Deathless & Divided (The Chicago War #1) (9 page)

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Lily whispered.

“Okay, enough of this,” Abriella said, grabbing the magazine from Lily’s hand.

“Hey!”

Evelina just laughed at Lily’s wide eyes.

“Seriously, enough.” Abriella gathered the magazines and tossed them into her messenger bag. “This day is ridiculous. This wedding is ridiculous. Pick a dress another day. Dino will have everything planned and going ahead regardless of us, so we might as well let him do it. We have better things to do.”

Lily gaped. “Like what?”

Abriella shrugged. “How about a club?”

Evelina made a face. “Should we?”

“Who’s going to tell? One of us?”

“What is the problem?” Lily asked, glancing between her two friends.

“Nothing,” Abriella replied, giving Evelina a pointed look. “We do this all the time. Go out and have some fun, shake off the stress, and forget about the day. Nothing is wrong.”

“As long as nobody sees us,” Evelina said. “Daddy would be in a right fit and you know your grandfather would flip, Ella.”

“Terrance will never know.”

“But—”

“He hasn’t found out about all the other times, Eve.”

“True, but it still makes me nervous. I mean, Lily is getting married and they know we’re all friends. Terrance probably has a half of a dozen enforcers trailing us on a daily basis just to make sure we’re being good.”

Being good?

Lily scoffed. What fucking world did they live in? They were adults, right? “And what if they did find out?”

“They don’t, so it’s not important,” Abriella said. “Eve is just overthinking, like she always does.”

“I am not!”

“Okay, you’re not. Shut up about it. Tommas’ place?” Abriella asked.

Evelina nodded. “He’s the only one who won’t run his mouth if he sees us out.”

Abriella smiled. “He is. And I always know how to lose the enforcers trailing me. They’re too embarrassed to call Granddaddy and tell him they lost me because they know how much shit they’d be in. How about we take my car, stop at the place Tommas’ rents for me after I lose the—”

“Whoa, hold up,” Lily said, leaning forward with interest. “What did you just say?”

For the first time, Abriella actually looked nervous. She wouldn’t meet Lily’s gaze. “It’s nothing.”

“A family Capo is renting you a private place and that’s
nothing
?” Lily repeated dully.

“It’s nothing to
you
,” Abriella said firmly.  “Better you don’t know, Lily. Trust me.”

“I don’t know, either,” Evelina said with a grin.

Oh, she clearly knew.

Abriella didn’t take her eyes off Lily for a second. “Listen, what I do is what I do, Lily. And I’m going to make damn sure I have fun while I can before I can’t anymore. I’m not looking for anyone’s permission here. Are we good?”

Lily thought so. “We’re good.”

Tommas Rossi’s club couldn’t fit another soul inside. Lily was sure of it. How the club didn’t have fire marshals knocking on the door to clear bodies out, she didn’t know.

“What are you doing here?” Adriano asked his older sister.

Evelina didn’t turn from the bar as she ordered.

“Hey, look at me,” Adriano barked. “Don’t act like I’m not talking to you, Eve.”

“Shut up, Adriano,” Evelina said with a huff. “You’re not even legal. Who the hell let you in?”

“Tommas.”

Abriella rolled her eyes. “Figures. Where is he?”

“In the back office dealing with some shit.”

“Work, you mean,” Abriella said. “Somebody’s dealing in here for him. God, he’s never going to learn.”

“Something like that,” Adriano replied with a shrug. 

Lily took the bright green grasshopper drink Evelina offered and tipped it back to take a big sip. The alcohol flooded her mouth instantly right along with the intense flavor of the drink. Christ, it was good.

“Not so fast,” Evelina said, laughing. “You’ll be so hammered I might not be able to get you home without Dino knowing.”

“Screw Dino,” Lily replied before taking another drink.

Lily’s attention went straight back to the brother and sister who were glaring at one another.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Adriano said.

“Tommas is here, right?” Evelina asked sweetly.

“I said that already, Eve.”

“Exactly. Someone is here. He’ll keep watch over us. What is the problem?”

Adriano’s teeth gritted beneath his jaw. “You know what the damn problem is.”

Evelina waved a hand flippantly at her brother before taking a drink of her Sourpuss and Seven-Up mix. “Not really, little brother.”

“You’re fucking impossible,” Adriano muttered. “I’m trying to give you some warning here and you’re ignoring me.”

“Are you going to be a little rat and run to Daddy?” Evelina asked.

Adriano’s gaze narrowed as he glanced between Lily and Abriella. “No, but you’re not the one someone might flip over tonight, Eve.”

“Turn cheek, Adriano. Isn’t that what everybody keeps telling me?”

“You owe me.”

“Whatever.”

“I’ll keep my mouth shut about you, but somebody else needs to know about her,” Adriano said, nodding at Lily.

Who the hell would care if she was at the club?

Adriano disappeared back into the crowd without another word.

“That was easy,” Lily said.

Evelina didn’t look all too pleased at her brother’s parting words. “Fucking spoil sport.”

“How long do you think we have?” Abriella asked.

“An hour, maybe.”

Abriella pouted. “I’ll go find Tommas and see what he can do.”

Evelina scowled. “Nothing, probably.”

“Give him a chance.”

“What am I missing?” Lily asked, sipping on her grasshopper again.

She needed one of those for each hand. They were that damn good.

“It’s nothing,” Evelina assured. “Let’s just have some fun and dance while we can.”

That sounded perfect to Lily. The music practically pumped through the floors and vibrated the borrowed heels Lily stood in.

She had come to find out Abriella Trentini’s rented apartment might as well be a second home with an entire wardrobe included. Lily chose not to ask questions when she noticed a man’s suits hanging alongside Abriella’s dresses earlier. Then again, she figured Tommas Rossi’s name had been mentioned more than enough for it to be kind of obvious.

Someone wasn’t going to like it when their secret was found out.

“Let’s dance!” Evelina shouted, giggling as she tugged on Lily’s hand.

Lily grinned. It had been too long since she was able to just have fun, especially with Eve.

“Let’s dance.”

Strobe lights flashed from all angles in rapid succession, making the crowd nothing but a blinking black and white blur to Lily. She turned with her arms thrown high, swallowed by the club goers, drunken laughter, sweaty, swaying bodies, and music.

She wasn’t the partying kind of girl. Sure, Lily had her fun every once in a while, but she never really let loose. It felt so good to dance and be just another face in the crowd—someone unrecognizable and unknown.

Not a DeLuca.

Not a girl affiliated with the mob.

Not the daughter of a turncoat or the sister of made men.

No, just Lily.

It reminded her of traveling all over again and of being free.

Lily realized she had lost her friend somewhere in the crowd. She didn’t really care. Evelina had probably gone back to the bar for another round of drinks. The buzz slipping through Lily’s veins said she probably had enough of her own for the night.

Large hands found Lily’s waist from behind before her body was drawn into the firm chest of someone. A man. He smelled like the club, liquor, and unfamiliar cologne. He wasn’t the first person to randomly grab Lily and bring her in for a dance or two, so she didn’t mind. Her hips moved in time with the man’s and the music. Lily wanted to see who it was that decided to dance with her, so she turned in his embrace to find a good-looking stranger with a wide grin.

“What is your name, pretty girl?” he asked.

She didn’t think giving her name would be an issue. It wasn’t like she planned on taking this man home.

“Lily.”

“Carter,” the man replied.

“Hello, Carter.”

“Hello, Lily. Beautiful dress.”

“Thank you.”

His grin melted into a sensual smirk. “Let’s see if I can get it off you before the night is through.”

Lily wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She liked the sound of his voice, though. “You’ll have to work awfully hard.”

And he didn’t have a chance.

“We’ll see about that,” Carter murmured.

Lily let Carter bring her closer as his hand skimmed up her exposed back. All the while, she swore she could feel someone watching her.

Someone who wasn’t Carter.

CHAPTER FIVE

“O
h, come on, Tommas,” Abriella said, her cheeks pinking. “You’re such an asshole. How is Lily having a little fun any different than—”

“Stop it, Ella,” Tommas snapped. “It’s entirely different. I keep a damn eye on you when you’re out.”

“Because I come here,” Abriella replied hotly. “And I do it for
you
. I brought her here so what is the fucking problem?”

“And you shouldn’t have done that, either!” Tommas growled.

“You—”

“Enough, Ella.”

Abriella glowered at her companion.

Damian acted like the two weren’t glaring daggers at one another. In fact, he wished he didn’t know anything about his cousin’s relationship with Abriella Trentini. Tommas was going to get himself killed over that shit someday—Damian was sure of it.

“Adriano took Eve home, then?” Damian asked.

“A few minutes ago,” Tommas confirmed.

“Is he going to keep his mouth shut about the girls being out at a club without supervision?”

Tommas nodded. “Of course, he will. The kid is golden, you know.”

“Fun suckers, the lot of you,” Abriella said with a huff.

“No, we’re keeping you out of shit with your fathers and grandfathers,” Tommas said with a frown.

Abriella sneered. “Right, that’s what you’re doing. Where am I going tonight, Tommy? With you or to Granddaddy’s? How do you plan on explaining that when you drop me off, huh? Maybe you’ll take me back to my apartment where the stupid enforcers are waiting for me like always. I’ve been drinking, right? I can’t drive. God knows you don’t trust a soul around me, so you’ll have to take me home … or maybe we’ll go back to our place and—”

“Stop, Ella. You’re drinking and I don’t want to deal with this nonsense. Do you know the kind of position you put me in tonight?” Tommas asked.

“Like the kind you put me in?” Abriella asked back sweetly.

Tommas’ jaw fell slack. “Ella!”

Ouch.

The girl had balls, anyway.

Maybe Damian could understand why Tommas was doing the crap he was with Abriella—whatever it was. Tommas always had liked his women a little rough around the edges and difficult. Abriella sure fit that bill.

Damian cleared his throat. “All right, enough of this. You two fight or fuck it out. I don’t care. Where’s Lily?”