Seven

Chapter 91

SEVEN'S POV

I untangled myself from her warm, sleeping form. The cold contrast of apartment air, uninviting against my skin as I retreated. Lily doesn't wake, not when I struggled around her bedroom floor for my clothes to change, and not when I leaned down to kiss her forehead goodbye. Admiring her beautiful face despite the small discolouration blotching in areas from Koda's attack. My heart wrenches at the reminder I wasn't there to protect her. The nightmare of it taunting me last night. I write a quick note explaining I'll be back soon but that I have some work to see to, even though I'm hoping I'll be back to her before she even needs to read it. I glance back at her from the bedroom door, still fast asleep and just as beautiful as she was last night when I made love to her.

I call Grim, who confirms Destiny had got on a flight early this morning and he'd driven her himself. Watching her board the plane to be sure she wasn't interjected by Victor. I check in with Curby and ask how Mesha is holding up. He tells me that, much like myself with Lilianna, he hasn't left Mesha's side and stayed with her last night but that she is doing good considering everything. I am glad for Lilianna's friend. I hate to think what may have happened if Lily had been at my house alone last night. The thought of any kind of what if makes me feel physically sick.

After last night I can't ever stay another day in that house. Not now while knowing what happened there. Not now knowing it had been monitored by Victor to capture Lily. However there were a few items in the house I couldn't leave, items I needed now that I had decided on my course of action.

I pull up by the large white house. The shell that shielded me during lonely nights before I met Lily. Now completely quiet and abandoned in comparison to the busied disturbances it hosted the night before. I try to block the images of last night from my mind as I walk through the house. It's cold and quiet as always and I know I won't miss this place at all. It never felt like a home to me, the only times it did was because of her. She is my home now, wherever she is, is where I belong. I go straight to the office space, the only room not blindingly white and with some sense of character. Passing the perfectly cleaned floor where Koda's body lay merely twelve hours ago. Bile rises in my throat thinking of him attacking my Lilianna. I'm glad he's dead, though I would have liked to get my hands on him myself. Feeling his face crush beneath my fists would satisfy the hunger for revenge nipping at my intact knuckles. Instead I can only relish in imagining such violent, knuckle splitting retribution.

My lock box is where I left it, perfectly wedged between books in the case so as not to attract any interest to anyone whom might find themselves in here uninvited for some reason. I open the lid, checking over my personal treasures. The photos of Lilianna, my fathers few personal belongings, his death certificate all perfectly tucked inside. I sift through the box, fingers finding the small metal ring box, the reason for my return to such a dreaded place.

The old metal box lid lifts easily so I can inspect the ring. My thumb brushing over the collection of shiny diamonds and the large, perfectly cut tourmaline stone at the centre. My mothers wedding ring. Beautiful and unique; just like the woman I plan to give it to. I close the lid over the ring and tuck it into the left breast pocket of my suit for safe keeping. I know how much I love Lily, and after last night the men got an understanding of just how important she is to me. I made the decision last night, while watching her beautiful face relax into slumber after making love to her that I wanted to do things right. If I wanted to lead with the old laws as Don, I was going to make sure I set an example and protect the woman I cared for most in this world. My proposal to Lily would be respected amongst the gang, whether she accepted my hand or not. They would not, and by law could not, touch her.

Lilianna's ensured safety was the perk of proposing to her. But even without this safety net it is something I want to do regardless. I love her, more than I can understand myself. There is no other in this life for me, and there will never be another Lilianna. I want her, in every sense of the term, by my side in this life and the next. I want her as my wife.