Page 9 of Veiled Vows

Exactly like the bastard deserves.

4

JASMINE

Amarriage proposal.

Something like that was due to pop up in my future, but I’ve been clinging to a small hope that my father’s greed would prevent him from looking at a union with another family. Why I have to be thecostof that union is an archaic belief I’m too tired to work out. When I was younger, my mother spoke about arranged marriages with glee. It was, after all, how she met my father. I shared the same delight until I grew up and developed crushes on the boys at school.

Then there was my masked rescuer. Ever since I met him, no other man has ever come close. No matter how often I tell myself that loving someone I know nothing about ispointless, my heart doesn’t listen.

She wants what she wants, and I’m the same.

Still, having only two days to process the news that I’ll soon be wed to a stranger for the sake of family stability and money isn’t long enough. I took the news as gracefully as I could at breakfast, but it sits heavy in my chest like a knot of tension I can’t shake.

“You’re going to want to look your best,” Bianca says cheerily as she tosses another silk gown through the curtain at me. “Not just because of the party but because you’ll be meeting your fiancé!”

“I haven’t said yes yet,” I remind her as I strip out of the current coral pink dress and slide into the yellow gown she’s offered me.

“It’s not your decision, dear,” Bianca reminds me. “It’s your father’s.”

“You’re really okay with this?” Sticking my head through the curtain, I hold it closed with both hands and stare at her. “I feel like I’m a goat being traded for crops.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Bianca touches my cheek and smiles. “You’re not a goat, and this is as much a business decision as it is personal. I remember when I met your father, I thought he was the most brutish, arrogant man I ever met. But then I had you.” Her smile warms. “And you are my greatest achievement.”

It’s difficult to stay mad when she says things like that, even though I know it’s just her tactic. I can never tell if it’s accidental or intentional, but she excels at guilt-tripping me. I disappear back behind the curtain and finish zipping up the dress.

“Do you know anything about him?”

“I think his name is Frank,” Bianca replies. “He’s in the powder business.”

Drugs. Great.

“Anything else?”

“Hmm. He had a sister who passed away last year due to some dreadful illness and since then, his family has been lacking a certain feminine touch.”

My heart sinks, but I force a smile as I open the curtains and display the dress for my mother. She immediately winces, shoves me back inside the dressing room with one hand, and thrusts a black gown at me. “Try this one.”

“What if I like the yellow?”

Her eyes narrow. “Don’t be silly, dear, trust me.”

Rolling my eyes, I close the curtain and once again switch dresses. “What do you mean his family has lost their feminine touch?”

“You know how it is with men. They need us women to keep certain things in line, like the house and the staff, that sort of thing.”

“But what about business?” I stick my head through the curtain once more. “Didn’t you ever want to be involved in the real business?”

“Oh no.” Bianca shakes her head quickly. “I don’t need that kind of stress in my life. And neither do you, dear. Remember. Wrinkles.”

I roll my eyes once more and listen to my mother hum, signaling the end of the discussion. With everything going on with my family, my reasons to decline this proposal are minimal. My father doesn’t admit it, but I’ve seen our books. We’re fighting on the front against the Gattis for control over weapons trading and trying to reclaim the shipping routes that kept us ahead for years. And at the back, we’re trying to rip a good portion of the drug trade away from the Yakuza as revenge for my kidnapping—that turned out to be just them being middlemen. If we could ignore the Yakuza, the Gattis would be wiped out in days.

But we’re stretched thin, and my father refuses to give in. Which means this new family I’ll be marrying into may be the one thing my father needs to finally make a dent in this war. Zipping up this dress, I step out from the curtain.

“Mom?”

“Oh, darling! You look absolutely beautiful.” She steps up to me with her eyes sparkling. “If we paired this with a baby pink sash and some pink jewels, you will look stunning!”

---