Stuck in a Mafia Romance

No One’s POV

"Why in the world am I in here, and why is she sitting right beside me?!" Lucian snapped, glaring sideways at Lily. Despite his harsh tone, his heart was pounding unnaturally fast, making his chest feel tight.

Lily sat quietly on the soft seat beside him, completely ignoring his flare-up as she stared peacefully out the tinted car window at the passing scenery.

Meanwhile, Viella, who was sitting comfortably in the front passenger seat, turned around and looked back at him. "Because we are going on a family trip, of course, and your car broke down on the highway," she said, rolling her eyes at her brother’s dramatic complaint.

"Okay, but why does she have to sit in the back with me?" Lucian grumbled, trying to ignore the subtle, sweet scent drifting off the maid sitting mere inches away from him.

Lily turned her gaze away from the window and looked at Viella. "My Lady, since Young Master has such a big problem with my presence, I can simply ride in Lord Dante’s car behind us."

"No!"

"No!"

Both voices shouted out at the exact same time from Viella and Lucian.

Lucian instantly turned his head away toward his own window, clearing his throat awkwardly to cover his sudden panic. "I mean... there is no need to bother Dante. Everyone knows he doesn’t like having company in his personal space. I will just manage."

Viella gave her brother a sharp side-eye. Her own "no" was completely reasonable because the mere thought of Lily sitting near Dante made her feel jealous, but Lucian’s loud, instant refusal... A slow smirk curled up on Viella’s lips as she turned back around to face the road.

Soon enough, the peaceful road trip was officially underway.

Lily reached into her pocket and looked down at her phone. As she cross-referenced the GPS navigation map with the private address Elias had given her a few days ago, a subtle spark lit up her dark eyes. The destination Viella’s family was traveling to was the exact same area she needed to go to for her secret investigation. It was almost as if luck was completely on her side.

An hour later, the cars pulled up to a grand holiday resort, and everyone checked into their luxury suites to unpack.

Once Viella went to freshen up, Lily took out her tracking device and checked the coordinates. The old villa location on Elias’s black card was located just twenty minutes further down the mountain road.

Viella walked back into the main bedroom area, brushing her hair. "What a huge coincidence, you know? Dante actually grew up in this exact city when he was little. I heard his family’s original estate is located somewhere around here."

Lily replied with a quiet hum, her face remaining entirely unreadable.

After all, that exact secret was the very reason she had accepted this trip in the first place. Her dark eyes glinted with a focus as she slipped her phone back into her jacket. Tonight, she would finally uncover the truth.

Soon the dark night fell over the mountain resort. Everyone was fast asleep in their hotel rooms after the long, tiring hike through the mountain trails. Lily took her time, changed into her assassin clothing, and silently sneaked out.

Meanwhile, Lucian was tossing and turning, completely unable to sleep. He stepped out of his room for a quiet late-night walk to clear his mind. As he walked past the side entrance, his eyes narrowed as he caught sight of a slender figure slipping out through the side doors.

Lily?

He wasted no time and quietly followed right behind her, slipping into his car to track her from a distance.

Thirty minutes later, Lily arrived at her destination and slipped into the dark mansion.

Lucian parked his car down the road, staring at the massive estate through his windshield. This is Dante’s old family mansion... Why is she here? Did she come all the way out here just to meet Dante? he muttered, anger and dark jealousy building up inside his chest.

Inside, Lily navigated through the dusty, abandoned corridors, slipping from room to room in the pitch black. She was searching for a specific piece of evidence. Finally, her eyes caught a pair of wooden doors leading into the main executive study.

"This should be here," she muttered softly to herself, stepping inside. She immediately began searching through the hidden drawers and old safes, looking for the old family records.

Meanwhile, back at the resort, Dante was sitting in his suit working late into the night when his phone suddenly rang.

"Boss, someone seems to have broken into the old estate! Our local security sensors were triggered, and we are currently investigating!"

Dante’s dark eyes turned icy cold. That old estate was a place he hadn’t visited in years- a place where he had buried his family memories. Who dared to break into his sanctuary?

He hung up the phone and stormed right out of his room, his face filled with rage.

Back in the dark study, Lily was carefully flipping through an old folder when her fingers finally found the specific papers she had been looking for. But just as she was about to pull them out, a cold gun barrel was pressed directly against the back of her head.

Dante was standing right behind her in the dark.

"Turn around slowly," he commanded in a low tone.

Lily stayed completely silent. Before he could react or pull the trigger, she swung her leg backward in a kick, knocking the gun out of alignment.

The room was pitch black. Dante struck back instantly with deadly force, throwing her across the room with a blow. Lily crashed hard against the side of the main executive desk.

As she hit the desk, a silver photo frame tumbled off the edge, crashing onto the hardwood floor. The glass panel shattered into a dozen pieces. Lily looked down at the broken frame- it was the exact same family picture from his office desk, showing the young boy and the little girl.

Without missing a beat, Lily grabbed a long piece of the shattered glass from the floor and held it up to defend herself against Dante’s next strike.

"Nice to meet you... brother," Lily spoke through the dark.

The moment those three words left her lips, Dante froze completely in his tracks, his eyes widening in shock.

"I hate such sick jokes," Dante said angrily, his voice shaking with sudden rage as he raised his weapon to pull the trigger anyway.

Crash!

Before Dante could press the trigger, another tall figure suddenly burst into the room from the side balcony, running forward with incredible speed and slamming hard into Dante, pushing him aside.

The savior grabbed Lily tightly by the arm, pulling her up from the floor, and barged out of the broken balcony doors into the night.

Dante stumbled back, pulling out his radio and shouting furiously, "Everyone open fire! Do not let them escape!"

Outside, the loud, ringing sound of gunfire echoed through the dark courtyard, bullets hitting the surrounding stone walls.

As they sprinted through the shadows, Lily looked up at her savior’s face, her dark eyes wide with complete disbelief.

"Young Master...?"The sound of bullets tore through the silent night as they sprinted past the stone pillars. Suddenly, a high-caliber round grazed the side of Lucian’s arm. He hissed in pain, grabbing his arm as blood began to seep through the dark fabric of his sleeve.

Lily’s eyes turned instantly dark. Reaching out with a swift motion, she grabbed a stone vase from a pedestal and threw it with force behind them, shattering it against the lead pursuer and creating just enough chaos to break away.

Moments later, they burst out of the back gates, scrambled into Lucian’s car, and tore down the dark mountain road.

"Are you fucking mad?!" Lucian roared, his hands gripping the steering wheel as his knuckles turned white.

"Why in the hell would you do something like that?! Dante could have fucking killed you tonight!" His voice carried raw panic as he kept his eyes on the rearview mirror until the headlights of the chasing cars finally vanished into the distance.

Lily remained completely silent, her dark gaze fixed on his bleeding arm. For the first time in her life, her chest felt strangely heavy. She couldn’t understand what this emotion was- guilt? Gratitude? Deep worry? She couldn’t name it, but it made her heart ache in an unfamiliar way.

After twenty minutes of silent driving down an unmarked side road, the car finally came to a sudden stop in front of a private, isolated estate hidden deep within the trees.

Lucian unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out into the cool night air. "Get out," he commanded curtly, opening her door.

Lily stepped out, looking around at the quiet surroundings. "Where is this place?"

"This is my secret villa," Lucian muttered, holding his injured arm as he walked toward the front entrance. "We will stay here tonight, since we can’t exactly return to the hotel looking like this."

Lily gave a quiet nod, following a step behind him.

Suddenly, Lucian stopped dead in his tracks right at the front door. He turned around, pointing a finger at her with a deadly glare.

"And if you ever dare to tell this villa’s location to Viella, I swear I will kill you myself!"

Lily stayed completely silent, looking up into his furious, yet deeply shaken eyes.

Lily sat still on the couch in the dim living room, patiently waiting for Lucian. After a few quiet minutes, he came back down the stairs holding a folded shirt in his hand.

He cleared his throat, avoiding direct eye contact with her. "Here. Take this and change into it. There is a medical kit over there on the counter. Change your clothes and treat your wounds, too."

Lily gave a quiet nod, but her dark eyes immediately drifted down to his hand. The cut on his arm was still steadily bleeding, staining his sleeve.

Lucian followed her gaze, quickly shifting his arm behind his back with a dismissive scoff. "This is just a small wound. I will make you repay me for all of this trouble later, so don’t worry about it." He hummed coldly and turned walking away toward the upstairs bedrooms.

Once he was gone, Lily quickly changed into the oversized shirt he had given her. The soft fabric hung loosely over her shoulders, and as she pulled it over her head, the clear scent of his signature cologne filled her senses. For some strange reason, her chest felt tight, and her heart began beating at an unusually fast pace.

Am I getting sick? she thought to herself, touching her palm to her chest. But then she shook the idea away. After everything that had happened tonight- discovering the truth about Dante, getting shot at, and barely escaping- it was only natural that her body felt completely overwhelmed.

Hours passed into the deep night, but Lily couldn’t sleep at all. She lay awake, staring at the dark ceiling as the silence of the large villa stretched on. There was no noise coming from Lucian’s room upstairs, but her mind kept drifting back to his bleeding arm and the raw panic in his voice when he had dragged her out of the mansion.

Unable to sit still any longer, she stood up and walked silently up the stairs toward his bedroom door. It was not locked. She gave a faint knock, but there was no answer.

"I am coming inside, Young Master," she murmured softly.

Still, no sound came from within. Lily pushed the door open and stepped into the pitch-black room, her assassin instincts instantly flaring up as the silence greeted her.

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TO BE CONTINUED