Chapter 24: Veiled Vows: Chapter 24

“Feels weird being here,” Catherine says, huddling into her oversized cardigan. Despite the warmth of late summer, Catherine huddles up like I’ve taken her to lunch in the dead of winter. I won’t comment though. Given what she’s been through, it’s a wonder she even agreed to a quiet lunch at our favorite place.

“Do you want to leave?” Placing my teacup down, I cross one leg over the other and relax back in my chair. “I don’t mind if you do.”

“No.” Catherine shakes her head and tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear. “It’s good to be here, I just …” She glances over her shoulder and shrugs. “I feel like I’m just waiting.”

“Seth can’t hurt you anymore,” I remind her gently. “And I had this entire place cleared out. There’s no one here but me and you, a couple of staff, and my bodyguards. You’re safe.”

“You still won’t tell me what happened between you and Seth?” Catherine fixes me with a slightly accusatory look.

I maintain my innocence with a smile. “Nothing happened.”

“I don’t believe you,” she replies, the accusation slipping into her tone, but a small smile slips onto her lips.

“It’s better this way.” I resume drinking my tea. “Besides, Seth was … entertainment on date night.”

“With Roman?” Catherine’s entire aura shifts and curiosity sparks in her eyes. “The guy you hate.”

“Exactly.” A lie. “Hate is a strong word.”

“Is it?” She tilts her head and nibbles delicately on the corner of a sandwich. “Your families have been at war for years. His dad had you kidnapped and traumatized as a teen. He’s also responsible for the deaths of so many of your people.”

“True, as am I for his,” I reply, then a deep sigh rushes through me. “I don’t know. In the beginning, it was purely business. We both had goals, and an alliance was the only way to reach those goals.”

“And now?”

“Now it’s … complicated.”

“Because you’re addicted to his dick.”

“Catherine!” Heat rushes across my face as we laugh. “It’s not like that. Although he is extremely attentive.” Memories of last week’s date flood my mind. “He’s so … powerful, and knowing he’s the man who saved me all those years ago just somehow makes everything … I can’t explain it. My crush suddenly has a face, and it’s a really handsome face. And he saved my life.”

“You like him,” Catherine singsongs. “You do, don’t you?”

“I don’t.”

“Oh my God you do, look at your face! You’re as red as a plum!” Catherine breaks out into giggles and finishes her sandwich gleefully. “He’s not a fantasy anymore, he’s really real. So what’s holding you back?”

“I …” Sinking my teeth into my lower lip, I groan. “I don’t know. My hatred of him was so … situational, y’know? Based on what he and his family did, not him as a person. But now I know him, and he seems so sweet. Genuine. And also pained.”

“We love a tortured soul,” Catherine grins.

Just the thought of his mother and how he’s cozied up to that man for decades just to get his revenge makes my chest ache. “But my parents … oddly enough after we had dinner together, my mother became very enamored with him. She talks about him as if he’s my regular boyfriend. But then in the same breath, the wedding causes fights between her and my father.”

“Maybe she just hates Roman’s father.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. There’s a lot of bad blood there, and I suppose even though she likes him, she thinks the union is bad. And she’s always furious at my father for organizing it. Which is also weird.” I lean forward and rest my elbow on the table. “This was my idea, and yet my father is acting like it’s his. Which was my original plan, but he’s like, fully running with it now. I mean, I think even if I came clean, he would call me a liar.”

“Your father is very …” Catherine searches for the right words with a hum. “Driven. Maybe the opportunities this creates are too much for him to pass up, and he’s drowning under the success.”

“You’re probably right. He did say something about this being his ticket to greatness.” I slump back. “So all in all, if my parents can work through their friction, then I’ll be marrying Roman soon at a huge wedding, and I will actually enjoy it.”

“Look at you!” Catherine laughs loudly. “You’re smiling like he’s your first crush.”

“Oh, shut up!” I launch a grape at her, increasing her laughter and with it, the warmth in my heart. Seeing her this animated and happy after everything with Seth fills my chest with delight. I have no doubts about getting rid of him, but seeing her thrive in his absence is the biggest reward.

“Should we get some champagne?” Catherine asks with a grin.

“Actually …” The warmth in my chest dissipates. “About that.”

“What’s wrong?” Catherine sobers immediately.

“I’m two weeks late.”

“Late?” Her eyes dart down to my stomach. “Oh my God. Do you think … ?”

“I don’t know. My period’s never been regular, and you remember when I was a teen and I’d go months without anything? Normally, I wouldn’t think anything of it.”

“But you and Roman have been fucking like rabbits.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, you know what this means.” Catherine’s face lights up. “Take a test!”

“But I don’t know what I want the results to be.”

“That’s half the fun!” Catherine discards her napkin, stands, and holds out her hand. “You’ll look at it and if you’re disappointed by what you see then you’ll know what you want. Come on!”

Half the excitement comes from Catherine and her desire to help me, so we leave the cafe and walk down the block to the local pharmacy, where we buy three different brands of tests. Hiding in the bathroom, Catherine plays timekeeper as I pee on each stick and lay them out on the counter.

“Isn’t it weird how pee can tell if there’s a baby inside you?” Catherine says, her eyes glued to the three clocks on her phone.

“Hormones and … stuff,” I reply as I struggle to unjumble my thoughts. What do I want the test to say? What will I do if it says one or the other? What will Roman say? As if hearing my very thoughts, Roman texts me a second later.

[Ren] Busy?

[Jasmine] Yeah, what’s up?

[Ren] Is it pathetic if I say I can’t stop thinking about you? Haven’t seen my fiancée in a week.

[Jasmine] Wow you’re needy.

[Ren] What can I say, I’ve tasted you and I’m a weak man. Some would call it addiction.

[Jasmine] Thinking about my pussy?

[Ren] And your tits. And your lips. And your laugh. And your eyes.

[Jasmine] This is an interesting mix of romantic and horny. Who are you?

[Ren] Just a guy texting a girl.

[Jasmine] Because you’re horny.

[Ren] Maybe I legit miss you.

[Jasmine] Then come meet me.

[Ren] Time and place.

[Jasmine] Also you’re Ren in my phone now.

[Jasmine] Is that too much?

[Ren] No. I just maybe feel less horny and a lot more emotionally romantic. Tell me where to meet you while I gather my fucking heart.

“They’re ready.” Catherine pulls my attention away from my phone.

“Why do I feel sick?”

“Are you worried? Do you want me to look first?”

It’s tempting, but despite the increasing patter of my heart, I shake my head. “No. No, it’s fine.”

Catherine moves out of the way, and I approach the counter where the three tests lie neatly in a line, each displaying the same result.

Pregnant.

I stare at them until my eyes blur.

“Sooo,” Catherine says softly. “How are you feeling? Disappointed? Upset? Angry?”

Slowly, I shake my head as a surge of static rushes through my chest. I feel like I can’t breathe for a moment, then I lift my eyes, and the moment our gazes meet, I burst out laughing. “Oh my God! I’m pregnant!”

“Are these happy tears?!” Catherine cups my face which alerts me to the dampness on my cheeks. “Are you happy?”

“Yes!” I pull her into a hug and squeeze her tightly. “Yes!”

Roman meets me in a bridal boutique later that afternoon while Catherine attends a follow-up appointment at the hospital. Despite offering to stay with her, she’s determined to do this herself, so I send Roman an address and he arrives within half an hour.

“A bridal boutique?” Roman’s voice drifts through the curtain where I’m in the middle of squeezing into the custom-made wedding dress my mother had created for me. Her attention to detail is to be admired as lace that feels like a second skin slides over my arms and caresses my back.

“I have stuff to do and you wanted to meet,” I call back. “Or would you have rather waited another few hours?”

“I’m not a patient man.” Roman’s steps sound on the other side of the curtain. “Are we to talk through fabric the entire time? I’m not against it, but how much imagination should I be using?”

“Picturing me naked would be accurate,” I reply with a smirk.

“On it,” Roman snorts lightly.

I need to tell him I’m pregnant. Assuming three drugstore tests can be believed. I hadn’t factored something like this into any of my plans, and it’s still surprising that I wasn’t upset by the news. Do I want a baby? Will Roman want a baby? Will it mess up our plans?

Too many thoughts jumble together so I turn toward the curtain and rip it open, forcing Roman to become my focus rather than my own thoughts.

He’s halfway across the room, and when he turns to face me, his face relaxes in open shock for a moment, then he slaps his hands over his eyes. “No! It’s bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding!”

“Are you that superstitious?” I snort. “Come on, in our line of work do you really think this is the biggest threat?”

“You can’t mess with the wedding uh … gods or whatever,” Roman declares, keeping his hands raised until I approach and lightly grasp his wrist.

“Relax, dummy.”

He lowers his hands and a soft smile dances across his lips. “Is it corny of me to say you look beautiful?”

“Oh, I know I do. This is custom-made although more to my mother’s specifications and tastes hence the—” I wave my hands down to the puff skirt ballooning from my hips. “I’m more of a slinky, sleek kinda girl.”

“It’s your dress.” Roman frowns. “Why let her choose?”

“It makes her happy.”

“I’m not marrying her, I’m marrying you.”

My eyes narrow playfully. “Y’know, I wanted you to see this so you could make sure you plan your suit accordingly to match, but now you present me with an interesting opportunity.”

“Which is?”

I spin away from him, as much as I can with the heavy ball skirt. “If you tear this off of me, then we’d definitely have to remake the skirt, and there wouldn’t be enough time to recreate this.”

“Are you asking me to sabotage your dress?” Roman’s smile turns sly and he starts walking toward me as I slowly walk backward.

“I’d never dare say such a thing.”

“Because you only care about my suit.”

“Exactly.”

“And you want us to match.”

“Indeed.”

“And yet here you are looking so ravishing. How can I keep my hands off you?”

“Well, when you put it like that. It’s any girl’s dream to have the man they like so much tear their clothes off.”

Roman pulls me into his arms by the waist and leans forward until I’m dipping back and forced to grab onto his arms. His lips lightly brush against mine, and I feel him smile against me as we kiss.

“Go back to the part where you say you like me,” Roman purrs.