Chapter 19: Veiled Vows: Chapter 19

I feel like a completely different person walking into my home later that afternoon. It’s like everything has changed. Roman is my mystery rescuer and I don’t ever want to know the chances of that. And I like him.

I like him a lot and he likes me. To what extent remains a mystery, but right now I’m just happy to feel like for the first time in forever, someone is on my side.

“Where have you been?!”

Mom comes flying through from the lounge as I walk down the hallway, intending to go straight to bed given how badly I slept last night, and my mind’s so focused on Roman that I forgot all about my parents.

“Mom—”

“I have been worried sick when you didn’t come home. Your father has men scouring the city and—what happened to your face?!” She screeches so loud my ears ache, and I bite back a wince while she takes my wrist and drags me into the lounge. “Look at what’s happened to your daughter!”

My father stands near the unlit fireplace with his phone in his hand. He glances up at my arrival, and the brief flicker of concern on his face immediately melts into annoyance.

“You don’t text. You don’t call. You tell me you’re on your way home and then you never turn up, and now you walk in here looking like this?” Mom cups my face and tilts my head to the side, examining the bruise and lump on my head from where I face-planted into the dashboard during the crash. “We found your car and the driver was dead. So many people dead and where were you, huh? Where were you Jasmine?!”

She’s screaming now and tears flood her eyes as she touches my forehead then steps back with a whimper.

Shit.

I didn’t think this through at all. Well, honesty is all that can save me now.

“Alto tried to kill me.”

“What?!” Bianca looks like she’s about to pass out, so I catch her hand just as she wobbles and ease her back toward the couch.

“What do you mean?” Enzo snaps. “Jasmine, such an accusation at a time like this⁠—”

“I know, okay?” Helping my mother sit, I straighten and look my father dead in the eye. “The men that tried to kill me were Yakuza judging by the ink I glimpsed on them, but they were working for Alto. They shot my guard, shot my driver, and made us crash. They were going to kill me too, but Roman saved me. I’m alive because of him.” Turning back to my mother, I take her outstretched hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t call. I was hurt, and Roman was wounded trying to save me, so I was just lying low in case there were more people after me.”

“Oh my God.” My mother bursts into tears and pulls my knuckles against her lips. “Oh my poor darling.”

“I’m okay,” I insist gently. “Really, Roman saved me.”

“Alto is behind this?” Enzo approaches me and grasps my shoulder, turning me to face him. “You’re sure about this?”

“Yes.”

“But we are not at peace with the Yakuza yet. How can you be so sure?”

“Roman knew. And that’s how he knew to look for me. You know the Yakuza and the Gattis have had agreements in the past, so it’s not unheard of.”

“But are you sure it was Alto?” His grip tightens on my shoulder. “Can you prove it?” For a moment, he looks gleeful. Like the attempt on my life is the spark he’s been looking for to make a move or take some kind of action. But if he does, then the work I’ve been putting in with Roman to keep all dangerous eyes off us goes up in smoke.

“No,” I say honestly. “I can’t prove it. But Roman is⁠—”

“This is your fault!”

I look at my mother, expecting to see her glaring at me preparing to tell me this is all my fault for putting myself in harm’s way but instead, she glares at Enzo.

“You’re putting our only baby in danger with this stupid wedding. I don’t care what Alto’s reasonings are. I don’t care if it was the Yakuza. What I care about is you ignited a partnership with terrible people, people who have hurt and harmed us in the past, and you don’t care about any of that because it’s getting you what you really want!”

My eyes lock with my father’s for a brief second and my heart skips a beat. This marriage was my idea and we both know it. Even though in public he took credit for the idea, and he’s been drinking up the success from our end, we both know who the real culprit is. I expect him to say as much, but he turns away from both of us.

“You don’t understand, my dear. This marriage is going to fix all of our problems.”

“How!” Mom stands and brushes past me. “Look at your daughter! Someone tried to kill her.”

“And would have succeeded if not for the very man she’s engaged to,” Enzo snaps, spinning to face Bianca. “Don’t you see that the very thing you are against is what saved her?”

“She wouldn’t have been in any danger in the first place if you weren’t so obsessed with getting back trading routes we haven’t needed for ten years! We’re doing fine, and instead of pursuing real peace, you’re acting like a tyrant and putting all of us in danger. Look at your daughter! Look at her beautiful face!” Bianca glances at me and her face twists as more tears well in her eyes.

“Mom, I’m fine. I promise.” The instinct to defuse the situation swells, but this isn’t the first argument like this that I’ve witnessed.

Growing up, my mother’s soft heart often had her looking for a more peaceful solution to things, if she paid attention at all. To my father’s credit, he’s made tough decisions to keep this family going, and if we worked with my mother’s ideals, there wouldn’t be much of a family left. She seeks to avoid conflict at every opportunity, which doesn’t work in a world where conflict is the only way to keep the hyenas at bay.

“Call it off.” She looks between me and my father. “This isn’t worth it. A wedding to a monster who will treat her God knows how. Allying with a terrible family that does terrible things like this!” She throws one hand out toward me. “Just give them what they want, Enzo and leave them be. I can’t take this!”

“Bianca!” He grabs her by the shoulders and shakes her once. “Listen to yourself! They took our daughter from us all those years ago to trick us into giving up a large portion of our business. I want it back, do you hear me? I want it back because good faith gets us nowhere, and don’t you see? Merging with them means we can finally stomp them out because we are the bigger dog, and then all the fancy parties you cry about wanting to go to will be so eager to invite us because we will be the strongest weapons dealers within a hundred miles. People will flock to us, don’t you see?”

“Is that worth my baby getting hurt?” She shrugs him off and turns away. “I hate you, Enzo. I do. All you see is that, while I’m left alone worried all night about the safety of our child because someone tried to take her from me. Again.”

My lips part but the words don’t come. Guilt swells like a balloon just below my ribs and I want to reach out to her, but this song and dance is so familiar. Mom kicks up a fuss like this and they argue, then they make up and she gets something huge as an apology. If she wasn’t so floaty all the time, I’d suspect it was intentional.

“I’m okay,” I say instead. “Roman kept me safe.”

“And who will keep you safe from him, hmm?” She shakes her head, shrugging off Enzo’s attempt to comfort her. “If you weren’t spending time with him, you wouldn’t even be a target for Alto!”

We can’t know that.

In her mind I suspect she views the wedding as suddenly putting a target on me, but my father and I know that’s not true. The target has always been there. It exists on all of us because we’re Mafia, and all it takes is someone to finally decide to pull the trigger to bring all of this down.

“Bianca …” Enzo tries to touch her again, and this time she lets him. “You have to see how good this is for us as a family. For the business and revenge.”

“I don’t care about revenge, I care about our daughter!”

I step out of the room before the argument can reignite and head upstairs. This is my fault. Should I tell them about the Mancinis? At this point that will surely only make things worse. My mother admires that family greatly and will be heartbroken to learn they wanted rid of us, and my father’s pride will make him target them after he’s taken care of the Gattis.

It will make everything so much worse, so I have to keep it to myself. For my sake and for Roman’s.

Once inside my room, I close the door and lean against it.

Silence falls.

Roman wanted to take me to the hospital for my head, but other than an ache and a bruise, I’m fine. His injuries were much worse, but he walked them off like a paper cut.

Must be a man thing.

Still, it’s been a hell of a day.

I strip off my clothes one by one while running the hottest, soapiest bath I can, and my mind replays my parents’ argument while their current one drifts up through the floor. It seems they’re arguing about old wounds, with my mother mostly furious at my father for making choices that endanger the family. Money hungry, she calls him. It dies down when I turn on my music and increase the volume, then I step into the hot water and let the heat soak away every bit of dirt and grime from the accident.

Unfortunately, the ghost of Roman’s touches are washed away too.

But there will be more.

Roman Falzone is my mystery rescuer. What are the chances of that? For years, our families have been enemies; it was even his father who had me snatched, and Roman swept in like some kind of guardian angel and saved me.

Agreeing to marry him at that party to save our families is like fate. Somehow, I was getting exactly what I wanted without knowing it.

My eyes close and memories of the night before flood my mind. His soft kisses, his warm touch, the way his voice turns rougher after orgasm. Even his hand around my throat was a pleasant surprise. My fingertips trace down my neck, replaying that sensation with a smile.

But as happy as I am to have him, his story is painful. His poor mother.

And all these years cozying up to the man that harmed her so deeply. Roman’s a stronger person than I could ever be. Is there a way I can help him?

The wedding for one. It’ll put the entire weight of my family behind him, which can only be a good thing when facing the rest of his family. Especially Alto. Roman assured me he would find proof, and I believe him. His hatred for his own family was evident in every word.

There’s still one glaring issue. The Yakuza.

While we’re in the middle of peace talks, they still acted on Alto’s word and tried to kill me.

Assholes.

Securing peace will be trickier than I thought, but we’ll need it before Roman can make a move against his father. With the Yakuza still in the Gatti family’s pocket, they have enough power to be annoying.

I’m still mulling over how to handle the Yakuza when my phone bursts to life. Leaning over the edge of the bath, my wet fingertips prove useless.

“Siri, answer.”

“Jasmine? Jasmine, are you there? Jasmine!”

“Catherine?” All warmth immediately leaves me. “I’m here, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Seth!” Her voice is thick with tears and she speaks in a hushed whisper. “He’s here!”