Page 38 of Deathless & Divided

“I don’t care to hear much of what she has to say or what she thinks at the moment,” Damian admitted. “That girl likes to find trouble wherever she can. One of these days it’s going to catch up to her but you’re not going to be one of the ones suffering from the backlash, Lily.”

“Aw, are you pissed off because she took Eve and me out?”

Her sweetness act didn’t convince Damian for a second.

“Yes.”

Lily sighed. “I’m not. This was nice. I needed it.”

“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.”