Chapter 35

**Lily**

*‘You’re staying the night when you come to visit Guilia.’*

What the hell? What happened to actually ask? I do have a life, you know. Anger was my first response when I read his text. I didn’t need him to rule my life.

*‘How about no?*’, I sent back. I wasn’t really proud of it, but I had worked so hard to be independent. I didn’t want to throw it all away with the first man I’ve met in a while. But I did want to see him, spend time with him, and fuck him. The problem was that I wasn’t meeting with Guilia before Friday. Today was Monday. That was just too long.

I guess a busy CEO doesn’t have a lot of time to spend with little old me. I guessed I should be happy with every minute he spends with me. Wait, I should be more positive about myself, because the busy CEO does need me to pump up his profits.

I put my phone down and went back to work.

After having lunch with Will and Zara, we just exited the elevator when I bumped into Will’s back. He stopped abruptly at the commotion happening on our floor, and I was checking my phone for new messages from Matteo and wasn’t paying attention. I stepped aside to see what the fuss was about, when I saw Noah and Tommaso at the coffee machine. They were yelling, and at each other’s throats. It was a terrifying sight to see.

Noah’s face was red, he was gesturing wildly, and I could see the vein in his neck pulsate. If this had been a cartoon, I’m pretty sure that the steam would come out of his ears. Tommaso was looking more collected, apart from his hands that kept clenching into fists. The look in his eyes was terrifying. It was dark, as if he was ready to kill someone.

“We need to do something.”, Zara whispered, unable to take her eyes at the sight in front of her. Looking around, I saw several of our coworkers peeking out of their offices with a mix of terror and interest on their faces. It does feel like a trainwreck happening live, and there is something oddly interesting in that.

“Yes, we should.”, Will said as he stares at the scene unfolding in front of us. Neither Zara nor Will was moving. I huffed and pushed them aside. I cleared my throat to get their attention, but I guess it couldn’t be heard over their shouting.

I tried again, but louder. As soon as I cleared my throat again, both were looking at me. I froze for a second, I hadn’t thought this through far enough. And now Noah was glaring at me with narrowed eyes, and Tommaso directed his gaze to me. It made me shiver, and it made me feel cold.

“Uhm, could you move your argument into your office Noah? You’re blocking the coffee machine.”, I said with a soft voice. It seemed like only at that point did they realize that they were in an open office space instead of the privacy of an office.

“You’re coming with us.”, Tommaso said, and he roughly grabbed my elbow as he dragged me to Noah’s office. I was too surprised to object to him, and before I had thought of what I wanted to say, I was already there.

“I’m not sure I’m the right person to join you. I can ask Zara to join you to settle your dispute?”, I tried to come off as professional as I could. I wanted to get out of that room as fast as I could. The testosterone of these two men was suffocating.

“You’re staying.”, Tommaso barked at me, while his fingers tightened around my arm. He drags me over to a chair and dumps me in it. I immediately try to get up again, but Tommaso pushes me back violently.

“Sit down!”, he roared. I jumped in the chair. Something must be in the water in this office. First Noah, now Tommaso?

Next thing I know is Tommaso yelling at Noah about something. I tried to sink further in the chair Tommaso put me in, hoping that they forget I’m here.

“I want my fucking money, Noah!”, Tommaso roared, as he wiped everything off the desk. I quivered in the chair, staring with wide eyes at a destroyed monitor and laptop on the floor.

“I told you! That bitch is not giving it to you!”, Noah yelled back. His eyes were almost popping out of their sockets, as he points at something near me. It took me a second to realize that he wasn’t pointing at something near me, but at me! What had I done this time?

“You had her under control!”, Tommaso yelled at him, while also pointing at me. He walked over to Noah and punched him hard in his stomach. Noah doubled over and groaned because of the pain.

“You’re a fucking lying idiot!”, Tommaso barked at him, and punched him in the face. I squirmed in the chair and closed my eyes out of anguish when I heard a bone breaking. Noah looked back up at Tommaso with blood running from his nose.

“If I give you a job, you do it well. You fuck up, you get killed.”, Tommaso roared, when he started to pummel Noah hard. I hear some grunts and groans from Noah, and I see some blood splatters on the wall when I cannot take it anymore.

“Stop it!”, I yelled at the top of my lungs. Tommaso didn’t listen and continued his assault on Noah.

“Please! Stop!”, I yelled again. It wasn’t until then that I felt tears streaming down my cheeks. Tommaso stopped and walked slowly to me. When I looked around him, I saw Noah out cold on the floor.

“You stupid bitch.”, Tommaso growled at me. His eyes had this dark, predator-like look in them. It was like I was looking at a doppelganger, this guy had been nothing but soft and kind to me. What was it with this office?

Tommaso reached behind his back, and I tried to get further away from him, crawling to get out of this damned chair. I wasn’t even sure why I hadn’t tried before.

“Stay!”, Tommaso roared, and when I turned around to face him again, I was staring down at a gun. I froze for a second to think of options, but my mind wouldn’t cooperate.

“I didn’t do anything, Tommaso. When have I ever harmed you?”, I started to ramble.

“Quiet!”, he yelled, walking closer until the gun touched my head.

“You will give me my money, Lily. No more games, no more refusals. You will allow MarBruno to have unlimited transactions. If you don’t, you end up like him.”, Tommaso said calmly, coldly.

I gulped and trembled with fear, tears were still streaming down my face, not understanding how I got into this situation.

“Understood?”, he asked. I nodded.

“Understood?”, he yelled again.

“Yes.”, I said weakly. A smug grin slid over his face.

“Good.”, he said, and he turned around. Then without a warning he just shot at Noah. The sound made me jump, and I think I peed my pants a little out of fear.

“Remember. If you don’t, you end up like him.”, he said carelessly, waving his gun at Noah. A dead Noah, judging by the gun shot in his forehead.

Tommaso walked out of the room, while I was still frozen against the wall.

“Tell Simon to clean up his mess.”, I heard Tommaso say to Monica.

I don’t know how long I stayed like this. It wasn’t until I felt some hands on my upper arms that I slowly got out of my shock.

“Ssst… sweety, it’s okay. You’re still here.”, I heard someone tell me, as she helped me up and guided me out of the room. I was dazed by everything that happened and didn’t register where she was bringing me.

“Here, drink this.”, she lulled and handed me a glass of water as she sat me down. My hands trembled so hard that the water spilled over the glass. I did as she asked.

“Is there someone you can call to take care of you?”, she asked kindly. I nodded. She handed me a phone. My phone.

“Call them, take the rest of the day off.”, she said and left me in an office. Only then did I realize that it was Monica who had brought me back to my own office.

I searched for the contact and pressed to call. It took a few rings for the other side to pick up.

“Lily?”, he asked confused.

“Matteo? Can you come and get me?”, I asked with a trembling voice. I was sniffing because of all the crying, but the tears were drying up.

“Lily? Are you okay? I’m coming!”, I heard anxiety in his voice, and I heard him grab things from a table.

“I’m safe now.”, I answered. I heard Matteo run. In the background he shouted to someone before he came back to me.

“Lily? You’re scaring me.”, he said softly, and I heard an engine starting in the background. I could only sniff.

“Lily? I’m on my way, baby. Speak to me! I want to know you are okay!”

The distress in his voice was evident, but it didn’t affect me. I was in shock.