LILY’s POV
Kane’s car pulls up in front of the biggest building I have ever seen. This place is huge! I rub my eyes, careful not to smudge the mascara that Elena gifted me and take in a deep breath, admiring the colossal building in front of me.
Kane looks over to me, arching an eyebrow. “Ready?”
My hand goes to the little black gun strapped to my thigh and I nod. “Yes.”
He stares at me for a second, not saying anything and I feel my cheeks heat up. “You look stunning,” he says simply and reaches over to place the mask over my face. The act catches me by surprise and I become very still as he carefully ties the knot behind my head. His cologne fills my senses and briefly, I close my eyes before quickly snapping them open.
Why did I close my eyes? What on earth was I thinking?
Kane leans back and inspects my mask before slipping on his own. “Good, let’s go then
LILY’s POV We turn around and come face to face with Iroshi, the big bad of the east. The man smiles through his paper thin lips and I find myself taking a step back. I feel Kane’s arms circle around my waist to stop me from retreating. “Iroshi, how have you been?” Kane greets him. His voice is terse and I sense an undercurrent of uneasiness emanating from him. Kane is tense and rightly so. I have heard of Iroshi’s name even as a child; this man is a legend but not in a good way. He kills for fun and dips his meals in the blood of his victims. “Never better,” Iroshi replies, his eyes graze my body and I grimace. I really should not have come. Behind him, a beautiful woman clad in a kimono steps up. She has two samurai swords tied to her back in the shape of an ‘X’ and she takes her place next to Iroshi. “You have news of Sergio?” Kane asks. Around us, conversations come to a standstill. Kane may be feared by the people in our l
LILY’s POV “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” – Norman Cousins. “Iroshi!” someone from the crowd shouts. Vladimir runs back to the middle of the ballroom to check for a pulse, he shakes his head, there is none. The big bad of the east is dead, it should not have happened but it did and all eyes fall on Kane. He gently lays Iroshi back onto the floor before making eye contact with Vladimir. “He’s dead,” he states the obvious. Vladimir nods his head silently and raises his hand, signalling for help. One of the attendees or waiter, I can’t tell the difference, they’re all dressed the same quickly exits the ballroom. I run towards Kane, fall on my knees and cup his chin with both my hands. Tears line my eyes and blur my vision. I hate crying, but seeing him wounded like this breaks my heart. He palms my hand with his bloodied ones and shoots me a weak sm
LILY’s POV The kiss….our kiss is neither earth-shattering nor is it one filled with throes of passion and moans. It is none of that. Instead, it is like the waking up of one’s soul on a fine spring morning, allowing me to taste and feel every colour of the rainbow in their own sensual way. It is like tasting cotton candy as it melts in your mouth, coating every one of your senses with its softness and sweetness. Everything around me fades to nothingness, it is as if nothing else exists except the two of us. It is my first kiss and it is one I will remember for the rest of my life. “You should rest,” I whisper when our lips finally part. He massages my earlobe and offers a smile. “You should change.” We both look down at my bloodied dress and laugh a little. Or at least I do. Kane grimaces right after a laugh escapes his lips, his wound must hurt him more than he lets on. I run my hand through his hair and give him a lit
ROSE’s POV Lily and Kane. Kane and Lily. I should be happy for them, I should give them my blessings, I should wish them nothing but happiness. I know what she went through. She never said anything to me and mother has kept mum about it but I am no fool. I know she was raped because of me. I should be grateful she volunteered to take my place. I should, but I am not. I am a monster. I want Kane, I want him more than anything else in the world. He consumes my every waking moment and I thrive just by drinking in the sight of his beautiful face. I know it’s strange, how can I fall for a man I barely know? He hasn’t even spoken more than a few sentences to me but there’s just something about him that draws me, that makes me yearn for him. Is it his power? His devilish charm or the fact that he is unattainable? I do not know, all I know is if I can’t have him then no one can, not even Lily. I step out of the kitchen and make my way up to K
ROSE’s POV Tore frowns. “Rose, you know what will happen if you tempt me like this.” He is being too much of a gentleman. I thought the mafia was savage. I pull his hands and place them on me, allowing him to feel the moulds of my breasts as my chest rises and falls. Tore is but a pawn in my game but he does not need to know that. And to win this game, I will sacrifice my body. The thought sends a shudder through me. His touch repulses me as does everyone else’s but if I am to make Kane mine, then what is a little bit of sacrifice? “I know,” I whisper, staring at him straight in the eye. His reaction is very interesting, they blaze with need, hunger and lust. He leans forward to kiss me and I squeeze my eyes shut feeling the pain as he bites down on my lips. His hands trail down to my arse, lifting me from my seat and over to his so I straddle him. The feeling….it is both revolting and intoxicating at the same time. “Yo
LILY’s POV “Loving someone is giving them the power to break your heart, but trusting them not to.”― Julianne Moore I palm the mug of hot tea with both my hands, trying to keep warm against the chilly draft that breezes across the night sky. Breathing in the steam from my tea, I look up at the moon and wonder what mother, Rose and Thomas are doing. Are they sleeping already? I miss them. “A penny for your thoughts?” Kane’s voice breaks my train of thoughts and my head rears back from the kitchen window to face him. He has a glass of red wine in his hand and is dressed in a dark blue robe clinched at the waist by a satin sheath. The corners of my lips lift at the sight of him. It is good to see him moving about after all the slashing he endured during the fight. Placing my mug down on the kitchen countertop, I walk over to him and place both hands on his robe, pulling them tighter to
LILY’s POV “The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.” ―Lao Tzu I should have known. The signs were glaringly obvious, hidden in plain sight. It was just that no one in the family ever talked about Rose’s OCD, no one in the family ever brought it to light. The frequent handwashing, the need for symmetry in her laundry, the endless combing of her hair, the refusal to touch anything ‘dirty’….now that I think back, Ian is right. But Rose never hurt anyone. “Luke and I saw Rose and little Thomas at your father’s grave one evening when we were still back at Tussano. They didn’t see us but she kept shifting the stake’s position in the soil, muttering over and over that it was this or that was the best position. And when she was done, she had your brother wipe the stake repeatedly, saying that it was unclean. Your brother was crying, it seemed like he wanted to go home and sleep but she had
KANE’s POV “Each betrayal beings with a trust.” – Martin Luther I twist my body to take a better look at my back. It is gruesome, marred by scars from yesteryears’ battles and most recently from the fire in the warehouse and the wound courtesy of Iroshi. I clench my jaw as I slip into a plain shirt, trying to ignore the phantom pains that gnaw at my back. A gentle knock comes at my door and for a moment, my heart soars and all pain is forgotten. Has Lily come to bid me goodbye again? That girl must miss me already. I chuckle and stretch my arms, wincing slightly as I walk towards the door. Doctor Antonio was right, had the blade gone an inch deeper, it would have been ‘sayonara’ for me. But upon opening my bedroom door, I am greeted not by the sight of a chestnut-haired beauty. Rather the woman who stands before me is a blonde in a body fitting blue dress and the smile fades from my face. It is Rose. “Kane!” She smiles.