Page 72 of Deathless & Divided

She still didn’t appear particularly pleased. Damian didn’t want to be the one to explain that a great deal of business went down in places like those. They were the best ones to funnel illegal funds in from. Restaurants happened to be another one. Anything where cash could be hidden, the Outfit had a leg and an arm in.

“Are you jealous?” Damian asked.

Lily snorted. “Of strippers, Damian?”

Point taken.

“Good, you shouldn’t be anyway,” he said. “But I do have to head over there after we get something to chow down on.”

“About the shooting yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

Lily hummed, sadness dimming her pretty features. “Back to life, right?”

Damian nodded. “Back to life.”

“I thought you were going to take me to Eve?” she asked.

“Still will. Her parents’ place is on the way.”

“Parent,” Lily reminded him gently.

Damian flinched. “Yeah. That’s where she is, anyway. I got that info before you woke up. She’s not … doing well.”

Understatement. Evelina Conti was in the midst of a nervous breakdown, a lot like her father and brother. Questions were being asked. Answers were wanted. No one had any. This was going to be messy.

“She’ll appreciate you coming, though,” Damian said.

“What are we doing now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You and me,” Lily said quietly. “What are we?”

“Whatever you want to be.”

Lily laughed drily. “That’s not entirely true, Damian. We’re still getting married and I still didn’t choose it.”

“I don’t know what you expect to hear from me, Lily, but my stance remains the same as it did before last night. Besides, what is the problem with being able to stand one another, huh? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Is that all it’ll ever be?” she asked.

“I’m not asking for you to fall in love with me.”

Lily didn’t bat a lash. “Touché.”

“The car was white, I don’t give a fuck what anybody says,” Tommas said sharply. “You weren’t facing the window, Joel.”

“How fast did that drive-by happen, huh?” Joel demanded. “Three seconds, maybe four if we were lucky. It was silver—grey, even.”

“It was white!”

Damian leaned against the wall beside Dino, watching the scene unfold. Why the fuck the color of the car that had been involved with the shooting was important, Damian didn’t know. He supposed they were trying to discern who had been driving, but since everyone who had seen the car agreed the windows were tinted dark, no one knew the shooter.

“What do you think?” Damian asked Dino.

“I think we’re going to have a problem on our hands,” Dino replied.