by Bethany-Kris
“She knows better.”
“So do I,” Lily confessed softly. “Everybody likes to use the excuse that because Dino let me spend so much time away from home that I don’t know what is expected, but I know, Damian. I do.”
Damian set Lily to her feet. Her sexy black heels clicked on the pavement as she righted her dress and stared up at him. “You knew, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Why did you go, then?”
Lily shrugged like that was supposed to explain it all. “I told you, I needed it.”
Damian waved at himself. “Am I some kind of fucking death sentence for you, or what?”
“Well …”
“Well, what?” Damian demanded. “Does the thought of marrying me sicken you; does it make you want to run for the hills; is forever with a man who will care and provide for you that awful, Lily?”
Lily’s brow furrowed before she pointed at her chest. “Nobody thought to ask me, Damian. It’s my life and I was having fun doing what I wanted to do.”
“No, you were running.”
“Hey, you don’t know—”
“Yes, I absolutely do know,” Damian interjected sharply. He ignored Lily’s wince. “I have had more than enough discussions with your brothers and time to myself when I was able to think it all over. Dino let you go because you couldn’t handle the Outfit. You couldn’t handle seeing your family pretending like your parents didn’t exist and that they didn’t love you with all they were. Because they did, right? Your dad loved you kids enough that he wanted what he thought would be better for you—a free life, a clean one. So, there you go. Dino let you run for as long as he could. You can’t run anymore, Lily. Stop blaming him; it’s not his fault.”
Lily wouldn’t meet his gaze. “He’s marrying me off like a piece of meat.”
“No, he’s trying to save you from that. Christ, girl, think about it.”
“But—”
“But nothing, Lily. You don’t get to know everything, okay? You just don’t. It’s better for you and everyone involved if you know as little as possible in this life. Learn to trust people for once instead of depending on only yourself. You never know what might happen if you do.”
Lily barked out a bitter laugh. “Trust, right. That’s a joke. After everything the Outfit did to me when I was a kid, trusting them or anyone in it is fucking impossible.”
Damian was over her pity party. He waved a hand in her direction dismissively, done with the charade. “Poor you, Lily. Here’s a newsflash for you—you’re not the only person in this parking lot holding a fucking membership card for a club no one wants to be a part of.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re an orphan, right? That’s how you feel. Guess what? You’re not the only one standing here without parents. You’re not the only one who grew up without them and you’re certainly not the only one who was raised by the Outfit. Got it? Mine might not have been killed like yours were, but I still lost them all the same. It’s time to move the hell on. Leave the past where it needs to stay. Behind.”
Lily sucked in a hard breath, her bottom lip catching between her teeth. “I’m—”
“Don’t apologize. That’s not what I want or need to hear. I don’t look for sympathy from others. It does nothing for me.”
“Okay,” Lily said quietly.
Damian crossed his arms and willed his irritation to leave. “I’m not sorry about earlier—that asshole deserved it and he’s lucky I didn’t break his face just for breathing. But, I am sorry about this past week.”
Lily mimicked his pose, hugging her frame in the bodycon dress. “Oh?”
“You’re my responsibility,” Damian said, repeating his words from before. “I should have been around this week, maybe asked you out to eat or something just so we could talk. Tried, at least. Clearly you’ve got shit on your mind you need to get off. You’re angry, I get that. You can be angry; you need to take it out on the right people, but you can’t do that if you don’t even really understand what you’re angry about.
“Nonetheless, I didn’t try this week,” Damian continued, the corner of his mouth tugging down into a half-frown. “I was busy and something else came up I had to take care of. I figured you wouldn’t want me anywhere near you for a while as it was. Maybe you still don’t.”
Lily shrugged. “I figured you didn’t want to be around. This is just … a duty for you, right? You have to do it and you don’t get a choice, either.”
Partly.
It might have been a little bit more, too.
“Unless you try to get to know me a little bit, you don’t have the first clue about this, us, or why I am doing it, Lily.”
“True,” Lily said. “But you’re not like me, Damian. Everybody will turn their cheek to what you do after this is followed through. Nobody will care a bit who you’re fucking or what you’re doing even if you have a wife. Me? I’m stuck with you even if you don’t have to be stuck with me.”
“Back up a second,” Damian said, cocking a brow. “Is that what you think my plans are? To marry you and keep you looking pretty on a shelf like a proper trophy wife while I have a dozen whores on the side?”
“Seems like that’s the norm, doesn’t it?”
Damian shook his head. “Not for me.”
“So, what, I’ll just be your warm body in the bed whenever you feel like using me?”
That was disgusting in more ways than Damian cared to explain.
“I’m not going to force you into my bed. I’m not into that nasty shit, but I kind of hope I don’t have to force you, Lily. I want you to come all on your own because you want to.”
She swallowed audibly, a pink tint coloring her cheeks. “I beg your pardon?”
“Just like I said. I’m not going to make it some kind of mission to seduce you, but I don’t think I have to. You’re young, beautiful—incredibly vibrant and sexy. I would be stupid and blind not to notice. So no, I won’t force you into my bed now or ten years from now, but chances are, you’ll make your way there all on your own. I want you to come to me willingly.”
“Wow,” Lily murmured. “I did not expect to hear that. You’re either terribly arrogant or mighty cocky.”
“Both, actually. I’m also honest,” Damian added, chuckling. “Despite what my profession may say about me, I am upfront with my motives. So why don’t I show you some of them right now, huh?”
“Like what?” she asked.
“We don’t have to be strangers. You don’t have to hate me and I really don’t want you to. You’re goddamn gorgeous—I wasn’t looking for a wife but I think I’d like to have you as mine. We’ll work out the details and while we do …”
“What?” she asked, her brown gaze meeting his, unashamed.
“You make all the calls. Just know the marriage will happen. It has to.”
Lily’s jaw clenched. “Yeah, I got that. Dino made that perfectly clear.”
Damian figured Lily needed to be let in on a part of her brother’s plan so she could finally—maybe—understand what Dino was trying to do for her. “Do you know what he asked me to do for you? What he wanted from me as the other half of this equation with the marriage?”
“What is that?”
“He asked me to take care of you and keep you safe when he couldn’t. Think about it, Lily.”
Lily shifted in her heels. “He’s going to prison soon.”
“Well, it sure seems like it.”
“He won’t be able to keep me safe from there.”
“He let you run for as long as he could.”
Lily blew out a shaky breath. “You still haven’t told me why you’re doing this.”
“I did. Because I have to.”
“That’s a non-answer,” Lily pointed out.
Maybe so, but it was the best he could give for now.
“You’re looking at a pretty decent future if you would just quit fucking fighting it, Lily DeLuca.”
Lily blinked, a soberness clearing her visio
n. “Actually, I’m looking at you, Damian.”
“And I am not that bad of a choice, considering the men you could have been married off to.”
“Maybe so,” Lily agreed. “I still didn’t get any say in the matter.”
“There’s no maybe about it, sweetheart. Give me a little bit of time, and I’ll give you back everything you need.”
“That’s a pretty heavy promise,” she said. “And this life does nothing but break them, Damian.”
“Do I fucking look like a fairy godmother to you? I’m not handing out wishes, Lily.”
“Well, I didn’t exactly wish for this, did I?”
“Exactly,” Damian replied. “So make the best of it.”
Damian cut the lights to his Porsche and let the car roll down the quiet, dark street. Checking his phone, he could see none of the sensors inside his apartment had gone off, meaning Lily was still safe and sleeping in his bed where he left her hours earlier.
If all went well, he would be back at his place before she even woke up with her none the wiser that he left.
The east side Chicago neighborhood was quiet for it being early morning. Most of the homes in the middle-class suburb were still dark as the sun had yet to rise. No one liked to be up before dawn, after all. With the sun still below the horizon, the roads offered little light but for the street lamps up above.
Damian found a place to park his Porsche, cut the engine, and waited.
Sometimes, his job was all about the wait.
Terrance had probably wondered why the hit hadn’t already taken place, but the boss knew better than to question Damian’s motives and choices when it came to carrying out business. Damian did it on his terms and his time so the job was done correctly and without fuss.
Damian didn’t plan on spending his life behind bars.
No other man’s life was worth that price.
He’d watched the Poletti man for a good week. The guy had a variance of routines between working some schemes, running between his favorite places, and making his way home every night. Damian had taken note of the fact the guy had no wife or girlfriend and probably no children. The guy hadn’t visited any during the week, anyway.
Damian hoped this little lesson Terrance wanted taught to Joel did the job. Senseless deaths were just that—senseless and useless.
Regardless, Damian let his thoughts and feelings on the matter bleed away so he could do the hit, get the fuck home, and start the day out fresh. It was always better if he didn’t let this kind of nonsense work its way into his conscience.
The mafia was what it was. Death came hand in hand with living the life.
Damian was no exception and neither was anyone else.
No one was deathless in this world.
As a light turned on down the street, illuminating a split-level home and the front yard, Damian leaned over in his seat and opened the glove compartment. He pulled out the glock he’d chosen for the job, checked the clip, slid it back in, and turned off the safety.
James Poletti pulled his hood over his head and did a few minutes of stretches on his small front porch. Damian rolled down the window on the passenger side of his Porsche, letting the late June air wash through his car. The breeze was just enough to keep the mugginess down to a bearable temperature with the AC in Damian’s car turned off.
Before long, James Poletti started his usual morning jog down the dark street. Damian had wanted to do the job at another location, but this one worked just as well.
Damian didn’t make much of a fuss about killing. He didn’t make a show of it unless asked to, either.
Quick, Terrance had said.
When James was nearly at the passenger window, Damian turned the key and gunned the engine as he flicked on the car’s lights. The man outside the car stumbled but caught himself easily enough. With a mumbled curse, James tossed a glance inside the open window, straight into the barrel of Damian’s gun.
Lights out.
CHAPTER SIX
Lily hugged the dress shirt tighter around her frame, well aware it did nothing to hide the expanse of her bare legs as she padded down the short hallway of an unfamiliar apartment. With sleep-tousled hair, weary eyes, and a sinking feeling in her stomach, she kept moving to find the sweet smell of coffee wafting.
She remembered the night before clearly. She hadn’t tumbled into an unfamiliar bed out of drunken stupidity, but instead, climbed under Damian Rossi’s sheets without so much as an argument. Then again, he took the guest bedroom.
Why he just didn’t take his own bed and gave Lily the guest bed, she wasn’t sure.
The tiny kitchenette gave a view of the large living room. Lily damn near tripped over her own two feet at the sight of Damian bare-chested with track shorts riding low on his hips. With every pull as he lifted his fit, muscled frame over the bar set between the doorjamb of a connecting room, his body barely reacted to the exercise. Like it was nothing at all, he did several sets of chin-ups while he watched a news program turned on low.
Lily’s throat went dry.
The expanse of his muscled chest drove straight down over a railroad path of abs into the hard cut V of his groin. Damian’s skin was clean of any ink and other than a small scar on his right pec, his body was unblemished. The slightest sheen of perspiration dampened his skin while his dark hair fell over his gaze glued on the flat-screen. Any female within the vicinity of this man looking like he was right then would probably throw themselves at him. He was the perfect vision of a male personified. Sex on fucking legs right there in flesh and blood.
Even Lily found herself shifting on the spot and rubbing her thighs together to soothe the sudden ache between her legs.
Jesus Christ.
What was wrong with her?
I want you to come to me willingly.
Lily sucked in a breath and forced the sudden desire pooling in her stomach away.
She couldn’t help but wonder how this ridiculously attractive man seemed to go as unnoticed around people as he did. How could he slip into a crowd and disappear when he practically screamed for someone to look at him?
A vibrating sound stopped Damian’s chin-ups. He dropped to the floor without making a sound, crossed the space to the couch in two fluid steps and swiped at something on the cushion. Damian wiped at his bottom lip with his thumb; Lily licked hers in response.
What did his kiss feel like?
She shook her head to rid that insane notion.
“Yeah, Boss. Morning.”
“Ghost,” came a familiar reply.
Terrance Trentini.
Lily had the distinct feeling she shouldn’t be standing there listening.
“You watching this?” Damian asked, his gaze still surveying the silent television. His body blocked Lily’s view of seeing what the screen showed. She didn’t mind. The sight of his muscled back roped with chiseled lines was much better.
“Breaking news,” Terrance replied. “Well done.”
“Something like that,” Damian muttered.
“I did happen to notice the mention of a blue vehicle. What was it they said?”
“A striking color,” Damian said. “Nothing more.”
“Still too close for comfort, my boy. That isn’t like you.”
“I wanted to hit him elsewhere. It worked like this, too.”
“What happened?” Terrance asked.
“Plans changed. It doesn’t matter, the witness couldn’t give an adequate description of the car or license plate. The suburb isn’t well-off enough to have cameras in that area. I did my fucking homework before I decided.”
“Thirty-k has been transferred,” Terrance said.
“I already checked.”
“I thought you would have this done sooner. I’m happy to see it finished either way, but still, you took your time.”
“I did my job,” Damian said drily. “Is there anything else, Boss?”
Lily swore there was a smile in Terrance’s voice as he replied, “Hmm,
no. Time to deliver the terrible news to Joel, I suppose.”
“Just keep my name out of it.”
“I always do, Damian.”
The call ended without another word.
Damian didn’t turn around as he said, “Eavesdropping is a bad habit you should break before it gets you into trouble, Lily.”
Lily bit her bottom lip. “Sorry?”
He shot her with a heated glance over his shoulder. The sight alone seemed to strike her in the chest with the intensity. “There are things you are better off not knowing.”
“I didn’t actually mean to eavesdrop.”
Damian smirked. “No, you were spying on me.”
Lily’s arms tightened around her frame again. She suddenly became hyperaware of Damian’s gaze raking over her figure with a slow intent. He didn’t hide his staring at all and his smug grin only seemed to grow into a sight of satisfaction the longer he took her in.
She felt unnerved under his surveying.
“I look like hell,” Lily said, unsure of why she even let the words out in the first damn place.
“You look incredible,” Damian said quietly. “Like you spent the night rolling in someone’s sheets, which I suppose you did.”
Lily laughed. “Just not with someone, huh?”
“Not by my choice, sweetheart.”
She shivered.
Goddammit.
Damian was clearly playing for keeps in whatever game he had decided on.
Lily wasn’t sure she was ready for this.
Needing to get her mind away from the sexy, panty-soaking worthy place it had quickly gone to, Lily asked, “Is this usually what you do in the morning?”
“Talk on the phone?”
“No, work out.”
Damian nodded once. “If I have time, I try. It’s a good stress reliever.”
“What else do you do besides track girls down at clubs, work out, and watch news broadcasts on silent?”
“Are you asking about my job?”
Lily pursed her lips, her stare flitting between him and the spot where he’d answered the phone. “Yeah, I suppose I am.”
“I do what the boss wants me to do, Lily.”
“Anything?” she asked.
