Page 67 of Forgotten Deeds

“I’m not! I don’t know what to wear; help!”

Darius looks over the choices on the bed before selecting my new sundress I picked up in Greece. “My little angel should wear this one.”

He holds up the white dress, and I take it, pulling it over my head. I check myself out in the mirror. “What do you think? Not too casual?”

“Perfection.”

“Thank you, Darius,” I tell him, having learned my lesson about accepting gifts from this Greek.

“Such a good girl,” he purrs.

“Stop it,” I tell him, my cheeks heating as I walk inside the closet, grabbing my stiletto sandals.

“I want to show you something,” Darius says, scooting past me. He squats down and moves his shoe rack, and my mouth gapes when he lifts up a large wooden plank—revealing a safe built into the floor. “Combination is your birthday; inside is our emergency bag with passports, cash, and a burner phone,” he explains. “In case we need to get out of here in a hurry, I want you to know where it is.”

“Will we ever need to use this bag?” I ask, my voice sounding small.

Darius stands, wrapping his arms around me. “Lily, I don’t want you to worry.” He tilts my chin so I’m looking up at him. “It’s just like having insurance: we hope we won’t have to use it, but it’s nice to have just in case.”

The doorbell rings, and he pulls out a different phone from his pocket; Christ, how many phones does this man have? “That’s Kat,” he announces, putting everything back into place. Grabbing my hand, he leads me out of the closet and closes the door.

“Give me a few minutes to finish getting ready,” I tell him, needing a moment to compose myself.

“Sure.” He presses a kiss to my lips before walking out.

Looking in the mirror, I give myself a little pep talk. I can do this—dinner with a mob boss. Why not? I can handle emergency bags, and funerals for exes, and homicide investigations, and anything else the Fates throw my way.

Fastening my evil eye necklace, I follow the sound of laughter to find Kat and Iris on the living room floor playing with Lucky. “Hey, Lily. You look amazing,” Kat says.

“Thank you. Could I speak to you in the kitchen before we go?”

“Sure thing,” she says.

“Now Kat’s in trouble?” Iris marvels.

“Trouble is my middle name,” Kat announces.

“That’s a weird middle name,” Iris decides, and Kat chuckles.

“No one’s in trouble, sweetie. Just adult talk.”

“Phew, you heard her.” Kat winks at Iris, following me to the kitchen.

“Did Darius fill you in about Iris’ dad?” I ask Kat when we’re out of earshot.

She nods. “Yeah, he said the guy passed away. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. Iris seems to be handling it well, but if she acts out or becomes upset, that’s probably why.”

“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her,” Kat assures me.

“Thank you.”

“Lily, we need to go,” Darius calls.

We return to the living room, and I give Iris a hug and kiss. “Bye, sweetie. Love you.”

“Love you,” she says, busy playing with Lucky.

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