Page 61 of Veiled Vows

He nods. “I don’t give a shit about anything after that.”

My heart jumps unexpectedly, as if I was hoping to hear something else instead. After all, what will happen to us after he gets his revenge?

“What about you?” Roman turns his dark eyes on me once more. “You’ve been rather vague about your reasons outside of finding the man you’re inlovewith.” A playful smirk dances across his lips.

“Shut up,” I laugh. “I mean, that was my goal and the reason why I wanted peace with the Yakuza. That and it almost felt unfair that they bore the brunt of my father’s rage for so many years when they really were just middlemen. But after? I want to expand. In some ways, I share the same goals as my father. To be invited to the bigger tables, but I want to earn it through hard work. There’s so much of the market that’s untapped, I mean look at the prices of drugs these days. My father misses out on the entire student body because he’s obsessed with selling a luxury drug when we could do both. Untapped markets could be one of our strengths. But he wastes so much time and resources fighting all these stupid, ego-fueled battles when we could direct that manpower into something much better.”

Roman remains silent through my entire speech, and when I finish, he smiles warmly. “Ambitious.”

“I know. I’m just…ever since I heard the Mancinis talking about us like we were dogs that needed to be put down, I’ve hadthis burning urge to prove them wrong. I want us to be a family that they fear, that people think twice about whether they can just wipe us out with an order.”

“That’s a tall order.”

“Maybe, but I dunno. Maybe if I had a little help…?”

Roman laughs when I nudge into him again, and he slowly guides me away from the river and toward the parking lot where we left the cars. “You ask a lot, my dear.”

“Don’t ask, don’t get,” I reply quickly. “So after you tear down your father’s empire and watch him suffer, what will you do with what’s left?”

“Are you scouting for donors to fuel your campaign?” Roman raises a brow while digging in his pocket for the car keys. They jangle together as he points the fob toward the car we’re approaching.

“Maybe I am,” I smirk. “Are you in the market?”

“Depends. I think I might need to trial the goods first.”

“Oh really? Looking to get high or fire a bazooka into the forest?”

“No, I want to sample the goods I’ll be supporting.”

Frowning, I skip through the rest of my family’s enterprises in search of the one that’s caught his interest, but nothing jumps out at me. “What part, exactly?”

Roman’s arm loops around my waist and he pulls me close, then presses me up against the car and claims my lips in a sudden deep kiss. My mind short-circuits and heat blooms across my chest as he pulls me closer, and then it clicks.

I’m the goods.

He wants to tasteme.

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” I murmur against his lips when we break the kiss for a breath. “Always good to know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Exactly,” Roman replies with a knowing smirk now that I’ve caught on to what he’s saying. “Glad we agree.” He reaches behind me and battles amusingly with the back door. As soon as he’s able to pull it open, he guides me out of the way and then lightly pushes me toward the back seat.

I oblige eagerly, my heart already racing from whatever he has in mind. Sitting myself down, I lean across the back seat and then very slowly gather the skirt of my dress up to my knees. Roman’s eyes are as dark as they were the night I visited his apartment. There’s something so feral about him when he looks like that, as if his eyes have become ink and I’m about to be the parchment.

I slip my dress further up my thighs, and Roman’s grip tightens on the car door. He licks his lower lip into his mouth, and then he’s on top of me with a growl rumbling deep in his throat. He kisses me deeply, bites on my lower lip, and shoves his tongue into my mouth when I gasp in delight. Then he swiftly pulls himself away and kisses down my dress, pulling at the material until he’s on his knees outside the car, settled between my parted knees.

“Roman,” I moan softly, propping myself up on one elbow so I can watch him.

“Jasmine.” He says my name like the end of a prayer, and a thrill of excitement jolts through me.

“I—” Words fail me when his lips press against my knee. He strokes my calf with his fingers, kisses up my thigh, and presses my legs as far apart as they can go in the space of an open car door. My skirt rides higher as he kisses deeper, and then he drapes both my legs over his shoulders and shoves his face between my legs with such eagerness it makes me laugh.

Then his hot mouth is against my pussy, kissing me through my panties, and my mind melts from the surge of desire. Thishas to be more than lust. I’ve fucked attractive people before, and no one has made me feel like I’m on fire in the best way.

Is it because he saved my life, not just eleven years ago? Is it because he seems to care about me even though he never says it? Or is it because he’s showing me attention? I can’t decide, but there’s definitely something there.

Something that makes my heart race and my stomach flutter like I’ve swallowed butterflies. Something that makes my mind wander with what life could be like in our future. Together.

He pulls my panties aside and slides his tongue through my folds, moaning as if I’m the most divine thing he’s ever tasted. He wraps one arm around my leg to grasp my hip, and his other hand slides up my body to grasp my breast through my dress. I hold his wrist with one hand, and my other cradles the back of his head then grips his dark hair like reins.

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