Page 94 of Lorenzo & Lily

Lorenzo caught Lily’s eye as she exited the bathroom and whispered. “My mother.”

She sucked in a quiet breath, then frantically put on her clothes. After running her fingers through her hair a few times, she nodded.

He opened the door. “Mama.”

His mother rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Lorenzo.”

“Mama, I’m fine. It was nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. You’ve been shot. Again.”

“I’m not the only one of your sons who’s been shot through the years.”

She pulled back and started pacing. “That doesn’t matter!”

She ran her shaky hands through her hair. He’d rarely seen his mother so upset. Angry, annoyed, happy, sad, loving – all of those he’d seen, and most of those away from public eyes. For her to lose control like this was rare; the last time was when his father had been in the hospital.

Lily whispered in his ear. “Maybe I should give you both some time.”

“Oh. Lily. I didn’t see you there.” His mother eye’s darted between him and Lily. “I thought you’d gone back to the castle.”

“No, I couldn’t.” Lily linked her hand with his. “I’m never leaving Lorenzo again.”

His mother sucked in a breath.

What was going on here?“Lily.”

“I just wanted to make sure she knew that.”

“Why?”

Lily’s hand was fused to his. “Remember my secrets?”

His mother shook her head. “Please, Lily, don’t.”

“I know this isn’t the best time, but there will never be a good time for this. He needs to know, Genevieve. None of us can move forward until we make peace with the past.”

Every cell in his body went rigid. “Are you telling me that my mother was the one who forced you to leave me?”

Lily bit her lip, then nodded.

He faced his mother. “Did you interfere with my relationship back then? Did you?”

“Yes.” His mother’s voice was a terrified whisper. “Yes, I did.”

She turned to Lily, who’d gone so pale, Lorenzo worried if she’d faint. “I didn’t know about the baby. I didn’t.”

His mother turned to face him again. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know.”

“And that gave you the right to interfere in my life?”

He turned his back on both Lily and his mother. Four years of his daughter’s life gone. The woman he loved, afraid of his mother, of the queen. Of course, she hadn’t wanted to tell him who’d come between them. Everything suddenly made sense in glaring technicolor.

“I’ll never have those years back. Never. Not with Liliana. Not with Lily.”

“Lorenzo, you needed to focus on healing. You were so broken when you came back and–”

“I was healing!” He started pacing the room. “I was getting better, for myself. Not for you, not even for Lily. For me.”

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