Page 36 of Veiled Vows

Narrowing my eyes, I slowly look him up and down, then sigh. “You wouldn’t understand. Take the proposal back to your father and then call me with his answer.”

“You can’t command me,” Alto snaps.

“I can,” I snap back sharply, pouring all my disappointment into my tone. “Because in case you forgot, I’m the one getting married. Me. And Roman. Not you. You’re basically nothing right now because you don’t hold the power. So run back to Daddy and call me with his answer.”

Alto surges forward briefly but my guards quickly close ranks around me, blocking him and his two men from reaching me.

“You think you know everything, like you have any kind of power,” Alto growls. “But you don’t know Roman like you think you do. You don’t know who he really is.”

“Which is?”

Alto straightens up and smirks coldly. “Remember, I offered you a chance to be on the right side.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Alto turns his back and walks toward his car. “You’ll see.”

14

ROMAN

“I’m proud of you.” Santino drums his fingers on the table, occasionally tapping his glass while he looks at Alto. “You’ve brought the Yakuza exactly where I want them.”

Alto lifts his chin and smiles smugly. “It was a piece of cake.”

“Hardly.” I can’t stop myself. Learning that Alto was handed the Yakuza meeting was made all the worse when I learned Jasmine had been there. “There wouldn’t have been a meeting without Jasmine and Enzo. They handed that to us on a silver platter.”

“Enough,” Santino barks before Alto can wind up his snarky response. “While Jasmine and her father may have laid out a stepping stone, it’s Alto who took the meeting.”

“With Jasmine,” I reply, fixing my father with a steady stare. “We are to be married, remember.”

“Trust me,” Santino says darkly. “I haven’t forgotten.”

“Fuck Jasmine,” Alto spits. “We’ve had dealings with the Yakuza for longer than them, and we’re hardly on the same level when it comes to disagreements. It would be easier to smooththings over with the Yakuza and make them deal with the Falzones instead.”

“A fucking terrible idea for a small-brained littlerat.” The annoyance surges inside me like a wave. “We need this union.”

“Do we?” My father lifts his glass and drinks slowly, then he swirls the copper liquid around and drinks once more. “I’ve been thinking about that.”

“Ofcoursewe do.” This union is the only thing staying the trigger of the Mancini family, who still have their sights set on us. Revealing that will make everything crumble because I know my father. He will try to manipulate the Mancinis into killing the Falzones, thinking we’ll get away clean and free, but the Mancinis were clear. We’re both on the chopping block, and I won’t have my chance to see him suffer snatched away from me.

“Do we?” Alto challenges, drawing my attention back to him. “Think about it. The Falzones are stronger than us, but by a margin. That margin is wasted on their war with the Yakuza over fuck knows what. But if we amplify the Yakuza, then the Falzones are forced to apply more and more of their power against the attacks leaving themwideopen for us.”

“Only someone as dimwitted as you would think it’s that simple.” My jaw snaps closed as barely constrained anger ripples through every tense muscle in my body. “Do you really think the Falzones are dumb enough to take their eyes off us? Especially when the larger families are watching us so closely right now? Do you really think we could stand against say, I don’t know, the Mancinis if we piss off the wrong people?”

“Fuck the Mancinis?—”

“Enough!” Santino cuts off Alto’s words with a bark. “I will not have this kind of bickering at my table!”

We both fall silent, glaring hatred at one another across the table.

“As much as I hate to admit it,” Santino says tightly. “Roman is right. Thisdecisionhas placed a lot of eyes on us, and we have to move carefully. Making peace with the Yakuza makes us look good, it makes us lookagreeable, and anyone who’s paying attention will be happy. Remember, Alto. There’s always someone watching, and there are several tables I don’t have an invite to. Not yet. So as much as Idetestthat filthy family…” He pauses and drains his glass. “We must bide our time.”

It’s the best response I can expect right now. With any luck, as soon as the marriage is secure, my father’s interests will move elsewhere, onto the bigger eyes watching us, and I can strike.

“But Father?—”

“Enough, Alto,” Santino orders. “Your concerns are for another time. Right now, we must look appeased, but that doesn’t mean we will sit back and do nothing. Roman.”

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