Deathless & Divided (The Chicago War #1) (6 page)

Lily and Damian didn’t have to like one another to be married, apparently. People around them proved that fact all the time.

“What do you think of the Outfit?” Damian asked. “Inside, I mean. Not business, but what does it make you think of?”

Tommas hummed. “It’s family, man.”

“Really, that’s all you’ve got to give me? Family?”

“The only family we know.”

True.

“Sometimes family hurts,” Damian said.

Tommas nodded. “Ours certainly does.”

“Someone’s been watching you for the last half hour, Lily.”

Damian hid his smile with his glass of cognac as Lily shot him a piercing look over her shoulder. Oh yeah, the girl was still pissed. He pretended not to notice she had caught him watching her and instead, surveyed the room while keeping her in his peripherals.

Lily was three sheets to the wind if her fifth glass of red wine was any indication. She hid her buzz well. Damian gave her credit for that.

“Yes, I’m aware,” Lily grumbled under her breath.

Evelina laughed lightly as Lily’s gaze left Damian as quickly as it found him. “He’s very handsome and since he’s my cousin, that’s all I’m willing to give on the topic.”

“Shut up, Eve.”

“He is, Lily.” Evelina shrugged. “Hey, at least Dino picked someone for you that looks decent, can take care of you, and likes your brothers.”

“Yeah, because that’s everything that matters right there.”

“Just saying. You could be me.”

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

Evelina scoffed. “It means, I’m just waiting for the highest bid to come in, Lily. That’s what happens when your father is the front boss for the Outfit and you’re his only daughter. Think about it, he needs to compete with Ben and whoever the hell else Terrance likes. Men like my father only want to go up and that’s all they give a damn about. If they can’t get up there by their own hand, they’ll use somebody else’s to get there. My hand happens to be the one he’s going to use, maybe even for another family.”

“Which one?”

“Who knows? New York, Boston, maybe the fucking Vegas crew. He might as well slap a few stamps on my forehead and send me through the mail.”

Lily’s head turned just enough to give Damian a glimpse of her profile. Her frown and crumpled brow spoke of worry and disgust.

Why did she care so much about what happened to someone else?

“That sucks,” Lily said.

“Yeah, it does,” Evelina agreed. “And I was kind of liking on somebody, too. Daddy would have a righteous fit if he found out.”

“Oh, who?”

Evelina shrugged. “Nobody.”

“Eve,” Lily pressed.

“Nobody, Lily, seriously. Better for us both that you don’t know.”

Damian was learning all kinds of new things tonight.

“What about Adriano?” Lily asked. “Is your father going to do the same thing to your brother?”

“I don’t know,” Evelina admitted. “We’re not … like we were way back when. And he’s just like our father sometimes. Plus, he’s got a dick between his legs, right? So, boys get to be in with it all. Completely different thing, I guess. Whatever. Anyway, enough of this sad shit. We’re supposed to be the fun ones. Talking about this isn’t fun and I was trying to point out that Dino did consider you for this.”

Evelina’s voice lowered, but Damian still heard her as he acted like the dancing, laughing people had all of his attention. “Damian’s a nice guy. And I’m not just saying that because he’s family, either. You’ve not been around for a long time. You don’t know him well enough to pass judgement.”

“You’re not the one being married off to him like a cow on the market, Eve,” Lily said sharply.

“I’d rather see you go to Damian Rossi than another man in the Outfit.”

Lily spat out a laugh. “You’re just saying that because it’s not you. Had your father or brother tricked you like Dino did to me, you would be pissed off like nothing else. All that rebellion you did on the down low would suddenly get a hell of lot louder. Deny it, Eve.”

Evelina didn’t bother trying to. “I’m already pissed at my father so that’s pointless. Listen, Damian is kind of quiet like you are and doesn’t like the spotlight. He used to hang out with your brothers when Theo was twelve or something. They’re the same age. Don’t you remember him at all?”

Lily’s face darkened as she passed another glance toward Damian. “Did he?”

“You really don’t remember?”

“No,” Lily said.

Damian surveyed Lily from the corner of his eye, noting how she chewed on her bottom lip in her curiosity.

“He was kind of like you guys.”

“How so?”

“You know, like being shuffled around from place to place, people to people. Just … you two might have something in common where that’s concerned. They’re not going to give you a choice, Lily, and obviously Damian agreed to the arrangement for whatever reason. It’s settled—your opinion bears no importance to them. I know it’s barbaric and ancient, but it’s going to happen.”

Damian’s unofficial fiancée grew silent like she was considering Evelina’s words and taking the warning for what it was. Unofficial for only a short while because soon word would pass about the murmurings of the agreement between the Rossi and DeLuca families. The Outfit loved gossip and the news would spread like wild fire. Since Dino wanted the wedding to happen before his trial, dinners like the boss had thrown today could be considered an engagement announcement and party.

“Maybe,” Lily finally said quietly. “I don’t have to like it, Eve.”

“Yeah, I know. You want another glass of wine?”

“Hmm, yeah, I think—”

Damian decided to step in and shut that idea down before Lily could agree. Dino would have a shitfit if Lily got any drunker than she already was. “Thanks, Eve, but she’s good for the evening.”

Lily glared over her shoulder at Damian still unbothered and still in his corner. “Excuse me?”

“That’s your fifth glass of wine, your eyes are drowsy, and your brother never was one for a drunk woman,” Damian informed like they were breaking bread over a dinner table. “While drinking probably seems like a good way to deal with this shitty night—I don’t blame you, honestly—I can bet you’ll regret it in the morning if you act like a fool and embarrass yourself and your brothers. You’re not that kind of woman, Lily.”

Damian gave a wide-eyed Evelina a charming smile. “Again, thanks, but no more.”

“All right,” Evelina said faintly.

Lily spun around and pressed her fisted hand to her hip. “Who in the hell do you think—”

Damian’s gaze cut to Lily and she quieted instantly. “I’m not saying it to be an asshole, Lily. Go on, drink yourself stupid if that’s what you want to do. You’re the one who’ll have to face these people again when you’re sober.”

Lily handed the wine glass to a stunned Evelina without a word.

“Thank you,” Damian said with a smile.

“I didn’t do it for you,” Lily retorted.

Damian laughed.

No, girls like Lily never did things they didn’t want to do. He liked that, too. Too bad the whole engagement thing wouldn’t work out that way for her.

“Sure,” Damian said with a wink.

Lily’s gaze narrowed a second before she stormed off into the crowd.

Damian made sure to take note of which direction she went just in case. Evelina sighed with a shake of her head.

“That’s not going to help your case,” Evelina said softly.

Damian answered that with a shrug.

“Do you even care if she likes you, D?”

“Does it matter?” he asked back. “She doesn’t need to like me to have my last name.”

Evelina pursed her lips. “Damn, you’re proving me all kinds of wrong tonight.”

“How so?”

“I didn’t think you were that kind of guy, Damian.”

He cleared his throat and avoided Evelina’s gaze. Him and her, they were mafia kids. He had six years on Evelina and eight on her brother, but he spent time in the Conti homes as well growing up. All of their families intertwined in that way.

“Guess you don’t know me all that well, huh?” Damian asked, reverting back to his usual self.

Evelina didn’t look away as she said, “No, I just think you’re awfully good at making others believe you’re doing what they want.”

She was right.

“How much have you drank?” Damian asked.

“Too much.”

“Where’s your father?”

“Hitting on someone’s wife,” Evelina replied. “Ma’s probably watching from the corner—she likes that nonsense, you know. Gets off on it. I think the fight is like their foreplay. It’s disgusting.”

Damian laughed hard. “Yeah, you’ve drank too much. Hand it over, Eve.”

Evelina walked over and passed him her wine glass and Lily’s, but not before she emptied hers of the contents. “You always were a fucking spoil sport, D.” 

“What’d you find out about the shipping deal with New York?” Tommas asked his boss. “It would be great if we could start working through there again. It’s cheaper and all to have it slide through their ports and then straight to ours since they’ve got the labor rackets and the bribes going on there.”

Damian pretended to sip on his cognac and seem disinterested in the conversation going on in Terrance’s personal office. He’d only followed the men when the boss asked them upstairs because he liked to know what was going on around him, not because he had to be there. Damian didn’t worry about crews, tribute, and bullshit like the rest of Terrance’s guys did. Damian’s work for the Outfit didn’t fall in line with that unless someone needed an extra pair of hands for something.

Usually Damian worked with Tommas on those things, anyway.

“Marcello isn’t going to let us in on that again, not after that mess a few years ago,” Terrance said before tossing back the remainder of his red wine.

“I don’t know why you bother making nice with them,” Joel muttered under his breath. “With the Calabrese and the Donati families working with us, we could easily cull the Marcellos down to nothing. We could set up a syndicate—”

“Oh, shut up with that fucking nonsense,” Terrance barked.

The quiet chatter in the room silenced.

“If your men had done what they were supposed to do in the first goddamn place when working in New York, we wouldn’t have this problem with the Marcellos, Joel,” Terrance said, scowling. “Instead, they decided to trade bullets with the dominating family. I might not like the Marcellos all that much, but I’m not an idiot, either. They control New York for a reason. They hold power over the other families because they earned it. They’re closely aligned with the Sorrentos in Vegas. So yes, let’s go right on ahead, act like bulls in a China shop, and start a war we can’t finish. Why don’t we do that, huh?”

Joel looked like he had taken a bite of something sour. “Grandpapa—”

“Shut up, Joel.
Dio
, you’re working my last nerve and I’m not even drunk.”

“I was just saying that—”

“Shut up or get out, Joel.”

Damian supposed he understood why Joel wouldn’t ever make it as a boss. The man didn’t know when to sit down and be quiet.

“We hold the power in Chicago,” Terrance continued. “That’s what matters here. We work here. We have our own dealings to manage here. The Outfit dominates and unlike New York, we don’t have to worry about or work with other families because the Chicago Mob controls even them. Forget about New York, it isn’t ours and I don’t want it.”

“Fine,” Joel said through clenched teeth.

“So, that’s a no then?” Tommas asked.

“Yeah,” Terrance said gruffly. “That’s a fucking no.”

“Pay a little more to get it straight through to here, that’s all,” Damian’s uncle Laurent said. “Keep doing what we’re doing.”

“Can we talk about giving someone their in to the Outfit?” Joel asked.

Damian perked at that, curious. Usually the boss would bring something like that up, not another made man.

“Who?” Terrance asked.

“James.”

“Poletti?”

“Yeah.”

“No,” Terrance said.

“Why the hell not?”

“Because he’s a fucking Poletti and half of his mother’s family is involved with the Lazzari guys. I’m not going to let some kid of another family weed their way into mine, Joel. That’s ridiculous. Just because you work with them on things doesn’t mean they’re Outfit material.”