I waited until I was sure he was sleeping. Lorenzo was a light sleeper. But I'd spent two weeks learning his habits. It was 3:15 in the morning. I'd been lying still beside him for two hours, waiting.
I slipped out of bed carefully. I was wearing nothing, we'd fallen asleep naked after he'd taken me against the wall, then again in the shower, then finally on bed.
I hated that I'd enjoyed it. But that didn't matter now. I had a job to do.
My dress was on the floor. I picked it up and wore it. Then, I moved silently across the room in the darkness. I had memorised every corner of this penthouse.
The bookshelf in the corner looked normal but I reached behind the second shelf and found my gun. I checked the chamber by touch. It was loaded. I moved towards the door.
A part of me wanted to look back to see Lorenzo one more time before everything changed but I didn't.
The hallway was dark. Lorenzo's penthouse was massive. I walked towards the guest room where Yuki Tanaka was sleeping.
She was Lorenzo's first love who'd arrived three days ago. She'd kissed him at the gala tonight, right in front of me. And I'd felt jealousy which I had no right to feel.
My phone had buzzed thirty seconds later. It was a text from my father. He'd send a photo of Yuki and one word: TONIGHT.
The order was clear. K*ll her.
I'd spent the rest of the evening planning it. Seducing Lorenzo, exhausting him, waiting for him to sleep so I could slip away and complete my task.
Now I was standing outside Yuki's door with gun in my hand. But my hand shook as I reached for the door handle. I stopped and took a breath. Then, slowly opened the door.
The door opened. It was dark inside. She was sleeping peacefully on the bed. I raised the gun, aimed at her head, my finger was on the trigger.
But suddenly someone grabbed me from behind. Someone snatched my gun from my hand. My arm was twisted behind my back, and my body was slammed against the wall.
"Did you really think I was asleep?"
It was Lorenzo's voice.
No.
"Let me go…"
"So you can finish what you started?" He twisted my arm harder. "I don't think so, piccola spia."
In Italian. Little spy.
He knew.
I forced my elbow back, aiming for his ribs. He grunted but didn't let go.
"Good but not good enough."
He dragged me away from Yuki's door to the hall. I tried everything to free myself from his hold but he was stronger.
We entered in his study. He threw me inside, slammed the door and locked it. He stood between me and the door, holding my gun.
"Two weeks." He started. "You've been in my bed for two weeks, and tonight you finally made your move."
I couldn't answer. My mind was racing, trying to find an escape, a weapon, a way out.
The knife. I still had the knife strapped to my thigh.
"You're wondering if you can reach the knife before I sh**t you." Lorenzo said, reading my mind like he always did. "You can't."
"You won't sh**t me. The noise would wake your precious Yuki."
"The gun is silenced, and Yuki sleeps like the dead." His smile was cold.
I moved fast, went for the knife, pulled it out, and lunged at him. He stepped aside, grabbed my wrist, used my momentum against me and pushed me to his desk. A glass tumbler fell and shattered.
He caught me. I bit his shoulder hard. He didn't even flinch. He just used his weight to drive me backward until my back hit the wall.
Then he held my hands, pinned them above my head. His body was pressed against mine.
We were both breathing hard. His face was inches away from mine.
"When were you going to tell me?" He asked.
"Tell you what?"
"That you're Serafina Rossi. That you've been lying since the moment you walked into my gallery. That every touch, every kiss was a part of your mission."
"How long?" I asked.
"How long have I known?" His smile was cruel. "Since before we met."
I was shocked.
"Someone sent me your photo days before the gallery opening. Warning me that you were a threat." He leaned closer, his lips almost touching mine. "I knew exactly what you were the first time you looked at me with those beautiful eyes."
"Then why…"
"Why did I let you get close? Why did I pretend to fall for your act?" He whispered. "Because I wanted to see how far you'd go. How good you really were at playing the innocent artist. And because turning my enemy's weapon against them is more satisfying than destroying it."
I was filled with rage. I spat in his face. He didn't flinch.
"This is real Serafina."
"Fu*k you."
"You already have. Multiple times."
I tried to knee him but he blocked me.
"You're a bast*rd." I hissed.
"Yes. But at least I'm an honest bast*rd. I know what I am. Can you say the same?"
"You don't know anything about me."
"Don't I?" He tilted his head. "I know you were sent here to seduce me. I know your father is Giovanni Rossi, Don of the Rossi family. I know you have an older brother named Luciano and a younger sister named Bianca who's apparently a psychopath. I know you were trained as an assassin at age sixteen by Matteo Ricci."
His every word was a nail in my coffin.
"I know you're wearing a tracking device around your neck disguised as jewellery. I know you check in with Matteo every day at noon. I know you were supposed to k*ll Yuki tonight on your father's orders."
He knew everything.
"Are you going to k*ll me?" I asked.
"I haven't decided yet. Depends on your next answers."
He released my wrists but didn't step back.
"Why Yuki?" He asked. "What did she do to earn your father's death sentence?"
I could lie. But what was the point?
"She's close to you." I said. "My father wants to eliminate anyone you trust."
"And then?"
"And then you'd be alone. Easier to k*ll."
"Were you supposed to k*ll me too?"
"Yes."
"At least you're honest now."
"What's the point in lying? You obviously know everything."
"Not everything." He studied my face like he was searching for something. "The late night conversations, the way you laughed at my terrible jokes, the way you looked at me when you thought I wasn't watching. Was any of it real, Serafina or were you just playing your part perfectly?"
I should tell him it was all fake. But I was so tired of lying.
"I don't know." I whispered.
His jaw tightened.
"Don't lie."
"It's the truth! I don't know!" I bursted. "The mission was fake. The seduction was strategy. But somewhere between the gallery and tonight, between your bed and your arms, I…"
I stopped myself.
"You what?" His voice was soft.
I closed my eyes.
"I forgot I was supposed to hate you. Our families have been at war for thirty years. You k*lled my uncle. My father wants you dead. I was raised to see Vitales as enemies. I was supposed to hate you."
"But you don't."
Lorenzo stepped back. He put space between us for the first time since the fight started. He walked to his desk, poured two glasses of whiskey and handed me one.
I took it, surprised. If he was planning to k*ll me, he wouldn't waste good whiskey.
"I should k*ll you. Send your body back to your father in pieces. Let him know what happens to spies who enter my home."
"But you won't."
"No." He set down his glass, and walk towards me slowly. "Because I'll marry you."
"You what?" I dropped my glass.
"Marry me. Serafina Rossi."