Page 16 of Veiled Vows

“Yes,” she giggles. “Well, I’m supposed to be.Surprise, we’re joining with another family so we can crush you, and I’m the payment, but I mean, at least you’ll be able to die knowing that the Mancinis will wipe us out not long after.”

“I—” Such a serious topic should carry more weight, but her laughter is too wholesome, and I can’t help but laugh too. “I mean, if you get married super quickly, you might be able to beat the Mancinis to it and kill a few of us.”

“Right?” she giggles, wiping at her eyes. “Wait…what if they kill my fiancé and his family as collateral? What a wedding gift!” Another flood of laughter takes her until she’s resting back against the desk, gasping and wiping away tears of mirth. “Fuck. They say Mancini parties are eventful.”

“You’re really getting married?” I ask when she calms. “Because of the war?”

“Your father is insistent,” she murmurs, slowly sobering from her amusement. “You wiped out too much from us last week with the hit on those trucks. My father…he’s determined to end things now with you lot but not the Yakuza, despite how much I tell him to.”

Shit.

How is it the Mancinis have such power that they can wipe us out at the drop of a hat? These past years scraping by while fighting for recognition, battling a war for territory and business, and keeping everything else afloat has felt like our world. Suddenly, it all feels so small and insignificant now that a more prominent family has deemed us an annoyance.

“I don’t suppose peace is an option,” I offer, already knowing the answer. She doesn’t even grace me with a reply, she merely rolls her eyes.

“Maybe I’ll get drunk,” she decides. “And tell my parents that everything they’ve spent their lives working for will be over soon because of fucking Santino Gatti.”

“Hey!” The reflexive urge to defend my monstrous father surges forth. “Your fucking father isn’t perfect either. He’s just as much to blame. And we’re not the ones trying to wipe you out. We’re just defending our territory and business.”

“Business youstoleafter kidnapping and traumatizing me, then blaming someone else!” Jasmine surges up and prods me straight in the chest. “Your father dug his own grave! You guys won’t stop until we’re dead, so of course we fight back!”

Suddenly, an idea strikes me that’s so insane, so unbelievable that the words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. “Marry me, then.”

“What?” Jasmine’s mouth falls open.

“You said yourself you had plans beyond your father and this war. I do too. But whatever bad blood there is between us, it’s handing us straight to the Mancinis, and they’re going to kill us. Then our plans don’t matter because we’ll be dead.”

I step forward into Jasmine, and her pointing finger becomes her palm flat against my racing heart.

“So marry me. What better way to end this feud, at least in a way the Mancinis will notice. The feud will end, we’ll become overlooked, and then we will be free to pursue our own goals. So what do you say?”

A long silence follows.

“I … alright.”

7

JASMINE

“We’re getting married!”

The entire party falls silent. My mother spots me first, following the sound of my voice and smiling until she registers the man standing next to me, whose hand is tightly gripped within my own. She turns as white as a sheet and her mouth falls open. As shock consumes her, her glass slips from her fingers and shatters into a thousand pieces on the floor, drawing my father’s attention.

“Bianca, what the hell are you doing?” he hisses, seemingly deaf to my announcement and the hundreds of curious eyes locked on me and Roman.

“Your daughter,” Bianca murmurs, clutching at Enzo’s arm. “She’s getting married.”

“Of course she is, that’s what we agreed?—”

“To him!” She points one long finger at Roman and he smiles brightly, although this close, I can see a slight waver at the corner of his mouth. He’s cocky, and his idea is rather brilliant, but that smile is just a mask. As much of one as my own.

My father glances briefly toward me, nodding his head and then he does a double take when he spots my hand intertwinedwith Roman’s. The fallen glass is forgotten, and barely anyone notices the waiter darting about between people’s legs to clean up the broken glass.

All eyes are on me.

“What?” Enzo barks, fighting to keep his voice low. “What is the meaning of this?” He notices everyone watching us faster than my mother does. She’s quickly dissolving into tears behind a tissue, and my father tries to brush her away from curious eyes. “Jasmine, get over here thisinstant.”

I stand my ground. This is…an insanely unexpected turn of events, but after everything we overheard while being trapped in that closet, it has to be the way forward. If the Mancinis are set on wiping us out because this feud has spilled over, then ending it is the only way I can focus on what I want. I can’t raise this family higherandlook for my mystery man if we all end up dead.

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