Page 95 of Lorenzo & Lily

He stopped to gaze at Lily. “Falling in love with you helped me, saved me in a different way, but I was healing on my own. When you left, I regressed. I know that. I don’t say that to hurt you.”

Lily’s voice trembled. “I know. I know.”

He turned back to his mother. “There was nothing you could have done to help me or keep it from happening. All I ever wanted was your support. Your love.”

“You have that,” his mother said quickly. “You always have.”

“This is manipulation. Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?”

“I have. Absolutely. As soon as I reached out to Cecilia and learned about the baby, I realized what I’d done and arranged for her to meet you at the wedding. Your father and I both know how you’ve suffered. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Why the wedding? Why didn’t you set up a meeting as soon as you found out?”

His mother sniffled. “I thought a meeting in a public place would be better, easier for you. You wouldn’t–”

“Fly off into a rage, or some other made-up shit?”

Her words were measured and deliberate. “I thought you’d be able to handle things better if you first saw her in a public setting. I had doubts even then, and decided it was the wrong way to go.”

She took a deep breath. “However, with everything that happened before the wedding – your father fell ill, Arianna was having pregnancy complications in another country and I couldn’t be there, and Rebecca got hurt, and the Royal Council was trying to stop the wedding…I just forgot about changing the meeting. I was being pulled in so many directions and I’m only human. It slipped through. I’m sorry.”

He was ashamed, but he hadn’t thought about how difficult that time must have been for her, having to choose between caring for her husband or her daughter, then all that mess with the Royal Council and the wedding. However, all that didn’t excuse her behavior all those years ago. “Why did you push Lily away in the first place? It wasn’t just because I was healing.”

His mother dried her eyes with a handkerchief. “No, it wasn’t. I saw the two of you together one day in your room, quite by accident.”

He winced. “Mother.”

“No, not like that. You were just talking and smiling at each other. But the way you were together, I knew. I looked into Cecilia and learned who her family was, and discovered the allegations against her father’s company. If you went public with a relationship, I knew the press would uncover what had happened to you in the military. I’m ashamed to say that I thought she was perhaps using you.”

Lily put her hands on her hips. “How can you think that? I was never using him.”

“I know that now, but your family was in the midst of a scandal. If it went public that you were dating a prince, the press would get distracted. It’s a ploy I’ve often seen before.”

Lorenzo took a deep breath, and tried to remain calm. “That’s not an excuse. If you’d come to me–”

“You were sick!” Tears streamed down his mother’s face. “You were sick. You don’t know what it was like, to visit you in the hospital. Your eyes were vacant for so long. Some days you barely moved. You started getting better, and we were all hopeful. Then, after she left, you fell apart again. I knew you weren’t strong enough for a relationship.”

“You’re right.”

“Wh-what?”

“I wasn’t very strong back then. But that doesn’t give you the right to do what you did. I lost four years of my daughter’s life that I’ll never get back. She doesn’t know her own father, for fuck’s sake.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” His mother started sobbing. “If I’d kn-known about Lil-Liliana, I would not have done it. I sh-should not have done it regardless. I’m s-sorry. So s-sorry. C-can you ever fo-forgive me?”

Lorenzo ran both hands through his hair. How could he forgive his mother for this? She realized now it was a mistake, but that didn’t erase the last few years he’d lived without Lily and Liliana.

There was a knock at the door and his father entered. He took one look at his mother and went to her. “My dear, Lorenzo will be fine.”

“She’s not upset about that, or not entirely. She schemed to keep Lily and I apart years ago. She’s the reason I’ve never known my daughter except for two days.”

His father sighed. “I know, my son. When your mother reached out to Cecilia and discovered Liliana existed, she told me.”

“How could she tell you and not me? That’s my child!”

“My son, I know you’re upset. I don’t agree with what your mother did to you and Cecilia. You should know that Marcello was also aware of Cecilia, as your mother reached out to him to investigate Cecilia’s claims.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” His brother? His own fucking brother? Now, Marcello’s recent eagerness to investigate Lily made sense. His ‘investigation’ would have taken him no time at all, since he’d already completed it for his mother.

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