"So where are we going?" Lilly asked knowing fine well it was pointless as Stefan stubbornly refused to tell her all afternoon.
"I told you my angelic demanding vixen, patience it's a surprise. We are nearly there." Stefan said as he laughed at Lilly's playful pout.
"Can you even be a vixen and an angel?" Lilly teased somewhat pacified by the fact she wouldn't have to wait long to find out.
"You certainly can, you are a rare and intoxicating mix of pure angelic innocence with a heart of gold and a devilishly stubborn woman who stands her ground and argues when she feels its important to do so and you do have a little firey temper!" Stefan teased.
"Whilst I appreciated your very poetic description of my character I have to point out the fact that I most certainly do NOT have a temper," Lilly said making Stefan hold his hands up submissively and a mischievous twinkle appeared in his eye.
"Whatever you say, angel." Stefan laughed as Lilly scowled at him
playfully.
"Do I have a temper, Marcus? Aiden?" Lilly asked playfully hoping they would prove Stefan wrong so that devilishly smug smile would be wiped from his face.
Marcus and Adien looked at each other then looked out the car windows refusing to answer.
"Oh come on you guys tell him he's wrong unless you think he's right?" Lilly teased demanding they answer.
"Well, I wouldn't say I have ever witnessed a temper per se but I have seen and heard you hold your own against the Boss and you did so quite forcefully...with a backbone of steel and your eyes glowed a little like you were a little...mad," Marcus admitted making Stefan's smug smile even wider and Lilly nod her head in acknowledgment admitting with a sigh that what he said was truthful, there were a few times she had stood up against Stefan and she did so because a fire in the pit of her stomach made her no longer able to keep quiet. " And you Aiden?" Lilly asked in a curious
tone.
"Oh, no I am married, I know how this game works and I refuse to play. You ask a question like you want our honest answer and then when we give it...BANG! It's a trap!" Aiden teased making Lilly roll her eyes and giggle. "Please Aiden...please tell me," Lilly begged over and over in a playful manner and eventually Aiden caved.
"Fine, but don't blame me when you don't like the
answer...considering the first time we met you jumped to the wrong conclusion and you shouted at me whilst poking me in the chest, 'I would like to see you try and stop me, Mr giant!' I am going to say yes you have a temper." Aiden said as Lilly gasped.
Lilly thought about what they said, they were right she did have a small temper.... but only when she thought she was fighting for a worthy cause or really provoked, oh god now she will have to admit to Stefan that he was right as if he was smiling smugly enough.
"Fine, I admit it your right I do have a temper...a little one," Lilly said as Stefan pulled her towards him and kissed her on the forehead before arrogantly declaring " I am always right angel." with a smirk and a cheeky wink making Lilly giggle before she swatted him playfully.
"And just when we all thought you couldn't be any more big-headed
you proved us all wrong!" Marcus said getting involved in the banter but before Stefan could come back with a witty reply Aiden said, " Boss we are here."
"At the hospital?" Lilly declared confused as she looked out the window feeling a little uneasy- she hated hospital especially this one.
"I know your a little...uncomfortable here but will you trust me?" Stefan asked as he got out the car and held his hand out for Lilly who after a while nodded and looked at Stefan with frightened eyes before she stepped out of the car and followed Stefan into a place she prayed many times she would never have to see again- the place her mother died.
"Mr. Marconi, everything is set up as you requested allow me to escort you in, it is the least I could do after everything you have done." A kind middle-aged doctor said as he came to greet them and Lilly and Stefan followed the doctor inside the hospital- Lilly with her legs trembling and Stefan supporting her.
After what felt like the longest walk of Lilly's life, which was in fact only about five minutes they stopped outside what looked like a staff room and when the doctor opened the door, Lilly, nearly fainted.
"Hello Lilly," Jackie said as she smiled warmly.
"Wow you look just like your mum Lilly," Susan said.
"Jackie? Susan?" Lilly asked in shock and both the nurses nodded and opened their arms and Lilly ran into them hugging them both fiercely.
After a long hug Lilly broke away and all three women wiped happy tears from their eyes and smiled. "It's so lovely to see you both, I never thought I would ever get the chance again and all these years I have always thought about how kind you were with my mum, I know she was very fond
of you both and I always regretted not being able to thank you properly for
the amazing care you gave her- at the funeral, the last time I saw you I was
too young and I couldn't find the right words..." Lilly said trying to
explain.
"It' okay Lilly you don't have to thank us, your mum was an amazing
woman and it was our pleasure to offer her any company or help we could
of," Susan said smiling at Lilly.
"Your mum was quite a character, she always made us laugh and she
was such a kind woman," Jackie said smiling at Lilly too.
"It's so lovely to see you too, we always wondered how you were
getting on and wanted so badly to contact you to find out but unfortunately
it's against the rules especially to contact minors, but Jackie and I are so
happy to see you again and your mother would be so proud of you, look at
you you've grown into a wonderful young woman," Susan said as Jackie
nodded her agreement.
Lilly, Jackie, and Susan began sharing stories about Lilly's mother and
Stefan stood from the doorway watching Lilly with a smile. It was so nice to
see her happy and he was relieved she was pleased with this part of his
surprise. He had tracked down her mother's cancer nurses who had both retired and invited them back to the hospital so Lilly could have the opportunity to thank them for caring for her mother as she had confided in Stefan that was one of her biggest regrets and he hoped the next part of the surprise would make Lilly even happier- even though he had spent a lot of money to do it he hoped Lilly didn't mind as the money had been used on a good cause.
"Ladies, Gentleman, Doctor's and Nurses thank you for coming. We have asked you here as we have some exciting news to share and we wanted you to hear it first before it is released to the press tomorrow, to share with you the exciting news please welcome Mr. Marconi" The doctor who invited them in said.
Hearing Stefan's name Lilly turned to look at him and he smiled at her before he made his way over to stand by the doctor and took the microphone." Hello thank you for coming at such short notice, some of you may know me I am a local businessman who supports many local charities whos causes are close to my heart mainly domestic violence charities and charities that help orphans, recently I met an amazing woman and she was trusting enough to share her life story with me. You see this amazing woman sadly lost her mother to cancer when she was just a child and she told me the only thing that made her get through that difficult period of her life was you amazing staff who care for cancer patients and their families, giving them not only medical treatment but also emotional support and I was so moved by her story that I wanted to find a way to show you gratitude for the amazing work you do - on her behave and also on mine for you having a huge impact on her life and being there for the woman I love when she needed you." Stefan said admiting out loud how he felt.
Lilly's heart melted and tears of joy slipped from her eyes at hearing Stefan declare his feelings for her and she wanted so desperately to run to him and kiss him before she told him she loved him too, she did, however, manage to refrain from doing so so Stefan can finish his speech and settled with smiling at him lovingly for now instead.
"My love isn't a materialistic woman and my first thought was to buy you all yachts, but I was worried she would scold me," Stefan said and the people present burst out laughing "so I came to a compromise that I hope she can approve of. I have purchased a small private island in the Bahamas that has just over 150-holiday homes, a large spa facility, and other leisure activities and that island will be used exclusively by staff at this hospital- free of charge with free first-class flights for you and your households so you can have someplace to go to recharge and enjoy making special memories with your families." The doctors, nurses and all staff present burst into shocked gasps followed by loud applause of gratitude.
Once the applause finally quietened down Stefan continued "I know it seems a little flashy but I wanted to ensure you had a place to unwind and relax as you do an amazing job but I can imagen with that job comes great stress and the job must be very emotional and I wanted to offer you somewhere where you can make happy memories." Lilly smiled Stefan really was a wonderfully thoughtful man.
"Secondly I wanted to help make your jobs easier, I know that your jobs can be frustrating as hospitals often have issues getting the equipment they need due to funding and patient's who you care for sometimes have their lives cut short as trials for new cancer drugs are not approved due to funding so I am happy to announce that I have purchased land at the back of this hospital and planning permission has been approved for a new state
of the art cancer center to be built on the site," Stefan announced shocking everyone.
"The center will be completed by the end of next year and will be the first of its kind, it will offer preventive cancer measures such as an education center highlighting factors that increase risks of cancers and a smear test center that will offer 30,000 smear tests a week, it will have a large treatment center that will have the best cancer treatment equipment available and enough so that no patient has to wait to start treatment hopefully saving lives as well as funding for new cancer treatments that previously have not been available unless privately. It will also have a massage center patients can use free of charge in between appointments to help ease the side effects of treatments and it will have a hospice attached where patients can live with their families in luxury surrounded by support until the end so you can offer patients and their families the same support you offered my girlfriends mother and her family. And I am pleased to say it will also have a state of the art lab run by the top scientists in the world who will lead the research for a cure for cancer, Ladies and gentlemen may I present the Caroline Thompson cancer center." Stefan said and the doctor who introduced Stefan pulled off a sheet revealing a model of the center.
Lilly was no longer able to help herself, she ran across the room and threw herself into Stefan's arms before she kissed him passionately, much to the joy of the people present who broke into a loud round of applause. " I can't believe you did all this for me...Stefan, I love you." Lilly said as she broke their kiss and looked at him with devotion and unconditional love.
"I would do anything for you Lilly, I love you too, and if your willing I
will like to talk about us and our future properly tonight over dinner?"
Stefan asked holding his breath waiting for our answer.
"I would like nothing more than to talk about a future with you," Lilly
said as she stood on her tiptoes and pulled Stefan towards her dominantly
and kissed him with all the love she possessed.
Once Lilly finally let Stefan go he showed her the model of the center
and explained all his plans excitedly and afterward Lilly introduced him to
Susan and Jackie who grabbed him and hugged him in surprisingly tight
grips for ladies in their sixties much to Lilly's amusement and Stefan's
surprise. After spending a few hours talking to Susan and Jackie and
mingling with the people present Lilly and Stefan said their goodbyes and
went home where Lilly decided to plan a little surprise of her own.
Mia was sat in the comfortable chair that was grand enough to
resemble a throne.
She tapped her long nails on the desk and looked around the office,
clearly, this office was decorated to try and showcase wealth and power but
instead in her opinion, it showed it's users own sense of inflated ego- why
did men always have to try and ram their wealth and power down
everyone's throat? Real power didn't come from money it came from
strength of character and it isn't successfully shown by meaningless displays of spending wealth it was shown by brute strength and the amount of fear in your enemy's eyes.
Men were all the same, they all thought they were powerful because they were rich and could be cruel and stupidly they all underestimated her because she was a woman. She may be a woman but there was no one who had the ability to instill more fear in their enemy's eyes than her, she may be a pretty face but she had a heart as cold as ice and she was merciless. Mia had killed more people in her young life than her father one of the leaders of the Italian Mafia, had ever done in his and she took great joy out of killing them too. She was a natural-born killer and would have been an ideal candidate for the next leader of her father's branch and in time she would have expanded her empire and took over every branch of the Mafia if it wasn't for her one flaw- being born a woman.
The Mafia, unfortunately, was steeped in outdated traditions and notions most of them sexist and in the Mafia world women were seen as tradable commodities and pretty accessories- that's why from the age of Fifteen after finally realizing she would never be accepted as a leader she made a plan and set her sights on her childhood friend who had unexpectedly risen in rank after he murdered his father-Stefan.
Mia had talked to her father and shared with him her plan to marry Stefan to strengthen their empire, of course, she left out the part where she planned on following in Stefan's footsteps and killing her father to steal
power once she had the security of being Stefan's wife and eventually after she and Stefan had built an empire together she planned on killing him too so she would be the sole ruler.
The only snag in her plan was the fact that when Stefan's uncles
approached Stefan with their request of a union, Stefan had refused claiming some soppy excuse of 'he would never make a woman a victim of a Mafia arranged marriage like his mother was' and he threatened to leave the Mafia if they forced the issue and offered them a counter deal, that he would double the Mafia's profits within five years in exchange for his uncle's support on the issue and his uncles been greedy and frightened by the prospect of Stefan leaving and their family not having any influence in London anymore agreed.
His uncles, however, although they couldn't force Stefan to make a union had sneakily met with Mia and her father and they came up with a plan, they moved Mia to London and asked Stefan to mentor her in business management and encouraged Mia to try and seduce Stefan into a
union.
Although Stefan had respectfully declined every move at seduction Mia had made and told her he loved her like a sister Mia never gave up hope and she had continued to try and seduce him over the years trying to get her evil plan started.
She had her eyes fixed on the prize, she might not love Stefan or even like him, as she hated every man but she needed him and she certainly wasn't going to let that b***h Lilly ruin her plan, suddenly Mia's plotting was interrupted...
"Hello, darling, and what brings you to my office?".
"Keep it in your pants or I will cut it off," Mia replied staring the man down with a terrifying glare that made him swallow and look at her fearfully. "Relax as tempting as it is to gut you like the pig your wandering lust-filled gaze portrays you as I come in peace- for now," Mia said putting her feet on
his desk to get herself more comfortable and to display her dominance.
"You come into my office and threaten me, what exactly about that is
peaceful?" The man replied staring at her cautiously.
"It doesn't matter how I came here and what I have said so far the only
thing that matters is what I am offering you," Mia said in her feminine voice
with a note of seduction in her tone.
"And what's that?"
"Why the chance for revenge by successfully deflowering Lilly
Thompson, a mutual enemy of ours I believe," Mia said making the man's
c**k twitch at the prospect.
"How can you arrange that?"
"Get one of your staff to bring your most expensive bottle of wine and
take a seat and let's discuss it ...Mr. Sinclair." Mia said pointing to the seat
opposite her and Tommy smirked at the attractive woman before
complying with her orders.