Page 51 of Deathless & Divided

“Smile, Lily,” Damian said quietly as Terrance rose from his seat to greet the two newcomers.

“You’re late,” Tommas said, reaching over to grab a bread stick from the basket.

“Lily had a chance to meet the dancers after the ballet and I couldn’t very well let her pass up that offer.”

“Of course not,” Terrance replied as he rounded the table. “Was the ballet good?”

“Very,” Lily said, plastering a smile on her face for Damian’s sake.

Her comment about the ballet wasn’t a lie, but her smile for Terrance was. Lily still couldn’t manage to feel comfortable around this man. He had ordered the hit on her parents all those years ago and her heart wouldn’t let it go.

Terrance grabbed Lily’s hand, squeezed gently, and then leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek. She suppressed the disgust and the immediate anger rolling hard in her stomach when Terrance finally released her and took a step back.

Damian’s hand on her lower back pressed gently, reminding Lily he was there. For whatever reason, she was appreciative for his silent, knowing support.

“You look lovely, Lily,” Terrance said.

“Thank you.”

“I’m glad to see you were able to steal Lily away from Dino for the evening,” Terrance said to Damian, smiling widely.

“He was headed to the south end for a pickup, so he didn’t mind me stealing her away for the night,” Damian said.

Lily’s brow furrowed. She didn’t remember Dino mentioning anything about work. In fact, she was pretty sure he had planned to stay in for the night and watch a rerun marathon of one of his favorite TV shows. Then again, Dino didn’t tell Lily a lot about his job as a Capo for the Outfit. Probably for the better, really.

“Sit, sit,” Terrance demanded with a wave at the table. “I’ll have Laurent let the servers know we’re ready for the food to be brought in.”

“You already ordered?” Damian asked.

“A buffet spread. There’ll be more than enough to choose from.”

Terrance took his seat as Damian’s uncle stood from his. Lily accepted the greetings from everyone else at the table while Damian pulled out her chair, tucked it into the table, and then took the open one beside hers.

Serena Rossi sat directly across from Lily and sipped on red wine like it was water. Actually, everyone at the table had a glass of wine, even Adriano Conti who wasn’t old enough to be drinking.

Lily couldn’t help but notice how Abriella and Tommas avoided looking at one another at all costs. While quiet chatter passed over the table as a large spread of food was brought in to be served, the two only spoke to each other if they had to. No one but Lily seemed to notice.

They played their parts well.

How long would that last?

“What ballet?” Evelina asked from down the table.

Lily smiled. “Giselle.”

“Oh. I love that one. How old were we the first time we all saw it together?”

“Eight, maybe,” Lily said. “Didn’t a group of us go? I can’t remember.”

“Yes, we all went,” Evelina replied.

“All?”

Evelina nodded. “A bunch of us—you and Theo, me, Adriano, Abriella, and—”

“Me,” Damian interjected in that dark tenor of his.

Lily stilled in her seat, catching Damian’s stare with her own. Why didn’t she remember that? It wasn’t the first time someone said Damian had been around when Lily was younger, but she just couldn’t find those memories. The truth was, Lily had spent so much time trying to wipe away those first few years after her parents’ murder that apparently, it worked.