Friday…

“Is he a client here as well?”, Vita asked kindly, but I could tell it took effort from her to do so. I nodded. “Do you know him?”, I asked.

“Yes. You can say that. Tommaso Bruno isn’t someone you forget meeting.”, she snarled. I looked up to her because the sound she made was so unlike Vita. Something must have gone down between them.

“Anyways, we need to go. Thanks for your time and explanation, Lily!”, she said friendly and with a wave Vita and Guilia disappeared into the elevator. I just stood there trying to understand what had just happened, but I gave up quite quickly. So, I just went to get a coffee and got back to my office.

“Hi Lily, do you have a few minutes?”, Zara asked, as she walked into my office. I looked up to hear what she wanted to talk about.

“I just had a look at the accounts that Noah talked about this morning. He also sent over the evidence that he got, but it doesn’t add up.”, she said contemplatively, lost in her thinking.

“I haven’t seen the evidence, but I know why I flagged it in the first place.”, I say in a tone of voice that says I told you so. Zara nodded.

“He said that you have changed it before?”, Zara asked. I felt my heart starting to beat faster, and I noticed a little tremble in my hands. I tried to ignore the nerves I got at that question.

“Yes.”, I said, not wanting to give away too much. As much as she was a great manager, I don’t think she would forgive me.

“What did you change exactly?”, she asked.

“I changed it after he nearly choked me. Also accounts related to MarBrun, but they were more in a grey area, so I figured I would give him the benefit of the doubt.”, I tried to explain. Zara nodded.

“Well, I will take it up with Noah.”, Zara said as she got up and left my office. After a double check she was really gone, I let go of the breath I was holding.