Always, Lily

??Twenty four

"In my eyes, you're ever shining." He gave me a forehead kiss and then reached out to take out a small knife and two forks.

We cut the cake together, he fed me the first piece, I fed him the second one. We drank mango juice together while music played in the background.

Gary got envious of our cuddle position and he came to rest on top of me, Enzo passing him a mean eye when he blinked at me.

"You know Gary will never leave even if you glare at him," I laughed at the grumble that followed as Lorenzo pulled me to himself.

"You pamper him so much," his hand on my left hip tried to shoo Gary away but I nudged his chest before he could.

What would he say when I told him that we slept together?

"He's just a cat." I laughed at his growing pout.

"And I'm your man." I couldn't believe the jealous tone of his words.

My man. He was definitely mine just like I was his.

I kissed him in the reassurance I knew he didn't even need but he seemed to relax right after.

We ate in silence before I remembered a conversation we'd had a while back.

"Enzo, do you remember that question you asked me some weeks ago and I didn't give you an answer?"

I turned to face him, careful not to let Gary fall. His eyes settled on my face, waiting for me to continue.

"I have an answer now." My eyes dropped to his chest before I looked at him, saying, "I'll do business with you."

He blankly stared at me as if trying to process the words and once they kicked in, he carefully gripped my forearms.

"You're willing to do this with me?" His voice was almost cracking as I nodded my head.

"I didn't pressurize you into agreeing, did I?" He asked, not believing that I could easily accept his offer.

He hadn't even brought up that topic since then so how could he have pressurized me?

"Of course not. You're talented and amazing, so I agree to support you." I replied honestly.

"How do you keep making my heart flutter?" He buried his face into my neck while hugging me tight.

I smiled into his warm, hard chest because he too made butterflies swarm in my stomach.

"You're sure?" He cupped my face to confirm my decision and I nodded firmly, to clear the doubt in his eyes.

"Did you come up with a business name?" I took charge of the discussion so that he'd believe my sincerity.

"L&L Ceramics," he responded before I could even come up with one myself.

He dropped his hands from my face, lowered his head and looked away but I turned his head to me.

"When did you think of that name?" I softly gazed at him, curious to know about that.

"W-When you said that I was talented and I could start a business."

I smiled at him, zoning out as I began to picture what I could do to help him. I didn't have any idea about running a business.

"Love?" Lorenzo softly pinched my right cheek to get my attention and I blinked twice, to get back to reality.

"I'm new to all this so you'll guide me, okay?" I waited for his assurance with hopeful eyes.

"We'll guide each other." He kissed my forehead and just stared at me with a broad smile.

I ran my palm over his face so that he'd look elsewhere but his eyes didn't even blink.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" I pinched his cheek like he'd always done to me.

"You're gorgeous," he answered right away.

I smiled while diverting my eyes to my lap but he slowly lifted my chin up. "You chose me."

"I'll always be grateful for this, every day." We hugged tightly, vowing to keep motivating one another all the way.

I was softly rubbing my hands up and down his lower back when Lorenzo suddenly winced and I pulled back, alarmed.

In his eyes, I could see that he was in some sort of pain but he was trying to mask it away.

"What happened?" I asked, confused at what had happened to him. I hadn't hugged him that painfully.

I assessed his eyes again and then turned to inspect his back, just where I had touched him.

His lower back was red. The white t-shirt had absorbed a lot of blood that it was starting to drip.

"What happened?" I asked again for the second time, watching him wince as he tried to sit comfortably.

"I-I got attacked last night," he mumbled while looking away.

"Where and when did this happen?" I asked, my eyes already tear filled when I remembered he'd been with me till nine.

"Before I got home," he didn't say when but I knew it was after he'd left my place.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I turned to inspect his back, my vision blurring.

The attacker had slashed the left side of his back with a very sharp dagger.

I tried to contain my tears but a sniffle escaped me and Lorenzo quickly turned to me.

"I'm sorry Lilith, it's not your fault." He lifted up my chin to wipe the tears that were silently falling.

"Why are you apologizing when you're hurt?" My tears doubled at that.

"I didn't want you to worry." He tried to reassure me, but he only hurt himself further with all the moving.

"Sit down here, I'll bring something for the wound." I went up to my room to bring out the first aid kit.

He was silent until I was done. I disposed his previous bandages and sat down on my previous spot, though not facing him.

A few seconds passed before I heard him shuffle. He came to seat in front of me. I turned to look the other way, but he pleaded.

"At least look at me." His face had grown sullen. I had so many questions to ask.

How had this happened? The mark left showed that the assailant wasn't just anyone. There was a motive here.

I looked at Lorenzo in worry, fear and compassion as I wondered, who would want to hurt him?

"I'm sorry," I tried to console but I was the one crying.

"I'm okay now." He wiped my tears, worry evident in his eyes.

"You didn't file a police report, did you?" I'm not sure if I was over reacting but I saw him tense.

He shook his head and I said, "We're going to file one tomorrow."

"But it's not necessary. They won't find anything. That was a blind spot."

He quickly defended himself. I wanted to persuade him into agreeing but I could see he was reluctant about that.

He'd been in the military. I knew he was strong but that didn't mean he wasn't susceptible to such cases.

I was going to protect him from whoever was trying to harm him.

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