by Bethany-Kris
“Giving you company,” Tommas finally answered.
Damian passed Tommas a look. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
“Yeah, well, fucking deal with it. I’m not giving you anything else.”
Tommas didn’t have to. Damian already knew. Abriella Trentini was on a shorter leash than ever before. With the families fighting like they were, it was probably damn near impossible for Tommas to get any time around the girl.
“You’re sulking about Abriella again, aren’t you?” Damian asked.
Tommas scowled. “I thought you didn’t want to know.”
“I don’t, but I figure it would be rude if I didn’t ask.”
“That, and you like to know everything.”
“Partly,” Damian agreed.
“I just … it fucking sucks,” Tommas decided on saying.
Damian could understand that. He wouldn’t like it very much if the thing he loved was kept from him, either. Even if Tommas’ and Abriella’s situation was a precarious one simply because of their ages and other minor details. Like her grandfather.
“My place feels empty,” Tommas added.
“If you grow a uterus and your dick turns inside out, don’t call me to whine about it,” Damian said, chuckling.
Tommas opened his mouth to speak, but shut it just as fast. “Asshole.”
“I try.”
“I should get going,” Tommas said, sighing. “Try to sleep.”
Well, Abriella would be at the wedding tomorrow standing with Lily. As long as Tommas kept things clean, he could probably get away with at least talking to his lover.
“Are you good?” Tommas asked Damian.
Damian nodded toward the apartment door. “I’m fine, Tommas. Really.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
Damian had never been surer of anything in his life like he was of Lily. He adored that woman—loved her entirely.
“Yeah, get out of here,” Damian said.
Tommas smiled and pushed up from the chair. “I’ll be here to pick you up bright and early. Confession before pleasure, as the saying goes.”
Damian scoffed. “I never confess anything.”
He had nothing worth confessing. Nothing he wanted forgiveness for, anyway.
“Whatever. It’s tradition for the Rossi family. Suck it up. Knowing you, you’re going to need a couple of extra hours for penance.”
“Hey—” Damian stopped himself before adding, “Probably. Get the hell out of here already.”
Tommas’ hands flew up. “Going, going.”
The moment his apartment door closed, Damian picked up his cell phone and dialed a familiar number. Lily’s cheerful voice picked up on the second ring. Damian cringed at the noise level in the background.
Approved club, he reminded himself. There were also a group of body guards Terrance had appointed for the girls for Lily’s last hurrah. That did not help the swell of jealousy building inside Damian’s chest.
“Hello?” Lily asked.
“Sweetheart.”
Damian could practically feel her smile as Lily said, “You’re not supposed to call me tonight.”
“I think what you’re looking for is that I’m not supposed to see you,” Damian replied.
“Same thing.” The slight giddy tone she sported told Damian his girl had been drinking those ugly green things again. “Oh, he’s cute, Ella.”
Damian felt the growl-like sound claw outward from his throat. “Lily.”
“Hmm?”
“How many drinks have you had?”
Lily laughed. “Definitely not seven.”
“You’re awful.”
“You love it,” she shot back.
Damian smirked. “I do.”
“Good,” Lily hummed.
The final couple of weeks leading up to their wedding had been hard. Not just because of the mess going on around them but because Damian knew how he hurt Lily by keeping what he had from her. They didn’t talk about it a lot but he figured they didn’t have to for her pain to be clear to him.
She didn’t understand. She didn’t act like she did.
But Lily loved him.
That was what mattered most to Damian.
“Why are you calling?” Lily asked.
“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t making a run for it.”
“Liar.” Damian flinched. Lily caught what she said quickly enough and muttered, “Kidding. You’re still going to be waiting at the other end for me?”
“Always.”
“Then I’ll meet you there.”
“All right. Love you,” Damian said.
“Love you,” Lily whispered.
Damian ended the call and dropped his phone on the couch cushion. For another twenty minutes, he stared at the screen of his laptop again, letting the opened window for the conference call option taunt him further.
He didn’t need to ask for permission to do the final job Dino asked for. Well, the job wasn’t only for Dino. Killing Terrance Trentini would work to Damian’s favor in a lot of ways. It would take him out of the spotlight as the potential for a future boss and nobody would ever believe that Damian could kill Terrance. Not being as close as they seemed to be.
They weren’t really close at all.
Nonetheless, killing a boss could come with consequences. Not just from inside the Outfit, but from families in other states aligned with them. Syndicates had protocols and rules for that sort of thing. They expected some kind of say at the end of it all.
Before he could overthink it further, Damian reached forward and hit the call button on a contact he’d purposely changed the name of in case anyone ever got a look at his list. The trip he’d taken to New York for the Commission and meeting of the bosses had been beneficial in more ways than one.
Just because Terrance didn’t like certain families didn’t mean Damian couldn’t have connections with them. Keeping friends close but enemies closer had a whole different meaning in the mafia.
Damian checked the clock on the bottom, right-hand corner of the screen and noted the late time. He probably shouldn’t be calling a New York Don without first going through some form of connections between other men in the family, but Damian didn’t have that option at his disposal. Not considering everything.
Just when Damian was about to hang up the call, Dante Marcello picked up on his end. Dante ruled over the dominating family in New York as their leader. Being the Marcello Don also meant Dante had a great deal of control and influence with the other major families of the Commission. He was also what many men considered to be the Boss of bosses. Damian didn’t want problems from other families arising because of Terrance’s death. Having Dante on his side, one of the most ruthless crime bosses in North America, would certainly help Damian’s cause.
“Ciao,” Dante greeted as the screen flickered with the Marcello Don’s picture. “Marcello speaking. If you talk any louder than a mouse, the next time I see you will not end pleasantly.”
Damian laughed under his breath. “Oh?”
The live shot of an office Damian didn’t recognize filled the background as Dante sat down in a large, leather chair. Even more surprising was the toddler boy Dante held, snuggled into his chest. The young boy’s face was hidden into Dante’s neck. In footie pajamas and with just a peek of a thumb sticking out, Damian guessed the boy was sucking on the digit.
Damian grinned at the sight of Dante holding the child like the two were in the midst of snuggling. It was such a contradictory sight compared to the man Damian knew Dante to be. While Damian had been aware Dante had a young, adopted son, he didn’t realize the man was such a hands-on Dad.
Apparently even cold men could be daddies.
“Damian Rossi,” Dante said, grinning. “This is a surprise.”
“Sorry for the late call,” Damian said, keeping his voice down for the child’s sake.
Dante shrugged. “If it were any other night, you wouldn’t ha
ve caught me. Michel is having problems with his molars coming in. He keeps us up a great deal of the time. What can I do for you?”
Damian had struck an unlikely friendship with Dante during that meeting of the bosses. Dante was sharp, quick, and brutal when he wanted something. Damian appreciated that. They’d exchanged contact numbers just in case something came up in the future. Damian supposed something had, now.
“It’s an interesting situation,” Damian said vaguely.
Dante chuckled. “They always are. No beating around the bush, what do you want?”
“Hits on high members should always go through the Commission, shouldn’t they?”
“They should,” Dante said slowly, raising a brow high. “Usually it’s passed through the grapevine and not a direct call with an actual face behind the hit, Damian.”
“I’m not the usual, I guess.”
“I guess not.” Dante sighed, patting the bottom of his son as he asked, “Who’s it for?”
“Terrance.”
Dante’s expression didn’t change on the screen at all. “Why?”
Damian shrugged. “Nothing is ever simple and getting into it all would be pointless on your end.”
“It would,” Dante agreed. “I’m curious though, so indulge me.”
“I don’t want to be you,” Damian said.
Dante smiled. “That was not the answer I expected to hear.”
“There’s more but that’s the most important part.”
“I heard whispers about trouble in Chicago, but I wasn’t sure,” Dante said. “They say it’s bad enough for a war.”
“Something like that.” Damian raked a hand through his hair and asked, “I know the request is supposed to go through all the bosses, but I figured one was enough as long as it was the right one.”
“Why am I the right one, Damian?”
“Capo di tutti capi,” Damian murmured.
The Boss of bosses.
“I’ve never claimed that title,” Dante said quietly.
“You don’t have to.”
Not for it to be true.
Dante sucked in a deep breath like he was considering it all. “Regardless of what I say, the hit will go through, won’t it?”
“Probably,” Damian said honestly. “But I know you’ve got a few chips in the pool down here and a new boss might do you some good, too.”
“Who would take it?” Dante asked.
“Hard to say.”
“A new boss would do well. Lucian would love to finally get that apology he’s owed.”
Damian shook his head. “Is that all?”
“Believe me, in Cosa Nostra, an apology means more than anyone could possibly understand. It isn’t too late for the Outfit and the Marcellos to reconcile their issues if the right boss were to take the seat. A boss with the right motives and morals.”
“Who’s the right boss for you?” Damian asked, throwing the man’s question right back at him.
“That’s not for me to decide, just make sure he’s married when he comes to his first meeting. Make the hit, Damian. What else do you need from me?”
“Keep my name out of it. On all sides.”
“Will do,” Dante said. “You should have put the feelers out to the other bosses just to be safe.”
Damian wasn’t worried. “You can say I did.”
Dante laughed. “Yeah, that works, too. One more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“I heard you’re getting married.”
Damian cleared his throat, unsurprised. “Tomorrow, actually. Didn’t you get an invitation?”
“We did, but declined. I appreciated the thought but you know how it goes.”
“No apology, no Marcellos.”
“Exactly. Is your marriage for love?” Dante asked.
“Was yours?”
“No, but my wife has a way about her. Are you marrying for love?”
“It wasn’t for love,” Damian said.
“But?”
“My girl has a way about her.”
Dante laughed darkly. “The good women always do. Congratulations.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Eyes wide, let me see them,” the makeup artist ordered.
Lily did as she was told, letting the woman fan her lashes further. She wasn’t sure how much longer her eyelashes could possibly be.
“Pinky again,” another woman said.
Lily tilted her hand to put her pinky out. The nail artist manicuring Lily’s fingernails started her work over as a top coat of clear polish smoothed over each nail. Another woman worked on her hair, setting each of the wavy strands into perfectly managed curls that would be set up into a messy chignon.
Oddly, Lily didn’t mind all the people working around her or the attention. It wasn’t often she preferred the spotlight, but since it was her wedding day, she didn’t have much of a choice. She figured she might as well enjoy the pampering and time.
Her wedding morning started out early. Maybe a little too early considering her bachelorette party hadn’t ended until nearly two in the morning. Theo woke Lily up with breakfast and a phone call from Damian, which was nice. Theo took Lily to the spa and as far as she knew, was still waiting out in the lobby for her and Abriella to finish.
Dino, on the other hand, hadn’t shown himself that morning.
Lily wasn’t too worried about it.
“That smells amazing,” Abriella said as some coconut oil was rubbed into her hands.
“It does,” Lily agreed.
Abriella smiled, tilting her head to the side so she could look Lily over. “Are you nervous?”
Not at all.
“No,” Lily answered honestly.
“Excited?”
“Very.”
For a day that was usually high-stress and full of nonsense for other brides, Lily’s wedding day was turning out to be a quiet affair with little issues. No one bothered her for useless things or demands. Even Theo, who didn’t know how to be a quiet man, had given Lily space and silence that morning.
She was so relaxed, it was crazy.
Lily loved it.
Every day should be like this.
Abriella grinned wide. “I’m happy for you. Damian is a good guy.”
Lily nodded. “He is.”
It just took a lot for Lily to correlate the good man she knew resided inside Damian and the parts of him that did bad things.
“A few more hours,” Abriella said.
Only a few?
Lily checked the clock on the wall. Abriella was right.
“What is next?” Lily asked.
Abriella shrugged. “The church. Confession to start out new. What else?”
Great.
Lily sat in the private room, counting on the beads on her rosary. The black globes felt smooth under her fingertips as she recited the words of prayers she couldn’t ever forget. Over and over. One more time …
Penance was never really over.
Touching the rosary gave her a sense of comfort she hadn’t expected. The rosary had been a gift from someone—Lily didn’t know who—and delivered to her when she arrived at the church from Theo. He’d said nothing when he handed over the sleek, blue velvet box. Only that someone had wanted her to have them. She started her last confession before becoming a married woman with peace settling in her heart.
Something else she hadn’t expected to feel on her wedding day.
Clicking each bead on the rosary as she went through the final words, asking to be forgiven and cleansed for her past transgressions, a knock on the private room’s door broke her concentration. Lily assumed it was just the priest coming to see if she had finished.
“Come in,” Lily called, setting the rosary aside.
The door opened a crack and Theo poked his head in. Her brother flashed her with a smile that was known to dazzle women and set men off-guard. Theo had a way about him. Out of Lily’s two brothers, Theo was the more charming, likeable of the two whereas Dino had a r
oughness around his edges that kept people at bay.
Lily figured nobody really knew Theo well enough to know his demeanor was nothing more than a trick to draw people in. He could be just as ruthless as Dino, but he had a cleaner way about doing it.
“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Theo asked.
Lily waved at the seat across from her. In their church, confession wasn’t done in a booth, but instead a private room decorated with beautiful tapestry and rugs. Two chairs, sitting directly across from the other so the priest and the parishioner could look at one another, served as the confessional. The room was then used as a private area for penance if that’s what someone wanted.
“No, I’m done. Or as close as I’m ever going to get for today.”
Theo laughed. “Tomorrow, new sins arise.”
Lily grinned. “Always. Come in.”
Theo stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. Lily waited as her brother moved the seat across from her so that it was positioned beside hers instead. Sitting in the ornate wood chair meant for a priest, Theo kicked his legs out and crossed his shined leather shoes at the ankles. Her brother looked sharp in his black suit with a blue tie and vest to match the color scheme of the day.
Glancing at her from the side, Theo reminded Lily of when she was young and so was he. “How’re you really doing?”
Lily shrugged. “I’m doing okay.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Theo. I’m good.”
Theo sucked in a deep breath and chewed on his inner cheek. “I wondered. I mean, you keep saying that to everyone but with you, it’s hard to tell. You always were good at hiding shit when you needed to.”
Lily scoffed playfully. “Church, Theo. Watch your dam—watch your mouth.”
Theo barked out a laugh, pointing at her. “You almost said damn.”
“Shut up.”
Throwing his hands high, Theo conceded. “Fine. I did wonder. I know you didn’t choose this, Lily, and it’s probably the last thing you want to do.”
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
“Actually, I did choose it. In my own way and in my own time,” Lily said, reaching out to pat her brother’s arm gently.
“Good. I was thinking maybe I would have to steal you out of here and run you down to the Mexican border or something.”
