Deathless & Divided (The Chicago War #1) (13 page)

“It was nothing,” Lily assured. “I was drunk, Damian came to the club and didn’t want to take me home to Dino like that—”

“So she ended up at his place,” Abriella finished with a wide grin. “The entire night and then D got Tommy to lie for him when Dino called as a backup about the club.”

Lily huffed. “You tell it like there’s a lot more under the surface, Ella.”

Abriella shrugged. “Don’t blame me for having an imagination, babe.”

“Well, there’s nothing to imagine.”

Evelina raised a single brow. “Nothing?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” Lily asked.

“No,” Evelina replied. “But you look like there’s something on your mind. Talk to me.”

“Us,” Abriella corrected.

Evelina hushed her friend. “Come on, Lily. What is up?”

Lily gestured at the wedding dress. “I don’t want to do this.”

“That’s not news.”

“But he is not what I expected,” Lily added.

Evelina’s expression turned stony. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I like Damian,” Abriella said quietly. “He’s … I don’t know, genuine. That’s hard to find in the people around us. With him, you get what you see. He’s not out to purposely hide things.”

“You know what really sucks about the entire thing?” Lily asked no one in particular.

Evelina smiled but it didn’t ring true. “What?”

“I’ve only spent two meetings with the guy, one of which informed me he was my new fiancé, the second was when I acted like a fool and spent the night in his bed.”

“So?” Abriella pressed.

“Two meetings,” Lily repeated. “And I kind of like him. I don’t know how to deal with that.”

“I think that’s a good thing,” Evelina said.

“Maybe it would be. If I wasn’t so confused and screwed up about my opinions and thoughts, it very well could be. It’s like a fucking hurricane in here,” Lily said, pointing at her temple. “I’m attracted to him because he’s entirely different from what I thought he would be, at least he seems so. I’m bothered by the things he’s involved in. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if I just … let it all go.”

“But?” Evelina asked.

“Feels too easy,” Lily said.

“You’re making it too hard,” Abriella replied with a smile. “Lily, not every arranged marriage works out in a way where the woman gets what she wants.”

“I’m not getting what I want, though,” Lily tried to explain.

“All right, let’s look at it a different way,” Abriella said.

“How?”

“What if you had spent those two meetings with Damian under similar circumstances but with the engagement non-existent? What then? Would you still be attracted to him?”

“Probably,” Lily admitted.

“Would you still be bothered by the fact he’s involved with the Outfit?” Abriella asked.

“You know I would.”

“Would you see him again?”

Lily didn’t know how to answer that or her stupid pride wouldn’t let her.

Abriella wasn’t looking for a response, apparently. “Yeah, I thought so.”

“Give it a chance,” Evelina said with a tiny grin beginning to form. “What will it hurt, Lily?”

Her heart.

Her beliefs.

Lily blurted out the first thing to come to her mind. “He said he wanted me to come to him willingly.”

“What do you mean?” Evelina asked.

“His bed.”

“Well, then …”

“Yeah,” Lily said with a sigh. “I didn’t expect that either. You know what that means, right?”

Abriella nodded. “Means he wants you, too.”

She was so fucked.

Lily’s gaze caught the store manager bringing back a beautiful slightly off-white, A-line dress with intricate beadwork along the sweetheart neckline. The gown, covered by delicate lace and trimmed with personal touches, instantly reminded Lily of the silver screen.

God, it was beautiful.

And she hadn’t even tried it on.

“That’s perfect,” Lily said softly.

Evelina and Abriella admired the wedding dress as the lady hung it on the opened door of the stall.

“It’s definitely classic,” Evelina said. “And you. It feels like you.”

Abriella glanced down at her vibrating phone. “Oh, got a response on the silk number.”

Lily laughed, happy for the joking reprieve from the seriousness. “Yeah?”

“Yep, from Damian.”

Lily’s heart found her throat. “You sent it to Damian?”

“I sent it to Theo and Dino, too.”

“Abriella!”

The girl just shrugged.

A troublemaker; that’s what she was.

Lily couldn’t help herself but ask, “God, what did he say?”

“That particular number is a definite no for the dress. Too showy for the church.”

“But?” Lily asked.

She could hear the but in there somewhere.

Abriella smirked a wicked sight. “He’s good with taking silk off you in the evening.”

Jesus.

Evelina laughed, hiding it poorly with her hand. “Sounds just like a man.”

Abriella glanced down when her phone buzzed again. “But he prefers black lace.”

“You’re awful,” Lily told Abriella.

“You’ll thank me eventually.”

Lily bit the inside of her cheek, considering the choice in lingerie. It wasn’t something she’d given much thought to before. “Black lace?”

“That’s what he said.”

“Huh.”

Evelina grinned. “I know a shop just down the street, Lily. They’ve got some great stuff that would look perfect under that dress.”

Lily made a face. “Don’t encourage me, Eve.”

Her friend didn’t even blink. “You know I’m going to.”

Yeah, she did.

“Lily, you have a guest.”

Lily peeked over the top of the book in her hands as Dino’s form darkened the sitting room. The window bench seat had become Lily’s personal resting spot since she arrived home. The sunlight kept it warm and comforting. She also had a great view of the large backyard property. It gave her private, quiet time to think and read, or just do whatever.

Dino rarely interrupted Lily when she climbed into her spot.

“A guest?” Lily asked.

“Last minute thing, I guess. He’s waiting in the foyer.”

“He?”

“Damian,” Dino explained. “You’ll need to change into something more appropriate. A dress, preferably. It’s for a dinner with the Trentini and Rossi families at one of Laurent’s higher end places. Damian is wearing black on black.”

Lily blinked. “Something more appropriate?”

“When did you turn into a parrot, Lily?”

She tossed Dino a dirty look before shoving her novel under the pillow on the window bench. Upstairs, Lily made quick work of finding a dress that would work for the dinner, silver heels to match and give a pop of color, and then she quickly dabbed a bit of rose tint on her cheeks and lips. Mascara helped to fan her eyelashes and black kohl darkened her gaze.

Lily made her way down to the foyer with a silver clutch in hand to meet Damian. Dino hadn’t lied. Damian wore a fitted black suit topped off with a black vest, tie, and shirt underneath. Even his damn leather shoes were a shined black. He looked really good with his hands clasped together and his head tilted down.

Damian was the total vision of dark, mysterious, and sexy standing there in his suit looking like he was. Her waiting fiancé smiled as he appraised her outfit.

“Perfect,” Damian said quietly. “You look beautiful.”

Lily wasn’t sure how to take his compliment. It seemed honest enough, but Lily didn’t know if she wanted to play his games or not, yet. “Thank you. You look fit to be in the Secret Service.”

Damian smirked. “I like black.”

“I can tell. You could have given me a heads-up that you were coming today,” Lily said.

“It was a last minute thing.”

“So Dino said.”

“You can’t refuse an invitation with the boss, Lily, even if you have a million other things to do. He is the most important thing.”

Lily shrugged. “In his mind.”

Damian laughed under his breath, the sound coming out sexy and deep. “Well, we just don’t tell him that. Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be. What is the plan, anyway? Dino said something about a dinner at one of your uncle’s restaurants.”

“We have a show to go to first,” Damian said. “It’ll help pass the time before the dinner later. I figured we might as well take the chance to go out and actually do something together.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. How do you feel about ballet?”

Lily met his heated blue gaze and searched it for any kind of ulterior motive. Could he possibly know somehow that ballet was one of Lily’s favorite things? Damian didn’t give off a single hint that he was playing at anything again.

“I like ballet a lot,” Lily finally settled on saying.

“Have you seen
Giselle
preformed?” Damian asked.

“Once when I was a girl.”

“And not since?”

“Nope,” Lily replied with a smile. “But I remember enjoying it the first time.”

Damian flashed a sensual grin. “Let me be the one to reintroduce you, then.”

“Did you know the role of Giselle is considered one of the most sought after roles in a ballet dancer’s career?” Lily asked, never removing her gaze from the stage.

Damian lowly hummed his no. “I didn’t, actually. Why?”

“It’s a classic. One of the most favorite and memorable ballets. It shows true emotion and is an honestly beautiful dance. Even the music is amazing.” Lily caught the sight of Damian’s smile out of the corner of her eye. “What?”

“Nothing. I’m just glad you’re enjoying yourself, Lily.”

“Where did you get the tickets, anyway?”

“Theo, actually. His date for the day flaked on him.”

Lily’s brow rose high. “My brother had a date today?”

Damian laughed. “Hey, don’t come looking for answers from me. He didn’t say who, just that they couldn’t come. Theo’s always been private about that sort of thing, and I’m not the kind of guy who asks questions.”

Lily couldn’t help her curiosity. “I wonder who she is.”

“Someone, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Lily mocked, teasing.

“Like I said, I don’t know who his date was, just that it didn’t work out. Nonetheless, when I called to ask if he got a dinner invite to Laurent’s place—he didn’t, by the way—he asked if I’d be interested in taking you to a ballet. He didn’t want the private balcony tickets to go to waste and apparently you’ve got a taste for these things.”

So that was how he knew.

“I do,” Lily admitted. “I was able to see a couple in Europe, too. They were amazing.”

“I bet.”

Lily sighed, sitting back in the plush chair and folding her hands on her lap. “Thank you for bringing me.”

Damian mimicked her position, except his arm stretched over the back of her chair. “Don’t ever thank me for that, sweetheart.”

Silence covered the balcony, blanketing Lily in a sense of comfort and awkwardness all at the same time. She wasn’t even sure how that was possible. From her peripherals, Damian’s gaze caught hers and he held it. The man didn’t blink and he didn’t even look like he was breathing.

No, he just watched her.

Something warm bloomed in her chest under his heavy regard. It was as if he seemed to get some kind of pleasure from simply watching her. Lily realized then that Damian had no other reason to bring her to the ballet other than to spend time with her and to make her happy with something she enjoyed.

But why?

We don’t have to be strangers.

We don’t have to hate one another.

“What?” Lily asked softly.

“I like it better when you’re smiling at me and not glaring,” Damian said.

“I’m trying.”

“I’m grateful.” His murmur washed over her skin like a slow wave. It slipped over every inch of her exposed skin like her nerves were open for his attention. Lily didn’t have the first clue why Damian had such an odd effect on her. “And you do look beautiful, Lily. Beautiful things should be admired. Let me admire in peace.”

When he said things like that, she found it difficult to gage his intentions. What she did know, was that he clearly liked the influence he had on her. Damian’s grin turned almost satisfactory in nature as his gaze darkened.