Deathless & Divided (The Chicago War #1) (41 page)

“
No
,” Lily breathed.

“Lily, move,” Damian demanded again.

People shoved past them, trying to get back into the safety of the church. Her heart fell to the cement steps and shattered into pieces as she watched her brother’s car be engulfed in another wave of flames.

“No!”

“Lily, please move.”

“Dino,” Lily cried.

“I’m sorry.” Damian wrapped Lily in a bear hug and forced her to move. “I love you.”

“
Dino
!”

“It looks like there was a very sophisticated timer set on the bomb,” the detective informed.

Lily wasn’t paying attention to the man. All she kept thinking as she stared at him was that her brother wouldn’t want this cop in his home. Dino would have hated having any official inside his private space going through his things. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been given much of a choice in the matter.

It had taken three weeks for the investigation to come back with anything regarding the bomb. Lily didn’t give a damn what the police had to say. Things like this wasn’t something that could be settled in a courtroom. The officials, no matter how hard they worked or how many leads they had, would never truly know who set the bomb in Dino’s car. That was just how it worked in the mafia.

No, it wouldn’t be settled in a courtroom.

The streets, but not a courtroom.

Damian sighed, his hand squeezing Lily’s shoulder gently. “And how do you know that?”

“There was a significant portion of the electronics that survived the blast. After it was put together and worked over, we discovered it was connected to the Bentley’s radio system.”

Lily’s brow puckered. “So, when he turned it on, it blew?”

“When he turned it to a particular station, it set the timer to begin ticking down. That was why he had already reversed out of the parking space when the bomb went off.”

Oh.

That only left Lily with a sicker feeling than before.

“Would you have any idea who would know the kinds of radio stations your brother listened to?” the man asked.

Damian’s hand squeezed Lily’s shoulder again. She didn’t need his silent reminders.

“No, and I think it’s time for you to leave,” Lily said, standing from her chair.

The detective stood as well, frowning. “But—”

“I have nothing to offer and we’ve complied as much as we could, even though you didn’t give us any choice,” Lily interrupted firmly.

By no means would she allow the cops to keep digging through Dino’s house.

“Miss, your brother was heavily involved with the Chicago Mob and—”

“Firstly, it’s
Mrs.
,” Lily snapped. “Secondly, I don’t care what my brother was involved in. I buried him. He is dead. I have nothing else to say on the matter.”

“Any information you may have could be incredibly invaluable to not only our investigation, but other ones, too.”

Lily scoffed, disbelief filling her to the brim. “Turn rat, you mean.”

“Lily,” Damian said quietly.

“No, that’s what he’s saying. Or rather, what he won’t because he’s a coward.”

The detective shrugged. “I’m just suggesting that you could be a great help.”

Fuck this.

“Get out,” Lily said, pointing at the kitchen entryway.

“Doesn’t it bother you at all that someone killed your brother?” the man asked.

Lily felt a stab of pain pierce through her heart. “You have no idea how I feel. You don’t have the first clue what it feels like to—”

“You’re protecting the very same people who killed him.”

“All right, that’s enough,” Damian said, anger heating his tone.

Lily didn’t need Damian to come to her defense. “Get out!”

Storming past the detective, Lily made her way to the front of the house. She opened up the front door wide, pointing at the outside. She waited, her agitation rising, as the man took his time putting on his shoes and suit jacket.

Standing on the front steps, the detective turned back to Lily. “If you change your mind—”

Lily slammed the door in his face.

Damian stayed leaning against the wall, his features downcast as he regarded her with a stare that made her sadness swell. Because he knew—her heart was breaking and she couldn’t breathe. A meltdown was just around the corner if she couldn’t reel it back in and fast.

“Oh, my God,” Lily whispered, pressing her palm to her chest.

“Lily, it’s going to be okay.”

She nodded, but nothing felt true.

“Lily, breathe,” Damian murmured.

How could she?

Before she blinked, Damian was standing in front of her. He cupped her cheeks in his palms and tilted her head up so she could see the worry and love swimming in his gaze. Over and over, he kissed her lips with soft pecks until her tears had stopped falling and her lungs worked again.

“It’s just beginning, isn’t it?” Lily asked.

The fighting between the families had only grown worse since Damian and Lily’s wedding. Terrance Trentini’s murder seemed to tip the Trentini family over the edge. Lily remembered when Damian got that phone call on their honeymoon perfectly. She was sure he was the cause of the Outfit boss’s death.

Lily chose not to ask. She knew he would tell her the truth if she did and Lily wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear it.

Nonetheless, things were bad between the four families and getting much worse.

“It’s going to be okay,” Damian said again.

“Who did that to Dino?” Lily asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Please don’t try to save my feelings.”

Damian sighed, using his thumb to trace her lips. “I’m not, sweetheart. No one knows.”

“But … someone must know something, Damian.”

“It’s war. Nobody has to know anything.”

War
.

Lily shivered. Somehow, her brother’s plans to upset the Outfit had turned on him. “Dino did this for me.”

“You, Theo … himself. I don’t even know if he realized what he was really doing.”

“How do I settle that in here?” Lily asked pointing at her chest where her heart was racing out of control.

“Lily—”

“He started a war for us.”

Damian pulled her close and kissed her hard. Lily let him. “We’ll be okay.”

“Promise?”

“Always, Lily. You and me, we’re the kind of people who survive. That’s just what we do.”

God, she hoped so.

“My heart hurts,” Lily said softly, willing away her tears.

Damian kissed her tenderly. “I’ll take it away.”

Yeah, he always did. 

About the Author

Bethany-Kris is a Canadian author, lover of much, and mother to three young sons, one cat, and three dogs. A small town in Eastern Canada where she was born and raised is where she has always called home. With her boys under her feet, a snuggling cat, barking dogs, and a hubby calling over his shoulder, she is nearly always writing something … when she can find the time.

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Coming Soon

Reckless & Ruined

The Chicago War, Book Two

Adriano Conti & Alessa Trentini

“Did anybody see you come around?” Alessa asked.

“No,” he responded. “I parked a few blocks away and jogged down the backroad before coming in on the property. We’re good.”

Alessa sighed. “Thanks. I’m sorry I didn’t answer you back the last few days.”

“Are you?”

“Yes,” Alessa said. “But I’ve been … stuck in my own head, trying to figure out what I was going to do. I thought I should let you know so you can stop worrying about me and move on to your own thing, Adriano.”

“You are my thing,” Adriano replied. “Don’t you know that?”

Alessa dipped her head down, keeping her face out of his view. “I can’t be your thing.”

“Stop it with that shit. None of this matters to me. It never has.”

“I can’t be
your
thing,” Alessa repeated firmly. “Not anymore. Not now.”

“Hey.” Adriano took a step forward, and Alessa answered it by taking a step back. “What is up with you?”

Alessa shrugged. “It’s been settled. I’m going to have to marry Dean Artino. The engagement and wedding date isn’t official, but I’m sure Joel will be an asshole and send an invitation to your father. I wanted you to find out from me and not someone else through the grape vine.”

Air cut through Adriano’s lungs with a searing burn. A ball of rage and possessiveness swirling in his midsection hard and fast, threatening to take him under with the current. Alessa was, and always had been,
his
.

Like fuck was he going to hand her off to some useless bastard like Dean Artino.

Over his dead body.

It wouldn’t happen.

“No,” Adriano said in a growl, stepping closer to her.

Alessa blinked up at him. “W-what?”

“No. You’re not marrying
Dean
.”

“I don’t think you understand, Adriano.”

“Oh, I understand perfectly fucking well.” Adriano couldn’t help but notice how Alessa didn’t back off the closer he came. Once they were toe-to-toe under the willow tree, she had to look up at him to hold his gaze. “I get it, but it’s not happening.”

Alessa’s tongue peeked out to wet her lips. “Right now, it’s just the promise of an engagement between Dean and me soon, but Joel assured the wedding would happen within the next few months. I don’t get a choice and it’s not fair to you, so let me do what I have to. Okay?”

“No.”

“Adriano—”

“No,” he repeated darkly.

Acknowledgments