Page 17 of Veiled Vows

Besides, being in that closet pressed against Roman has my heart fluttering for other reasons. I don’t deny that he’s incredibly attractive and there’s something very sexy about the smoky, spicy scent that wafts off his incredibly built body. He took up nearly all the space in that closet, and while small spaces tend to send me into a panic, Roman’s touch was oddly grounding.

Or that was all in my head, and I was just achingly hungry for some closeness. Either way, it’s a distraction and repeatedly weaves around my mind despite how I’m trying to focus on my approaching father.

“Jasmine, you better?—”

“What is going on here?” Santino, Roman’s father, melts through the crowd with another man in tow. The stranger shoots Roman a deadly glare, then his eyes drop to me, and a strange, cold smirk spreads across his lips.

“Father.” Roman’s grip on my hand tightens. “I have agreed with your decision that Jasmine and I are to be married.”

You could have knocked Santino over with a feather. “Excuse me?Mydecision?”

“Of course,” Roman smiles. “I wouldn’t make such a move on my own, you know this. But remember, Father, you and I were discussing just last night that this feud between our families has gone on for long enough.”

“It has?” Enzo and Santino ask in unison.

“It has. And what better way to move forward and show the world that we are better,strongeras a union than to make that union official.”

Soft murmurs rise from the crowd as the news spreads, and Roman presents a unique opportunity to his father. He’s allowing him to take credit for such a bold move and presenting it in such a way that if Santino refuses then the social repercussions will be huge.

“Withmyblessing, of course,” Enzo remarks. “Jasmine is my daughter.”

As a commotion of conversation strikes up, my mother’s hand wraps around my free wrist and she tugs me away from the crowd. Roman lets me go, falling into whatever testosterone conversation has risen over who takes credit.

“Jasmine, dear. What is going on?”

“Mother, I?—”

“Did your father put you up to this? I knew he didn’t like Frank, but I didn’t think he would make a decision like this so quickly. You know how these things can get out of hand.”

Frank? The name escapes me until I spot a rather dejected-looking man falling back into the crowd, and my heart sinks. Of course. I’d briefly forgotten about the fiancé I was supposed to meet tonight. Bianca clutches tightly at my hand, and the earnest worry in her teary eyes makes my chest ache.

I can’t tell her the truth. If she knew the eyes of the Mancinis were on us with the intent to kill, her nerves wouldn’t be able to take it, and I would lose her one way or the other.

In the end, it doesn’t matter whose idea this is as long as it keeps the Mancinis off our backs.

“Yes,” I say with a smile. “Father alerted me to it an hour ago, but he told me to keep it a secret. There’s so much fighting all the time and he’s tired of it. I’m tired of it. This way, we get to end itandthrow a party.”

Bianca’s brows pinch together and she slowly pats my hand, then reaches up and dries her tears. “For a moment, I feared that man had done something to you.”

“Roman?” I glance over my shoulder. Roman is still in animated conversation with his father and mine, but someone else has joined them. A tall woman dressed in an elegant steel-gray dress that moves over her thin body like rippling water over rocks. “I think Roman is as shocked as I am.”

“Oh my!” Bianca clutches at my arm, her eyes wide.

“What is it?”

“That’s Theresa! Theresa Mancini!”

I know nothing of her except her name. She is the matriarch of the Mancini family, the one who gets the final say on everything. It’s her name on the parties, on the events and galas, and on the paper that dictates who lives and who dies. The very fact that she’s speaking to my father has to be a good sign. Or she’s about to kill us all.

Was she the woman’s voice I heard earlier from the closet? It was impossible to see past Roman’s bulk, but her voice is incredibly distinct. She bows her head slightly, flashes a pink-lipped smile at Roman, and weaves away through the crowd without another word.

“What was that about?” Bianca hisses as she approaches my father. “What did she want?”

Santino still looks stunned, completely rooted to the same spot he was in when Mother pulled me away.

“She was congratulating us on the engagement,” Roman replies. “And praising such a bold, smart move from my father. After all, it’s decisions like that that really catch their eye. And we all know the best way to stay on top is to absorb the troublesome family.”

“Exactly,” Santino replies as the strange man beside him presses a drink into his hand.

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