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“You sleep. I’ll take him outside.” I jump out of bed before any giant arms can haul me back in and offer to take him instead.
“Hurry back, princess,” West says with a sleepy growl.
Snowflake rubs himself against my bare legs as I pull on one of the guys’ sweaters and my sneakers. “We’ll be right back, won’t we, boy?”
He lets out a little woof and wags his tail, and I grab my coat from the hook in the hallway. Stella hears us passing by the den and ambles out to join us.
I give her a scratch behind her ear, taking comfort in her steady presence. “Morning, girl.”
Opening the reinforced steel door that leads to the rooftop gardens, I’m hit by a blast of cold air. Undeterred by the chill, the dogs run out ahead while I pull my coat tighter and take my phone from the pocket. It’s only 2:30 a.m. in Vegas, but that’s not an issue. The person I’m calling rarely sleeps, or so I’m told. I dial the number I memorized six long years ago, and despite my confidence that one of them would have let me know if it had changed, my heart stops beating until I hear her voice—soft and sweet and reassuring. Nothing like the ruthless queen with ice in her veins that she’s purported to be. Vicious and calculated, Ludovica Santangelo. The first and only female head of the Vegas Mafia. Niece of Giovanni Santangelo.
“It’s me.”
“Liliana?” My name comes out almost like a plea.
“Hey Mom.”
“Mia dolce figlia.” I can’t help but smile. She’s the only person who’s ever called me their sweet daughter. “Are you okay? Are you safe?”
“I’m safe,” I assure her. “For now, anyway.”
“What do you need, Liliana?”
“I think it’s time to show the world who I am.”
ChapterSixty-Seven
LILY
“Have a good day, princess.” West gives me a soft kiss on the lips. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I cling to him like I might never get the chance to touch him again.
“Hey. We’ll be okay,” he says, eyes narrowed as they hold mine. I guess he can feel the anxiety in me, just like Xander and Zeke did when I left the penthouse half an hour ago. When I kissed them like it might be the final time. “And we have fun plans for later.”
I raise an eyebrow, needing to maintain some semblance of normalcy and pretend that the world as we know it isn’t about to change forever. “Do they involve me being naked?”
The corners of his mouth turn up. “Always, princess.”
I run my fingers through his thick dark hair. “My favorite kind of plans.”
“You’re going to be late if you keep looking at me like that, Lily.”
I roll my eyes and sigh. “You’re right.” Before I climb out of the car, I kiss him one more time and try not to think about the email that will land in his inbox in a few hours. The same one Xander and Zeke will receive.
The car doesn’t pull away from the curb until I’m safely inside the building, and I stand in the lobby, watching it disappear. I roll back my shoulders, refusing to let fear and anxiety take hold. This is the way it has to be.
I spin around to head to the elevator, but two men in dark suits bar my path. They aren’t familiar to me, but it seems that Carmine didn’t want to waste time sending his best once he learned of my whereabouts.
“Liliana,” the shorter of the two says, sneering.
“No.” I try to push past them, but they block me.
The second one opens his jacket to reveal a pistol. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Liliana. Up to you. But whatever happens, you will be leaving here with us.”
My heart kicks into a gallop. “Is that so?”
The shorter one licks his lips. “He’ll pay us double if we bring you to him alive, but I’d be prepared to take a pay cut to snap your pretty little neck.”
The lobby is already full of people coming to work for the day, and I hope nobody will try to intervene. I need to make sure I don’t draw too much attention while going along with their charade by pretending to be the terrified little girl they’ve been told about. “And you expect me to just come with you? One scream and security will be over here in a heartbeat. You pull that gun out and the cops will be here too. I’m really not sure you’ve thought this plan of yours through.”
