by Bethany-Kris
“Nobody worthy, as far as I’m concerned.”
“There are men waiting to come out of the woodwork. It’s too bad you’ve been too focused on me to see them.” Damian chuckled. “I’m sure it’ll be an interesting fight to the finish.”
Terrance frowned. “You truly believe that, don’t you?”
“That you were grooming me for your spot? Yes.”
“I never did that,” Terrance said. “It was never my intention to, either.”
“Lying will get you nowhere.”
Neither would telling the truth, but Damian didn’t think he had to mention that. The gun in his hand with a long silencer attached spoke more than he ever could about how their encounter would end.
Terrance slipped off his suit jacket and tossed it over the arm of a leather couch. He said nothing as he kicked off his shoes as well. Damian let the man have his final moments in peace.
“How much has Dino had his hands in?” Terrance asked, taking a seat on the couch. He undid the buttons on the sleeves of his dress shirt and rolled each up his arms. “With this whole mess, I mean. How much of it was him?”
“Practically all,” Damian said honestly.
“But?”
“I helped here and there.”
Terrance smiled. “Ah, the DeLuca girl.”
Damian smirked. “Rossi, now.”
“Yes, well, she’ll always be a DeLuca at heart. A ring doesn’t change a person’s blood, my boy.”
Damian tried not to react to Terrance’s innocent phrasing, but he barely managed to hold his growl back. Things like that had become all too common over the years. Before, it felt like Terrance’s way of caring. Now, he saw it as nothing more than Terrance making Damian think he gave a damn.
Maybe he did.
It didn’t matter.
“I did think you two were a good match,” Terrance said. “I still do. Why kill Ben?”
“You really have to ask that?”
“I think so.”
Damian lifted one shoulder, bored with the entire conversation. “He didn’t like me being as close to you as I was and he didn’t like where you planned for me to go. His vocal disapproval about the marriage arrangement to anyone and everyone who would listen was proof. Besides that, he could have proved dangerous for Lily at some point. I fixed those issues.”
Terrance stilled on the couch and glanced up at Damian through dark eyes. “Ben liked you very much.”
“No, he couldn’t find a way to manipulate me,” Damian said, laughing darkly. “Like I said, he couldn’t even keep his mouth shut about the marriage—”
“Because Dino didn’t give him a say in it,” Terrance interjected calmly. “Not once did Dino allow Ben to have any involvement or say in the deal between the DeLuca and Rossi families. Considering Ben was the head of the family, he should have been able to put in his opinion.”
Damian shook his head. “That’s not important.”
“It is but you’re not hearing me, Damian. It wasn’t you he disapproved of, it was the way Dino went about the entire thing. He was fine with the marriage but he would have liked to be able to be involved. Had you took the time to talk to Ben about the situation, you would have known that. My guess is you took Dino’s word for what it was and ran with it. You always were loyal to DeLuca in that way.”
Something painful and heavy squeezed around Damian’s heart, nearly pushing it up into his throat. A sick feeling balled in his stomach. Terrance was right about everything he said. Most of Ben’s disagreement and vocal displeasure had been about Dino’s side of things and not Damian’s. Ben had barely been included in any of the wedding planning or even for Lily’s side of things where family was concerned. It was almost as if Dino wanted the man to seem unimportant to the DeLuca family.
“It doesn’t matter,” Damian said.
“It does,” Terrance replied. “Because chances are, Dino used what he thought would get under your skin the most in order to have you do the work he wouldn’t.”
Damian barked out a laugh. “Like what? Look at all the things he’s done, Terrance. Look at the people he’s killed and the problems he’s started. What could I possibly do that he couldn’t have if he wanted to?”
“Killing me,” Terrance said.
The words came out softer than Damian had ever heard his boss speak before.
“You’re wrong,” Damian said, sure of it.
“I don’t think so. Dino always believed I did him and his siblings wrong when they were children. I know I did when I had their parents killed, but Joseph DeLuca didn’t give me a choice. I tried to make up for it over the years with Dino and Theo, but clearly my remorse never bled through to the man enough. Or maybe it did and his conscience just won’t let him do what yours is capable of.”
Damian ground his teeth so hard his molars ached. “And what is that?”
“Killing someone who cares for you.”
Fuck.
Damian cocked back the hammer on his gun. “Like I said, it isn’t important.”
“His lies are,” Terrance murmured, staring down the barrel of the gun. “You don’t have to, by the way.”
Kill him?
Yes, Damian absolutely did. Despite the fact Terrance’s statements made a hell of a lot of sense and Damian felt like a wrecking ball had just slammed into his body, the boss still needed to go. Terrance knew too much. Damian would never get away with all he’d done to the Outfit if he let the man live.
“We both know I do,” Damian said, never lowering the gun.
“No, my boy.” Terrance smiled as Damian’s finger wrapped around the trigger. “I meant to say you don’t have to apologize. I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Yes,” Terrance said. “Take this as your final lesson, Damian.”
“What is that?”
“Trust no man.”
Damian pulled the trigger and didn’t look away.
Damian slammed the bathroom door open, zoning in on the figure he’d been searching for in the crowd of people since he arrived back at his wedding reception. No one noticed him gone and no one noticed him return. Damian was smart in that way.
Dino, however, had a few things to answer for.
The man barely got his pants zipped up before Damian fisted Dino’s tux jacket from behind. He yanked him away from the urinal and slammed him into the closest wall which just happened to be the side of a stall. The stall shuddered from the impact as Dino cursed his surprise.
Dino’s eyes flew wide at the sight of Damian. No doubt, Damian’s rage was clear to see if the way his muscles clenched and trembled with the sensations passing through him. It was like someone had kicked him straight in the fucking gut; like he’d been used and manipulated when all Damian wanted to do was stay the fuck away from that kind of shit.
“Whoa!” Dino said, his hands flying wide.
Damian’s fist cracked into the stall right beside Dino’s head. “Shut your mouth.”
“Hey!” someone shouted from inside the stall.
“Get the fuck out,” Damian growled.
A man dressed in a sharp suit quickly scurried from the stall without even flushing the toilet and disappeared from the bathroom. Once the door closed, all of Damian’s attention turned on Dino again.
“All you had to do was tell me the fucking truth, Dino,” Damian said through gritted teeth.
Every breath he took ached. He’d trusted Dino. The man put him in a positon by using lies and bullshit where Damian had to make choices he wouldn’t have otherwise.
“What are you going on about?” Dino asked, still not fighting back.
Damian slammed Dino into the stall again. “Ben, Terrance … ring any fucking bells for you?”
Dino’s brow lifted. “Hey—”
“No, be quiet. Unless you’re going to give me something worth listening to, I don’t want to hear another goddamn thing coming out of your mouth, asshole. I did the final job tonight—I followed that through like
I said I would. But it had nothing to do with you, right? That was supposed to be all for me. You’re such a liar, Dino. Christ, it’s no wonder your eyes are brown. You’re so full of shit it’s starting to show.”
Dino laughed hoarsely. “Me? Take a good look in the mirror.”
“You could have told me the truth,” Damian repeated, willing his anger to calm. He didn’t want to go back out on the floor to find Lily feeling like he was. She would know; his girl always knew. “You could have told me that this was for your parents and what happened way back when. You didn’t have to lie to me and manipulate my weaknesses for your benefit. I was loyal to you. I would have done what you needed regardless of the rest, but I didn’t have to be one of your pawns. Lily didn’t have to be one of your pawns.”
“Neither of you are,” Dino said, shrugging.
“Right. Even when you’re caught red-handed, you still can’t tell the truth.”
“She wasn’t a pawn and neither were you. Everything I said about Lily and what I wanted for her was the truth. And so what, Damian? Who cares if I worked a little bit of revenge into the plan, too? What does it really matter now?”
It mattered a lot.
A war was beginning.
“How long do you think this is going to last, Dino?” Damian asked. “How many more people are going to die because your parents did?”
“A lot,” Dino said, grinning. “But I know my brother and sister won’t be one of them. Remember what I told you when I first asked you to my place that day? Theo is smart as long as he keeps his heart out of the game. He’ll have all the control on the DeLuca side of things now. Keep an eye on him and see how far he goes. As for Lily?”
Damian’s jaw ticked. “She’s got me.”
“Exactly. She’s got you. We both know you’ll never let a thing happen to her. I got everything I wanted out of this. Your feelings don’t matter to me.”
Damian swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth. “And what about you, Dino?”
“What about me?”
“Where are you planning on going?” Damian asked.
“Wherever in the hell I want to.” Dino brushed Damian’s hands off him and pushed away from the stall. “Smile, Damian. It’s your goddamn wedding day.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Lily sighed in relief as Damian pulled off her heels. After being in the damn things for a good twelve hours straight, she was happy to see them go. She couldn’t hide the little moan that escaped as Damian’s strong, deft fingers worked the arches of her feet.
“Feel good?” he asked.
“So good.”
Damian hummed and kissed her calf. “Happy to help, sweetheart.”
“They’re beautiful shoes.”
“Well, beautiful on you,” Damian said, chuckling. “Sexy, actually.”
Lily smiled, watching her new husband as his massage went from her feet to her calves. “Oh?”
“Very. Beautiful legs, Lily.”
She pursed her lips. “I’m shorter than you by inches even in heels.”
“Don’t care,” Damian said, humming sexily. “Even if you are shorter than me.”
“And you love my legs.”
Damian flashed a sinful smirk. “Best in Chicago.”
Lily shivered as Damian’s hands drove higher under her wedding dress, kneading and pressing into her soft flesh. He worked every single last kink and soreness out of her tired legs without ever looking away from her.
“You’re awfully quiet tonight,” Lily said softly.
Damian’s gaze flicked away. “Am I?”
His inability to look at her again said it all.
“What is up, Damian?”
“Nothing, sweetheart.”
“Damian—”
“Lily,” Damian interjected, his tone offering no room for arguing. “I said it’s nothing.”
Lily didn’t believe him for a second. She had the distinct feeling that because it was their wedding night, Damian wanted to spend the evening without all the muss and fuss going on outside of the hotel walls. He probably wanted it to be just them and no one else. Lily didn’t mind dropping whatever it was.
“You’ll tell me tomorrow, right?” she asked.
Damian nodded, hiking the skirt of her dress up around her hips as he dropped to his knees. He yanked her panties down around her knees, his grin growing salaciously. “Yeah, sweetheart. I’ll tell you anything you want to know tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Damian pulled her panties down further, his eyebrow cocking. “Black lace?”
“There’s a whole lot more where that came from.”
“I can’t fucking wait.”
Lily couldn’t respond. His head was already buried between her thighs. The little talent Damian had with his tongue always drove Lily insane every time his mouth came anywhere near her pussy. This time was no exception. With blindly fast strikes of his tongue, he’d parted the fleshy lips of her pussy and was already tasting the fluids gathering at her entrance. Lily could feel her sex trying to clench around his tongue with every plunge. She tried to close her legs around his head, wanting more friction on her clit, but Damian’s hands kept her thighs pried apart.
“Shit, that feels good,” Lily moaned.
Damian’s dark laughter rolled over her senses like golden honey. The vibrations from his amusement tickled her sensitive sex as he nibbled and lapped at her folds. She spread her legs wider, needing to see what he was doing. Using her hands for support on the edge of the bed, Lily propped her upper body high so she could watch Damian eat her out. His mouth was smeared with her arousal and she could smell the scent of her sex already wafting in the air. Damian’s steel-blue eyes surveyed her from down below, a wicked smile curving the corners of his mouth upwards as he licked a line from her slit straight to her clit.
That had to be the hottest thing she’d ever seen.
“Fuck me,” Lily muttered.
“The prettiest sounds,” Damian murmured, keeping her gaze locked on his. “You always make the prettiest sounds for me.”
“I—”
Before she could get a word in edgewise, Damian’s hand came up, pushed her to the bed, and his head disappeared between her thighs again. Lily cried out, her surprise and bliss echoing through the room as his tongue attacked her clit. She struggled under his hand and the pleasure suddenly coursing through her nervous system. The pace of his tongue against her bud was relentless and brutal.
She was going to come and fast.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Lily chanted. “Damian!”
Damian’s approval came out in a long groan. That was all it took. Lily came undone crying his name, fisting the bedsheets, and feeling like she couldn’t breathe. Her orgasm started somewhere in her middle and then shot out in all directions, numbing her fingers and toes.
While she tried to calm, gasping for air in the bed, Damian kissed her inner thighs.
“Up,” he ordered.
Lily blinked, unsure if she’d heard him correctly. “What?”
“Up, sweetheart. I want this dress off of you. Despite how beautiful you look in it, it will only hold me back.”
“But I’m so comfortable.”
Damian laughed. “Oh, well. I’m not done yet.”
Lily melted into the soft chaise as Damian’s fingertips danced up her lace covered spine. On her stomach with her head resting in his lap, she was comfortable and content. She was also turned on like nothing else as her new husband pampered her with pieces of chocolate covered fruit and sips of champagne. The sheer lingerie she wore hid nothing from his view and his hands started their wandering trek all over again.
“This is downright sinful,” Damian said, slipping his fingers between her thighs. Lily sighed as he caressed her sex with sweet, light touches.
“More,” Lily demanded, her lust spiking all over again.
“Soon, sweetheart. I want you begging for it.”
Lily was ready to do that now.
“Damian—”
“Bite,” Damian demanded, holding out a piece of fruit for Lily to take while he kept up the teasing touches with his other hand. Lily glowered up at him even though the angle was awkward and she couldn’t hold the position for long before dropping her head back down in his lap. Damian wasn’t having it. “Play by my rules, Lily, or I won’t give you what you want.”
“You don’t know what I want.”
Damian laughed, the sound coming off deep and throaty. “Maybe not, but I know what I want and I can bet you’re going to like it a whole hell of a lot if you just open that pretty mouth of yours, eat this fruit, and let me keep playing with your sweet pussy.”
How could she deny him when he talked like that?
Good God, it did the best things to her insides.
Lily sucked the chocolate covered tip of the strawberry between her lips before nibbling down on the juicy fruit. As she chewed on the sweet fruit, two of Damian’s fingers sunk into her core without warning. Lily’s cry of surprise dissolved into a deep moan as he curled his digits hard into her G-spot.
Lily swallowed the fruit so she could speak. “Christ!”
“So wet,” Damian said, continuing the rhythm with his fingers that had Lily gushing.
“Holy fuck.”
“Feel, sweetheart. You’re hot all around me. It’s fucking beautiful. You love my fingers fucking you.”
“I love anything you do,” Lily whimpered, wanting more of his fingers.
“You certainly will before the night is over,” Damian said. “Bite, Lily.”
Taking another bite from the fruit, Lily let the sensations of his fingers wash over her while the juices of the strawberry covered her tongue. She jerked in surprise when Damian used the bit of fruit left on the stem to paint along her naked shoulder. The coolness soaked into her nerves, making her shudder. Without saying a thing, he continued painting her skin with the fruit, finger fucking her pussy, and whispering the dirtiest things up above her.
Damian discarded what was left of the strawberry. Lily thought he was going to get another one, but was surprised when she felt the loss of his fingers inside her pussy. Before she could question his motives, his slick fingers drew a path up to her ass.