Chapter 56

**Matteo**

I looked over at Lily with dread in my bones. I had already watched the video because I thought it was meant for me. It wasn’t. It was meant for Lily. I guess it was easy for them to figure out that they could reach her through me.

I wanted to be honest to her, no more lies. But every force in me was telling me not to show it to her. I desperately wanted to protect her, to keep her safe, and to keep her away from everyone and everything that could possibly hurt her. Yet here we were. My head was telling me this was the right thing to do, but why did it feel so wrong?

It’s probably the worst thing ever to know you will be hurting the person you love, which is exactly what is going to happen in a couple of minutes. All I could do was to be there for her in the aftermath of the video, and I was absolutely determined to do that. If she let me.

I pressed play for the video, and I held her tighter. My eyes focused on her while the video played. I could tell she was nervous because Luciano and I were deadly serious. The moment she noticed Zara’s face on the screen, I felt her tremble. The video showed Zara, scared and crying, at gunpoint. Lily went from nervousness to fear to anger to guilt. It was heartbreaking to see her like this.

“What does he want from me?”, Lily asked scared. Clearly what was said in the video didn’t register in her brain.

“Do you recognize what he means by snitching?”, I asked her, while rubbing her back softly. Lily nodded.

“Zara shared what was happening with one of the auditors that comes to check if we keep to all regulations.”, Lily said. It made sense that this is what Tommaso was talking about in the video.

“The auditor can hurt them?”, I asked as clarification.

“Yes, she can stop business.”, Lily confirmed. And that was what Tommaso wanted to prevent.

“And you? Did you talk to the auditor?”, I asked her kindly. I saw tears dropping from her eyes.

“Yes. She called me yesterday.”, Lily whispered. I expected her to be in contact with the auditor, but I didn’t know it was only since yesterday. I looked at her and admired her. After everything I shared with her about me. About everything she had found out about her mom, she was still fighting to do the right thing.

I nodded to Luciano. It was my sign to him that we needed to up her security detail. I knew that Luciano had already been preparing some guys to do this. It was a matter of getting the guys in place. I knew that asking her to be surrounded by bodyguards the entire day was a bridge too far for her. So was moving in with me. She was finally back in my life fully, I wasn’t about to push her.

“Is Zara dead?”, Lily asked me. She looked me in the eyes, and I looked at her. Her voice quivered, and her hands were clutched.

“I don’t think so.”, I answered.

“If I may? My men have confirmed Zara entering the office building today.”, Luciano interrupted.

Good, it meant that Zara was still alive, but we didn’t know to what extent she was in danger. This could be a one-time warning, or it could be that they would pull the trigger when they felt like it.

“Can I do anything to help her?”, Lily asked.

“It will be tricky to do anything short term. The best thing would be to take Tommaso and his family down, but that takes a lot of preparation and time. The easiest way would be to get Zara out and to a safe place. However, if we fail and they get to Zara first, or if they find her, she will be dead.”, I explained to her. I tried to do it as kindly as I could, but the message was harsh.

“I need to try something.”, Lily said. Oh no she wasn’t. Over my dead body.

“Lily, I need you to not do anything rash. I need you to let me handle this.”, I told her. She looked at me like she didn’t believe me at all.

“Lily, whatever you have in your mind, don’t.”, I warned her. I looked at her, but she didn’t look at me. I just knew she was going to try something. My mind was working hard to try to come up with an excuse to keep Lily in my house, but I also knew that if I would, she was going to fight me. I mean, it didn’t go down well the last time.

“Lily? Please tell me what’s on your mind.”, I asked her, while I cupped her face and lifted her chin so that I could look her in the eyes. We stayed like this for a while.

“I’m scared for her.”, she said finally. I hugged her tight and ran my nose down her neck. She smelled like home to me.

“I know, cara mia. I know.”, I whispered. “Please don’t scare me, okay? Don’t do anything stupid, please.”,

The rest of the day I tried to watch over Lily as well as I could. It was obvious that the whole ordeal was stressing her out. I could tell she was distracted when I had to ask her every question at least three times. I could also tell she was scared when I saw her hands shaking. It hurt me to see her like this. I tried talking to her, but she didn’t really tell me anything about what was on her mind.

“All right enough is enough. Meeting is over, I will talk to Lily.”, Guilia said exasperated, grabbing her stuff of the desk. Not sure what I did wrong to her, though.

“You are not listening to a word I said! It’s obvious that you’re worried about her, but I’m guessing she is not telling you anything, which is why you are sitting here and obsessing over Lily.”, Guilia was ready to tear her hair out, that’s how annoyed she was with me. She just wasn’t wrong.

“Thank you, Guilia.”, I answered. She stumped away from me and walked straight to Lily.

I looked from a distance when the two of them were talking, hugging, and talking again. And then hugging again. Even from this far away, I could tell that Lily was crying. I was tapping my foot impatiently. I wanted to be the one to comfort her, but she was avoiding me.

A few minutes later, Guilia returned to where I was watching them. She was apprehensive about something that no doubt had to do with Lily.

“She wants to go see Zara.”, Guilia said. My anger must have been visible through my eyes.

“No.”, I said bluntly.

“You know that it will happen, right?”, Guilia asked me.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”, I answered harshly.

“See, that’s the problem. You don’t.”, Guilia replied. “Lily is planning to go to her home tonight. Alone. She mentioned some appointments tomorrow? Apparently, she is applying for jobs, Matteo.”

My fists clenched by my side, and I was pacing by now. I was seeing red. I had offered her several jobs in the company. On the legal side, even, to be considerate to her. Hell, I told her she could create her own job! I think she said no to all, but I didn’t expect her to actually apply to other jobs. I could protect her here.

“The hell she is!”, I spit out with venom. I stamped towards her, when Guilia stopped me.

“Stop it, you stupid caveman!”, she yelled to get through to me. “You will only push her away if you behave like this.”

I hated that she was right. Lily was pushing me away, and I couldn’t find a way to get closer to her again.

“You know what? I will go with her. I know you don’t think I’m adequately trained, but she will never agree to Renzo in her apartment, let alone one of the new guys. At least I know your protocol, I know her home is being watched, and I can sound the alarm if something goes wrong.”, Guilia suggested.

She was right again. I didn’t think she was properly trained indeed. She wasn’t the worst, but she didn’t have the ruthlessness that a fighter needed. But I considered my options and decided that her suggestion would be the best one. At least Guilia knew how to shoot.

I nodded to her. “Fine, but only because it is the best out of bad options only.”, I admitted. Guilia chuckled.

“Fine, I will suggest her to call her friends as well. Not that they can fight, but more people might prevent Bruno to do something.”, Guilia mentioned.

I hated to admit that she was making sense.