Page 99 of Deathless & Divided

Damian’s demeanor changed in a blink. He winked and ticked two fingers under Lily’s chin, grinning. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. There isn’t anything you can do. You’ve got enough going on as it is.”

Like the wedding.

Lily frowned. “Eve is my maid of honor, Damian.”

“I know.”

“She’s not picking up my calls. I tried several times earlier.”

Damian’s fingers ghosted over her cheekbone with a gentle touch. “I’m sorry.”

Was he?

“What are we supposed to do about that?” Lily asked.

“I doubt her father is going to let her be involved with you right now, given everything that’s happened. You don’t know them all that well, but if my cousins are back in town, I’m sure they’d stand in as an extra couple of bridesmaids while Abriella took on Eve’s role.”

“Cara and Lea?”

Damian chucked. “The twins won’t say no to a good party. They’re two years younger than me and closer to your age.”

Lily didn’t want to seem ungrateful or unhappy, but she wanted Evelina as her maid of honor. Evelina was her best friend. Lily’s wedding day was right around the corner. Most everything had been set, scheduled and done for the day but for a few last minute things. Dropping Evelina out of the wedding party wasn’t a problem on the technical side of things. But it was a huge problem for Lily’s emotional state.

“I’m not the Outfit, Damian. I didn’t do this to Eve. What is so wrong with me?”

“Right now?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You have the wrong last name.”

“That’s not fair,” Lily said.

“It doesn’t have to be.”

The Rossi twins were a hurricane of chatter, red hair, and laughter. Lily liked Cara and Lea almost instantly, as Damian promised she would. The two girls were so identical, it was difficult to tell them apart sometimes. If they dressed alike, Lily was positive she wouldn’t be able to at all. Lily came to learn the two women spent time with family in Canada while they finished up college in Toronto.

Despite Terrance and Laurent having their issues over the shooting the week before, the Outfit boss opened his house for the twins’ homecoming.

“This wedding is a big deal,” Lea said. “We couldn’t miss it.”

“Huge,” Cara agreed.

Lea nodded. “I thought Tommas would have settled down by now.”

“Definitely not Damian, anyway.”

“Why is that?” Lily dared to ask.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Cara shrugged. “Damian is a loner. He likes his space. Getting married means he plans on sharing that with someone else. It just doesn’t seem like him.”

“Hey, enough of that,” Damian muttered from behind Lily.

“Just telling the truth,” Lea said, grinning.

“And she asked,” Cara said.