Of course he is.
I try to work, but the numbers blur, and emails go unread. My pulse refuses to settle.
“Do you always stand guard like this?” I ask without looking at him.
“No.”
That makes me pause. “No?”
“I usually blend into the background,” he says quietly. “You don’t make that easy.”
My fingers are still on the keys. “That sounds like a you problem.”
There’s a pause before he speaks again. “Everything about you is a me problem, Lily.”
I look up, and he’s already watching me. The silence stretches until it feels as if either of us breathes wrong, something irreversible will happen.
I swallow and look back at the screen, forcing my focus where it belongs.
And somehow, I’ve never felt more seen. Never felt more contained. Never been more aware that whatever this is between us, it’s only getting harder to outrun.
I click on the email from Marco’s assistant, and my heart drops. Shit.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Drago
Song- Hypnosis, Sleep Token
If I were standing here watching anyone else stare at a laptop screen, I’d be bored out of my skull within minutes.
But Lily? I could stand here for hours and never tire of it.
Everything about her pulls me in. The way she bites down on her bottom lip when she’s concentrating too hard. The unconscious habit of tucking her hair behind her ear, as if grounding herself. The tiny, fleeting glances she steals at me over the edge of her screen, checking if I’m still watching.
I am. Always.
“Drago…” The wariness in her voice snaps every muscle in my body to attention.
“What is it?” I ask, closing the distance between us. I stride to her desk and plant my palm against the wood, intentionally close. I know I’m pushing boundaries here. That each day, each interaction, she chips away at my control. And I’m not stoppingit. I’m not pushing back. I don’t want to. Because I’m inching closer to the place I think I was always destined to be.
Her gaze drops instantly, zeroing in on my tattooed hand.
Fuck, it would look perfect wrapped around her neck. The way she would respond to me.
“I’m going to Monaco on the weekend.”
I don’t falter. “I know. Arrangements have been made.”
Her head jerks up, eyes flashing as she leans back in her chair to look at me properly. Color creeps up her neck, dusting her cheeks.
“What the hell do you mean it’s been arranged? How do you know?”
“I can find out most things, Lily.”
She tuts, shaking her head slowly. “Yeah. And you’ll quickly find out how to piss me off if you keep it up.”
I bite back a smile. That fire in her makes something tight coil low in my gut. “Noted. I’ll refrain from invading your privacy too often.”
