Page 77 of Veiled Vows

My wandering of the halls takes me to my father’s study where my mother’s phone rests on the desk. I ran the number through every database we have access to but there were no hits. Even the phone itself has no purchase history. If Roman did slip it to her then he made sure no one would be able to find him if the truth came out before he was ready.

Sitting, I flick through the messages once more, and each one makes my stomach curl. Message after message befriending mymother, complimenting her and warning her that if she values her daughter, she will stop the wedding. The information spilled about Roman to make him seem dangerous is all things I already know—his Yakuza ties, his assassination history, his mercenary work. The texts about his cruel behavior make me pause. Out of the two of us, I’m the one who’s demonstrated a crueler streak.

Seth’s death was my design after all, not Roman’s.

Did he just hide it? Or did he lie to put the fear in my mother?

I read deeper and deeper, trying to convince myself to believe the evidence, but something keeps popping up in the back of my mind.

These texts don’treadlike Roman. They don’t sound like him at all. And why imply there were other threats to my life if that was his goal all along?

“Ma’am?” Fingers knock against the door, drawing me from my thoughts. “Miss Catherine is here to see you.”

“Come in.”

The moment Catherine walks in, the tears return, and I spend fifteen minutes crying on her shoulder. She hugs me, pets my hair, and reassures me the best I can until I tell her about Roman’s visit.

“No way,” Catherine breathes. “You’re not serious?”

“I am.” Dabbing at my eyes with a tissue, I sniffle. “And there’s more. The whole reason we were getting married was because we overheard something.”

She leans closer. “What did you hear?”

“The Mancinis and the other big dogs at that party? They want us dead. Us and the Gattis because that feud was drawing too much attention. Causing too much trouble. So we thought getting married would save our families and allow us to pursue our own goals.”

“And instead he used that to get close to you, destroy your family, and then…warn you before running away?”

I shrug. “I guess so.” Blowing my nose makes my ears hurt, so I close my eyes and I sigh. “I was going to tell him about the baby as well.”

“Luckily you didn’t,” Catherine says, taking my hand in hers. “God knows what he would have done. But I—” She cuts herself off.

“Say it.” I open my eyes. “It can’t be worse than anything else I’ve seen tonight.”

“You know me and Seth. I can’t say I’m the best judge of character or able to spot awful men hiding in plain sight, but Roman…the way you spoke about him, he really seemed like a good guy. Like hereallycared about you beyond everything else. It’s hard to believe that he was planning this the entire time. Messaging your mother all that stuff while romancing you.”

“But why would he lie?”

Catherine’s sad gaze meets mine and she shakes her head. “I don’t know. But I think one thing is crystal clear.”

“Which is?”

“He warned you for a reason. It sounds like he told you not to trust anyone, almost gloating about how deeply infiltrated your family has become. So…what are you going to do?”

That’s the million-dollar question.

What do I do?

Right now we’re a crumbling family ripe for the picking. How do I keep us together? How do I stop us from getting crushed under whatever other plans Roman has?

“I don’t know,” I say softly. “But he’s the enemy now. They all are. So I need to…fuck. My dad would know what to do.”

“What about your mom?”

Shaking my head, I squeeze her hand. “Do you remember how she got that one summer when she ran out of medication and she kept talking to us like we were still in school?”

Catherine nods.

“She’s like that but so much worse.”

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