Page 97 of Deathless & Divided

“At least no one was inside,” Lily said.

Dino frowned. “No one had to be for the meaning to be clear, little one.”

“Oh. What time did you go to bed last night?” she asked.

“Right after Damian dropped you off.”

Dino’s master bedroom was directly across the hall from Lily’s. She had heard him tinkering around in his room for quite a while before she fell asleep. Her brother liked to work out before he showered and went to bed.

“What side are you on, Dino?” Lily asked.

Theo coughed, failing miserably to hide his surprise.

Dino didn’t do a damn thing. “That’s an interesting question.”

“I think it’s pretty simple,” she replied. “Which side?”

“Mine, of course.”

Well, which side was that?

“Oh, Laurent denies it all,” Ben said, frustration writing lines across his brow.

Lily continued prepping the salad while her pasta casserole finished baking in the oven. She tried to appear like she wasn’t listening to the conversation between her brothers, her uncle, and Damian, but it was impossible.

They knew she was in the goddamn room. They could move to Dino’s office if they wanted more privacy.

“Hard to deny it when it was caught on camera,” Theo said.

“Yeah,” Ben muttered, laughing bitterly. “That’s what the boss said, too.”

Damian leaned across the countertop and rapped his fingers down to the marble, catching Lily’s attention.

“Smile,” he mouthed.

Lily couldn’t help it. She smiled for him like he asked.

Damian winked before turning back to the conversation at hand. “Maybe he was trying to make a point about something.”

“Like what, Rossi?” Ben asked. “He’s your fucking uncle. What does the guy want to prove?”

“Just saying, DeLuca. Besides, whether or not he’s my uncle doesn’t make a difference to his mind, all right? He’s drunk half of the damned time. You know it as well as I do. Alcoholism has a way of screwing someone up and Laurent’s been half cut for more years than I care to remember.”

Ben’s gaze narrowed. “Watch it, Rossi. Elders are still elders.”

Damian lifted a single shoulder like it didn’t make a difference to him either way. “Maybe he thought this would be a way to deflect all the attention on him.”

“Good point,” Dino said, waving at Damian. “Terrance wasn’t pleased with Serena and Laurent did nothing to put his wife in her place after that mess about Lily.”

“Serena didn’t say anything that wasn’t true,” Ben replied.

Damian stiffened. “That’s a bit of a stretch, Ben.”

Ben DeLuca waved a hand uncaringly. “Not by much.”

Lily wasn’t surprised that her uncle didn’t come to her defense. Ben didn’t give a crap. He never had.

“Doesn’t matter,” Theo said firmly. “Serena has no business running her mouth about Lily or Damian. The arrangement wasn’t made between Laurent and Dino. It was made between Dino and Damian. She’s got no say and she knows better.”