Page 25 of Deathless & Divided

She had a mouth made for kissing.

Shit.

Damian didn’t need more added onto his plate than what he already had but he figured out in that moment that he liked angry girls.

“You know, you don’t have to hate me, Lily DeLuca. It might make this whole thing a hell of a lot easier if you just accept what is going to happen and get it over with.”

“Get it over with, right,” Lily scoffed. “Being sold off like cattle, you mean. I should just accept that I don’t get to choose my husband or future.”

“I never bought you—that wasn’t the deal put on the table.”

Lily looked away. “Oh.”

“Nope.”

“Why are you agreeing to this?” she asked.

Damian didn’t even crack a smile. “Because I have to.”

“Don’t you want to pick your own wife, not have one given to you?”

“Who said I wouldn’t have picked you, Lily?”

CHAPTER FOUR

“Theo, tell him!” Lily waved helplessly at Dino. “Tell him this isn’t fair!”

Theo sighed. “Dino—”

“Not your choice to make, Theo,” Dino cut in firmly.

“Yeah, I got that,” the younger of the two brothers replied. “You could have told me ahead of time, though.”

“Wasn’t important.”

“Is this for the sentencing thing?” Theo asked vaguely.

“Essentially,” Dino replied.

“Ben doesn’t like it—he hid it well today, but he said so.”

“Terrance approved.”

Theo chuckled. “Wonder why.”

“You know why,” Dino said.

“I know D, too.”

Dino smiled faintly. “We all do. He’ll do what I need because he needs something, too. Helping hands don’t exist in this world. They’re all trying to grab something back for them. I figure he’s starting to learn that.”

“What about Lily?”

Dino dropped his fork and napkin to the table, rested his arms along the sides of his plate and stared his brother head-on. “Do you think Damian is a bad choice?”

“No, I think he’s a fine choice,” Theo replied. “For a man in the Outfit, anyway.”

“For a man in general, you mean.”