Page 56 of Deathless & Divided

Damian’s stance softened. She was genuinely worried about him and he wished she wouldn’t be. It wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Without another word to the people at the table, Damian guided Lily past the servers rushing into the room. Clearly their little scene hadn’t gone unnoticed by the regular patrons if the way they were stared at was any indication.

The first bathroom they came to happened to be for women. Lily didn’t seem to care as she pushed open the door and tugged Damian inside with her. A woman stood at the row of sinks washing her hands.

The woman squeaked and her cheeks reddened at the sight of a man inside the bathroom. It might have had something to do with the fact Damian was bleeding, had shards of glass on his shoulder, and his suit was wet with red wine.

Fuck. He smelled like a goddamn winery.

“Get out,” Lily ordered.

“This is a—”

Lily’s heel stomped to the tiled floor. “I said get out. Now.”

The woman rushed out of the bathroom, making sure to keep a wide berth between her, Damian, and Lily as she went. He didn’t fucking mind.

Lily crossed the bathroom to where clean, white facecloths were rolled into tiny folds and placed just so by the sinks. She waved a stoic Damian over and dabbed at his cheek with the dried, soft cloth to wipe off some of the blood dripping down his chin and neck. Once she wetted the cloth, Lily took her time dabbing at his wound, picking out pieces of glass from the slice, and brushing off the other bits on his shoulder.

“This suit is ruined,” Lily muttered.

Damian shrugged, trying to ignore the way her warm hands felt roaming over his skin. “Oh, well.”

“There’s blood all over the collar and on your shoulder. It’s not coming out.”

“It’s just a suit, little one.”

Lily’s eyes flicked away from his. “I’m not so little anymore, you know.”

Damian grinned, unable to stop it. “I’m very aware.”

“Did you call me that, too?”

“Once or twice. It fit, way back when. That age gap between you and your brothers sure made you quite a bit smaller than them in the grand scheme of things.”

Lily smiled. It came off honest and true. Damian could count on one hand the amount of times this woman smiled in his presence and really meant it. He liked it; he wanted to see more of it.

“I was the oopsie baby.”

Damian’s brow furrowed. “The what?”

“The oopsie baby,” Lily repeated, stilling dabbing at his cheek with tender swipes. “I remember Mom telling me once that after Theo, she didn’t want another baby because she was scared she’d end up with three boys raising hell.”

“And then you came along.”

“Just like a little oopsie.”

“Not a mistake, though,” Damian said with a cocked brow.

Lily laughed. “No, she never said that. She got her girl, right?”

“Well, she got you.”

“And I make up for everything,” Lily said with a roll of her pretty brown eyes. “What a shame, I liked this suit.”

Damian couldn’t help but notice the slight tremor in Lily’s hand as she tossed the bloody cloth to the sink. “Did you?”

“Yes.”

“Lily—”