Page 155 of Deathless & Divided

“Miss, your brother was heavily involved with the Chicago Mob and—”

“Firstly, it’s Mrs.,” Lily snapped. “Secondly, I don’t care what my brother was involved in. I buried him. He is dead. I have nothing else to say on the matter.”

“Any information you may have could be incredibly invaluable to not only our investigation, but other ones, too.”

Lily scoffed, disbelief filling her to the brim. “Turn rat, you mean.”

“Lily,” Damian said quietly.

“No, that’s what he’s saying. Or rather, what he won’t because he’s a coward.”

The detective shrugged. “I’m just suggesting that you could be a great help.”

Fuck this.

“Get out,” Lily said, pointing at the kitchen entryway.

“Doesn’t it bother you at all that someone killed your brother?” the man asked.

Lily felt a stab of pain pierce through her heart. “You have no idea how I feel. You don’t have the first clue what it feels like to—”

“You’re protecting the very same people who killed him.”

“All right, that’s enough,” Damian said, anger heating his tone.

Lily didn’t need Damian to come to her defense. “Get out!”

Storming past the detective, Lily made her way to the front of the house. She opened up the front door wide, pointing at the outside. She waited, her agitation rising, as the man took his time putting on his shoes and suit jacket.

Standing on the front steps, the detective turned back to Lily. “If you change your mind—”

Lily slammed the door in his face.

Damian stayed leaning against the wall, his features downcast as he regarded her with a stare that made her sadness swell. Because he knew—her heart was breaking and she couldn’t breathe. A meltdown was just around the corner if she couldn’t reel it back in and fast.

“Oh, my God,” Lily whispered, pressing her palm to her chest.

“Lily, it’s going to be okay.”

She nodded, but nothing felt true.

“Lily, breathe,” Damian murmured.

How could she?

Before she blinked, Damian was standing in front of her. He cupped her cheeks in his palms and tilted her head up so she could see the worry and love swimming in his gaze. Over and over, he kissed her lips with soft pecks until her tears had stopped falling and her lungs worked again.

“It’s just beginning, isn’t it?” Lily asked.

The fighting between the families had only grown worse since Damian and Lily’s wedding. Terrance Trentini’s murder seemed to tip the Trentini family over the edge. Lily remembered when Damian got that phone call on their honeymoon perfectly. She was sure he was the cause of the Outfit boss’s death.

Lily chose not to ask. She knew he would tell her the truth if she did and Lily wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear it.

Nonetheless, things were bad between the four families and getting much worse.

“It’s going to be okay,” Damian said again.

“Who did that to Dino?” Lily asked.