Chapter 21: Chapter 21

My mood was dark as Jasmine led us back down the hall. The only sound was that of our heels as we walked in unison.

I struggled to contain my anger at being brushed aside like that. If Stefano expected me to lead by his side, then he needed to trust me, goddammit.

I refused to sit idly by while my husband ran the organization. That was not who I was. Stefano had better come to terms with that, and fast.

After a tense moment of silence, Jasmine glanced at me and sighed.

“Don’t take it to heart. They do this sometimes, even to me. That’s why they sent me away too.” She lifted her hands helplessly.

I turned to look at her blankly, not understanding what she meant.

“Stefano and Anton,” she clarified. “When they get secretive like that, they kick me out. Usually, I refuse to leave, but…we have eyes on us tonight. It’s not the time to fight for equal access.”

I nodded in understanding. It was the same reason I left without voicing my hurt. I’d initially felt lukewarm toward Jasmine, thinking she was nothing but arm candy. But her comment about equality made me curious.

How well did she know Stefano? And could she give me any insights that would help me with the games?

“Are you guys close? It sounds like you spend a lot of time together.”

She shrugged. “The three of us grew up together. They’re the closest friends I have. My father is the Petrov family’s private lawyer. I’ve known Anton my entire life.”

“And Stefano?” I asked.

She chuckled. “Of course you’d be more interested in him. I met Stefano through Anton, and we’ve been close friends ever since. I know everything about those two.”

So, she knew a lot about Stefano’s past. My curiosity deepened, especially when I thought about how she had been sitting on Anton’s lap when I’d first arrived in the room. “Are you dating Anton?”

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Oh, no. We’re just playing around. There’s no serious feelings between them and me.”

“Them?” I echoed, my mind instantly latching onto the word. “By ~them~…you mean…”

She stiffened and glanced at me warily. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mea—”

“Have you?” I asked hurriedly, my gut twisting at the thought. “Have you been with Stefano as well as Anton?”

She hesitated, but that answered the question for me.

I pursed my lips. I truly knew nothing about Stefano’s past. He’d be so secretive when we were together before. In the past few weeks, I’d attributed that to his position in the family. But what if it was deeper than that?

Did he sleep around often? Did he have solid girlfriends besides me? Why did I even care?

I felt like there was a dark cloud hanging over me, waiting for just the right moment to unleash a torrent of rain and thunder.

Jasmine gave me a knowing look as she tried to console me.

“Stefano and I haven’t been together in a long time. Probably since before he met you. Trust me, there were no feelings involved, on either side. It was a release of tension with a friend. I’m focused on my studies and can’t be bothered with relationships.”

~That wasn’t the point~, I wanted to say but stopped myself. What kind of close friends fuck each other anyway?

I wished I’d never found out about them. This added too many complicated layers to our relationship.

Jasmine was beautiful, with an air of confidence around her that made her stand out in a crowd. I knew she’s said that they’d met as children, but childhood friendships don’t always continue into adulthood.

She’d attracted the attention of two powerful mafia men and was now a part of their inner circle. No matter what she said, that wasn’t an accident.

I, on the other hand, was kept on the periphery, pretty to look at, but not able to contribute to the conversation. I held an empty title. There was an invisible ring on my finger from a man who both claimed me but hadn’t claimed me at the same time.

I couldn’t help my envy toward Jasmine, but I couldn’t blame her for it.

I sighed and brushed my feelings aside. It wouldn’t do to dwell on what couldn’t be changed in the moment. I needed to learn when to pick my battles, and in the home of a family ally, with many eyes and ears pointed at me, was not the time or place to stick up for myself.

“You’re in school?” I asked, changing the topic.

She nodded. “I just started law school.”

“So, you’re planning to take over your father’s position.”

“More or less. That’s what he wants, anyway. I’m sure I’ll be the lawyer for Stefano as well, though. He wouldn’t trust anyone else with his personal information.”

I tried to smile but couldn’t bring myself to. Seeing the light in her eyes as she talked about Stefano and Anton wasn’t good for my mood. There was clearly some kind of emotion between the three of them, even if it wasn’t romantic love.

We turned a corner, and soft music filtered into our ears as we entered the main hall. Jasmine led me through the crowd of people to the bar.

Seeing Jasmine, the bartender immediately left the other patrons and approached us. “The usual?” he asked.

~Must be nice~, I thought, ~to hold so much influence that even the bartender knows to keep you happy~.

She nodded. “Make it two.”

We leaned against the bar and looked out into the crowd. People floated in and out of my line of sight, but I couldn’t focus on any of them. My mind was stuck on Stefano and what he could possibly be hiding from me.

Why did he ask me to leave that room? He was the one who said I wouldn’t leave his sight tonight, that he would protect me.

The longer I was away from him, the angrier I became. I wanted to scream every profanity known to man at him and let my bottled-up frustrations lead me. But I couldn’t. Not while we were here.

“This would be the perfect time for you to ask me anything, y’know. I know a lot about Stefano, and I’m not obligated to hold my tongue. Think of it as our own private session while they have theirs.” She chuckled, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

My curiosity was piqued. “You’ll answer my questions honestly?”

“If I know the answer, yes.”

I hesitated, my heart beating a mile a minute as many questions formed in my mind. I started with, “Has Stefano mentioned anything about the games to you?”

Much to my disappointment, she shook her head. “If you’re talking about the Roscotto’s traditional games, then I have no idea. I’m not a part of the family, and not privy to that type of information.”

I blew out a breath, pushing my disappointment aside. So, she couldn’t answer anything regarding family secrets. The number of questions I could ask and get an answer to decreased significantly.

“I have a question for you,” Jasmine said.

“Me?” I asked in surprise.

She laughed. “Yeah, you. What did you do to Stefano? He’s not as arrogant as usual. A little less…egotistical than normal.”

“‘Less egotistical’? What do you mean?” I furrowed my brow.

“Well, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing since it’s how he’s been raised, but…before Stefano met you, he was much colder than he is now. He always kept himself at a distance, never getting close to more than a handful of people.”

I was stunned. That wasn’t the Stefano I knew, not the man that warmed the bed in my apartment, whose eyes sparkled with mirth as he indulged my silly whims.

“He’s still cold, of course,” Jasmine continued, “but he’s gotten more humble. I’ve watched him change over the years, but the one thing that remained constant was his indifference toward life and everyone around him.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “Yeah. He’s a great man, an even better leader, but he’s never been motivated to fight for something. He grew up knowing he owned an empire, so he wanted for nothing. But for the last year now, he’s been leading with purpose.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “It’s been so hard to get a hold of him, but I wasn’t worried because there was life in his eyes. Life that wasn’t there before he met, then lost, you.”

“Oh.” That was all I could say.

While I’d spent the last year moping over our breakup, he’d spent it drowning himself in work.

I wondered what caused that change in him. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe it was all because of me. I’d done nothing special to warrant a change in Stefano. There had to be something else.

“So, what’s he normally like?” I asked. I’d been seeing new sides to him every day since he took me from that park, yet ultimately, I could still see him. The man I fell in love with.

It was like uncovering layers of him and falling in love all over again.

“He can be a jerk at times. Mainly because he finds it hard to understand anything outside of his norm. He’s authoritative, and he’s cunning. He’s the type to set his mind to something and go through with it no matter what.”

She listed a completely different Stefano than what I had in mind.

The man I knew was insensitive but always tried to make up for it. He listened well and wore his bluntness like a sheet of armor. His authoritative nature would slip out at times, but it was only when he was serious, which he rarely was. He was mischievous. He loved to rile me up just to watch my reaction.

Was he different in my eyes because of our prior relationship? Or was it something else?

The bartender came with our drinks, halting our conversation. I took a sip and smacked my lips at the sweet yet bitter taste that glided down my throat.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“A Negroni,” Jasmine answered.

A voice filtered in through the chatter in the background as a young man approached us. “Well, if it isn’t Princess Jasmine.”