Accidentally Yours (Merffy Kizzmet) novel Chapter 177

Chapter 177

The suite smelled of espresso and butter, sunlight cutting sharp through the gloss, Enzo had been up for hours already–calls made, men dispatched. Dmitri’s empire still bleeding–but this was the pause he carved out of the chaos. Breakfast with her. Always her.

Lola sat cross–legged at the table in one of his shirts, hair in a precarious hun, Lord Archibald Featherstone Quackston III parked beside her plate in his ghost onesie. She lure into a croissant like it had committed persunal offense, jam smudging her mouth.

Enzo leaned in, thumb swiping the streak away. He didn’t pull back. He crudled her law and pressed a slow kiss to her lips, lingering until she hummed against him. Only then did he murmin, “How’s the shop coming?”

Her smile curved against his mouth before she pulled back. “Mapping today. I’ll be in there all day pacing around like a lunatic, figuring out where the chairs go, where the flash wall goes, where the neon duck sign goes.” She jabbed the croissant toward Archie. “Obviously the duck deserves prime real estate.”

His lips tugged faintly. He let his hand drop to her knee, thumb brushing circles against her bare skin. “Do you need anything?”

“Besides three more walls and someone to stop me from dropping ten grand on lighting fixtures? No, I’m good.” She bit into the croissant again, chewed, then added casually, “Babs is coming tonight. Gonna set me up in the suite and get my hair back to red.”

Enzo’s brows rose. “Red?”

“Bright fire red.” Her grin widened, wicked. “Maraschino cherry red. None of that deep wine vibe. I’m talking traffic stopping, Russians- can–see–me–coming–from–space red.”

Enzo’s hand tightened on her knee, sliding higher until his palm warmed her thigh. He bent, kissed the corner of her mouth where crumbs clung, then her jaw, then lingered just under her ear. “So long as they see me behind you.”

Her grin faltered into something softer. She sighed, shoulders dipping. “Truth? I don’t feel like myself without it. The brown was fine for the cover, but it’s not me. I look in the mirror and don’t recognize the girl staring back. I need my fire back.”

You never lost it, diavoletta (little devil). You set me burning no matter what shade it is. But if you need it, then you have it.

She nudged his knee with hers, teasing. “You’ll survive. Besides, you like me reckless.”

1. t. When he pulled back, his mouth

Enzo caught her chin again, kissing her until her breath hitched and her fingers curled tight in his shirt. brushed her temple. “Reckless, si yes). But never unprotected.”

Archie toppled sideways from the table at that moment, onesie sleeve snagging the jam jar, and Lola burst into laughter. The sound pulled her ribs, but she kept laughing anyway, bent forward, tears in her eyes. “God, he’s got worse balance than Dom.”

Enzo stroked a hand down her back until she settled, then tipped her chin up for another kiss, slower this time, meant to anchor her. He breathed her in–messy bun, jam–smeared fingers, smile that could stop wars–and let it steady the fire burning through him.

Then go build your empire.*

He nudged her plate closer. “Eat. Then go

Absolutely–we want Rafael to fill the doorway with presence, not just sneak in like a shadow. Let’s layer in some description that sells his charisma and danger without overexplaining. Here’s the updated version with more Rafael detail:

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11:23 Thu, Oct 9

Chapter 177

Lola

The new studio didn’t smell like her yet. Fresh polui, fresh plaster, fresh possibilities. Tuo £lein. Foo quiet.

she fixed the last problem first.

Ariana Grande and Lizzo screamed through the speakers, bass rattling the walls as Lola sat cross–legged on the floor with a notebook in her lap. Pen twirling between her fingers, she squinted at the bare space around her and scribbled a sketch of where she wanted the flash wall. Big neon duck above the counter–obviously. Sink by the back wall, Storage tucked behind a curtain.

The music pounded, her head bobbing to the heat as she drew arrows and scrawled notes in the margins.

“Left corner–chair one. Couch here–yes. Archy throne??”

tongue caught between her teeth, pen dancing.

She grinned to herself, tongue

Then–silence.

The music cut off so abruptly the pen slipped from her fingers and clattered against the notebook. Her heart stuttered, every muscle bracing before she even looked up.

And there he was.

Rafael Ballandi.

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