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Her gaze travels, taking in the luxurious townhouse, no doubt filing away every detail. Then she pauses, frowning. I follow her eyeline, and realize to my horror that the drink Nero just poured is still sitting on the sideboard. A whiskey, neat.
Fuck.
I casually stroll over, and pick it up, taking a sip like it’s my own. “What’s there to be upset about?” I ask, my heart racing. “As you have explained to me many times over, Nero Barretti is a liability. A danger to my safety and my future. Without him, I’ll be free to live my life however I want. And you guys will have no reason left to harass me anymore.”
“Was.” Lydia meets my eyes, still narrowed. “Nero was a liability. Past tense.”
I knock back the rest of my drink. “Forgive my grammar,” I say sarcastically. “It’s been a long day. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
I walk back to the front door, and they have no choice but to follow. Still, Greggs lingers.
“If you need to talk. If anything comes up…”
“You’ll be the last person I call,” I reply, glaring.
“Lily.” Lydia gives me a cool nod, and then they leave.
The second they’re both out of the house, I slam the door shut and let out a sigh of relief.
Crisis averted, for now.
I rub my forehead, trying to soothe the tension headache forming. In the past twenty-four hours, I’ve dragged my husband from a car-bomb, faked his death, made small talk with a rival mob wife, and now fended off the feds.
I need a nap, and a drink, not necessarily in that order.
When I return to the living room, Nero is waiting. And from the look on his face, I know he heard everything. It’s no surprise that he was listening, but the mix of emotions swirling in his eyes is unexpected.
“Do you mean it?” he asks, voice tight with tension.
“I’ve lied a hundred times in the past day, you’re going to have to be more specific than that.”
“What you just told the Feds.” Nero says, standing there in the doorway. “That I’m a liability. That you’d be better off without me.”
I let out a bitter laugh, refilling his glass and sipping the amber liquid. “What do you think? Look around. My life is chaos now. It’s ruined—because of you.” My anger rises again, despite my exhaustion. “You destroy everything you touch. Everything would be so much simpler if you were gone. I wouldn’t have to hate you like this. I wouldn’t have to love—”
I stop myself, but it’s too late. Nero’s eyes flare. He steps forward.
“What?” he demands. “You wouldn’t have to love me?”
I shake my head. I don’t want to tell him that I’m still wrestling with my feelings for him. He doesn’t deserve to know that I can’t help caring for him, not after everything he’s done.
I turn on my heel and walk out, instead. Heading upstairs to my room, where my bags are still half-packed from our fight, days ago.
“Lily,” Nero stalks after me. “Where are you going?”
“Away from you,” I reply through gritted teeth. I grab more clothes, and stuff them in one of the bags. “I was ready to walk out before the explosion, and I should have. Just left, before you could drag me back into any of this.”
I go to my drawers and toss toiletries on the bed. Nero grabs my bag and pulls it away.
“You’re not going anywhere. We’re on lockdown here!”
“We left today.” I say stubbornly, still packing.
“Because I had to see Igor, but that was a risk we can’t take again.” Nero sounds frustrated. “We need to stay, until I figure this out.”
“You mean, you need to stay here.”
“It’s for your safety too!” he explodes. “Someone could come after you now that they think I’m not around to protect you. I only trust a small handful of people right now.”
