Page 78 of Deathless & Divided

“Do I need a reason?” he asked.

“Is this like … Damian, that’s a six-figure car.”

“Si.”

“You bought me a car,” Lily said, still in shock.

Damian’s grin grew. “Happy birthday, Lily.”

Her heart stopped for a split second. Somehow, with all the mess that had been going on over the last couple of days after the shooting at the restaurant and everything else, Lily had forgotten her own damn birthday.

Clearly someone else hadn’t.

Damian.

“How did you know?” Lily asked.

“You’re intended to be my wife. Of course I would want to know when your birthday was,” Damian replied. “And it’s been a rough couple of days with you being there for Eve, I know. I wanted to see you smile and this seemed like a good time to hand over your birthday present.”

All over again, her heart kick-started with confusion and a strange mixture of bliss. Why would Damian do this? Why did he care about her or act like he did?

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

When he did something like this, she found that hard to believe.

Quiet chuckles rang out behind Lily from her brothers. Obviously they had sneaked up on her when she was otherwise distracted with the dangerously attractive man and the equally beautiful car in the driveway.

Lily glanced over her shoulder at Dino. “Did you know?”

“Yes,” Dino replied. “I picked the color. Theo and Damian argued over the model for a good week before D won.”

“It’s very yellow,” Lily said, unsure of what else to say.

“The windows are dark enough that even when people stare, they won’t know it’s you,” Theo said.

Goddammit.

They knew her too well.

“So even when you’re in the spotlight,” Damian said, drawing Lily’s attention back again, “… you won’t really be in it, sweetheart.”

“You bought me a car,” Lily repeated.

Christ. She really was turning into a parrot.

Damian winked. “Take me for a drive, Lily.”

“God,” Evelina said, her breath hitching on a sob. “I don’t want to go in there.”

Lily’s frown felt like it had become a permanent fixture on her face. Nine days had passed since Mia Conti’s death. The officials held back on releasing the body until they didn’t have a choice. The means of death was obvious but the motive was unclear.

Lily didn’t want to watch her friend have another breakdown but it was probably inevitable. Burying her mother would be like another painful confirmation. It wasn’t easy to say goodbye. Lily spent as much time as she could with Evelina over the last week, and she knew it helped her friend, but it was heartbreaking.

Mia Conti’s death—pointless and filled with uncertainty—only served to remind Lily of her own mother’s death. It felt exactly the same. Everyone knew why Lily’s father had been killed. Turning on the Outfit and being caught was a signed death warrant. But Lily’s mother? Her murder was simply a by-product of her husband’s killing.

Nothing more.

Lily grabbed Evelina’s hand and squeezed tight, giving her friend a silent reminder she was there and she was so loved. It was one of the things Lily wished someone had done for her when she was just a little girl burying her mother.