by Bethany-Kris
“Yes.”
The second shiver that crawled up her spine came for an entirely different reason than the first. It was a hell of a lot colder, too.
Anything was vague enough for Lily’s imagination to run wild but pointed enough for her to understand without him directly saying it.
“So, you’re not like my brothers, right?” she asked.
“And I’m not like Tommas, either,” Damian said.
“Huh.”
“That bothers you, doesn’t it?”
“A little,” she admitted.
“There’s a reason why they call me Ghost, Lily.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, because they never see me coming and they don’t hear me leave.”
Lily thought about Dino and the vague reasons she had been given as to why Damian was his first pick for her. Maybe aligning her with one of the most dangerous men was Dino’s way of keeping her safe. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“Because you’re invisible,” Lily said.
“In the most important ways.”
“How?”
“The ways that keep me from getting caught,” Damian answered.
Damian turned all the way around and crossed his arms over his broad chest. He nodded at her and said, “You look good in my shirt.”
The statement was so random it took Lily off-guard. His voice had lowered an octave, turning it into that rich, dark tone. An instant heat bloomed in her sex and spread to her stomach.
“Do I?” Lily whispered.
“Yeah. It’s a shame you have to take it off only to put that damn dress back on.”
Good God.
“I don’t know how to do this,” she said softly.
Damian didn’t move a muscle. “Do what?”
“Be okay with this.”
“The marriage thing?”
“No,” Lily said, her gaze flicking away from him. “I’ve been told more than enough times to know I don’t get a choice in the matter.”
“Then what?”
“I don’t like what you do. I don’t like the things you’re a part of. I don’t like that you agreed to this at all, regardless of your reasons.”
“And?” Damian asked.
“And maybe I might like you.”
“Yeah,” Damian said, his laughter coming out like black molasses. Slow, thick, and covering every inch of her it could reach. “That’s a bitch, right?”
Who was this man?
“You’re late,” Dino said, his words coming out as a sharp whisper.
Damian shrugged. “I called.”
“At one in the goddamn morning,” Dino growled.
Lily pretended to ignore the way her brother looked her over like he was searching for some sign of her defilement. She hated to be the one to break it to him, but that defilement happened years ago when she was sixteen on a summer vacation to Germany.
“Church steps,” Lily said quietly, reminding her brother of where he was. “People are watching us.”
Dino scowled. “Why didn’t you call?”
Lily waved a hand in the air. “I forgot. Damian did instead. It was late, Dino. I was having fun.”
Her brother didn’t look like he believed her for a second.
“She was with me, so what is the damn problem?” Damian asked. “Didn’t you call Tommas?”
“Yes,” Dino said.
“And?”
“And I don’t want her at that club again, supervised or not.”
Lily faced her brother. “Why not?”
“Because Tommas does business in that place, Lily, and not the drinking kind.”
“Fine, I’ll take her elsewhere next time,” Damian said.
Dino’s glare turned on Damian. “Make sure it isn’t owned by the Outfit.”
“Will do.”
“Fine,” Dino muttered.
“Perfect.”
Lily sighed, annoyed with the entire day already. “Church, then?”
Damian’s hand found her lower back and Lily tried not to react to the touch. She seriously needed to get her head, heart, and body on the same page.
“Yes,” Damian said. “Church.”
“Okay, now that’s something else,” Evelina said.
“She looks like a well-priced hooker,” Abriella replied, roaring with laughter.
“I didn’t say it was nice. I said it was something else.”
Lily didn’t even bother to hide her own snickers as she took inventory of the slinky silk number in the mirror. It was held together by thin silk and two small straps and was weighted down with heavy jewels along the neckline. A slit at the side cut the ivory fabric all the way to the top of Lily’s thigh.
The wedding dress was sexy, to be sure, but it was not Catholic material.
“Oh, God,” Lily said, eyeing the piece. “Could you imagine Dino or Theo’s face?”
“Can we take a picture just to send for a joke?” Abriella asked.
Lily posed and let her friend snap a quick picture. Abriella typed a message before dropping her phone back into her bag.
“Next,” Abriella ordered.
“Not the style we’re going for,” Evelina said to the store manager. “Think classic, not classless.”
The lady nodded tightly before ushering off to find another dress.
Despite loathing the very idea of spending hours in a dress shop searching for that perfect dress to wear, Lily’s friends had convinced her to give it a try. It hadn’t turned out to be such a bad thing, really.
Lily brushed her hands down the silk. “I do like the feel.”
“You can do silk,” Evelina said. “Just not like that.”
“Or,” Abriella drawled with a leer, “You can do silk for the wedding night.”
Lily turned away from the girls, not wanting them to see the heat in her cheeks. She forgot about the goddamn mirrors she faced.
“Hey, what did we miss?” Evelina asked.
“Nothing,” Lily said maybe a little too quickly.
“Oh, I’ll tell you what we missed,” Abriella replied, her reflection showing her knowing grin. “Sunday morning, Tommy got a phone call.”
Lily spun on her heel. “Mind your business, Ella.”
“You were with Tommas on Sunday morning?” Evelina asked.
“Early before I skipped back to mine and Alessa’s apartment. I had to arrive at church alone, you know.”
Of course, Lily thought.
Abriella was playing with fire and when that happened, somebody always ended up with burns.
“Anyway,” Abriella said.
“Ella, please,” Lily pleaded. “Just leave it alone. It was nothing.”
“All right.” Abriella tossed her hands up in defeat. “The bride is always right. We mustn’t anger the DeLuca princess.”
Lily’s gaze narrowed. “You’re one to talk, Trentini Queen.”
Abriella snorted. “Cute.”
Evelina didn’t look as though she was about to let it go like Abriella had. “What aren’t you telling me, Lily?”
“It was nothing,” Lily assured. “I was drunk, Damian came to the club and didn’t want to take me home to Dino like that—”
“So she ended up at his place,” Abriella finished with a wide grin. “The entire night and then D got Tommy to lie for him when Dino called as a backup about the club.”
Lily huffed. “You tell it like there’s a lot more under the surface, Ella.”
Abriella shrugged. “Don’t blame me for having an imagination, babe.”
“Well, there’s nothing to imagine.”
Evelina raised a single brow. “Nothing?”
“Is that so hard to believe?” Lily asked.
“No,” Evelina replied. “But you look like there’s something on your mind. Talk to me.”
“Us,” Abriella corrected.
Evelina hushed her friend. “Come on, Lily. What is up?”
Lily gestured at the wedding dress. “I don’t want to
do this.”
“That’s not news.”
“But he is not what I expected,” Lily added.
Evelina’s expression turned stony. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“I like Damian,” Abriella said quietly. “He’s … I don’t know, genuine. That’s hard to find in the people around us. With him, you get what you see. He’s not out to purposely hide things.”
“You know what really sucks about the entire thing?” Lily asked no one in particular.
Evelina smiled but it didn’t ring true. “What?”
“I’ve only spent two meetings with the guy, one of which informed me he was my new fiancé, the second was when I acted like a fool and spent the night in his bed.”
“So?” Abriella pressed.
“Two meetings,” Lily repeated. “And I kind of like him. I don’t know how to deal with that.”
“I think that’s a good thing,” Evelina said.
“Maybe it would be. If I wasn’t so confused and screwed up about my opinions and thoughts, it very well could be. It’s like a fucking hurricane in here,” Lily said, pointing at her temple. “I’m attracted to him because he’s entirely different from what I thought he would be, at least he seems so. I’m bothered by the things he’s involved in. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if I just … let it all go.”
“But?” Evelina asked.
“Feels too easy,” Lily said.
“You’re making it too hard,” Abriella replied with a smile. “Lily, not every arranged marriage works out in a way where the woman gets what she wants.”
“I’m not getting what I want, though,” Lily tried to explain.
“All right, let’s look at it a different way,” Abriella said.
“How?”
“What if you had spent those two meetings with Damian under similar circumstances but with the engagement non-existent? What then? Would you still be attracted to him?”
“Probably,” Lily admitted.
“Would you still be bothered by the fact he’s involved with the Outfit?” Abriella asked.
“You know I would.”
“Would you see him again?”
Lily didn’t know how to answer that or her stupid pride wouldn’t let her.
Abriella wasn’t looking for a response, apparently. “Yeah, I thought so.”
“Give it a chance,” Evelina said with a tiny grin beginning to form. “What will it hurt, Lily?”
Her heart.
Her beliefs.
Lily blurted out the first thing to come to her mind. “He said he wanted me to come to him willingly.”
“What do you mean?” Evelina asked.
“His bed.”
“Well, then …”
“Yeah,” Lily said with a sigh. “I didn’t expect that either. You know what that means, right?”
Abriella nodded. “Means he wants you, too.”
She was so fucked.
Lily’s gaze caught the store manager bringing back a beautiful slightly off-white, A-line dress with intricate beadwork along the sweetheart neckline. The gown, covered by delicate lace and trimmed with personal touches, instantly reminded Lily of the silver screen.
God, it was beautiful.
And she hadn’t even tried it on.
“That’s perfect,” Lily said softly.
Evelina and Abriella admired the wedding dress as the lady hung it on the opened door of the stall.
“It’s definitely classic,” Evelina said. “And you. It feels like you.”
Abriella glanced down at her vibrating phone. “Oh, got a response on the silk number.”
Lily laughed, happy for the joking reprieve from the seriousness. “Yeah?”
“Yep, from Damian.”
Lily’s heart found her throat. “You sent it to Damian?”
“I sent it to Theo and Dino, too.”
“Abriella!”
The girl just shrugged.
A troublemaker; that’s what she was.
Lily couldn’t help herself but ask, “God, what did he say?”
“That particular number is a definite no for the dress. Too showy for the church.”
“But?” Lily asked.
She could hear the but in there somewhere.
Abriella smirked a wicked sight. “He’s good with taking silk off you in the evening.”
Jesus.
Evelina laughed, hiding it poorly with her hand. “Sounds just like a man.”
Abriella glanced down when her phone buzzed again. “But he prefers black lace.”
“You’re awful,” Lily told Abriella.
“You’ll thank me eventually.”
Lily bit the inside of her cheek, considering the choice in lingerie. It wasn’t something she’d given much thought to before. “Black lace?”
“That’s what he said.”
“Huh.”
Evelina grinned. “I know a shop just down the street, Lily. They’ve got some great stuff that would look perfect under that dress.”
Lily made a face. “Don’t encourage me, Eve.”
Her friend didn’t even blink. “You know I’m going to.”
Yeah, she did.
“Lily, you have a guest.”
Lily peeked over the top of the book in her hands as Dino’s form darkened the sitting room. The window bench seat had become Lily’s personal resting spot since she arrived home. The sunlight kept it warm and comforting. She also had a great view of the large backyard property. It gave her private, quiet time to think and read, or just do whatever.
Dino rarely interrupted Lily when she climbed into her spot.
“A guest?” Lily asked.
“Last minute thing, I guess. He’s waiting in the foyer.”
“He?”
“Damian,” Dino explained. “You’ll need to change into something more appropriate. A dress, preferably. It’s for a dinner with the Trentini and Rossi families at one of Laurent’s higher end places. Damian is wearing black on black.”
Lily blinked. “Something more appropriate?”
“When did you turn into a parrot, Lily?”
She tossed Dino a dirty look before shoving her novel under the pillow on the window bench. Upstairs, Lily made quick work of finding a dress that would work for the dinner, silver heels to match and give a pop of color, and then she quickly dabbed a bit of rose tint on her cheeks and lips. Mascara helped to fan her eyelashes and black kohl darkened her gaze.
Lily made her way down to the foyer with a silver clutch in hand to meet Damian. Dino hadn’t lied. Damian wore a fitted black suit topped off with a black vest, tie, and shirt underneath. Even his damn leather shoes were a shined black. He looked really good with his hands clasped together and his head tilted down.
Damian was the total vision of dark, mysterious, and sexy standing there in his suit looking like he was. Her waiting fiancé smiled as he appraised her outfit.
“Perfect,” Damian said quietly. “You look beautiful.”
Lily wasn’t sure how to take his compliment. It seemed honest enough, but Lily didn’t know if she wanted to play his games or not, yet. “Thank you. You look fit to be in the Secret Service.”
Damian smirked. “I like black.”
“I can tell. You could have given me a heads-up that you were coming today,” Lily said.
“It was a last minute thing.”
“So Dino said.”
“You can’t refuse an invitation with the boss, Lily, even if you have a million other things to do. He is the most important thing.”
Lily shrugged. “In his mind.”
Damian laughed under his breath, the sound coming out sexy and deep. “Well, we just don’t tell him that. Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be. What is the plan, anyway? Dino said something about a dinner at one of your uncle’s restaurants.”
“We have a show to go to first,” Damian said. “It’ll help pass the time before the dinner later. I figured we might as well
take the chance to go out and actually do something together.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. How do you feel about ballet?”
Lily met his heated blue gaze and searched it for any kind of ulterior motive. Could he possibly know somehow that ballet was one of Lily’s favorite things? Damian didn’t give off a single hint that he was playing at anything again.
“I like ballet a lot,” Lily finally settled on saying.
“Have you seen Giselle preformed?” Damian asked.
“Once when I was a girl.”
“And not since?”
“Nope,” Lily replied with a smile. “But I remember enjoying it the first time.”
Damian flashed a sensual grin. “Let me be the one to reintroduce you, then.”
“Did you know the role of Giselle is considered one of the most sought after roles in a ballet dancer’s career?” Lily asked, never removing her gaze from the stage.
Damian lowly hummed his no. “I didn’t, actually. Why?”
“It’s a classic. One of the most favorite and memorable ballets. It shows true emotion and is an honestly beautiful dance. Even the music is amazing.” Lily caught the sight of Damian’s smile out of the corner of her eye. “What?”
“Nothing. I’m just glad you’re enjoying yourself, Lily.”
“Where did you get the tickets, anyway?”
“Theo, actually. His date for the day flaked on him.”
Lily’s brow rose high. “My brother had a date today?”
Damian laughed. “Hey, don’t come looking for answers from me. He didn’t say who, just that they couldn’t come. Theo’s always been private about that sort of thing, and I’m not the kind of guy who asks questions.”
Lily couldn’t help her curiosity. “I wonder who she is.”
“Someone, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Lily mocked, teasing.
“Like I said, I don’t know who his date was, just that it didn’t work out. Nonetheless, when I called to ask if he got a dinner invite to Laurent’s place—he didn’t, by the way—he asked if I’d be interested in taking you to a ballet. He didn’t want the private balcony tickets to go to waste and apparently you’ve got a taste for these things.”
So that was how he knew.
“I do,” Lily admitted. “I was able to see a couple in Europe, too. They were amazing.”
“I bet.”