Page 96 of Worth of Waste

Ben had taught him that in his many lessons.

Damian was someone Dino could use for more than one reason.

“You’re going to marry my sister,” Dino said.

Across his desk, Damian’s head snapped up from the file of information he was overlooking that had as many details about Lily DeLuca and her life as Dino could put together on his sister. She was going to hate him for this; she would fight him tooth and fucking nail on it, but what was done, would be done.

Men in the Outfit got to make those plays and calls for the women.

Nobody said it was fair.

Nobody said it was nice.

Nobody had to fucking like it.

But God knew if Dino didn’t do this for his sister—give her somebody he knew had history with her, someone she wouldn’t be able to hate once she got to know him, and somebody who was capable of caring for her and keeping her safe—Jesus, who would be left to do it?

Ben, probably.

Their uncle was already looking for someone to marry her off to since she arrived back in Chicago. That was just how Ben made his moves in the Outfit, by manipulating those he could, and using the backs of others to get where he needed to be.

Isn’t that what you’re about to do, too?

Dino ignored his inner voice.

His was for the betterment of many people, not only himself.

Ben never thought of others when he made moves in a game he never really understood how to play fairly.

“What?” Damian asked.

“You owe me.”

A life for a life—that was how the mafia worked.

Damian had owed his life to Dino for a long time, ever since a younger Damian had gotten himself into some trouble that Dino stepped in on to save the guy’s ass. He took the rap for Damian killing a made man, got the guy out of it, and he went on to do half decent things with his mafia career.

“It’s time to pay up,” Dino added.

And by that, he meant Damian would pay up by marrying Lily.

By keeping her safe.

By making her happy.

By doing whatever he needed to do so that she had whatever she needed.

“It seems pretty simple, doesn’t it?” Dino said. “And you know, with all the attention from the boss on you lately, you should be careful.”

Dino wasn’t the type to manipulate others—he didn’t like to play on the fears of men around him because his whole life had been nothing but that, and it wasn’t fair to play that game with people when they didn’t know they too were playing it.

He didn’t have a choice here.

“Seems the boss has really taken a liking to you,” Dino said, leaning forward. “Some people don’t like that—Ben, Riley, the usual. You know what happens in the Outfit when a man is going somewhere that another man doesn’t want him to go, don’t you?”

Damian didn’t blink, his features cold and schooled. “I know—stop the man by whatever means necessary.”

“Seems you have a lot to think about.”