Stuck in a Mafia Romance

No one’s Pov

Lily stood completely still in the dark night air. Even with her assassin mask covering half of her face, she was not entirely sure whether Dante had truly recognized her identity or if he was simply testing her reaction.

"What?" Dante’s deep voice cut through the quiet. A subtle smirk touched his lips. "Are you wondering whether I actually know your true identity or not... Lily?"

Seeing that there was no point in playing innocent anymore, Lily raised her hand and slowly unlatched her dark mask. As the fabric fell away, her hair tumbled loose over her shoulders, blowing gently in the cool night wind. Her dark eyes met his with complete composure.

"Greetings to you, Lord Dante," she said in her usual flat tone, bowing her head just an inch.

Dante smirked, clearly enjoying the moment.

"Since you have already found out everything you wanted to know, I shall take my leave," Lily said calmly, turning her heel to walk away into the shadows.

"You haven’t finished the job I paid you for," Dante spoke up, his words stopping her right in her tracks.

Lily turned back around, her dark brows furrowing slightly in confusion. "What exactly do you want from me, Lord Dante?"

"I want you to work for me permanently," Dante said directly, his sharp eyes locking onto hers.

Lily did not hesitate for a second. "You know very well that I cannot do that. I only work for my lady, Viella, and for myself. I do not take orders from anyone else."

"Two million dollars," Dante stated smoothly, stepping forward.

"Rejected," Lily replied without blinking.

"Five million dollars."

"Rejected."

"Ten million dollars."

"Rejected."

"Twenty million dollars," Dante offered, his tone completely unbothered by the astronomical amount.

Lily paused, her dark eyes narrowing slightly as she weighed the massive offer. "What is the exact deal?"

Dante’s smirk widened. He knew every person had a price, and Lily was a practical woman above all else.

"Tomorrow night, there will be a massive high-society ball hosted in the central district," Dante explained, his voice dropping into a serious tone. "Alina will be attending as a guest. I want you to keep a very close eye on her throughout the entire evening. Find out who she is truly working for behind the scenes, discover her ultimate purpose in this city, and once you have all the information..."

He paused for a brief second, his eyes glinting dangerously. "...then you finish her off cleanly, just as the contract says."

Lily evaluated the terms inside her head. The job aligned perfectly with her primary goal of protecting Viella from Alina’s schemes anyway, and now she was getting paid a fortune to do it.

"Deal," Lily said simply, reaching out her hand into the space between them.

Dante stepped forward and took her hand, giving it a firm shake.

There in the dim moonlight, surrounded by the quiet shadows of the grand estate, two cold-blooded individuals exchanged a business handshake- looking for all the world like two long-lost siblings meeting after a very long time, bound by the exact same dangerous nature.

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The long-awaited night of the grand ball finally arrived. The luxury venue was filled with expensive wine, and the city’s most powerful elites.

The exact moment Viella and Lily walked through the double doors into the ballroom, a sudden silence fell over the crowded room.

Heads turned from every corner. Viella looked stunning in her elegant gown, but standing just half a step behind her was Lily. Wearing a dark, perfectly fitted formal dress that complemented her graceful posture, her dark hair styled smoothly over her shoulders, she looked entirely breathtaking.

Across the room, Lucian stood near the executive bar, completely bored out of his mind by the endless stream of high-society women trying to strike up a conversation with him. But as his eyes casually swept across the entrance, they froze completely.

He couldn’t believe his own eyes. This was his absolute first time seeing the cold, plain maid dressed like a noblewoman. The lines of her gown highlighted her figure, and her face looked strikingly beautiful beneath the glowing warm lights.

Badum. Badum.

A sudden, thud echoed inside his chest. His heart rate spiked out of nowhere, his grip tightening around his glass.

"Cian... Lucian!" a voice cut through his thoughts.

Lucian snapped out of his trance, blinking rapidly. Standing right beside him was his sister Marcella, looking at him with deep annoyance.

"Don’t tell me you are already old enough to start losing your hearing," Marcella scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, Father is calling for you over at the VIP lounge. Stop daydreaming."

Lucian rolled his eyes in reply, taking a quick step back to glance over toward the entrance again. But Lily was no longer standing near Viella.

He quickly looked around the room and noticed her walking away toward the shadowy edge of the ballroom.

Who in the world is she going to meet? he thought, his brows furrowing as he was forced to turn around and walk toward his family.

Meanwhile, as Lily walked down the marble side floor, she felt a pair of eyes locked onto her back. The moment she stopped and turned her head to look, the crowd shifted, and she saw no one watching her. But then her eyes caught Lucian’s tall figure as he walked away toward the dark suits of his family.

He looked particularly handsome tonight in his black tuxedo, his hair styled neatly back. Lily stared at his retreating back for a brief second before shaking the thought away. She turned back around, keeping her eyes scanning the high-society crowd for any sight of Alina.

No sooner had she turned than the grand doors opened once again. Dante Moretti walked into the ballroom with Alina clinging tightly to his arm, wearing a fake smile for the surrounding cameras.

Dante casually swept his gaze across the grand hall, his eyes locking onto Lily standing near the pillars. He gave her a subtle, knowing glance, and Lily gave a barely visible nod back.

Their plan was set: use the crowd to track Alina’s every movement.

However, Lucian had been keeping his eyes on Lily the entire evening. The exact second he noticed her exchanging that silent glance with Dante, an irritation surged right up into his chest.

He saw Dante making a slight movement, as if preparing to walk over to her area. Without even thinking or realizing what his own body was doing, Lucian marched straight across the dance floor. Before Lily could react, a broad hand reached out and firmly grasped her wrist, dragging her straight into the center of the spinning dance floor.

Lily, who was completely caught off guard by the sudden pull, stumbled slightly before catching her balance. Her usually calm eyes widened in genuine surprise as she looked up into Lucian’s tense face.

Dante, who watched the whole scene unfold from across the floor, simply raised an eyebrow. A slow amused smirk touched his lips as he stepped back, thoroughly enjoying the sudden drama.

"What in the world are you doing, Young Master?" Lily asked, her voice dropping into a whisper as Lucian pulled her into the formal waltz hold.

"Why?" Lucian snapped back, his voice thick with a strange tension. "Are you saying you can’t dance with me? Do you truly hate me that much, Lily?"

His jealousy was practically glaringly obvious to everyone watching them, yet Lily, who knew almost nothing about romantic feelings, remained entirely oblivious to why he was acting so aggressive.

Lily’s brows furrowed slightly as she looked up into his eyes. Truthfully, she had never really hated him. In the beginning, she had only disliked the harsh way he treated her young lady. But over the past few days, watching him, Lily had come to realize something simple- Lucian did not actually hate his family, he was just a arrogant man who had no idea how to show love and affection properly.

Lucian stared down at Lily, who remained completely silent beneath his gaze. Her silence only made his frustration grow worse.

Without realizing it, his large hand tightened around her slender waist, pulling her an inch closer to his chest as they moved smoothly to the rhythm of the music. Lily had no visible outward reaction to his force, but beneath the thin fabric of her dress, she could feel the burning, intense touch of his palm seeping right through her skin.

"Answer me," Lucian muttered, his voice dropping low near her ear as he pulled her through a smooth turn. "Why do you always look at everyone else, but never at me?"

Before Lily could fully process what had just happened between them, the music came to a slow end. The moment the last note faded, Lucian immediately let go of her waist, turned and walked straight off the dance floor, leaving her standing alone.

Lucian marched straight over to the executive bar, his heart still thumping fast. He signaled the bartender with a flick of his wrist and began taking back-to-back shots of strong whiskey, trying to burn away the restless feeling in his chest.

"Well, well. It seems like someone is not in a good mood tonight," a deep voice spoke up from beside him.

Dante leaned casually against the bar counter, resting one arm on the sleek surface while holding a glass of wine in the other. He had an amused smirk playing across his face.

Lucian shot him a side glare, his jaw tightening as he set his empty shot glass down on the counter with a loud clink

He scoffed, looking away. "Mind your own business, Dante."

"I am just making a simple observation," Dante replied, his eyes filled with silent teasing as he took a slow sip of his drink. "You dragged Viella’s quiet maid onto the middle of the dance floor in front of the entire high-society crowd. That didn’t look like your usual business strategy."

"She was standing around doing nothing," Lucian muttered defensively, pouring himself another shot. "I simply decided to move her out of the way."

"Is that so?" Dante chuckled softly, raising an eyebrow. "Because from where I was standing, it looked like you were holding onto her waist as if someone was about to steal her away from you."

Lucian’s hand stiffened around his glass. An

annoyance flushed up his neck, but he quickly hid it behind a cold mask.

In his own mind, he genuinely believed that Dante was the one who had an eye on Lily.

After all, he had seen them talking closely in the hallway earlier, and Dante was the one constantly hovering around the area.

"If you are that interested in her, Dante, you should just say it out loud instead of dropping stupid hints," Lucian snapped in a low growl, glaring at his friend. "Though I doubt a plain, troublesome maid like her would ever fit into your luxurious world."

Dante looked at Lucian’s tense expression and almost laughed out loud. He could see right through Lucian’s stubbornness. It was glaringly obvious that Lucian was practically burning with jealousy, yet the fool was completely blind to his own feelings, stubbornly convincing himself that Dante was the one chasing after the girl.

"Ah, so that is what you think," Dante said, his smirk widening as he tilted his glass toward Lucian. "You think I am the one interested in her?"

"Aren’t you?" Lucian scoffed, tossing back another shot. "You keep talking to her."

"Perhaps I am," Dante teased smoothly, intentionally poking at Lucian’s short temper.

"She is remarkably clever, sharp, and quite pleasing to look at tonight, don’t you agree? A woman like that is hard to find."

Lucian’s grip on his glass tightened so hard the glass almost cracked. His chest felt heavy and suffocating, yet he stubbornly swallowed down the sudden surge of rage.

"Do whatever you want," Lucian spat out, turning his back on Dante and staring bitterly at the crowd. "She is nothing but an annoying headache to me anyway."

Dante simply shook his head with a quiet chuckle, watching his best friend drink himself into a moody stupor while remaining utterly clueless about the true state of his own heart.

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TO BE CONTINUED