Page 67 of Lorenzo & Lily

“I didn’t mean–”

“It doesn’t matter. Look, people will make comments about you no matter what you do, so you might as well just do what you want. If you want the job, take it. If you don’t, don’t. I need to hire someone for the position either way, and I think you’d be great at it.”

“Do you? But you’ve never seen me work before.”

“I have, though. You organized some of the volunteer events at the hospital where we met, didn’t you?”

He remembered that? “Well, yes, but those were really small events. Just some patients, volunteers, and staff.”

“I was one of those patients, and those events reminded me what happiness felt like. You reminded me what happiness felt like, and a lot more.”

God, Lorenzo.She bit her lower lip. “What if I do something wrong? It wouldn’t look good for you or the MARC or–”

“Lily, listen to me. If I didn’t think you could do the job – mother of my child or no – I wouldn’t have offered it to you, but not for the reasons you’re thinking. The negativity you’d receive if you couldn’t do the job properly would be intense. I wouldn’t want you to go through that. I want to protect you.”

Oh my God. Why did that make her feel so good? Maybe because no one had wanted to help her, or put her first before.

“Fortunately, you can do the job. If you make a mistake, so what? I make them. We’re human, even if the public doesn’t consider us that way. They don’t want their royalty to make mistakes, but they’ll accept us when we do. Rebecca was involved in a scandal – according to the press – before she and Alex finally got together. The public, nor the press I’ll add, mention it anymore.”

“Then I guess I’ll take the job.”

“Good. If you try it and it’s not for you, we can find someone else, and we can find a way to spin it with the press, if needed. Don’t worry about it, all right?”

She nodded.

His brows drew together and his expression became serious. “Now, then, what happened at the move this morning?”

She stalled for time by reaching for her forgotten coffee. “The move?”

“Those men who were watching you?”

“Oh. Those.”

“Yes, those. Do you know who they were?”

Her spoon tinged against the side of the cup as she stirred it, just to keep her hands busy. “Yes.”

“And?”

She took a sip, stalling some more.

“Lily,” he growled.

She took a deep breath. She closed her eyes on the inhale and opened them on the exhale, letting some of her worries slip away. “I told you I was fired. Well, I saw my former boss, John, and my replacement, Calvin, watching me. They didn’t speak to me, but I found a message from John on my phone later, sort of threatening me.”

“Threatening you? What the fuck is wrong with that asshole?”

Time to come clean.“Okay. The truth is, before I left after being fired, I sent an email to the hotel owner, who is also John’s uncle. I didn’t say anything terrible,” she added quickly at Lorenzo’s frown. “I just thanked him for giving me a chance – he was the one who initially hired me – and to let him know that I was considering legal action because of the way I’d been treated.”

“How were you treated? Lily?”

She stuttered for the next few minutes as she told him some of the harassment she’d endured and the final conversation she’d had with John. She’d blamed herself when the harassment first began, even thinking she deserved it at times – she was an unlovable, unworthy person, she’d told herself – and had only recently realized that it wasn’t her fault but her harasser’s. It was imagining Liliana grown up, as a victim of harassment herself, that had finally opened her eyes. She didn’t want Liliana to endure this and, if she did, Lily wanted her to fight back. Liliana had a better chance of fighting it if Lily set a good example for her.

“It only started once John got hired, and then he hired more like him. I’m not the only woman there fed up with it, I’m just the first to go. I’m sorry. I know if the press finds out, they might spin it into my fault, and say that I asked for it or something.”

“Don’t give the press another thought. If they catch wind of this, we’ll issue a statement condemning the media for blaming the victims of harassment instead of who’s really at fault. No woman should have to deal with this, not ever.

“Do you think you’re alone? My sisters have had their fair share of harassing behavior. Being a princess doesn’t negate the fact that they’re women, nor the fact that some shitty men think they can treat people however the fuck they want. It ends. Now.”

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