Deathless & Divided (The Chicago War #1) (27 page)

“Well, I’m not going to disagree there,” Cara said, snorting. “But what Lea was trying to say was that we were told it’s business, D.”

“It is,” Damian confirmed.

“So?” Lea pressed.

“So what?”

“Come on, Damian,” Lea said. “You two seem close for it being business.”

“I like her,” Damian said. “She’s easy to like.”

“At least she doesn’t hate you,” Cara replied.

Damian sighed. “Yet.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Lea asked.

“Nothing. So hey, I heard you two were home the night the shooting happened,” Damian said quietly. “Or that’s what Ben said.”

Cara crossed her arms. “So?”

“You didn’t see anything?” Damian asked.

“Nothing,” Lea said.

Damian hummed under his breath. “No one left?”

“No,” Cara said. “Not that we know of. We were pretty out of it. Long flights.”

“Really long,” Lea said, agreeing with her sister. “And hell, D, the only person we know who could get in and out of the house without someone knowing is you.”

Damian scoffed. “That’s not entirely true.”

“Yes, it is,” the twins said together.

“Tommas is sneaky, too, but I’m not saying he did it. Someone must have,” Damian said. “It was Serena’s car. Did you see the video?”

“I saw it.” Cara shrugged. “Sure looked like Mom’s car.”

“We didn’t hear a thing,” Lea said again.

Damian laughed. “Yeah, Rossi kids never do.”

“About this bachelorette party,” Damian said.

Lily let him snag her hand with his own. “What about it?”

“Abriella is planning it, right?”

“Yes.”

“Fucking great,” Damian muttered.

Lily laughed and bumped him with her shoulder. “At an approved club.”

“Approved by who?”

The words might as well have been spit from his mouth. Damian shoved his other hand into his pocket but Lily didn’t miss the fact it was clenched into a tight little ball. His brow darkened as he eyed her from the side and his mouth was drawn tight.

Jealous.

Damian was so fucking jealous it was ridiculous.

Lily thought it looked pretty damned hot on him.

“I like that,” Lily said, pointing a finger at him and making a circle.

“Hmm?”

“You’re all huffy over there.”

Damian cocked his head to the side. “Huffy?”

“I’m just waiting for your chest to puff up so you can beat it with your fists.”

“Seriously?”

“And you say jealousy looks terrible on a person,” Lily teased, smiling.

Damian shook his head, failing to hold back his chuckles. “No, I said jealousy looks terrible on you. I said nothing about how it looks on me.”

“So you are.”

“Hmm?”

“Jealous,” Lily clarified. Before he could say a thing, Lily said, “Too late, you admitted it.”

Damian’s lips split with the sexiest grin. “You’re awful, Lily DeLuca.”

“What is that thing you always tell me?”

“You’ll grow to like it.”

Lily nodded. “And so will you.”

Damian caught her wrists in his palms before he backed Lily into her Maserati. His body crowded hers in the best way, promising something lovely and wicked was sure to come. Lily didn’t shy away from his form as he leaned over her and dragged his lips across hers softly. His teeth bit down on her lower lip, making Lily whine under her breath. She loved the bit of pain mixing in with her desire. It always made it sweeter. Damian always seemed to know, too. Her hips canted forward, driving her pelvis into something long and hard.

“Christ,” Damian grunted.

“You do like this,” Lily said, pushing against him again. “Deny it, I dare you.”

“You really don’t want to know the things going on in my head right now.”

Lily winked. “Maybe I do.”

Damian cursed heavily. “Stop, or I’ll be forced to turn you around, bend you over, and fill you so full of my cock you won’t know what to do.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Wicked. You are so fucking wicked.”

Damian bent down and kissed her again, his tongue sweeping across hers with damning force. Somehow, he managed to make her feel owned by his mouth alone. Lily wasn’t sure if she liked that or not.

Her body sure as fuck did.

“Who approved the club, Lily?” 

Well, it sounded a lot like a demand.

“Terrance,” Lily whispered. “Abriella went the right route this time. Reel the asshole back in for once, Damian.”

“I’ll try.”

Damian hummed, stepping in closer. Lily widened her stance enough to feel his lower half press at the junction between her thighs. Warmth spread from her stomach straight down to her sex. Lily shivered when Damian released her wrists just long enough to grab at her waist and hold her tight. His fingers dug in deep, making Lily’s breath catch in her chest.

She couldn’t help remembering where they were. Guests had begun filtering out from the Trentini home, leaving the late dinner. How many of them had a front row seat to Lily and Damian’s little show?

“People might be watching,” Lily warned Damian.

“Let them.”

“Damian, be serious.”

“I am, Lily. I like for people to know what is mine; marking my territory, so to speak. This seems like a good way to do it without pissing you off in the process.”

Lily scoffed. “Right, because we both know you’re entirely concerned about that.”

Damian smirked. “As long as you know you’re mine, we’re both good.”

Another shudder worked its way over her body. Her attraction to Damian only seemed to grow in intensity the more time they spent together. The darkness edging around the corners of his personality drew her in like a moth to the flame. She couldn’t help but want to peel back his layers and find all the secrets hidden underneath.

Yeah, just like a moth to the flame.

Someone always ended up being burned from that.

Lily didn’t want it to be her but she didn’t think Damian was going to give her much of a choice.

Damian nuzzled his nose at the spot behind Lily’s ear as his words whispered over her skin like silk. “And you do know you’re mine, don’t you, sweetheart?”

Lily bit her inner cheek and said, “I know what is yours.”

“Good.” Damian’s fingers danced up her stomach and over her chest. Sparks bloomed on every spot he touched, waking Lily’s lust up even more. It was innocent enough, sure, but it felt entirely sinful at the same time. He stepped back, giving her just enough space to breathe. “I’ll keep reminding you when I think you need it.”

“You don’t play a clean game, Rossi.”

“Nothing about me is clean, DeLuca. Which you already know. Don’t act so surprised.”

Lily poked him in the chest. “What are you going to do when my last name is changed, huh?”

“I’ll be happy I can add another way to show you’re mine. And—”

Damian’s words cut off as his gaze caught something else. Lily followed his stare and noticed a dark suburban driving slowly down the road in front of the Trentini home. Terrance’s driveway, blocked by an iron gate, had filled with the leaving guests getting into their cars. The gate began to open.

The hair on the back of Lily’s neck prickled with the oddest sensation. Damian’s hold on her tightened the closer the suburban came to the front of the driveway. Despite the unusually warm Chicago air, Lily suddenly felt cold all over.

“Oh, it’s great to see them home,” came a loud voice from the doorway of the large home. “I’m sure they’ll be lovely in the wedding.”

Lily’s gaze traveled back to see Terrance giving his goodbyes to the Rossi twins. Joel, Abriella, and their parents stood on the steps with Terrance. Ben stood in front of his boss, saying his goodbyes, too.

“Get down,” Damian said.

Lily barely heard the words. “What?”

“Get down!”

Damian shoved her to the driveway with enough force to rattle her bones. Lily’s skin felt the effects of the asphalt as it scraped her knees and elbows. Her cry of pain was drowned out by the shattering scream of others as rapid assault fire filled the air. The fast popping shredded what serenity had been gained from the dinner.

Lily’s heart was in her throat, beating wildly out of control. Damian covered her body with his own, whispering calm assurances in her ear.

“
Shhh
, sweetheart, it’s okay,” Damian murmured.

Lily didn’t believe him. She couldn’t breathe as the fear swept over her body with damning intent. Sickness welled in her gut as she clenched her fists against the driveway. Glass exploded around them as bullets rained into her Maserati. She heard the calls of people shouting for others.

There were kids in the driveway.

Her friends were in the driveway.

Damian
was in the driveway.

“We’re okay,” Damian told her like he knew she needed to hear it.

Lily trembled, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t hide her face. Damian had laid them flat beside the car for safety. She had just enough view from around the wheel well to see someone inside the black suburban toss out three glass bottles with burning rags sticking out of the tops. The bottles crashed over the top of two vehicles much closer to the gate than Lily’s was. The moment the bottles broke, fire lit up across the cars, engulfing them in flames.

Damian’s hands ran up and down Lily’s sides, soothing her without saying another word. She still shook like a leaf in the wind, but it wasn’t as bad with him there.

The screech of tires broke Lily from her daze. The black suburban disappeared before Lily could get another good look at it. Damian wasted no time rolling off her and standing. He lifted Lily’s stunned, shaking body up from the ground as if she weighed nothing more than a feather.

“Hey, hey,” Damian said, his tone calm and sweet in her ear.

Lily couldn’t see him through the haze of panic controlling her senses.

“Lily, look at me!”

Blinking away the confusion, Lily stared at Damian’s concerned features. Worry wrote lines over his brow as a frown curved his lips downward. His palms held her face tight in his hands, forcing her to keep looking at him.

“What just happened?” Lily asked, knowing but still unsure. She didn’t want to admit to herself what she already knew. Not again. Why did this happen again?

Before he could answer, sirens and lights blew past the Trentini home.

“Shit,” Damian hissed, glaring to the side.

Several unmarked police cruisers blocked the gate of the house, keeping anyone inside from leaving. Police spilled from the vehicles with guns drawn while several more unmarked cars with their lights flashing brightly continued on down the road in the direction of the black suburban.

Lily’s confusion only climbed higher. “Why are they here? How did they—”

“Issues with the mob,” Damian said quickly in explanation. “We’ve been all over the news. Terrance was bound to have somebody watching his goddamn house. What did you see, Lily?”

Unable to answer Damian because her lungs just wouldn’t work properly, Lily stared around at the mess instead. People were helping others off the ground. A lot of guests seemed to have hit the pavement like Lily and Damian had. At the front of the house where the Trentini family had been standing with her uncle and the Rossi twins, a far more devastating scene took shape.

People were shouting, shoving … others on the ground, unmoving. Red stained the pristine white door. Cara Rossi sobbed, her fists shoved in her mouth as she cried out. Tommas rushed up the stairs to his sister’s side.

Where was the other Rossi twin?

Where was Lea?

“Ben!” someone shouted.

Lily’s ears felt like they were ringing from the gunfire and the catacomb of sounds surrounding her now. She couldn’t concentrate enough to understand what the people on the stairs said to one another, but there was fear all over their actions, in their shaking hands and the tears streaking down their faces.

Theo clamored up the steps after Tommas. “Ben!”

Terrance fell back from one of the bodies on his front steps. He put his hands out in front of him, his gaze trained in on the morbid red covering his skin.

“Lea!” Laurent screamed.

Serena Rossi’s devastated cry followed her husband’s from somewhere down with the rest of the people in the driveway.

God
.

More blood.

So much more.

“Lily!” Damian snapped.

He tilted her chin up so he could look down into her eyes in that intense way of his that stopped her heart and made her think there was so much more to this man than she could ever possibly know. She was trying so desperately to keep from falling for him, but something about him that she couldn’t deny spoke to her. Something that kept making her trip over her own two feet, surprising her at every turn.

She was falling fast and hard.

He wasn’t even trying.

Damian swept his thumb over her trembling lips. “What did you see?”

“Nothing,” Lily said quickly. “I saw nothing.”

For him, Lily would never see anything.

It had nothing to do with the Outfit.

It was Damian.

Damian nodded. “That’s right, sweetheart. It’s always nothing.”