Page 82 of Lorenzo & Lily

“Hi, Liliana,” the queen said, her voice a little hoarse.

“Hi!” Liliana placed her hand in the queen’s and the queen kissed it, a broad smile on her face.

“I’m very excited to meet you.” The queen turned to Lily and she held her breath. “It’s lovely to meet you as well.”

Lily exhaled, then curtsied to the king and queen. “Your Majesties.” When she rose from her curtsy, they were both standing, the king with Liliana in his arms.

She stilled as the king leaned over and kissed her forehead.

“Please, call me Gabriel.”

“G-Gabriel. Thank you.”

He smiled warmly at her and gestured to Liliana.The king smiled warmly at her!“No, Cecilia. Thank you.”

“And you must call me Genevieve.”

Genevieve leaned in to hug her and Lily’s mouth nearly dropped open in shock.

The queen was hugging her!

What did it mean? Genevieve’s arms were tight around her, as if she never wanted to let go. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was she sorry for everything she’d done? Regretful that she’d missed four years of her granddaughter’s life because of misplaced pride or something else?

Lily slowly closed her arms around Genevieve.God. It had been so long since she’d been hugged like this. She couldn’t even remember the last time her own mother gave her a hug.

“I’m sorry,” Genevieve whispered in her ear, her voice barely above a breath.

Lily gasped. An apology from the queen? She hadn’t expected it. She hadn’t received it at their last meeting, and had never expected it anyway.

“I’m so sorry.”

Genevieve pulled away and so did she. Genevieve gave Lily’s hands a squeeze, then turned to the room. “Let’s head to dinner.”

Lily glanced at Lorenzo, who was watching her with an intensity she’d never seen before. As the family began filing out – some of them taking turns greeting Liliana – he walked to her.

“Are you all right?” he murmured.

She nodded.

He stared at her for several long moments, then nodded and took her arm to escort her to dinner.

* * *

Lily sighed. Dinner was over. Liliana had charmed everyone.

Not a surprise.

The rest of Lorenzo’s brothers, sisters, and their loves welcomed her.

Semi-surprising.

The king and queen doted on Liliana, and seemed more than ready to accept Lily.

A huge fucking surprise.

Lily almost couldn’t believe it had happened. Their acceptance of her had almost come too easily; she wasn’t sure if she could trust it yet, but she desperately wanted to. The queen’s apology alone had felt so sincere, so genuine that she decided it must be true.

She turned. She was curled up on her bed, in the dark. She still wasn’t sure if Lorenzo knew about his mother’s interference. He’d asked plenty of times who had kept them apart. A small part of her had wondered if it was all for show and if he’d known all along it had been his parents. She didn’t think that was the case, but she didn’t know how much he knew.

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