Page 16 of Deathless & Divided

Lily snapped out of whatever daze she was in. “Hello.”

“It’s Damian,” he murmured.

“I know who you are.”

Damian lifted a single, dark brow high. “Oh?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t seem pleased,” he said quietly.

“That I’m forced to marry a man I don’t know and don’t want to know?” Lily asked bitterly. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, Damian.”

Damian’s smirk grew into a grin. “You know me.”

“I—”

“You do,” he interrupted before she could argue the point further. “Just not that well.”

Lily blew out her frustration in a breath of air, gritting her teeth. Resolve steeled her spine straighter and she reminded herself of what her brother asked her to do. Turning, Lily faced a stone-faced, unbothered Dino.

“I will make nice and play good at this dinner,” she said.

“Thank you,” Dino replied.

“But I’m not marrying that man.”

Dino’s expression didn’t waver. “It’s not your choice.”

“I am not marrying him, Dino!”

“Yes, you are,” Damian said.

The words rolled over Lily’s skin like liquid gold. She could feel the heat of his breath on the back of her neck.

This would be a great deal easier if she didn’t find him attractive.

And why the hell was he agreeing to this, anyway?

“In two months, whether you agree or not, you will be my wife, Lily DeLuca.”

Lily couldn’t help it; she shivered.

CHAPTER THREE

Damian sipped on a glass of cognac, letting the flavors of vanilla, spices, and flowers wash over his palate as he stayed immobile in the corner. He liked the shadows. It was the best place to watch people, after all.

While the guests mingled, drunkenly laughed, and went about their merry day, Damian observed. Mostly Lily, though. She was not a happy girl. And not just because of the forced engagement, he suspected.

“Almost didn’t notice you over here,” Tommas said as he slipped in beside a quiet Damian.

That was the point.

Damian gave his cousin a silent nod of acknowledgment but kept his eyes on the blonde ten feet away chatting with Evelina Conti and the Trentini sisters.

“You’re really going to do this, huh?” Tommas asked, following his cousin’s stare.

“Yep,” Damian answered.