“I’ll continue to have Lev protected,” he says, “and that will extend to you and Lily. For life.”
My jaw clenches.
“After everything you’ve done for my organization, you’ve earned this.”
I look down at Lily and smile, running my hand through her hair, my chest aching with love and exhaustion and hope all tangled together.
“Technically,” I tell him, “the necklace and everything inside it belongs to Lily. So you’ll have to negotiate with her.”
A beat.
Then Enzo chuckles quietly. “I’d like to speak to the boss then, Drago.”
Lily sits up instantly, blinking like she’s been called into court.
“What?” she whispers.
I pass her the phone, and she takes it, eyes wide like she’s holding a live grenade.
I nod once, giving her permission.
Watching her listen. Watching her face change as Enzo speaks.
And then her mouth drops open.
“How much?” she gasps.
She covers the speaker with her hand and stares at me like she’s seeing me for the first time.
“Drago,” she whispers, stunned. “He’s offering me twenty million dollars for the necklace. What the hell?”
A quiet laugh escapes me. I lean in and kiss her, because she’s so fucking beautiful even when she’s panicking.
“He’s offering you that for the necklace,” I murmur. “He’s offering me freedom… and Lev’s protection… for the data.”
I brush my thumb along her cheek. “Say yes, and we’re free. But if you want to keep it, keep it. We’ll make it work.”
She’s the one with the power here. Our future is in her hands. It always will be.
She slaps my bicep with a sharp little laugh, eyes still wide. “Twenty million dollars will buy us a pretty cool house in Monaco, Drago,” she says, voice shaking with disbelief. “And maybe a yacht.”
She gives it a second thought, and her mouth twists with disgust. “You think I want the necklace that nearly killed everyone?”
I chuckle and pull her back onto my lap.
“Deal,” she says into the phone, suddenly confident. “You can have it.”
And then she passes the phone back to me like she just sold a cursed relic and didn’t even blink.
I bring it to my ear again, voice low.
“That necklace is important to you, huh?” I ask.
Because I don’t believe this is about money.
Not really.
I think it’s about making sure Lily is taken care of after everything she’s been dragged through because of his world.
