Chapter 23: Veiled Vows: Chapter 23

Surprising Roman naked at his apartment was the boldest thing I ever did, and yet it felt like fate. I’d spent hours psyching myself up to go to his estate, and it turned out he was close by in the city, which made everything much easier. He was very reciprocal that night, and it didn’t stop even as we parted the next morning.

He sent flowers to the house for my mother and me, and then another bouquet was sent to my car, and I have no idea how he managed to organize that. I was called to one of the offices where we deal with a lot of product shipments to find rose petals all over the office and a cheeky note about sending him the cleaning bill. Then, a few nights later, he invites me out on a real date.

A proper run-of-the-mill dinner and a good time.

“So?” Roman asks me softly as we walk along the river with a million stars twinkling above, a good meal resting in our bellies, and our respective security guards having enough sense to fall back a reasonable distance.

“So?”

“I know it wasn’t turning up on your doorstep naked, but did you have a good time?”

“Hmm.” I let the silence drag out as we walk lazily, my heels clicking against the ground. “I suppose.”

“You suppose?” Roman chuckles. “Tell me how it could have been better.”

“Let’s see, I took you on an action-filled date and then I turned up at your door in just a coat.”

“And I took you to the most exclusive restaurant in town, let you eat double your body weight in butter pasta, and we drank gold leaf champagne.”

“Hold on, you let me eat that pasta?” I tease, coming to a stop. “Did I need your permission?”

“No, you needed my credit card.”

“Fair.” Chuckling softly, I loop my arm through Roman’s extended elbow and we resume walking. “No, in all seriousness, it was really lovely. I’ve never been on a date like that before.”

“I figured it was a good way to keep up appearances since your mother has finally ruled out an engagement party. We need the world to see this is really happening.”

“I agree, but outside of that, it was fun. I can’t remember the last time someone took me to dinner with the intent of romancing me.”

“I find that hard to believe.” Roman glances down at me and then he doesn’t look away, watching me as we walk. “A beautiful woman like you?”

“You’ve met my parents,” I point out. “They were not kind on the dating front. Most of the guys I ended up with were one-night stands while out with Catherine, and even then the sex was barely anything good.”

“I’m sorry,” Roman replies. “I’d imagined you beating off suitors with a stick.”

“I wish. But what about you?” I lean into him slightly as we walk. “How are you still single?”

“Romance has been so far from my mind for so long. When I was younger, sure. But as the years ticked by, my focus became on my family for … well, you know why. Santino’s really been making me work for it. Sometimes I wondered if he worked out what my true intentions were and purposefully kept me at arm’s length.”

“And now?”

“Now I’m close.” A strange darkness takes over Roman’s face for a moment, like grief he can’t face. “Closer than I’ve ever been. Thanks to you.”

“Hardly. If anything, you should be thanking the Mancinis. So should I, to be fair.”

“You think?”

“If we hadn’t overheard what we did, I’d be marrying some random man I know nothing about because my parents deem him suitable, and then we’d be dead because of this war between us.”

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Roman sighs deeply. “How things turn out.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, Santino’s greed drove him to kidnap you, handed you off to the Yakuza, and then had you rescued so he’d look like the hero. All so he could make your father give him territorial control over shipment lanes across the state to further his business. And your father agreed as an act of good faith and with the hope of a partnership. When really, he was getting screwed over. While your father focused on punishing the Yakuza for kidnapping you, my father was setting up networks and alliances that have made it impossible for your father to use force to take back what was once his.

“And now it’s being handed back because the war has caused so much trouble that we’ll be dead if it doesn’t end. And we’re forcing it to an end by getting married,” I add.

“Exactly. And now we’re here, walking along the river, full of good food and wine, all because of a choice Santino made eleven years ago. It’s just weird how things turn out.”

“Even longer than that,” I point out, tightening my hold on him briefly. “If he hadn’t attacked your mother, none of this would have played out this way.”

Roman’s jaw ticks. “True.”

“Is that your only goal? Revenge?”

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 in love with.” 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 had this 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 taste me.

“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. This has 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.

Whatever makes this feel so good, I never want it to leave.

Roman surges against me as he licks, sucks, and kisses all over my lips and core, then he dips his tongue inside me as far as he can reach. When he’s not fucking me with his tongue, he’s paying intense attention to my clit with flat licks of his tongue and tantalizing nudges of the pointed tip. He pushes against me and buries his face deep between my thighs, not even coming up for air, and as pleasure surges, I can’t help but close my thighs around his head and hold him there.

Moans and whimpers fall from my lips, I arch from the seat as pleasure coils hot and needy in my lower belly, and my entire body flushes hot as he sucks and kisses me closer and closer to orgasm.

I can’t breathe. It’s too much and not enough all at the same time. I need him to keep going and never stop, I need him to do this for the rest of my fucking life.

He thrusts his tongue deep and massages my breast, gripping my hip so tight that it’s almost painful. But it makes me feel owned. Cared for. Like I’m truly wanted and desired. Like I’m worth something.

That makes it more erotic than anything else, and my eyes roll back in my head as he eats me out to a powerful orgasm that leaves my stomach rolling, my core clenching, and my thighs quivering. He continues to eat me through it all, and my head spins with utter delight as pulse after pulse of pleasure throbs through my core. It’s not until he pulls away and crawls over me to kiss me that a dawning realization rises in my tired, happy mind.

When he looks me in my eyes as he kisses me, my heart skips with excitement.

And why does every touch feel so fucking good?

Fuck.

Am I falling in love with him?