Page 89 of Lorenzo & Lily

Ethan closed Lorenzo’s chart and slid it back in its holder. “They love you, by the way.”

“Who?”

“Everyone. ‘The dashing prince who saved our future king.’ You know, all that rubbish.”

Lorenzo smiled. “Not entirely rubbish. It is truth.”

“A twisted version of it. They weren’t aiming for me,” Alex reminded him.

“No one cares about that,” Lorenzo said, and his smile dimmed. “What about Lily and Liliana? Did they hear about this shit in the press? You took my phone away so I couldn’t contact them.”

Alex pulled out Lorenzo’s phone and handed it over to him. “Liliana’s still sleeping, as far as we know. Rebecca’s at the castle with her, along with some of the others. Lily’s outside, and so are Mama and Papa.”

Lorenzo slipped the phone in his pocket. “How’s Papa doing?”

“He was shaken, we all were, but he’s steady. He’s doing a lot better,” Ethan said.

“We’ve got to get ready for the meeting.” Alex leaned down and kissed his forehead again. “See you soon.”

“Sure. Send Lily in, would you?”

They nodded and said their farewells.

A few minutes later he heard a soft knock and he turned to find Lily peeking through the door. “May I come in?”

“Of course,” Lorenzo said, and held out an arm to her.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better now that you’re here.”

She smiled softly as she stepped inside, wearing a pair of jeans and a mis-buttoned plaid shirt; clearly she’d gotten hastily dressed when she’d heard the news.

“Liliana’s still sleeping?”

She walked to him and took his hand. “Yes. I didn’t want her to worry, so she’s at the castle with Prin-I mean Rebecca. I checked in with her about ten minutes ago and she said Liliana was still sleeping.”

“Lock the door.”

“Lorenzo.”

“I need to fix your shirt. Lock the door so someone doesn’t come in.”

She looked down, then gaped. “I hadn’t realized. No one said anything.”

As she started to reach for her buttons, he covered her hands with his. “I want to fix it.”

“You’re hurt.”

“I can re-button a shirt. I’m not that hurt.”

“You were shot.”

“Barely.”

“Lorenzo.”

He tugged her closer. “You have five seconds to lock the door. Otherwise, I’m fixing your shirt and anyone, including my parents, might walk in and see you.”

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