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NERO
There’s onlyone thing standing between us and the future Lily deserves. But I’m going to deal with it. Today.
I wake before Lily, which is a treat. I lie there beside her, listening to her breathe, simply enjoying the way her body feels, wrapped around me. She’s burrowed against me in her sleep, head on my chest. It’s as if she was trying to get as close to me as possible.
I can’t believe I nearly lost her.
I resist the urge to hold her too tightly, just taking it all in. Chase’s betrayal, and our final, bloody fight. It fills me with fury all over again, but I force myself to breathe deep. It’s over now. The threat is gone, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to protect Lily from now on.
She’s more precious to me than anything in the world.
She stirs, yawning. “Good morning,” I whisper.
She looks up at me with a sleepy smile. “Morning.”
Lily sits up in bed and stretches. Her beautiful naked body is bathed in sunlight coming in through the window, and even though the sight of the bruises marring her delicate skin make me want to kill Chase all over again—slowly—I know that they’ll heal.
Nothing can break us now.
“How do you feel?” I ask.
“Fine,” Lily replies. I give her a look. “OK, well, a bit bruised,” she admits, rubbing her shoulder.
“The medic said you need rest.”
She gave me a wicked smile. “You mean, lie in bed all day? Are you going to join me?”
I chuckle. “Tempting, but I have a meeting I can’t miss. I’ll be back later, though,” I promise.
She pretends to pout, jutting out her bottom lip, and I lean forward to nip at it.
“I know how to make it up to you,” I offer. “How about we take that trip to Paris… together? Let’s have a real honeymoon.”
“Really?” Lily lights up with a brilliant smile. “When?”
“I have a few things to wrap up here, and you need to take it easy,” I remind her.
“Right.” She grins. “How about next week? It’ll give me time to plan everything we’re going to see… Everything we’re going to eat.”
I smile, happy to see her so excited. “Whatever you want.”
“Are you sure you can’t stay?” she asks, leaning in to kiss me. her breasts press temptingly against my chest, and I can feel myself getting hard just at the taste of her.
But I force myself to release her and get out of bed. “The things I need to do today, they can’t wait,” I say regretfully.
She watches me, looking concerned. “Dangerous things?”
I shake my head. “Things that will keep us safe forever,” I tell her. “I made you a promise, and I can’t relax until I see it through.”
She nods, understanding in her gaze. “Good luck,” she says softly. “I’ll be waiting. Me… and Paris.”
I hit the road,heading first out to Long Island to meet Igor Kovack on his home turf. He greets me warmly, offering me breakfast, and we set about finalizing the handover of Barretti territory and trading routes.
“No second thoughts?” he asks, after all the business terms have been settled.
“None,” I say firmly, offering my hand to shake. I drove a hard bargain and got a cash deal that will more than take the sting off the new regime for my guys. It’s a multi-million-dollar takeover we’ve just negotiated, but there are no lawyers, no settlement documents to sign that would never stand up in court.
Our word is our only bond.
