𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 | 𝟏𝟖+

LILY

022. FLAN

It was a game of cat and mouse for the next couple of weeks. After the mind-blowing orgasm he had given me with amazing aftercare, he left and hadn't directly spoken to me since. It made me question just how dangerous and busy his role was. There were times when he'd come home after a few days out of town with blood staining his clothes, fresh wounds, and a glossy shine to his eyes. My attempts at getting his attention were lackluster, and anytime I did, he'd only stare, grunt, or caresses me for a moment before proceeding to walk away as if I didn't exist.

However, I succeeded in getting him to come after me after wearing nothing but lace panties and a rob while making breakfast. The rob was open. To say I was desperate was an understatement. I knew what game he was playing. All that crap about him not wanting to hurt me and so he stays as far away as possible. Why doesn't he understand that treating me like a ghost only makes me want to strangle him in his sleep? Communication skills?

Nonexistent.

I hadn't been worried about anyone seeing me because Chastity was gone, Axel was on an assignment overseas, and Kim was on vacation. So it just left him and me in the large mansion beside the bustling workers. To my demise, he had only finger fucked me against the kitchen counter and then left me alone in a dazed hot mess.

I wanted to be petty but decided against it, thinking he probably had his reasons even though he was an asshole for leaving me in a horny haze. Pushing his buttons wasn't going to do any good and from recent experience minding one's business is very helpful. I would rather not be on his other hit list. At least....not that hit list.

I sat on the bay window in the large library reading lovely bones. I opened the window to look at the various flowers crowding the benches and arches residing in the ginormous garden. It was beautiful, but it looked surprisingly dull, not as vibrant as It probably used to be.

At the sound of creaking, I glance away from the scenery to see Kim walk in. "Hey, Kim! How was your vacation?" I ask joyfully, bookmarking my book.

Her eyes were bright, and her skin tanner than when I saw her last. Kim smoothes down her puffy white dress. "It was amazing! The water was so blue and warm. Next time I go, I'm taking you with me."

I giggled at her excitement and gestured for her to sit. She complied, and we sat and talked about her time in Puerto Vallarta. She moved there from central Mexico when she was little until her mid-twenties when her family migrated to New York. She asks me what I've been up to, and I give her a brief rundown.

She claps her hands happily. "And Royce?" She asks suggestively, wiggling her brows.

I shift in my seat. "Nothing much. I barely see him because he focuses on mafia business."

She stares for a moment before laughing obnoxiously. "Oh dear, that man can't do anything but. It is a heavy job."

I chuckle nervously, clearing my throat when I suddenly recalled what happened in the kitchen. I should tell her not to use the citrus reamer. Actually, I'll just throw it out later.

Kim's hand gripping my thigh brings me back from my thoughts. I see her gaze weighing heavily on mine with a somber glint. She sighs. "Listen, Bella, and listen well. Royce is a good man as he is a complicated one. And there is no doubt he has a soft spot for women, but don't let that influence your heart too much."

My face pinches. "I don't understand."

"I'm sure you were made aware of Celeste?" I nod, and she continues. "Ever since her disappearance, Royce has become a shell of a man, sure, he knows how to react and when to react, but he's never truly there," she explained carefully.

"So he's what? A psychopath."

She winced. "Not exactly. He lacks empathy and morals sometimes. But that doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't care. When Celeste got kidnapped, Royce went ballistic, almost tearing the whole city apart, looking for her, but she was gone. Celeste was his life. He had someone to care for, protect, to love. Royce felt like he had a purpose with her."

A pang shot through my heart, and I clenched the book tighter. "How did Celeste come along? You said Royce was just a toddler when his mother passed-"

"His father rescued her a few years after my sister passed from the streets. She was just ten years old, poor thing. Royce had just turned twenty when his father returned with her battered and bruised in his arms. I remember the look on Royces' face when he'd seen her in such condition," Kim regards pridefully.

I try to picture a replica of Royce but older, strutting in with a little girl in his arms and showing a young, perplexed Royce. I hold back a laugh.

"Royce had grown fond of Celeste, like everyone who worked here. Days would go by, and Celeste was attached to his hip and used to call him, Fratello! Fratello!" She chuckles sadly, and I placed my hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently.

"He taught her how to read, write, and speak Italian and Spanish just like us. She was family, and later on, they-together, mourned the loss of their father, therefore giving the title of Don to Royce by default. He swore omertà and swore that he would protect us, but in doing so, he isolated us, himself included. She grew relentlessly against his rules, and next thing you know, in a fit of anger, he struck her," she mutters with anguish. I gasped at the information, fisting the ends of my romper.

She shakes her head to wash away the awful thought, not wanting to recall it. "I'll never forget the look on their faces because they both knew he had in his mind broken his vow." Kim proceeded to start sniffing, tears cascading down her face. "That was the first time I'd ever seen him cry. The look on his face, in his eyes, he was mortified. He deemed himself a monster and couldn't look us in the eye for months. Royce is one to hide his pain because, in the young minds of the mafia, they're taught that feelings are for the weak and love is for the dead."

I inhale and exhale sharply. All this information was causing a headache to bubble up. I get up, grab a tissue, and hand it to Kim. I sat back down and couldn't help but ask, "After that incident, did he ever...." I trailed off, and her red-rimmed eyes became wide in panic.

"Oh god, no! No, he'd probably kill himself for it if he did," she says bluntly, hoping to reassure me.

It didn't. The thought that he had been in so much pain that he would've considered taking his life somehow affected me deeply. I've only known the man for two months, but it caused my heart to ache. I rub my chest.

I need to take my second round of meds after this.

I bid Kim goodbye and head towards the door. Kim suddenly calls out, "Oh and dear, I brought some flan from Mexico for the anniversary."

I stop short and turn. "What anniversary?"

She pats under her eyes again and sniffles. "last week was the anniversary of Celeste's disappearance. I thought you might've known since you and Royce have been getting close." She sighs, clasping her hand together in her lap. "Royce is a good man Lily, but don't let his niceness deceive you from the man he is capable of being."

My stomach churned as I nodded my head in acknowledgment, silently bidding her goodbye again. Once I close the door, I go in search of Royce immediately.