Deathless & Divided (The Chicago War #1) (26 page)

“Officials are digging in,” Theo noted.

Dino nodded, still unaffected by the entire scene. “This is really going to piss someone off.”

“Terrance is already suspicious enough of Laurent and Serena. This isn’t going to help Laurent’s case.”

“See how it rolls from here,” Dino murmured. “I get why it wasn’t a DeLuca or Trentini place, as far as that goes.”

“How’d—” Theo’s words cut off when he noticed Lily standing in the entryway to the living room. “Hey, little one.”

Dino tilted his head in Lily’s direction. “Morning, You’re going to have to stick around the house today, Lily.”

“Why?” she asked.

Lily knew why.

The broadcast said it all.

“Trouble,” Dino said in explanation.

“Lots of it,” Theo added.

“Why would someone shoot up a Conti business?” Lily asked, trying to sound ignorant.

“Maybe to prove a point about something,” Dino answered.

“Like what?”

“Which side they’re on, Lily.”

“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.”

“She’s always been a vocal woman,” Ben said, dismissing Theo.

Theo scowled. “You defend that woman like you’ve got a claim on her, Uncle.”

Lily didn’t miss the twitch of Ben’s cheek as he said, “You’re toeing a thin line, Theo.”

“Drop it,” Dino demanded quietly. “Back to the Rossi issue.”

Ben jerked his thumb in Damian’s direction. “You’re about to break bread with one right now. Terrance isn’t pleased about this shooting mess, regardless of what Laurent is trying to say about his involvement. Cara and Lea arrived home last night.”

Damian perked at that. “From Toronto?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know?” Ben asked.

“No.”

“Well, they are. And they said nobody left the house.”

“It was Serena’s car,” Dino said. His tone left absolutely no room for argument. “He can’t deny that.”

“He can’t.”

“What is wrong?” Lily asked, inserting herself into the discussion, too. She probably shouldn’t have. “I mean, if Laurent made a point by going after the Conti business, doesn’t that show he’s being loyal to Terrance?”

For the first time since Ben arrived that morning, he actually graced Lily with his attention. She wished he hadn’t. Mostly, she flew under her uncle’s radar and she liked it that way. This didn’t feel the same at all.

“This isn’t for you to concern yourself with, Lily,” Ben said.

Her uncle stood from the table and walked out of the kitchen without saying another thing. Dino and Theo followed behind him shortly after. Damian stayed in his spot with his back facing Lily.

“I hate that man,” she said more to herself than Damian.

“A lot of people do,” her fiancé replied.

“What is the problem? Will you tell me?”

Damian spun around slowly and placed his hands to the countertop. “The problem is that Terrance wants to make peace. He sees the things happening around him. He sees his men taking sides and separating further. Riley has a great deal of loyalty on his side because he’s the front boss for the Outfit?”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning he’s a lot closer to the guys on the streets and the crews than Terrance is. Riley has power, too, even if Terrance doesn’t want to admit it.”

“I don’t understand what that has to do with the shooting, Damian.”

Damian ran a hand through his hair, sighing. “No matter how many times Terrance says he didn’t order Laurent to follow through on the shooting, Riley is at a place now where he won’t believe him. No matter how many times Laurent says he didn’t do it, Terrance is too angry to believe him because he has no one else to blame.”

“More problems,” Lily said.

“A lot more. All this did was put more of a rift between Terrance and Riley. A bigger one than what was already there before. Some crews, even part of your uncle’s crew, are kicking up a fuss on Riley’s behalf because of this shooting mess. DeLucas are loyal to the Trentini side of things, or they always used to be. Ben is struggling to keep his people in line for Terrance’s benefit. Laurent made a huge statement for the Rossi side of things by going after the Conti business.”

“What about the Lazarri thing?” Lily asked.

“That’s another issue. Riley still wants blood from them; they still deny the restaurant shooting and Mia’s death.”

“This is a mess.”

“It’s not good, Lily.”

“Doesn’t sound like it.”

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.

With a lift of his brow, Damian silenced his cousins.

As with Lily’s return to Chicago, the Rossi twins had been welcomed home the same way. An informal dinner party at the Trentini home with an open invitation to the families as guests. Lily couldn’t help but notice there was a great deal fewer people milling about for the twins than there had been at hers.

Considering the mess going on, it wasn’t a surprise. No one from the Conti family showed up. Even a few men Lily knew had been at hers for her uncle’s sake hadn’t come, either. The tension residing between the guests kept the crowd at a dull roar and little laughter was shared.

One week after someone shot up the Conti bar, and nothing was settled. Things were off in the Outfit. Even Dino hadn’t shown at the welcoming home party, but Theo had. Theo dismissed his older brother missing it as something to do with work. A last minute call.

Lily didn’t know if that was true or not. The dinner had been a last minute thing, so maybe that was why fewer people showed up to celebrate. Lily had a feeling that wasn’t the case at all.

Emptying what bit of white wine was left in her glass, Lily told Damian, “I need a refill. You want something?”

Damian handed over his empty glass. “No, but I’d be thankful if you got rid of this for me.”

“Will do.”

Lily found the closest maid she could and got rid of Damian’s glass and her own. She took the chance to snatch a bottle of water from the kitchen before making her way back through the large home to find Damian and his cousins.

The conversation happening between the Rossi cousins drew her attention. She knew better than to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help it. Lily stayed in the shadow of the hallway and didn’t go further.

“Do you like her?” Lea asked.

Damian chuckled. “Why is that any of your concern?”

“Because we care about you, smartass,” Cara replied with a roll of her blue eyes. “I’d hate to see you settled down with someone you can’t stand. That doesn’t seem fair to you at all.”

“And Mom said—”

“Fuck Serena,” Damian interrupted sharply. “I’m about done dealing with her crazy mouth. Someone needs to permanently shut that up.”