Veiled Vows: An age gap, marriage of convenience, secret pregnancy, mafia romance (Mafia Lords of Sin)

Death is a kindness.

So they say.

The raw agony pouring from my shoulder pulses with every sluggish beat of my heart. I’m tired. My head hurts. Revenge is far from my mind and only one thought occupies me.

Jasmine.

I hope I did enough to help her. I hope she’s safe. I hope she’s so angry that she never lets anyone near her ever again.

My head hangs low and remains there until the two men carrying me drop me to the ground. I crumple immediately onto a cold, damp stone floor and lie there panting. Heavy footsteps approach me from behind and stop near my right side.

God just kill me now.

“Santino.” A distant voice across the room greets us. “What have you brought?”

“For years you demanded I bring this dog back to you,” Santino says. “I refused because I thought he was my son. And he has his uses. Both of those have come to an end.”

“So,” continues the second voice. “You brought him here?”

“Yes. You can do whatever the fuck you want with him now, I no longer care. My only request is that you don’t kill him immediately.”

“Telling me I can do whatever I want with him, then demanding I do not kill him is quite the request.”

Cracking open one eye, I place my hands on the ground and struggle to push myself up. Hot agony throbs through my wounded shoulder, but I push past it until I’m on my knees, resting back on my ankles. That’s as far as I go. I’m too tired for anything else, and it takes all my strength to keep my head raised.

The Yakuza stand before us with several guards surrounding one man in a tan suit with a red jacket hanging loose from his shoulders.

Shit. I’m back here.

Funny how things come full circle. They thought it was a secret, but I’m well aware that my shift in alliance to Santino was taken as a betrayal all those years ago. I’d hoped the decades and my work had freed me from that debt, but it seems not.

So this is my fate. To die at the hands of the Yakuza while my father watches on in glee. I wish it could be different. If I’d acted sooner, if I hadn’t grown so greedy in wanting Santino to suffer. I should have killed him when I had the chance.

I’m sorry, Mom.

“Yes,” Santino says with a touch of annoyance in his tone. “I need some hint that he’s alive so I can draw out his bitch of a girlfriend. She’s been a thorn in my side for far too long, and he’s the only thing I can use to get to her. So if you would be so kind and not kill him right away, that would also be pleasing.”

The man in the tan suit stares at me for a long moment, then he nods and motions for two of his men to step forward. Those who don’t move unholster their weapons and aim them at me.

What do they think I’m going to do in this state? The most I can do is breathe aggressively in their direction. The Yakuza approach and grab me by the arms, but just as they lift me, a wail of pain escapes me.

“Stop!” barks a voice from the shadows, one that sends a lance of pain through my chest.

I must be dreaming because that voice, that sweet voice sounds almost exactly like …

“Jasmine?!” Santino nearly chokes on the word and he stumbles backward, but as he does, the Yakuza shift focus from me to the men he brought with him and open fire. Santino’s men have no time to react and they drop like flies, hitting the ground in a symphony of yells, cries, and wet thuds. It’s over almost as quickly as it began, leaving only Santino’s audible panting to fill the room.

“What the fuck is going on?” he yells.

And then she’s here.

Somehow.

Jasmine walks out from behind the Yakuza Chairman and stops just in front of him with her arms crossed over her body and her gaze as sharp as her eyeliner. She doesn’t look at me, but I don’t need her to. Seeing her one last time before I die is more than I deserve.

“Santino, in case it still escapes your notice, your Yakuza are actually my Yakuza now. I’m surprised you didn’t catch wind of the change in ownership, but then you were always so self-absorbed that maybe I’ve been giving you too much credit.”

“You!” Santino surges forward a step, but the raised guns keep him at bay. Then he turns to me and I see the hope in his eyes, the desire to use me in some way to protect himself, but the two Yakuza guards remain next to me like silent statues.

He has nothing.

This is also something I don’t deserve to see, but witnessing the panic growing in his eyes and the uncertain steps he takes back and forth is better than any painkiller.

“How?” Santino demands. “How the fuck has this happened? Years of loyalty down the drain for some bitch?”

Jasmine laughs sweetly. “You can’t blame them. I saw an issue in Yakuza leadership, so I had it taken care of.”

“You didn’t have the might to take them down all these years, why now?”noveldrama

“I had some help. See, someone once taught me that an unexpected alliance can be the best way to change things. So I reached out to someone and they offered me their help. And this lovely new Chairman has been more than amicable to my requests because unlike you, Santino, I plan to work with them. A partnership of sorts. Alien to you, I’m sure.”

“I’m going to kill you, you fucking bitch! I’m going to⁠—”

Santino’s words fade suddenly as my world becomes blanketed in cotton. Every sound becomes muffled and seems far away, with the only clear spot being Jasmine. But focusing on her beautiful face rapidly becomes difficult and with each sluggish blink, her edges soften until she’s nothing but a colorful haze.

But that’s okay.

I got to see her one last time.

My body throbs like a bruise for the last time and I close my eyes. As much as I ache to stay here even just to hear how much Jasmine hates me, keeping myself awake is becoming the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.

My head sags and darkness creeps up like an old friend.

Suddenly, warm, gentle hands cup my cheeks and my instinct to flinch away is met by a soothing sound in front of me. I wrestle with myself, forcing my eyes open and finding Jasmine’s gorgeous eyes floating in front of me like two stars.

“Hey,” she says, her words reaching me even as her lips move in slow motion. “You’re not getting away that easily.”

I try not to blink. My eyelids are so heavy, I know they won’t open again if I let them close. “How … how do you not hate me … ?”

“Consider this payback for saving me,” she says, sounding even further away. “Now we’re even.”

My eyes close as darkness wraps me in its warm embrace, and the last sensation I register is the soft press of Jasmine’s lips against mine.

“Am I dead?”

“Not yet.” Jasmine’s voice trickles through the darkness. “But I can arrange it if you want me to.”

Huffing out a laugh, the pain across my ribs immediately drags me to complete consciousness. I open my eyes, and Jasmine is perched on the end of my hospital bed with a book dangling from one of her hands. Beside me, several machines beep in rhythm with my heart and betray the lurch when I look at Jasmine. Warm light trickles in from slatted blinds giving Jasmine’s hair an almost honey-gold look, and the way her eyes catch the light convinces me I am dead.

“I think I’m dead.”

“No,” Jasmine says, her red lips stretching in a small, fond smile. “You’re just on a shit load of painkillers.”

“Good ones?”

“The best.”

“Why …” The words catch in my throat and a cough rises, taking all my energy in seconds.

Jasmine moves quickly. She sets her book down, slides from the bed, and is by my head in seconds with a cup of water and a small straw in her hand.

“Here,” she coaxes gently. “Drink.”

As much as I want to joke about it being poisoned, my throat is so dry it’s making my eyes water, so I accept the straw and suck down several glorious mouthfuls of cool water. I’d drain the cup, but Jasmine guides it away from me before I can.

“Doctor said you can’t have too much too soon,” she says. “Sorry.”

“Don’t,” I croak. “You don’t ever have to apologize to me. For anything.”

“That’s not a very healthy outlook.” Jasmine reseats herself on my bed but higher up this time. “Ren, I have some things to tell you.”

She uses my name. My real name. It feels like a punch to the heart. I don’t deserve her calling me anything. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”

“No, I do. Stop. Stop acting like you’re not owed anything, or that there’s nothing here.” She takes a deep breath and meets my gaze. “I know you lied. About everything. Those messages were from Alto, and they were always from Alto. Why did you do that?”

“Would …” I swallow hard when the words stick and try again. “Would you believe me if I said I was scared?”

“Scared?” Her head tilts causing her hair to cascade over one shoulder like a golden curtain.

“My fa—Santino gave me an ultimatum, and I was struggling. And that scared me. Because everything I’d been working toward for decades was suddenly in my grasp, but then there was you, and how much I loved you also scared me. And I didn’t know how I could give one of those up. So I came to see you, and when you told me about Alto and those messages to your mother, everything became painfully clear.”

My voice trembles, and the machine betrays the irregular way emotion makes my heart skip, but it’s the honesty Jasmine deserves. I have nothing left to hide from her. Nothing at all.

“Protecting you became the most important thing in my life, but I didn’t know Alto had been scheming. When you told me, all I could think of was the possibilities of what else he’d been doing. How many other people in your life were poisoned by him just waiting to strike? So I wanted to scare you, to make you so angry that you would go to extreme, even insane levels to protect yourself while I kept Santino and Alto busy. I thought I could even learn and sabotage whatever attempts were ready to take your life. And I did that because for all I knew my presence was putting you in danger. I thought if I made you angry and returned to them to learn where the danger was, I could save you. Telling you the truth would put you at even more risk for any other secret plans I knew nothing about … it could have put you in more danger and I couldn’t take that chance. So I made a terrible snap decision.”

Jasmine remains silent for a few minutes as she processes everything I say, then she smiles a small smile. “I thought so. Part of me thought it was my own inability to accept that kind of truth from you, that I was so in love with you that I wasn’t seeing what was right in front of me. But it felt … wrong. Were you …” She reaches for my bandaged hand, then hesitates. “Were you really going to give up everything for me? To turn your back on all those years of work to get revenge on Santino, just to keep me safe?”

I nod quickly, ignoring the pull of pain at my injured shoulder. “Yes. Because in that moment, I realized I’ve spent my entire life chasing a ghost because I had nothing else to live for. But now I do. Even if I have to live in a world where you hate me, at least it’s a world you’re in. And that’s better than any alternative.”

“It worked,” Jasmine says softly, her voice cracking. She takes my hand and the moment her warm fingers slide between mine, I grip as hard as I can—which isn’t actually all that firm. “I have an alliance with the Mancinis now.”

“What?!” I gasp and wince as a dull ache radiates through my chest. “How on earth … ?”

“I was angry. And hurt. And scared. I’d gotten rid of everyone and everything, and suddenly I was alone, so I thought fuck it. Go big, right? And I was also a little drunk, but I managed to get a meeting with Theresa.”

“Holy shit.”

“I know, right? She’s so scary but also so sweet. Which weirdly makes her scarier. And she helped me take out the Yakuza, which is why they’re now on my side. She has a hefty percentage of profit from me, so there’s kind of a lot of pressure, but at least she doesn’t want my head anymore. Or yours. And …” Jasmine shakes her head and tucks some of her hair behind her ear. “It’s kind of romantic, what you did. Putting yourself in that position, going through all of this and nearly dying just to keep me safe.”

“I’d do it all again,” I say honestly. “Maybe I should have done it differently, and I’m sorry, Jasmine. I’m so sorry I hurt you and scared you. Everything was moving so fast and Alto … fucking Alto …”

“Don’t worry.” Jasmine’s thumb runs over my knuckles. “He’s dead.”

“What? How?”

“He was still texting my mother, trying to lure her out so I went instead, and I kicked his ass and killed him after he told me where you were. It was him who told me Santino threatened to kick you out of the family, and suddenly I understood why you did what you did. I remember when I was so focused on finding my rescuer, before I knew he was you, and I would have done anything to find him. I know it’s not quite the same as avenging your mother, but I understood your motivation.” She smiles again and her eyes shine with building tears. “So he’s dead. And now I’m using him to persuade my mother that it was him she was talking to all this time.”

“Oh Jasmine … how is your mother?”

“She’s …” She puffs out her cheeks. “She’s the same as she always was, in a way. Sometimes she forgets what she did but it’s getting easier. She’s listening to me more, and I’ve been slowly persuading her of the truth. On bad days, she doesn’t always know who I am at first, but I have her working with the best therapists and doctors I can buy. If nothing else, she’s happy when she focuses on the wedding.”

Ah. The wedding.

Between Jasmine and I.

Thinking of it brings an impossible question to my mind. How does Jasmine feel about me? My lips part, but I suddenly don’t have the strength to ask it even though I meant what I said. A world with Jasmine hating me is better than a world with no Jasmine at all.

And yet, she seems to be on the same wavelength because her shimmering eyes meet mine and she tightens her grip briefly on my hand. “Speaking about the wedding … Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“That you loved me?”

“It’s not past tense,” I reply softly. “I love you. That’s how I know I’d go through all of this again and again just to keep you safe.”

She laughs weakly and looks upward as if trying to stop her tears from falling. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed at you,” she says. “You really hurt me. And I understand why you did what you did, it’s just going to take me some time not to be hurt by it.”

“I understand.”

“But you’re in luck.” She looks back at me with a watery smile. “I love you too. And I don’t … I don’t want to do this alone, Ren. I don’t want to be one of those people who lets things fall apart because of bad blood. I want … I want what I want, and that’s you.”

“Are you sure?” I scarcely dare to believe what I’m hearing. Maybe I did die and this is heaven.

“Of course I’m sure!” She laughs again, and this time a couple of tears escape. “I lost my dad and I’m losing my mom. I don’t want to lose you too. But you have to promise me something.”

“Anything.” I’ve never agreed faster.

“No more lies. No more secrets. We work together on everything, okay?”

“Okay.” The drugs are doing too good a job at dulling my sensations, but the swell of love for Jasmine is unmistakable. I try to sit up, but weakness still pulls through my limbs so I’m forced to groan. “Come over here and kiss me because I can’t sit up.”

“Poor baby,” Jasmine teases as she leans forward. “My weak little man.”

“Don’t push it.”

“What are you gonna do?” We’re so close that our noses bump. “Fight me?”

“If I must.” Her lips chase mine and the slightly salty kiss from her stray tears sends an explosion of excitement through my chest. For a brief moment I don’t breathe, I focus completely on the kiss until the machines bleep and scream at me.

Jasmine jolts back in alarm and looks between me and the machines. “Oh my God, are you okay?”

“It’s a great kiss,” I gasp, chuckling.

She swats me gently on the forearm. “Asshole. Holy shit, I thought I was killing you for a second.”

“No, that’s just—” Everything screeches to a halt in my mind and my chest as a cold thought pops into my mind.

“What is it?” Jasmine frowns deeply. “Ren, what’s wrong?”

“Santino … what happened to him?”

Jasmine’s deep frown melts into a sly smile. “Hm. Wanna go on a date?”