Chapter 33

The world of organized crime was merciless; there was no guarantee that an overlord's life was worth more than any of his underlings, no guarantee that one would outlive anyone else simply because of their ranking. His power was not a safety net — this, Lily did not know, for despite her own experiences with petty thievery, she was naive when it came to the battlefield that was the criminal underworld. To start off, robbery and thievery sounded similar, but were two very different offenses.

Lily could detect a glint of murderous intent in Di Mo's eyes, but somehow, she sense that it was not directed towards her. Still, the throbbing pain pulsing through her neck reminded her that the man before her was savage. He operated beyond the boundaries of morality and ethics, in a world where there laws had no role. He did whatever he wished, whenever he wished.

She pursed her lips and stared up at him. "Are you not afraid I'll betray you?" She asked.

A menacing smile overtook his face. "Only if you're able to," he replied.

She shut her eyes against his overly confident face. Provoking a wild animal was never a good idea, she thought to herself. She needed to figure out the best way to preserve her own life.

As if sensing her sudden grudging acknowledgment of her circumstances, Di Mo nodded in satisfaction and reached over to pull Lily to his chest. "If you do what you're told," he offered, "I can perhaps consider sparing Misha's life."

Lily froze. She wanted to raised her head, but he had his hand on the back of her skull, holding her firmly to him. The way they were positioned, her face was practically in his neck. The thought of Misha suddenly sent her mind into disarray, and she unconsciously brought her hands to grasp him by the sides of his waist.

It had only just occurred to her that if she had been captured, then the other members of the organization probably had too. Getting caught by the Di Clan wasn't the worst thing that could happen to her, especially since it seemed that he clearly needed her for her skills. Misha, on the other hand, would probably not be shown the same mercy. She cursed silently.

"Let her go, and I'll listen to you," she said into his neck, her voice coming out slightly muffled. With no relatives, Misha was the only person in this world she bothered concerning herself over. The other girl's existence was more than that of a family member — she was the only good thing that happened to her over the years.

Di Mo didn't respond. The minutes ticked by in the deafening silence between them. Then, Lily felt his arms tighten around her waist, so that she found it slightly hard to breathe. He was informing her that she was in no position to be bargaining with him. She ground her teeth in frustration. "I'll listen to you," she muttered. "Leave her alone." She released her hands from his hips and circled them loosely around his waist.

Yet again, her words were met with silence. This time, she felt about half an hour pass before she lost her patience. She had already agreed to obey him, what else did he want? She moved her head in an attempt to look up at him. Her budging caused his arms to tighten again, and she saw Di Mo's face crease in annoyance. "Go to sleep," he ordered impatiently.

That stopped her movements altogether and she lay there, unmoving, surprised.

She spent the entire night in the same position, her body tense and eyes open, lying frozen in Di Mo's arms until the sky began to lighten with the first traces of daylight. At that point, she felt it was safe to assume that all he had meant to do was hold her while he slept, as if she was some sort of cushion.

Eventually, at dawn, she too lost her battle with sleep and succumbed to the land of dreams, despite all her misgivings and worries.

"Get up." By the time Di Mo's cold drawl broke the hard-sought silence in the bedroom, the sun was already glaring brightly in the sky.

Lily was so sleepy that she barely heard him, her sleep-fuddled brain registering nothing but noise. She grimaced and buried her head into her warm pillow. She had lain awake in the same position all night, unable to fall asleep thanks to the discomfort of having Di Mo's arms around her.

She was going to kill whoever was making all that noise; she was freaking tired.

"Let go."

There it was again. Then her wrist suddenly started hurting, prompting her to grumble and force her eyes open. It felt like her wrist was about to snap in half.

The first thing that came into view was Di Mo's stony glare — confused, Lily blinked sluggishly a few times, then shifted her eyes down to her wrist. Di Mo had his hand clasped around it, which explained the pain; then, she realized that her other hand was clinging to his neck.

All of a sudden, she jolted awake. There was no way she had fallen asleep holding onto him… was there? She immediately shifted her body away from him as all of the previous day's events flashed through her mind. She took her hands off him and faced him with a nonchalant expression.

From somewhere outside the room, Daniel Craig's steady voice came drifting through the door: "Boss, we've thoroughly investigated yesterday's attack. Would you like to take a look?" He must have waited until he heard that the overlord was awake before sending his report.

"You handle it," Di Mo responded, his brows knit together tensely.

"Understood. Also, on today's agenda is a visit to Li Manor. What time shall we head out?" The other man's clear, crisp voice came through the door again. There was no hesitation on his part, no assumption that because of yesterday's attack, today's plans would be canceled. He clearly understood Di Mo's personality and had a lot of faith in the leader's abilities.